- published: 28 Feb 2016
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Stadtluft macht frei ("urban air makes you free"), or Stadtluft macht frei nach Jahr und Tag ("city air makes you free after a year and a day"), is a German saying describing a principle of law in the Middle Ages. The period of a year and a day was a conventional period widely employed in Europe to represent a significant amount of time.
From the 11th century onwards, liberated serfs and other members of the Third Estate founded settlements alongside the old Roman or Germanic. It was customary law that a city resident was free after one year and one day. After this he could no longer be reclaimed by his employer and thus became bound to the city. Serfs could flee the feudal lands and gain freedom in this way, making cities a territory outside the feudal system to a certain extent. This created the conditions for the revolts such as the Münster Rebellion
With the Statutum in favorem principum ("Statute in Favor of the Princes"), this regulation of customary law was officially abolished for the Holy Roman Empire in 1231/32. According to the statute, cities under royal jurisdiction were forbidden to protect serfs originally owned by the regional princes or their vassals. The statute is an example of power devolving from Imperial authority to that of territorial magnates during the drawn-out contest between the Hohenstaufen emperors and the Papacy.
Frei is a village, island, and former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the present-day municipality of Kristiansund between the Kvernesfjord and Freifjord. The island of Frei is connected to the city of Kristiansund by the Omsund Bridge, and it is connected to the mainland by the Freifjord Tunnel (part of the Krifast system).
The island of Frei has an area of 62.5 square kilometres (24.1 sq mi). The village of Frei (or Nedre Frei) is located on the southern end of the island, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) southwest of Kvalvåg. Frei's largest village is Rensvik, the former municipal center, which is located at the north end of the island.
The Viking-era Battle of Rastarkalv, between Haakon I of Norway and the sons of Eric I of Norway, took place here in 955 AD.
The municipality was named after the island of Frei (Old Norse: Freiðr). The meaning of the name is unknown, but is maybe derived from fríðr which means "good" or "beautiful". Until 1889, the name was written Fredø.