MEDIAEVAL A short account is here given of the rise and development of towns in central and western Europe since the downfall of the Roman empire. All these arose under similar conditions, economic, legal and political, irrespective of local peculiarities. Kindred eco nomic conditions prevailed in all the former provinces of the Western empire, while new law concepts were everywhere intro duced by the Germanic invaders. It seems advisable to begin with an account of the German towns, for their development was least affected by foreign interference, and it may also be said that their constitutional and economic history has been more thoroughly investigated than any other.
The German towns may be divided into two main classes: those that arose on the ruins of former Roman cities in the Rhine and Danube countries, and those that were newly founded at a later date in the interior. Foremost in importance among the former stand the episcopal cities. Most of them had never been entirely destroyed during the Germanic invasion. Roman civic institutions perished ; but probably parts of the population sur vived, and small Christian congregations with their bishops in most cases seem to have weathered all storms. Much of the city walls presumably remained standing, and within them German communities soon settled.
In the loth century it became the policy of the German emper ors to hand over to the bishops full jurisdictional and administra tive powers within their cities. The bishop henceforward directly or indirectly appointed all officers for the town's government. The chief of these was usually the advocatus or Vogt, some neigh bouring noble who served as the proctor of the church in all secular affairs. It was his business to preside three times a year over the chief law-court, the so-called echte or ungebotene Ding, under the cognizance of which fell all cases relating to real property, personal freedom, bloodshed and robbery. For the rest of the legal business and as president of the ordinary court he appointed a Schultheiss, centenaries or causidicus. Other officers were the Burggraf or praefectus for military matters including the preservation of the town's defences, walls, moat, bridges and streets, to whom also appertained some jurisdiction over the craft-gilds in matters relating to their crafts; further the customs-officer or teleonarius and the mint-master or monetae magister. It was not, however, the fact of their being placed under the bishop that constituted these towns as separate jurisdictional units. The chief feature rather is the existence within their walls of a special law, distinct in important points from that of the country at large. The towns enjoyed a special peace, as it was called, i.e., breaches of the peace were more severely punished if committed in a town than elsewhere. Besides, the inhabitants might be sued before the town court only, and to fugitives from the country who had taken refuge in the town belonged a similar privilege. This special legal status probably arose from the towns being considered in the first place as the king's fortresses or burgs (see BOROUGH), and, there fore, as participating in the special peace enjoyed by the king's palace. What struck the townless early Germans most about the Roman towns was their mighty walls, which were to them the main feature distinguishing a town from a village; and the fact of the town being a fortified place likewise necessitated the special provisions mentioned for maintaining the peace.
The New Towns.—The new towns in the interior of Germany were founded on land belonging to the founder, some ecclesiastical or lay lord, and frequently adjoining the cathedral close of one of the new sees or the lord's castle, arid they were laid out accord ing to a regular plan. The most important feature was the market square, often surrounded by arcades with stalls for the sale of the principal commodities and with a number of straight streets leading thence to the city gates. As for the fortifications, some time naturally passed before they were completed. Furthermore, the governmental machinery would be less complex than in the older towns. The legal peculiarities distinguishing town and coun try, on the other hand, may be said to have been conferred on the new towns in a more clearly defined form from the beginning.
An important difference lay in the mode of settlement. There is evidence that in the former Roman towns the German new comers settled much as in a village, i.e., each full member of the community had a certain portion of arable land allotted to him and a share in the common. Their pursuits would at first be mainly agricultural. The new towns, on the other hand, general economic conditions having meanwhile begun to undergo a marked change, were founded with the intention of establishing centres of trade. Periodical markets, weekly or annual, had preceded them, and already enjoyed the special protection of the king's ban, acts of violence against traders visiting them or on their way to wards them being subject to special punishment. The new towns may be regarded as markets made permanent. The settlers invited were merchants and handicraftsmen. The land now allotted to each member of the community was just large enough for a house and yard, stabling and perhaps a small garden. These building plots were given as free property or, more frequently, at a merely nominal rent with the right of free disposal, the only obligation being that of building a house. All that might be required besides would be a common for the pasture of the burgesses' cattle.
