The medieval towns were located on lands owned by feud al lords and were thus under their rule ; initially the feudal tract the greatest possible profit from it . That is why the bud ding town bodies of self – government had to enter into a conflict with the feudal lords . In the struggle to establish the rights of the town commun ity the entire population would rise up against the feudal lord . The outcome of thiş struggle determined the political structure of the town and its further dependence upon the feudal lord , from the right of the citizens to collect taxes to complete self – government . The self – governing towns , which became independent political units ( in France they were called communes ) , had their own courts , garrisons , finances , etc. The inhabitants of a city – commune were exempt from paying the usual taxes to the feudal lord . In Western Europe the self – governing city – republics first appeared in Italy , France , the Netherlands and , later , in Ger many in the 11th – 12th centuries ) . In the 11th century Nov gorod Veliky was a distinctive republic in Rus . Many towns , especially those which had arisen on royal lands , did not receive the right to self – government as com munes but enjoyed a number of privileges and freedoms . The elected town bodies acted jointly with representatives of the feudal lord or the royal officials . The town council was the supreme elected body in the towns ; it mustered the local guard , controlled the crafts and issued various ordinances . An elected citizen headed the town council . In France and England he was called a mayor , in Germany a burgomaster , etc. Small towns which had neither the necessary military force nor the means to oppose the feud al lord remained under the jurisdiction of the latter . One feature all the towns had in common was the fact that the inhabitants had achieved personal freedom . Any peasant who had lived in a town for a year and a day became a free man .In Asia the towns also fought against the feudal lords but , as a rule , these bitter struggles usually ended in the defeat of the former ; the inhabitants were thus unable to achieve self – government .