9/24/2020 Charter - Wikipedia

Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that
the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the
recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that
the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that
the recipient admits a limited (or inferior) status within
the relationship, and it is within that sense that charters
were historically granted, and it is that sense which is
retained in modern usage of the term.

The word entered the English language from the Old

French charte, via Latin charta, and ultimately from
Greek χάρτης (khartes, meaning "layer of papyrus"). It
An example of a charter (Magna Carta).
has come to be synonymous with a document that sets
out a grant of rights or privileges.

Contents
Other usages
Different types of charters
Anglo-Saxon charters
Charter colony
Congressional charter
Municipal charter
Order charter
Project charter
Royal charter
Inspeximus charter
See also
References
External links

Other usages
The term is used for a special case (or as an exception) of an institutional charter. A charter school, for
example, is one that has different rules, regulations, and statutes from a state school.

Charter can be used as a synonym for "hire" or "lease", as in the "charter" of a bus or boat or plane.[1]

A charter member (US English) of an organization is an original member; that is, one who became a
member when the organization received its charter.[2] A chartered member (British English) is a
member who holds an individual chartered designation authorized under that organization's royal
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charter.[3][4]

Different types of charters

Anglo-Saxon charters

Anglo-Saxon charters are documents from the early medieval period in Britain which typically make a
grant of land or record a privilege. They are usually written on parchment, in Latin but often with
sections in the vernacular, describing the bounds of estates, which often correspond closely to modern
parish boundaries. The earliest surviving charters were drawn up in the 670s; the oldest surviving
charters granted land to the Church, but from the 8th century surviving charters were increasingly used
to grant land to lay people.

Charter colony

The British Empire used three main types of colonies as it sought to expand its territory to distant parts
of the earth. These three types were royal colonies, proprietary colonies, and corporate colonies. A
charter colony by definition is a "colony chartered to an individual, trading company, etc., by the British
crown."[5] Although charter colonies were not the most prevalent of the three types of colonies in the
British Empire, they were by no means insignificant.

Congressional charter

A congressional charter is a law passed by the United States Congress that states the mission,
authority, and activities of a group. Congress issued federal charters from 1791 until 1992 under Title 36
of the United States Code.

Municipal charter

A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily
limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal
incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the
state or province in which they are located. Often, this event is marked by the award or declaration of a
municipal charter, a term used because municipal power was historically granted by the sovereign, by
royal charter.

Order charter

Charters for chivalric orders and other orders, such as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

Project charter

In project management, a project charter or project definition (sometimes called the terms of
reference) is provided by the sponsor to formally authorize the existence of a project. It provides a
preliminary delineation of roles and responsibilities, outlines the project purpose and objectives,

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identifies key stakeholders, and defines the authority of the project manager. It serves as a reference of
authority for future planning of the project. The project scope is developed from the project charter.

Royal charter

In medieval Europe, royal charters were used to create cities (i.e., localities with recognised legal rights
and privileges). The date that such a charter was granted is considered to be when a city was "founded",
regardless of when the locality originally began to be settled.

The Charter of 1814, France’s constitution during the Bourbon Restoration, was thus called to promote
the legal fiction that the King had granted it “voluntarily, and by the free exercise of [his] royal
authority”, in the manner of medieval charters.

At one time a royal charter was the only way in which an incorporated body could be formed, but other
means (such as the registration process for limited companies) are generally now used instead.

Inspeximus charter

A charter of "Inspeximus" (Latin, literally "We have inspected") is frequently a royal charter, by which an
earlier charter or series of charters relating to a particular foundation (such as a monastery or a guild)
was recited and incorporated into a new charter, usually in order to confirm and renew its validity under
present authority. Where the original documents are lost, an inspeximus charter may sometimes
preserve their texts and lists of witnesses.

See also
Articles of Incorporation
Atlantic Charter
Charter Roll
Charter school
Chartered company
Earth Charter
Freedom Charter
Fueros (Spanish version)
General incorporation law
Magna Carta
Medieval Bulgarian royal charters
Papal Bull
United Nations Charter

References
1. "charter" (https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/charter). Lexico. Oxford University Press. 2. Retrieved
24 August 2019.
2. "charter member" (https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/charter_member). Lexico. Oxford University
Press. Retrieved 24 August 2019.

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3. "chartered" (https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/chartered). Lexico. Oxford University Press. 1.1.

Retrieved 24 August 2019.
4. "Royal Charters" (https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/royal-charters/). Privy Council of the United
Kingdom. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
5. charter colony - Definitions from Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/charter%20c
olony)

Kemp,Roger L., "Model Government Charters: A City, County, Regional, State, and Federal
Handbook," McFarland and Co., Inc., Publisher, Jefferson, NC, and London, ENG (2007).
(ISBN 978-0-7864-3154-0).
Kemp, Roger L., "Documents of American Democracy: A Collection of Essential Works," McFarland
and Co., Inc., Jefferson, NC, and London, ENG. (2010). (ISBN 978-0-7864-4210-2).

External links

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