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Burghers or town council: who was responsible for urban stability in early modern German towns?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2007

JOACHIM EIBACH
JOACHIM EIBACH
Affiliation:
Universität Bern, Historisches Institut, Länggassstrasse 49, CH-3000 Bern 9, Switzerland
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Abstract

In the free towns of Germany we can observe a fundamental shift in the maintenance of urban stability. Whereas in late medieval towns the burghers themselves were responsible for the settlement of conflicts, the town council took over control in a long-ranging process. Burghers lost their traditional right to bear arms in public. Burghers and other town dwellers could henceforth call upon the guards of the council or take a case to law in order to settle a dispute. As a consequence petty conflicts in the public sphere became less ritualized.

Type
Research Article
Information
Urban History , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , May 2007 , pp. 14 - 26
Copyright
© 2007 Cambridge University Press

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