Burgh of regality
Encyclopedia
A burgh
of regality is a type of Scottish town.
They were distinct from royal burgh
s as they were granted to "lords of regality", leading noblemen. (In distinction, burghs of barony
were granted to a tenant-in-chief, a landowner who held his estates directly from the crown, and had fewer civil and criminal law powers). They were created between 1450 and 1707, and conferred upon the landowner varying trading rights, such as the right to hold weekly markets or to trade overseas.
Burghs of regality possessed higher jurisdictional rights in liberam regalitatem, amounting to complete criminal jurisdiction except for treason
. These rights were abolished by the Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746
, after which the Burghs enjoyed only the jurisdictional rights of burghs of barony.
The titles are redundant today but remain in descriptive use.
Burgh
A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...
of regality is a type of Scottish town.
They were distinct from royal burgh
Royal burgh
A royal burgh was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished in 1975, the term is still used in many of the former burghs....
s as they were granted to "lords of regality", leading noblemen. (In distinction, burghs of barony
Burgh of barony
A burgh of barony is a type of Scottish town .They were distinct from royal burghs as the title was granted to a tenant-in-chief, a landowner who held his estates directly from the crown....
were granted to a tenant-in-chief, a landowner who held his estates directly from the crown, and had fewer civil and criminal law powers). They were created between 1450 and 1707, and conferred upon the landowner varying trading rights, such as the right to hold weekly markets or to trade overseas.
Burghs of regality possessed higher jurisdictional rights in liberam regalitatem, amounting to complete criminal jurisdiction except for treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
. These rights were abolished by the Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746
Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746
The Heritable Jurisdictions Act 1746 was an Act of the British Parliament passed in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745....
, after which the Burghs enjoyed only the jurisdictional rights of burghs of barony.
The titles are redundant today but remain in descriptive use.