Charter (1,014 words)
Charters are written records composed and certified under certain conditions and the content of which is a process which is legal in nature. For the period up to the 14th century, in the absence of other archive sources they are the most important so-called written remains of the past. The Middle Ages is accordingly called the ‘age of charters’ and the early modern period the ‘age of documents’ [2. 81 f.].
A distinction is made between imperial, royal, papal and private charters, the term private charter including all such charters that were not issued by king, em…
Cite this page
Krauer, Rezia and
Sonderegger, Stefan,
“Charter”, in:
Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012.
Consulted online on 06 December 2020 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_029423>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160907
▲ Back to top ▲