The word commune comes from two Latin words meaning together and wall. The communes were cities or towns that were walled for defense by organizations that were neither based on the church nor the nobility, and so were usually mercantile. Some of them used a primitive form of democracy for government.
Europe
In many places, the economic and political life was dominated by guilds of merchants and tradesmen. The domination was profound enough that there were many medieval towns and cities of a type called communes (commonwealths might be a better way of putting it in modern English), and the communes were run as republican cities, some within monarchies, and some independent.
Medieval towns did were not designed so much as they developed by happenstance. There were some exceptions, including walled communities, in which the question of what was inside and what was outside the walls became very important. The walls were usually planned either by a local lord, in the case of feudal towns, or by a guild or set of guilds, in the case of medieval communes.
The aspect of apartheid which set aside the homelands for Black Africans in the Republic of South Africa was similar to the Medieval Manors policy in western Europe.
Denmark has 98 communes.
Loci Communes was created in 1543.
William Francis Thomas Butler has written: 'Lombard Communes: A History of the Republics of North Italy' -- subject(s): Accessible book 'Confiscation in Irish history' 'The Lombard communes' -- subject(s): History, Cities and towns, Holy Roman Empire, Medieval Cities and towns 'The Lombard communes' -- subject(s): History, Cities and towns, Lombardy
The word commune comes from two Latin words meaning together and wall. The communes were cities or towns that were walled for defense by organizations that were neither based on the church nor the nobility, and so were usually mercantile. Some of them used a primitive form of democracy for government.
in history
The cast of The Year of the Communes - 1970 includes: Rod Steiger as Narrator
Europe
Communes
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.
In many places, the economic and political life was dominated by guilds of merchants and tradesmen. The domination was profound enough that there were many medieval towns and cities of a type called communes (commonwealths might be a better way of putting it in modern English), and the communes were run as republican cities, some within monarchies, and some independent.
The Israelites communicated using Ambassadors.
Most medieval European cities were located in places that had easy access to water transportation. They were mostly either on rivers or at bays.