Medieval communes in the European
Middle Ages had sworn allegiances of mutual defense (both physical defense and of traditional freedoms) among the citizens of a town or city. They took many forms, and varied widely in organization and makeup. Communes are first recorded in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, thereafter becoming a widespread phenomenon. They had the greater development in central-northern
Italy, where they were real
city-states based on partial
democracy, while in
Germany they became
free cities, independent from local nobility.