ABSTRACT
The urban communities of medieval Scotland were defined by law as much as economics. The oldest of the burghs dated from the twelfth century and were founded by charters from the king or other lords which conferred legal rights on the new town. These rights extended, not just within the burgh but over a surrounding liberty or trading monopoly, while burgesses could demand that when facing less serious accusations beyond their burgh, they could be judged before their burgess court. From the start, then, burghs were self-conscious legal communities distinct from other parts of the kingdom. The burgh of Peebles in southern Scotland provides an example of a well- established but relatively small urban community in fifteenth-century Scotland. Peebles was founded by King David I in the first half of the twelfth century.
