Municipal charter

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A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (charter) establishing a municipality such as a city or town. A charter is a municipal constitution, establishing the structure and powers of the local government. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally, the granting of a charter gave a settlement and its inhabitants the right to town privileges under the feudal system. Townspeople who lived in chartered towns were burghers, as opposed to serfs who lived in villages. Towns were often "free", in the sense that they were directly protected by the king or emperor, and were not part of a feudal fief. Modern city charters are often granted to major cities and economic centres for the purpose of adapting their municipal governments to the needs of a major city, often granting them additional powers relative to the general-law municipalities, which may also be organized differently.

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