The example thus set was readily followed in the older towns. The necessary land was placed at the disposal of new settlers, either by the members of the older agricultural community, or by the various churches. The immigrants were of widely differing status, many being serfs who came either with or without their lords' permission. The necessity of putting a stop to belated prose cutions on this account in the town court led to the acceptance of the rule that nobody who had lived in a town undisturbed for the term of a year and a day could any longer be claimed by a lord as his serf. But even those who had migrated into a town with their lords' consent could not very well for long continue in serfdom. When, on the ofher hand, certain bishops attempted to treat all new-comers to their city as serfs, the emperor Henry V. in charters for Spires and Worms proclaimed that in these towns all serf-like conditions should cease. This ruling found expression in the famous saying: Stadtluft macht frei, "town-air renders free." As may be imagined, this led to a rapid increase in population, mainly during the th and i3th centuries. There would be no difficulty for the immigrants to find a dwelling, or to make a living, since most of them would be versed -in one or other of the crafts in practice among villagers.
The most important further step in the history of the towns was the establishment of an organ of self-government, the town council, with one, two or more burgomasters at its head. As units of local government the towns originally stood on the same legal basis as villages, with the responsibility for all common interests below the cognizance of the public courts or of those of their lord. In the towns, however, this right was strengthened at an early date by the jus negotiale. At least as early as the beginning of the II th century, mercantile communities claimed the right, confirmed by the emperors, of settling mercantile disputes according to a law of their own. Furthermore, in the rapidly developing towns, oppor tunities for the exercise of self-administrative functions constantly increased. The new self-goveming body soon began to legislate in matters of local government, imposing fines for the breach of its by-la:ws. Thus it assumed a jurisdiction, partly concurrent with that of the lord, which it further extended to breaches of the peace. And, finally, it raised funds by means of an excise-duty. In the older and larger towns it soon went beyond what the bishops thought proper to tolerate; conflicts ensued; and in the i3th century several bishops obtained decrees in the imperial court, either to suppress the council altogether, or to make it subject to their nomination, and more particularly to abolish the excise as detrimental to episcopal finances. In the long run, however, these attempts proved of little avail.
The Craft-gilds.—Meanwhile the tendency towards self-gov ernment spread even to the lower ranks of town society, resulting in the establishment of craft-gilds. From a very early period there is reason to believe that merchants among themselves formed gilds for social and religious purposes, and for the furtherance of their economic interests. On the other hand, the most important commodities offered for sale in the market had been subject to official examination already in Carolingian times. Bakers', butch ers', shoemakers' stalls were grouped together in the market place to facilitate control, and with the same object in view a master was appointed for each craft as its responsible representa tive. By and by these crafts or "offices" claimed the right of electing their master and of assisting him in examining the goods, and even of framing by-laws regulating the quality of the wares and the process of their manufacture. The bishops at first resented these attempts at self-management, as they had done in the case of the town council, and imperial legislation in their interests was obtained. But each craft at the same time formed a society for social, beneficial and religious purposes, and, as these were entirely in accordance with the wishes. of the clerical authorities, the other powers could not in the long run be withheld, including that of forcing all followers of any craft to join the gild. It is not sug gested that in each individual town the rise of the gilds was pre ceded by an organization of crafts on the part of the lord and his officers; but that voluntary organization could hardly have pro ceeded on such orderly lines as on the whole it did, unless the framework had in the first instance been laid down by the authorities. The principle of compulsory association would have found still less ready acceptance both on the part of the authori ties and on that of the men, had it not previously been in full prac tice and recognition under the system of official market-control.
