Townsmen, Noblemen, Clergy, Monasteries: Forms of Urban Naturalization in the Late Middle Ages

Abstract

“Burgrecht” constitutes urban naturalization (carried out under written conditions) in the Upper German area, also referred to as “Gedingbürgerschaft”, “Satzbürgerschaft” or “Paktbürgerschaft”. In the late Middle Ages, nobles and monasteries dynamically used city rights as the basis for their activities in the countryside and the means to resolve conflicts, while cities used to create the urban patriciate taking into account those “institutional” new citizens and to expand their authority. Owing to the long duration, conflicts often arose over the content and interpretation of those legal provisions. Translated by Agnieszka Chabros