SOCIETY — 124/262 — Burghers
In medieval times, the relationships between town and village inhabitants were not very good. Townspeople (not just those fully enjoying municipal rights, but also the poor) considered themselves superior to the rural farmers. This was often true due to their significantly higher profits from trade and business. Towns served as economic and cultural centres, while the countryside provided goods and, most importantly, food. In a medieval town, the best plots around the square and market were owned by wealthy councillors and merchants. Artisans lived around them, and the poor lived near the walls. Townspeople's livelihood mainly came from trade, crafts, and many associated professions, and they went to the market for food, just as they do today. According to some sources, Prague could have had around 40,000 inhabitants during the reign of Charles IV. London at the same time had about 80,000. Paris was comparable to Prague, although the Czech city covered a larger area. Nobles did not live in towns; they resided in their own estates.
TRIVIA
— Around 15th century, groups of burghers in some places began to locally split into different groups, such as in the case of German burghers; Grand Burghers/Grand Burgheress. They were magnates subordinate only to the monarch, and independent of feudalism and territorial nobility or local lords. These three groups were separated into: hereditary grand-burghers, ordinary burghers (petty-burghers), and non-burghers. The petty-burghers were urban dwellers employed in various skilled trades, industries, and commerce, as well as town and suburban residents employed in farming, gardening, fruit growing, etc. They were also largely artisans, tradesman, small business owners, merchants, shopkeepers, and others who were required by city or town constitutions to acquire the petty-burghership. Non-burghers, on the other hand, were merely "inhabitants" or resident foreigners without specific legal rights in the territorial jurisdiction of a city or town. This group mostly consisted of the working class, foreign or migrant workers, and other civil employees who were not eligible for petty-burghership. What burghership granted a person was the right to exist within the territorial jurisdiction of the city-state or town of burghership. It allowed them to participate as active members of its society, acquire real estate, pursue specific economic activity or occupation, access social protection, and participate in municipal affairs.
On the other hand, Grand Burghers held rich historical and cultural roles that were created and expanded over the decades. They were often of such extraordinary wealth that they far exceeded the wealth and influence of even the highest-ranking members of the nobility.
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