External Relations.—From an early date the towns, more particularly the older episcopal cities, took a part in imperial politics. Legally the bishops were in their cities mere representa tives of the imperial government. This fact found formal expres sion mqinly in two ways. The Vogt, although appointed by the bishop, received the "ban," i.e., the power of having justice exe cuted, which he passed on to the lesser officers, from the king or emperor direct. Secondly, whenever the emperor held a general assembly, or diet, in one of the episcopal cities, and for a week before and after, all jurisdictional and administrative power re verted to him and his immediate officers. The citizens on their part clung to this connection and made use of it whenever their inde pendence was threatened by their bishops, who strongly inclined to consider themselves lords of their cathedral cities, much as if these had been built on church-lands. As early as 073, therefore, we find the citizens of Worms successfully rising against their bishop in order to provide the emperor Henry IV. with a refuge against the rebellious princes. Those of Cologne made a similar attempt in io74. But a second class of imperial cities (Reichs stiidte), much more numerous than the former, consisted of those founded on demesne-land belonging either to the empire or to one of the families who rose to imperial rank. This class was largely reinforced after the extinction of the royal house of Hohenstaufen, when a great number of towns founded by them on their demesne successfully claimed immediate subjection to the crown. During the interregnum, a federation of more than oo towns was formed, spreading from the Rhine as far as Bremen in the north, Zurich in the south and Regensburg in the east, with the object of helping to preserve the peace. In the following centuries the imperial cities in south Germany, where most of them were situated, repeatedly formed leagues to protect their interests against the power of the princes and the nobles, and destructive wars were waged; but no great political issue found solution, the relative position of the parties after each war remaining much what it had been before. On the part of the towns this was mainly due to lack of leadership and of unity of purpose. At the time of the Reformation the imperial towns, like most of the others, stood forward as champions of the new cause and did valu able service in upholding and defending it. After that, however, their political part was played out, mainly because they proved unable to keep up with modern conditions of warfare. It should be stated that seven among the episcopal cities, viz., Cologne, Mainz, Worms, Spires, Strasbourg, Basle and Regensburg, claimed a privileged position as "Free Cities," but neither is the ground for this claim clearly established, nor its nature well defined. The general obligations of the imperial cities towards the empire were the payment of an annual fixed tax and the furnishing of a number of armed men for imperial wars, and from these the above-named towns claimed some measure of exemption. Some of the imperial cities lost their independence at an early date, as unredeemed pledges to some prince who had advanced money to the emperor. Others seceded as members of the Swiss Confederation. But a considerable number survived until the reorganization of the empire in 1803. At the peace in 1815, however, only four were spared, namely, Frankfurt, Bremen, Hamburg and Lubeck, these being practically the only ones still in a sufficiently flourishing and economically independent position to warrant such preferen tial treatment. But finally Frankfurt, having chosen the wrong side in the war of 1866, was annexed by Prussia, and only the three seaboard towns retained the style of Freie and Hansestiidte. But until modern times most of the larger Landstddte or mesne-towns for all intents and purposes were as independent under their lords as the imperial cities were under the emperor. They even followed a foreign policy of their own, concluded treaties with foreign powers or made war upon them. Nearly all the Hanseatic towns belonged to this category. With others like Bremen, Hamburg and Magdeburg, it was long in the balance to which class they belonged. All towns of any importance, however, were for a con siderable time far ahead of the principalities in administration. It was largely this fact that gave them power. When, therefore from about the r 5th century the princely territories came to be better organized much of the raison d'être for the exceptional position held by the towns disappeared. The towns from an early date made it their policy to suppress the exercise of all handicrafts in the open country. On the other hand, they sought an increase of power by extending rights of citizenship to numerous individual inhabitants of the neighbouring villages. By this and other means, e.g., the purchase of estates by citizens, many towns gradually acquired a considerable territory. These tendencies both princes and lesser nobles naturally tried to thwart, and the mediate towns or Landsttidte were finally brought to stricter subjection in the greater principalities such as Austria and Brandenburg. Besides, the less favourably situated towns suffered through the concentra tion of trade in the hands of their more fortunate sisters. But the economic decay and consequent loss of political influence among both imperial and territorial towns must be chiefly ascribed to inner causes.
