The extent of citizenship in pre-industrial England, Germany, and the Low Countries

Abstract

Citizenship was the main vehicle through which urban authorities granted political and economic rights to their communities. This article estimates the size of the citizenry and citizenship rates for over 30 European towns and cities between 1550 and 1849. While the extent of citizenship varied between European regions and by city size, our estimates show that citizenship was more accessible than previously thought.

Urban Political Structure and Inequality: Political Economy Lessons from Early Modern German Cities

“…Urban historiography has another, more fundamental, unanswered question: were urban political elites benevolent oligarchs? In preindustrial towns, local authorities were usually more important than central authorities in matters of commerce, work, and life in general (Minns et al 2020). Most cities in Germany and Europe had an oligarchic political structure (Pirenne 1958), without substantial formal checks on the rulers through popular participation in elections and possibilities for holding politicians accountable.…”