ABSTRACT
From independent Italian city-states to northern European royal boroughs, towns have been the political centres of Europe. With the city wall not only as a marker of defence but also serving to delimit the extent of the town’s own legislation and political institutions, European towns were intense political places with specific political cultures and civic identities. 1 Political institutions, political culture and forms of political influence operate within a wide spread of variation, but belonging to the town in different ways has been a prerequisite to rights, resources and influence. This part of the handbook investigates the different gendered ways in which this belonging has been negotiated, created, demanded and used. Through this, it explores different political cultures connecting to formal or informal political institutions, spaces and means of influence.