Commercial Policy.—The period of the rise of cities till well on in the r3th century was naturally a period of expansion and of a considerable amount of freedom of trade. Afterwards, a protectionist spirit gained the upper hand, and each town made it its policy to restrict as far as possible the trade of strangers. In this revolution the rise of the lower strata of the population to power played an important part. The craft-gilds had remained subordinate to the council, but by-and-by they claimed a share in the government of the towns. Originally any inhabitant hold ing a certain measure of land, freehold or subject to the mere nominal ground-rent abovementioned was a full citizen inde pendently of his calling, the clergy and the lord's retainers and servants of whatever rank, who claimed exemption from scot and lot, to use the English formula, alone excepted. The majority of the artisans, however, were not in this happy position. More over, the town council, instead of being freely elected, filled up vacancies by co-optation, with the result that all power became vested in a limited number of rich families. Against this state of things the crafts rebelled, alleging mismanagement, malver sation and the withholding of justice. During the i4th and r 5th centuries revolutions and counter-revolutions, sometimes accom panied by considerable slaughter, were frequent, and a great va riety of more democratic constitutions were tried. Zurich, how ever, is the only German place where a kind of tyrannis, so fre quent in Italy, came to be for a while established. On the whole it must be said that in those towns where the democratic party gained the upper hand an unruly policy abroad and a narrow minded protection at home resulted. An inclination to hasty measures of war and an unwillingness to observe treaties among the democratic towns of Swabia were largely responsible for the disasters of the war of the Swabian League in the r4th century. At home, whereas at first markets had been free and open to any corner, a more and more protective policy set in, traders from other towns being subjected more and more to vexatious restrictions. It was also made increasingly difficult to obtain membership in the craft-gilds, high admission fees and so-called masterpieces being made a condition. Finally, the number of members became fixed, and none but members' sons and sons-in law, or members' widows' husbands were received. The first re sult was the formation of a numerous proletariat of life-long as sistants and of men and women forcibly excluded from following any honest trade ; and the second consequence, the economic ruin of the town to the exclusive advantage of a limited number. From the end of the i 5th century population in many towns decreased, and some once important centres of trade sank to the level al most of villages. Those cities, on the other hand, where the mer cantile community remained in power, like Nuremberg and the seaboard towns, on the whole followed a more enlightened policy, although even they could not quite keep clear of the ever-grow ing protective tendencies of the time. Many even of the richer towns, notably Nuremberg, ran into debt irretrievably, owing partly to an exorbitant expenditure on magnificent public build ings and extensive fortifications, calculated to resist modern in struments of destruction, partly to a faulty administration of the public debt.
One of the principal achievements of the towns lay in the field of legislation. Their law was founded originally on the general national law, or custom, and on special privilege. New founda tions were regularly provided by their lord with a charter em bodying the most important points of the special law of the town in question. This miniature code would thenceforth be developed by means of statutes passed by the town council. The codifica tion of the law of Augsburg in 1276 fills a moderate volume in print (ed. by Christian Meyer, Augsburg, 1872). Later founda tions were frequently affiliated by their founders to the nearest existing town of importance, though that might belong to a dif ferent lord. Afterwards, if a question in law arose which the court of a younger town found itself unable to answer, the court next senior in affiliation was referred to, which in turn would apply to the court above, until at last that of the original mother town was reached, whose decision was final. This system was chiefly developed in the colonial east, where most towns were af filiated directly or indirectly either to Lubeck or to Magdeburg; but it was by no means unknown in Germany proper.
Italy.—To turn to Italy, the country for so many centuries in close political connection with Germany, the foremost thing to be noted is that here the towns grew to even greater independence, many of them in the end acknowledging no overlord whatever after the yoke of the German kings had been shaken off. On the other hand, nearly all of them in the long run fell under the sway of some local tyrant-dynasty.
From Roman times the country had remained thickly studded with towns, each being the seat of a bishop. From this arose their most important peculiarity. For it was largely due to an iden tification of diocese and municipal territories that the nobles of the surrounding country took up their headquarters in the cities, either voluntarily or because forced to do so by the citizens, who made it their policy thus to turn possible opponents into partisans and defenders. In Germany, on the other hand, .nobles and knights were carefully shut out so long as the town's independence was at stake, the members of a princely garrison being required to take up their abode in the citadel, separated from the town proper by a wall. In consequence of this, municipal life in Italy was from the first more complex, the main constituent parts of the population being the greater nobles, the lesser nobles (knights) and the people. Furthermore, the bishops being in most cases the representatives of the imperial power, the struggle for freedom from the latter ended in emancipation from all temporal episcopal government as well. Foremost in this struggle stood the cities of Lombardy, most of which all through the barbarian invasions had kept their walls in repair and maintained some importance as economic centres, and whose popolo largely consisted of mer chants of some standing. As early as the 8th century, the laws of the Lombard King Aistulf distinguished three classes of mer chants (negotiantes), among whom the majores et potentes were required to keep themselves provided with horse, lance, shield and a cuirass. The valley of the Po formed the main artery of trade between western Europe and the East, Milan being besides the point of convergence for all Alpine passes west of the Bren ner. Lombard merchants soon spread all over western Europe, a chief source of their ever-increasing wealth being their employ ment as bankers of the papal see.
