City rights are a feature of the medieval history of the Low Countries, and, more generally, the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.
This resulted in a shift of power within the counties and duchies in the Low Countries from the aristocracy to the bourgeoisie, starting in Flanders.
After the Batavian Revolution in 1795, municipalities were styled after the French model and city rights were abolished by law.
Although partially restored after 1813, cities did not fully regain the authority they had previously had: law-making and the judiciary had become part of the state.
After the Constitution of 1848 and the Municipal Law of 1851, the differences between the legal privileges of cities, towns, and villages were permanently erased.