The Worlds of Katherine Kurtz

On Discord,  an interesting subject came up about what duchy the city of Rhemuth fell under. Was is Carthane, as Rhemuth had been the capital of the Carthanus Province of old Ruman times? Or was it Haldane, as Aidan Haldane, the second King of Gwynedd had moved the capital of Gwynedd from Valoret to Rhemuth in the year 674? An answer that had not been presented before came up this morning. Rhemuth was likely a Charter city as London had become in the 12th century. Not knowing exactly what a Charter City was, I found this web site:
http://www.england-history.org/2012/10/the-towns-charter/ (http://www.england-history.org/2012/10/the-towns-charter/)

QuoteMost  of  the  English  towns  grew  up  on  the  land  belonging  to  the  king.  The  king  was  too  powerful  for  the  townspeople  to  begin  an  open  struggle  against  him. ...  The  merchants  and  craftsmen  agreed  to  pay  for  the  use  of  land  in  money  instead  of  services.  Bit  by  bit  the  townspeople  gained  other  rights  in  exchange  for  money  payments.

In  return  for  the  money  paid,  the  king  would  grant  the  townspeople  a  charter.  This  was  a  written  agreement  listing  the  things  the  townspeople  could  do  without  asking  permission  from  the  king.  Some  towns  paid  a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  charter  only  once,  others  had  to  make  a  certain  payment  every  year.

The  charter  stated  that  the  townsmen  were  free  from  the  services  they  had  formerly  rendered  and  they  had  the  right  to  choose  their  own  council  with  a  chairman  at  the  head  who  was  called  the  mayor.  The  charter  granted  to  London  in  1215  stated:  "Know  you  that  we  have  granted  to  our  citizens  of  our  city  of  London  that  they  may  elect  for  themselves  a  mayor  of  themselves  every  year  who  shall  be  faithful  to  us  ...  and  that  it  shall  be  lawful  to  them  to  remove  him  at  the  end  of  the  year,  and  substitute  another  if  they  so  wish,  or  retain  the  same  man."  ...  Now  the  townsmen  had  their  own  judges  who  administered  justice  in  the  town  and  their  own  officials  who  collected  the  dues  for  the  king.

So what do you think about Rhemuth being a charter town? Did Rhemuth have a Lord Mayor? I don't know if KK ever broached this subject. Would there be other towns with Charters. I am wondering if Culdi was a Charter town where the noblemen had private estates within the city. We know Alaric Morgan owns an estate within the city; he was going to have it be part of Bronwyn's dowry. Any Ideas?

Excellent question! I'd think that the larger cities-- Valoret and Rhemuth --would have a Lord Mayor and a city government, if only so that the royal bureaucracy wouldn't have to deal with local issues and tie up lots of clerks and officials who could be of use elsewhere.