The struggle against the bishops, in which a clamour for ec clesiastical reforms and a striving for local self-government were strangely interwoven, had raged for a couple of generations when King Henry V., great patron of municipal freedom as he was, legalized by a series of charters the status quo (Cremona, 1114, Mantua, 1116). But under his weak successors the independence of the cities reached such a pitch as to be intolerable to an ener getic monarch like Frederick I. Therefore in 1158 a commission was appointed embracing four Roman legists as representatives of the emperor, as well as those of 14 towns, to examine into im perial and municipal rights. The claims of the imperial govern ment were acknowledged, only such rights of self-government being admitted as could be shown to be grounded on imperial charters. But when it came to carrying into effect these Roncag lian decrees, a general rising resulted. Milan was besieged by the emperor and destroyed in 1162 in accordance with the verdict of her rivals. Nevertheless, after a defeat at Legnano in 1176 Frederick was forced to renounce all pretensions to interference with the government of the cities, merely retaining an overlordship that was not much more than formal (peace of Constance in 1183). All through this war the towns had been supported by Pope Alexander III. Similarly under Frederick II. the renewal of the struggle between emperor and pope dovetailed with a fresh outbreak of the war with the cities, who feared lest an imperial triumph over the church would likewise threaten their independ ence. The emperor's death finally decided the issue in their favour.
Municipal Government.—Municipal freedom in Italy was based on the formation of a commune headed by elected consuls, usually to the number of 12 representing the three orders of capitani, valvassori and popolo. Frequently, however, the number actually wielding power was much more restricted, and their position altogether may rather be likened to that of their Roman predecessors than to that of their German contemporaries. In all important matters they asked the advice and support of "wise men," as a body called the credenza, while the popular assembly (parlamentum, concio, consilium generate) was the true sovereign. The consuls with the assistance of judices also presided in the law-courts; but besides the consuls of the corn mune, there were consules de placitis specially appointed for juris dictional purposes. In spite of these multifarious safeguards, family and political factions early destroyed the fabric of liberty. Party government was impossible and resort was often had to the appointment as chief magistrate of a podesta from among the nobles or knights of a different part of the country not mixed up with the local feuds. But the end was in most cases the establishment of the despotism of some leading family, such as the Visconti at Milan, the Gonzaga at Mantua, the della Scala in Verona and the Carrara in Padua.
In Tuscany, the historic role of the cities, with the exception of Pisa, begins at a later date, largely owing to the overlordship of the powerful margraves of the house of Canossa and their suc cessors, who here represented the emperor. Nevertheless, corn munes with consuls at their heads were formed in Tuscany much as elsewhere. On the other hand the Tuscan cities managed to pro long the reign of liberty to a much later epoch, no podesta ever quite succeeding here in his attempts to establish the rule of his dynasty. Even when in the i 5th century the Medici attained to power in Florence the form at least of a republic was still main tained, and not till 1531 did one of them, supported by Charles V., assume the ducal title.
Long before the last stage, the rule of signori, was reached, the commune as originally constituted had everywhere undergone radical changes. As early as the i3th century the lower orders in Florence formed an organization under officers of their own, side by side with that of the commune, which was controlled by the great and the rich. Its establishment was followed by numerous constitutional experiments which led to constant disorder and to an occasional reign of terror like that of the Signore Gauthier de Brienne, duke of Athens . It was not till of ter a rising of the lowest order of all, the industrial labourers, had been suppressed in 1378 (tumulto dei Ciompi, the wool-combers), that quieter times ensued under the wise leadership, first of the Albizzi and finally of the Medici.
The history of the other Tuscan towns was equally tumultuous, all of them save Lucca, after many fitful changes, finally pass ing under the sway of Florence, or the grand-duchy of Tuscany, as the State was now called. Pisa, one time the mightiest, had been crushed between its inland neighbour and its maritime rival Genoa (battle of Meloria, 1282).
