Today, "privileges" as part of the political-social language are generally marked with a negative connotation, as they contradict the justice value of "equality" in state and society. The original legal meaning of this ubiquitous term, dating back to Roman canon law, is now largely obliterated. The author traces the European history of "privilegia" and their significance for the development of law, state, and society in the longue durée. This account is accompanied by an extensive, territorially structured source survey, which was originally intended to a lesser extent for Coing's handbook (vol. II/3), and a bibliography classified by subject matter from the Middle Ages to the present day. Thus, by accentuating the difference between the respective law for individuals, groups of persons, and territorially determined areas of validity, it unfolds that privileges also represent an individualized value of justice, which only the Enlightenment attempted – often in vain – to replace by applying the modern sense of "égalité" and the generally effective law.
