Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Citizen
(1,174 words)

1. Definition

The term citizen describes two different concepts: (1) the fully entitled, consistently male inhabitant of a (privileged) town in old European (feudal) society (urban bourgeoisie), and (2) the holder of a national citizenship. The equivalent term in German, Bürger, also implies (3) a member of the propertied and educated bourgeoisie or Bildungsbürgertum (“educated bourgeousie”) of the 19th and early 20th century, which were sometimes legally…

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Bruckmüller, Ernst, “Citizen”, 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 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_017892>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160907



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