Venice.—Apart in its constitutional development from all other towns in Italy, and, it might be added, in Europe, stands Venice. Almost alone among Italian cities its origin does not go back to Roman times. It was not till the invasions of Hun and Lombard that fugitives from the Venetian mainland founded a number of small communities under elected tribunes, acknowl edging as their sovereign the emperor at Constantinople. Just before or after A.D. 70o the young republic seems to have thrown off the rule of the Byzantine dux Histriae et Venetiae and elected a duke (doge) of its own, in whom was vested the executive power, the right to convoke the popular assembly (concio) and appoint tribunes and justices. Political unity was thus estab lished. In 1032 it was provided that no duke might appoint his successor or procure him to be elected during his own lifetime. Besides this two councils were appointed without whose consent nothing of importance was to be done. After the murder by the people of Duke Vitale Michiel in 1172, the ancient popular meet ing was replaced by a great council of from 450 to 48o members elected annually by special appointed electors in equal proportion from each of the six wards. One of the functions of this body was to appoint most of the State officials or their electors. There was also an executive council of six, one member from each ward. Besides these, the duke, who was henceforward chosen for life by a body of 11 electors from among the aristocracy, would in vite persons of prominence (the pregadi) in order to secure their assent and co-operation whenever a measure of importance was to be placed before the great council. Only under extraordinary circumstances was the concio to be summoned. In order to con trol the executive the avvogadori di commune were appointed. After 1310, this body developed into the Council of Ten (Consig lio dei Dieci), from which the State inquisition arose in the i6th century. The general tendency of constitutional development in Venice henceforward ran in an exactly opposite direction to that of all other Italian cities, towards a growing restriction of popular rights, until in 1296 the great council was for all future time closed to all but the descendants of a limited number of noble families, whose names were in that year entered in the Golden Book.
The marked steadiness in the evolution of the Venetian constitution is no doubt largely due to the fact that in Venice the nobility was entirely commercial. Elsewhere the presence of large numbers of turbulent country nobles furnished the first germ for the unending dissensions which ruined such promising begin nings. In Venice, on the contrary, its businesslike habits of mind led the ruling class to make what concessions might seem needful, while both the masses and the head of the State were kept in due subjection to the laws. Too much stability, however, finally changed into stagnation, and the constitution proved too rigid to deal effectively with the many problems which confronted the government under the changed conditions of the i6th century.
The cities of southern Italy do not here call for special atten tion. Several of them developed a certain amount of independ ence and free institutions, and took an important part in trade with the East, notably so Amalfi. But, after incorporation in the Norman kingdom, all individual history for them came to an end. (For Rome, see separate article.) France.— In no other country is there such a clear grouping of the towns on geographical lines as in France, these geographical lines, of course, having in the first instance been drawn by his torical causes. Another feature is the extent to which, in the unruly times preceding the civic movement, serfdom had spread among the inhabitants even of the towns throughout the greater part of the country, and the application of feudal ideas to town govern ment. In some other respects the constitution of the cities in the south of France has more in common with that of the Italian communes, and that of the northern French towns with those of Germany, than the constitutions of the various groups of French towns have with each other.
In the group of the villes consulaires, comprising all important towns in the south, the executive was, as in Italy, in the hands of a body of consules, whose number in most cases rose to 12. They were elected for the term of one year and re-eligible only after an interval, and they were supported by a municipal coun cil which, however, as a rule was far from comprising the whole body of citizens. Another feature which these southern towns had in common with their Italian neighbours was the prominent part played by the native nobility. The relations with the clergy were generally of a more friendly character than in the north, and in some cases the bishop or archbishop even retained a con siderable influence in the management of the town's affairs. Dis sensions among the citizens, or between the nobles and the bour geois, frequently ended in the adoption of a podestat. In sev eral cities of the Languedoc, each of the two classes composing the population retained its separate laws and customs. The in fluence of Roman law is shown by the statuts municipaux of many southern towns. In the improvement and expansion of these statutes a remarkable activity was displayed by means of an an nual correctio statutorum carried out by specially appointed statutores. In the north, on the other hand, the Carta communiae, forming as it were the basis of the commune's existence, seems to have been considered almost as something sacred and un changeable.
The constitutional history of the communes in northern France in a number of points widely differed from that of these villes consulaires. Their origin was often the result of a revolution. These revolutions were in the first place directed against the bishops ; but the higher clergy and the nobility were here distinctly more hostile to the aspirations of the citizens than in the south. As a result the clergy and the nobles were excluded from all mem bership of the commune, except that those residing in the town might be required to swear not to conspire against it. The com mune was formed by an oath of mutual help. The members were usually described as jurati although in some communes that term was reserved for the members of the governing body. None but men of free and legitimate birth, and free from debt and conta gious or incurable disease were received. The members of the governing body were styled jures pairs or echevins. The last was, however, as in Germany, more properly the title of the jurors in the court of justice, which in many cases remained in the hands of the lord. In some cases the town council developed out of this body ; but in the larger cities, like Rouen, several councils worked and all these names were employed side by side. The number of the members of the governing body proper varies from 12 to and its functions were both judicial and administrative. The most striking distinction, however, as against the villes con sulaires was the elevation of the president of the body to the po sition of maire or mayeur (sometimes also called prevot, prae positus). As elsewhere, at first none but the civic aristocracy were admitted to take part in the management of the town's affairs; but from the end of the i 3th century a share had to be conceded to representatives of the crafts. Dissatisfaction, however, was not easily allayed ; the lower orders applied for the intervention of the king; and that effectively put an end to political freedom. This tendency of calling in State help marks a most striking dif ference from the policy followed by the German towns, where all classes appear to have been always far too jealous of local inde pendence. The result for the nation was in the one case despotism, equality and order, in the other individual liberty and an inability to move as a whole. At an early stage the king had frequently come to the assistance of the communes in their struggle with their lords, and his confirmation came to be considered neces sary for their lawful existence. This proved a powerful lever for the extension of the king's authority. It is strange that in France the towns never had recourse to those inter-urban leagues which played so important a part in Italian and in German history.
