Liberties

[bouzyges]

'But the word 'liberty' has to be defined. Here, it means not so much individual liberty, the normal criterion in the 'free world' of today, but rather the liberty of groups. It is no accident that the Middle Ages spoke much more of libertates (liberties) than of libertas (liberty). In the plural, the word meant very much the same as privilegia (privileges) of jura (rights). Liberties, in fact, were the franchises of privileges protecting this or that group of people or interests, which used such protection to exploit others, often without shame' - Бродель, "Грамматика цивилизаций".