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Grand Burgher () or Grand Burgheress () (from German: Großbürger (), Großbürgerin ()) is a specific conferred or inherited title of medieval German origin and legally defined preeminent status granting exclusive constitutional privileges and legal rights (German: ''Großbürgerrecht''),〔Titel: Lehrbuch des teutschen Privatrechts; Landrecht und Lehnrecht enthaltend. Vom Geheimen Rath Schmalz zu Berlin. Theodor von Schmalz, Berlin, 1818, bei Duncker und Humblot. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in München. (English: Textbook of German Private Law; containing State Law and Feudal Law. By Privy Counsellor Schmalz of Berlin. Theodor von Schmalz, Berlin, 1818, Duncker and Humblot.) p. 46, 188 et al., in German, Bavarian State Library in Munich.〕 who were magnates and subordinate only to the Emperor, independent of feudalism and territorial nobility or lords paramount.〔〔Title: The Works of M. de Voltaire (translated from the French with Notes, Historical and Critical by T. Smollett, M.D., T. Francklin, M.A., and Others). Vol. 22, London, Publisher J. Newbery, 1763, General History, of Nobility, p. 155—167.〕 A member class within the patrician ruling elite,〔〔Wörterbuch der schweizerdeutschen Sprache, Schweizerisches Idiotikon - Dictionary of the Swiss German Language, Verlag Huber Frauenfeld, Frauenfeld, Switzerland, 1881, Volume IV, Page 1584, in German.〕 the Grand Burgher was a type of urban citizen and social order of highest rank,〔〔 a formally defined ''upper'' social class of affluent individuals and elite ''burgher'' families in medieval German-speaking city-states and towns under the Holy Roman Empire, who usually were of a wealthy business or significant mercantile background and estate.〔〔 This hereditary title and influential constitutional status, privy to very few individuals and families across Central Europe, formally existed well into the late 19th century and early part of the 20th century.〔 In autonomous German-speaking cities and towns of Central Europe that held a municipal charter, town privileges (German town law) or were a free imperial city such as Hamburg, Augsburg, Cologne and Bern that held imperial immediacy, where nobility had no power of authority or supremacy, the Grand Burghers (Großbürger) or patricians ("Patrizier") constituted the ruling class.〔 ==Hierarchy== Since before the 15th century the group of legally coequal "burghers" started to split into three different groups: hereditary grand-burghers, ordinary burghers termed petty-burghers (German ''Kleinbürger'' or simply ''Bürger'') made up largely of artisans, tradesman, business owners, merchants, shopkeepers and others who were obliged according to city or town constitution to acquire the ordinary petty-burghership,〔〔〔Free Trade and its Reception 1815-1960: Freedom and trade, Volume 1, Andrew Marisson, Routledge Explorations in Economic History, London and New York, 1998, p. 110—111.〕 and non-burghers, the latter being merely "inhabitants" or otherwise resident aliens without specific legal rights in the territorial jurisdiction of a city or town and largely consisted of the working class, foreign or migrant workers and other civil employees who were neither able nor eligible to acquire the ordinary petty-burghership.〔〔〔Willi Albers, Anton Zottmann, ''Organisation bis Sozialhilfe und Sozialhilfegesetz'', Volume 6 of ''Handwörterbuch der Wirtschaftswissenschaften (HdWW)'', 1988, p. 681〕 Burghership in general gave a person the right to exist in the territorial jurisdiction of the city-state or town of burghership, be an active member of its society, acquire real estate, pursue their specified economic activity or occupation, access social protection and participate in municipal affaires amongst many other exclusive constitutional rights, privileges, exemptions and immunities, especially that of the "grand" burghership (German: ''Großbürgerschaft'').〔〔 Grand Burghers held rich historical and cultural roles created and expanded over the decades, including union with other families of the same eminent status and branches of nobility, Grand Burghers were often of such extraordinary wealth and significant economic importance that they far exceeded the wealth and influence of even the most highest-ranking members of nobility, the latter often sought inter-marriage with elite grand-burgher families to maintain their noble lifestyles. The names of the individuals and families is generally known in the city or town where they lived, and in many cases, their ancestors had contributed to regional history. The conferred grand-burghership was in most instances hereditary in both their male and female family descendants, and a hereditary title or rank stated as the person's occupation in records.〔〔〔 In Hamburg for example only the Grand Burghers were privileged to full unrestricted freedom of large-scale trade, including unrestricted foreign import and export trade, were allowed to entertain a bank account, as well as be elected to the Senate of Hamburg, amongst other privileges.〔〔Matthias Wegner: ''Hanseaten'', Berlin 1999, S. 34: ''„In Hamburg wurde sehr genau zwischen dem großen und dem kleinen Bürgerrecht unterschieden, und nur wer dank seiner ökonomischen Verhältnisse imstande war, das große Bürgerrecht zu erwerben, verfügte über die uneingeschränkte Handels- und Gewerbefreiheit, durfte in den Senat, die Bürgerschaft und andere Ämter gewählt werden – und das waren nur wenige.“''〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Grand Burgher」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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