A Burgrecht (''ius burgense, ius civile'') was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

agreement, most commonly in southern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and northern

German-speaking Switzerland The German-speaking part of Switzerland (german: Deutschschweiz, french: Suisse alémanique, it, Svizzera tedesca, rm, Svizra tudestga) comprises about 65 percent of Switzerland (North Western Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Central Switze ...

. It came to refer to an agreement between a town and surrounding settlements or to include the specific rights held by a city or town. The word ''Burgrecht'' is first used by the St. Gall monk Notker the German in about 1000 AD to refer to the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

civil law. Later, in the southern German region, it came to refer to inheritance laws and the rights that were tied to specific castle or town. In the territory, that would become Switzerland, starting in the 13th century, the term ''Burgrecht'' began to expand. It grew to mean any agreement between a town with other towns, monasteries, individuals (especially nobles with domination and ownership rights), organizations or personal corporations covenants and agreements that include a citizenship clause. These agreements could be indefinite or limited and renewable. The oath of citizenship with which the ''Burgrecht'' was sealed gave this agreement special weight in comparison to other alliances. The ''Verburgrechteten'' (those covered by the ''Burgrecht'' agreement) were allowed to enjoy, often limited, citizenship privileges including military and court protection as well as market access. The town or city received additional influence outside its borough and better coverage of their markets. The distribution of duties and rights in ''Burgrecht'' treaties reflects the power relationship between the parties.

References

{{Authority control Legal history of the Holy Roman Empire Legal history of Switzerland Medieval law