|
CITY (through Fr. cite, from See also: United See also: Kingdom, strictly speaking, " city " is an honorary title, officially applied to those towns which, in virtue of some pre-See also: eminence (e.g. as episcopal See also: sees, or See also: great See also: industrial centres), have by traditional usage or royal charter acquired the right to the designation
.
In the United Kingdom the official See also: style of " city " does not necessarily involve the possession of municipal power greater than those of the ordinary boroughs, nor indeed the possession of a corporation at all (e.g
.
See also: Ely)
.
In the United States and the See also: British colonies, on the other See also: hand, the official application of the See also: term " city " depends on the kind and extent of the municipal privileges possessed by the corporations, and charters are given raising towns to the See also: rank of cities
.
Both in See also: France and See also: England the word is used to distinguish the older and central nucleus of some of the large towns, e.g. the Cite in See also: Paris, and the " square mile " under the jurisdiction of the See also: lord mayor which is the " City of See also: London."
In See also: common usage, however, the word implies no more than a somewhat vague idea of See also: size and dignity, and is loosely applied to any large centre of population
.
Thus while, technically, the City of London is quite small, London is yet properly de-scribed as the largest city in the See also: world
.
In the United States this use of the word is still more loose, and any See also: town, whether technically a city or not, is usually so designated, with little regard to its actual size or importance
.
It is clear from the above that the word " city " is incapable of any very clear and inclusive definition, and the attempt to show that historically it possesses a meaning that clearly differentiates it from " town " or " See also: borough " has led to some controversy
.
As the See also: translation of the See also: Greek 'rods or Latin civilas it involves the See also: ancient conception of the See also: state or " city-state," i.e. of the state as not too large to prevent its See also: government through the See also: body of the citizens assembled in the See also: agora, and is applied not to the place but to the whole body politic
.
From this conception both the word and its dignified See also: connotation are without doubt historically derived
.
On the occupation of See also: Gaul the Gallic states and tribes were called civitates by the See also: Romans,
4 An See also: oval cittern and a ghittern, See also: side by side, occur in the beautiful 13th-century See also: Spanish MS. known as Cantigas de See also: Santa Maria in the See also: Escorial
.
For a See also: fine facsimile in See also: colours see See also: marquis de Valmar, Real
.
Acad
.
Esq., publ. by L
.
See also: Aguado (See also: Madrid, 1889)
.
Reproductions in black and See also: white in Juan F
.
Riano, Critical and
See also: Bibliog
.
Notes on Early Spanish See also: Music (London, 1887)
.
See also K
.
Schlesinger, op. cit. fig
.
167, p
.
223, also boat-shaped citterns, See also: figs
.
155 and 156, p
.
197 . Cittern with woman's See also: head, 15th century, on one of six bas-reliefs on the under parts of the seats of the choir of the Priory See also: church, Great
See also: Malvern, reproduced in J
.
See also: Carter's Ancient Sculptures, &c., vol. ii. pl. following p
.
12
.
Another without a head, ibid. pl. following p
.
16, from a See also: brass monumental See also: plate in St See also: Margaret's, See also: King's
See also: Lynn
.
Historia utriusque Cosmi (See also: Oppenheim, ed
.
1617) i
.
226
.
Persian alnd Arabic
Kithara
Moorishl Guitra, Cuitra or Guitarra
Persian Rebab
Arab Rebab See also: European
Rebec
and subsequently the name was confined to the chief towns of the various administrative districts
.
These were also the seats of the bishops
.
It is thus affirmed that in France from the 5th to the 15th century the name civitas or cite was confined to such towns as were episcopal sees, and Du Cange (See also: Gloss. s.v. civitas) defines that word as urbs episcopalis, and states that other towns were termed castra or oppida
.
How far any such distinction can be sharply See also: drawn may be doubted
.
With regard to England no definite See also: line can be drawn between those towns to which the name civitas or cite is given in See also: medieval documents and those called burgi or boroughs (see J
.
H
.
Round, Feudal England, p
.
338; F
.
W
.
See also: Maitland, Domesday See also: Book and After, p
.
183)
.
It was, however, maintained by See also: Coke and See also: Blackstone that a city is a town incorporate which is or has been the see of a See also: bishop
.
It is true, indeed, that the actual sees in England all have a formal right to the title; the boroughs erected into episcopal sees by See also: Henry VIII. thereby became " cities "; but towns such as
See also: Thetford, See also: Sherborne and Dorchester are never so designated, though they are regularly incorporated and were once episcopal sees
.
On the other hand, it has only been since the latter See also: part of the loth century that the official style of "city" has, in the United Kingdom, been conferred by royal authority on certain important towns which were not episcopal sees, See also: Birmingham in 1889 being the first to be so distinguished
.
It is interesting to note that London, besides 27 boroughs, now contains two cities, one (the City of London) outside, the other (the City of See also: Westminster) included in the administrative county
.
For the See also: history of the origin and development of See also: modern city government see BoxouGH and COMMUNE: Medieval
.
|
|
|
[back] CITTERN (also CITHERN, CITHRON, CYTHREN, CITIIAREN,... |
[next] CIUDAD |
There are no comments yet for this article.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.
Links to articles and home page are encouraged.