The Villes Franches.—These two varieties, the communes and the villes consulaires, together form the group of villes libres. As opposed to these stand the villes franches, also called villes prevotales after the chief officer, villes de bourgeoisie or villes soumises. They make up by far the majority of French towns, comprising all those situated in the centre of the kingdom, and also a large number in the north and the south. They are called villes franches on account of their possessing a franchise, a charter limiting the services due by the citizen to their lord ; but political status they had little or none. According to the varying extent of the liberties conceded them, there may be distinguished towns governed by an elective body and more or less fully authorized to exercise jurisdiction; towns possessing some sort of municipal organization, but no rights of jurisdiction, except that of simple police ; and, thirdly, those governed entirely by seignorial officers. To this last class belonged some of the most important cities in France, wherever the king had power enough to withhold liberties deemed dangerous and unnecessary. On the other hand, towns of the first category often came close to the villes libres. A strict line of demarcation, however, remained in the mutual oath which formed the basis of the civic community in both varieties of the latter, and in the fact that the ville libre stood to its lord in the relation of vassal and not in that of an immediate posses sion. But however com pletement assujettie Paris might be, its organization, naturally, was immensely more complex than that of hundreds of smaller places which, formally, might stand in an identical relationship to their lords. Like other villes franches, under the king, Paris was governed by a prevot (provost), but certain functions of self-government for the city were delegated to the company of the marchands de l'eau, that is, the gild of merchants whose business lay down the river Seine, to the citizens as such. At their head stood a prevot des marchands and four echevins de la marchandise. Other prud'/iommes were occasionally called in, and from 1296 prevot and echevins appointed 24 councillors to form with themselves a parloir aux bourgeois. The crafts of Paris were organized in métiers, whose masters were ap pointed, some by the prevot de Paris, and some by certain great officers of the court. In the tax rolls of A.D. I292 to 130o no fewer than 448 names of crafts occur, while the Livre des métiers writ ten in 1268 by Etienne de Boileau, then prevot de Paris, enumer ates toi organized bodies of tradesmen or women and artisans. Among the duties of these bodies, as elsewhere, was the guet or night-watch, which necessitated a military organization under quartainiers, cinquantainiers and dixainiers. This gave them a certain power. But both their revolutions, under the prevot des marchands, Etienne Marcel, after the battle of Maupertuis, and again in 1382, were extremely short-lived, and the only tangible result was a stricter subjection to the king and his officers.
In the Spanish peninsula, the chief importance of the numerous small towns lay in the part they played as fortresses during the unceasing wars with the Moors. The kings therefore extended special privileges (fueros) to the inhabitants, and they were even at an early date admitted to representation in the Cortes. Of greater individual importance than all the rest was Barcelona. Already in 1068 Count Berengarius gave the city a special law (usatici) based on its ancient usages, and from the 14th century its commercial code became influential all over southern Europe.
The constitutipns of the Scandinavian towns were largely mod elled on those of Germany, but the towns never attained any thing like the same independence. Their dependence on the royal government most strongly comes out in the fact of their being uniformly regulated by royal law in each of the three kingdoms. In Sweden particularly, German merchants by law took an equal share in the government of the towns. In Denmark their influ ence was also great, and only in Norway did they remain in the position of foreigners in spite of their famous settlement at Ber gen. The details, as well as those of the German settlement at Wisby and on the east coast of the Baltic, belong rather to the history of the Hanseatic League (q.v.). Denmark appears to be the only one of the three kingdoms where gilds at an early date played a part of importance.