CITY COUNCIL
City council: translation
During the Middle Ages most cities in what would become the Low Countries were governed by representatives of a duke or count. These representatives were gradually divided into two groups: one that was concerned with the dispensation of justice, and the other, consisting of the board of burgomasters, with general ad ministration, often asking the advice of the richest citizens. This cus tom was the origin of the vroedschap(or rijkdom), which was a semi representative body (by co-optation). This oligarchic trend came to an end with the Batavian Revolution of 1795. From that time on, members of the city council were elected democratically.