The burgher was called a city dweller in medieval Western Europe, mainly in Germany. These people left peasant labor and made craft their main occupation.
At the turn of the X-XI centuries in Europe there were mass shoots from the villages of craftsmen, dissatisfied with the high rent of feudal lords. These people settled at the intersection of the main roads, near convenient sea harbors, near river crossings, and were engaged in their craft. Over time, settlements grew, both peasants and merchants came to artisans for the necessary products. So the city was founded with the first burghers.
Burgher development
Craftsmen owned workshops and workshops, produced their products and had their own money. At an early stage in the development of cities, the urban community freely accepted new residents into its composition, helping feudal-dependent peasants gain freedom. Gradually, burgherism became an influential force in society. Mandatory features of the burgher state were personal freedom, exclusive jurisdiction to the city court and the right to dispose of their property. Medieval cities were small in size, rarely when the number of inhabitants exceeded ten thousand people. But in each settlement there was a senior burgher - the burgomaster, the head of self-government.
