Questions about Freedom of the City
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is the Freedom of the City and where does it come from?
The Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by a municipality on individuals or military units, arising from the medieval legal distinction between freemen and feudal vassals. In its original form it conferred real privileges including the right to trade, own property, and vote in parliamentary boroughs. Today the honour is almost entirely ceremonial, though the title of freeman remains in active use across the United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
When was the Freedom of the City of London first recorded?
The Freedom of the City of London was first recorded in 1237. From 1835, the freedom became available through a general resolution of Common Council without requiring the involvement of a livery company. Today it can be obtained through servitude, patrimony, nomination, or presentation via a livery company.
What rights do freemen of the City of London traditionally have?
Freemen of the City of London hold several traditional but apocryphal rights, including the right to drive sheep and cattle over London Bridge, the right to a silken rope if hanged, the right to carry a naked sword in public, and an informal understanding that City police will send an incapacitated freeman home by taxi rather than to a cell. Children of freemen also receive admission preference at the City of London Freemen's School.
Who has driven sheep across London Bridge as a Freeman of the City?
Several freemen have exercised or been granted permission to herd sheep across London's bridges. Notable examples include Jef Smith on the 19th of August 1999, Amanda Cottrell on the 31st of August 2008, Lord Mayor David Lewis with some 500 freemen on the 17th of September 2008, and actor Stephen Fry on the 7th of April 2013. By 2015, the event had become an annual occasion organised by the Worshipful Company of Woolmen.
What is the difference between patrimony and servitude as routes to borough freedom in the UK?
Patrimony means claiming borough freedom through family descent from an existing freeman; in York this extends as far back as great-great-grandchildren. Servitude means qualifying through completion of an apprenticeship, usually to an existing freeman, though Durham and Northampton have extended criteria to those who served an apprenticeship without being trained by a freeman directly.
What does the military Freedom of the City allow a regiment to do?
The military Freedom of the City, sometimes called the Freedom of Entry, gives a regiment the right to march through a city with drums beating, colours flying, and bayonets fixed. The honour historically dates to ancient Roman rules about the pomerium, the sacred city boundary, where armed troops were otherwise forbidden to enter. Today the honour is ceremonial and is usually bestowed on units with historic ties to the area.