ABSTRACT

A key notion for understanding the degree a person belonged to and was integrated into a medieval urban community is the right to citizenship (in Dubrovnik’s sources, civilitas, cittadinancia). Only after defining the notion of belonging can one define the notions of not-belonging and partial belonging. Medieval society is generally considered to be a society of orders which the French Revolution swept away with the aim of creating a civic society. But, in fact, medieval European urban societies also had a notion of citizenship.1 The definition of citizenship was not necessarily ethnic or state-based, but there were clear boundaries between full citizens, residents of the city, residents of the surrounding area and foreigners.2 Beside the legal significance, citizenship included the concept of values, identity and taking part in the life of a community. Together with some basic inherent criteria there were several differences, too. Thus the notion of civic rights does not mean exactly the same in different parts of medieval Europe. One should also bear in mind the historical aspect of the citizenship – its meaning continued to change from the early communal period to the late Middle Ages.