What was the relationship between communes and feudalism?

Answer 1

Medieval communes were free communities, usually run by guilds. They often existed by special license from the monarch or other such authority, and were market towns or cities. Under such circumstances, they stood rather apart from the feudal system, which governed the rural territories around them. These communes might nominally have had local lords, but the powers of the lords were very much reduced, and they sometimes had no relationship to the community aside from an empty title. The highest lord of such a commune might have been a king or emperor, as they were part of a country, to which they owed support and loyalty, just as though they were, for example, counties.

In some places, the communes were independent city-states. This was often the case in northern Italy, where they achieved their highest development. These communes were nearly unrelated to feudal countries, except as trading partners. As one example, Venice became independent early on. As another example, later, Milan led a league of northern Italian cities in a rebellion against the Holy Roman Empire, and gained independence as a republic.

Leagues of communes, towns, and cities, formed during the Middle Ages. The form of government of the communities in the leagues did not have to be uniform, and they did not even have to be in the same country. Such leagues could have their own military organizations, if needed, and these were independent of the national governments as well. The Hanseatic league is an example.

There is a link below to an article on the medieval communes.