Staple right in the context of "Douro River"

Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditions of the self-administration of Roman cities.

Judicially, a borough (or burgh) was distinguished from the countryside by means of a charter from the ruling monarch that defined its privileges and laws. Common privileges involved trade (marketplace, the storing of goods, etc.) and the establishment of guilds. Some of these privileges were permanent and could imply that the town obtained the right to be called a borough, hence the term "borough rights" (German: Stadtrecht; Dutch: stadsrechten). Some degree of self-government, representation by diet, and tax-relief could also be granted. Multiple tiers existed; for example, in Sweden, the basic royal charter establishing a borough enabled trade, but not foreign trade, which required a higher-tier charter granting staple right.

Stapelrecht, or staple right, was a medieval privilege granted to certain cities in the Holy Roman Empire allowing them to require passing merchants to unload and offer their goods for sale locally, fostering urban prosperity but often hindering long-distance trade.

Staple rights can be compared to Marktrecht (market rights), the right to hold a regular market, as they were extremely important for the economic prosperity of the river cities that possessed such rights, such as Leipzig (1507), Mainz and Cologne (where a Stapelhaus still stands as a reminder of the former right). At the same time, they created a strong barrier against long-distance trade because of the increased costs and the time required to unload and load ships, especially as a river might have multiple cities in a row with staple rights.

Via Imperii (Imperial Road) was one of the most important of a class of roads known collectively as imperial roads (German: Reichsstraßen) of the Holy Roman Empire. This old trade route ran in a south–north direction from Venice on the Adriatic Sea and Verona in the Kingdom of Italy across the Brenner Pass through Germany to the Baltic coast passing the following cities:

• Innsbruck in the County of Tyrol
• Augsburg in the Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg
• the Imperial city of Nuremberg
• Bayreuth, Berneck, Münchberg and Hof in the Principality of Bayreuth
• Plauen, Mylau and Reichenbach in the Vogtland region
• Zwickau, Altenburg, Regis, Borna, Markkleeberg and Connewitz in the Margraviate of Meissen
• Leipzig – intersection with east–west Via Regia
• Wittenberg in Saxe-Wittenberg
• Cölln/Berlin, capital of Brandenburg
• Bernau bei Berlin
• Stettin in the Duchy of Pomerania

The cities on the route held the privilege of staple right, merchants were obliged to use the toll road and in turn enjoyed protection by the Imperial authority under the terms of the Landfrieden.