Editing Mayor (section)

===Continental Europe===
{{see also|Mayor of the palace|Podestà}}
The original [[Franks|Frankish]] mayors or majordomos were {{ndash}} like the Welsh {{Lang|cy|meiri}} {{ndash}} lords commanding the king's lands around the [[Merovingians|Merovingian]] courts in [[Austrasia]], [[kingdom of Burgundy|Burgundy]], and [[Neustria]]. The mayorship of Paris eventually became hereditary in the [[Pippinids]], who later established the [[Carolingian dynasty]].

In modern [[France]], since the [[French Revolution|Revolution]], a mayor ({{Lang|fr|maire}}) and a number of mayoral adjuncts ({{Lang|fr|adjoints au maire}}) are selected by the municipal council from among their number. Most of the administrative work is left in their hands, with the full council meeting comparatively infrequently. The model was copied throughout Europe in Britain's mayors, Italy's [[sindaco]]s, most of the German states' [[burgomaster]]s, and Portugal's [[President of the Municipal Chamber|presidents of the municipal chambers]].

In [[Medieval Italy]], the [[Italian city-states|city-states]] who did not consider themselves independent principalities or dukedoms {{ndash}} particularly those of the Imperial [[Ghibelline]] faction {{ndash}} were led by {{Lang|it|[[podestà]]s|italic=no}}.

The [[Greece|Greek]] equivalent of a mayor is the [[demarch]] ({{langx|el|δήμαρχος||[[archon]] of the [[deme]]}}).

====Scandinavia====
In [[Denmark]] all [[Municipalities of Denmark|municipalities]] are led by a political official called ''[[Burgomaster|borgmester]]'', 'mayor'. The mayor of [[Copenhagen]] is however called ''[[List of mayors of Copenhagen|overborgmester]]'' 'lord mayor'. In that city other mayors, {{Lang|da|borgmestre}} (plural), are subordinate to the lord mayor with different undertakings, like ministers to a prime minister. In other municipalities in Denmark there is only a single mayor.

[[File:1389-09-04, brev Iserlohn.jpg|thumb|Document of 1389 on the election of the [[Mayor of Stockholm]]]]
In [[Norway]] and [[Sweden]] the mayoral title {{Lang|no|borgermester}}''/''{{Lang|sv|borgmästare}} has now been abolished. Norway abolished it in 1937 as a title of the non-political top manager of (city) municipalities and replaced it with the title {{Lang|no|rådmann}} ('[[alderman]]' or '[[magistrate]]'), which is still in use when referring to the top managers of the [[municipalities of Norway]]. The top ''elected'' official of the municipalities of Norway, on the other hand, has the title {{Lang|no|ordfører}}, which actually means 'word-bearer', i.e. 'chairperson' or 'president', an equivalent to the Swedish word ''[[:wikt:ordförande|ordförande]]''.

In [[Sweden]] {{Lang|sv|borgmästare}} was a title of the senior judge of the courts of the cities, courts which were called {{Lang|sv|rådhusrätt}}, literally 'town hall court', somewhat of an equivalent to an English [[magistrates' court (England and Wales)|magistrates' court]]. These courts were abolished in 1971. Until 1965, these mayor judges on historical grounds also performed some administrative functions in the board of magistrates, in Swedish known collectively as {{Lang|sv|magistrat}}. Until 1965 there were also municipal mayors ({{Lang|sv|kommunalborgmästare}}), who had these non-political administrative roles in smaller cities without a magistrates' court or {{Lang|sv|magistrat}}. This office was an invention of the 20th century as the smaller cities in Sweden during the first half of the 20th century subsequently lost their own courts and magistrates.

[[File:Arthur-Castren.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Arthur Castrén]] (1866–1946), the [[Mayor of Helsinki]], in the 1930s]]
In the 16th century in Sweden, king [[Gustav Vasa]] considerably centralised government and appointed the mayors directly. In 1693 king [[Charles XI]] accepted a compromise after repeated petitions from the Estate of the Burgesses over decades against the royal mayor appointments. The compromise was that the burgesses in a city could normally nominate a mayor under the supervision of the local governor. The nominee was then to be presented to and appointed by the king, but the king could appoint mayors directly in exceptional cases. This was codified in the [[Instrument of Government]] of 1720 and on 8 July the same year [[Privy Council of Sweden|Riksrådet ("the Council of the Realm")]] decided, after a petition from the said Estate, that only the city could present nominees, not the king or anyone else. Thus the supervision of the local governor and directly appointed mayors by the king ceased after 1720 (the so-called [[Age of Liberty]]). On 16 October 1723, it was decided after a petition that the city should present three nominees, of whom the king (or the Council of the Realm) appointed one.<ref name="NF">[https://runeberg.org/nfbc/0637.html The article ''Borgmästare'' (in Swedish)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605184600/http://runeberg.org/nfbc/0637.html |date=5 June 2013 }} in [[Nordisk Familjebok]].</ref> This was kept as a rule from then on in all later regulations<ref name=NF/> and was also kept as a tradition in the [[Instrument of Government (1809)|1809 Instrument of Government]] ([http://sv.wikisource.org/wiki/Regeringsform_1809#.C2.A731. § 31]) until 1965.

In [[Finland]], there are two mayors, in [[Tampere]] and [[Pirkkala]]. Usually in Finland the highest executive official is not democratically elected, but is appointed to a public office by the city council, and is called simply {{Lang|fi|kaupunginjohtaja}} 'city manager' or {{Lang|fi|kunnanjohtaja}} 'municipal manager', depending on whether the municipality defines itself as a city. The term {{Lang|fi|pormestari}} 'mayor', from Swedish {{Lang|sv|borgmästare}} confusingly on historical grounds has referred to the highest official in the registry office and in the city courts (abolished in 1993) as in Sweden, not the city manager. In addition, {{Lang|fi|pormestari}} is also an honorary title, which may be given for distinguished service in the post of the city manager. The city manager of Helsinki is called {{Lang|fi|ylipormestari}}, which translates to 'chief mayor', for historical reasons. Furthermore, the term ''city manager'' may be seen translated as ''mayor''.

====Spain====

The office of the ''[[Alcalde]]'' evolved during the [[Reconquista]] as new lands were settled by the expanding kingdoms of [[Kingdom of León|León]] and [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]]. As fortified settlements in the area between the [[Douro]] and [[Tagus]] rivers became true urban centers, they gained, from their [[Feudalism|feudal lords]] or the kings of Leon and Castile, the right to have councils. Among the rights that these councils had was to elect a municipal judge ({{Lang|la|iudex}} in [[Medieval Latin|Latin]] and {{Lang|es|juez}} in Spanish). These judges were assisted in their duties by various assistant judges, called {{Lang|es|alcaldes}}, whose number depended on the number of parishes the town had.<ref>O'Callaghan, ''A History of Medieval Spain'', 269-271.</ref> The title {{Lang|es|alcalde}} was [[Loanword|borrowed]] from the Arabic ''[[qadi|al-qaḍi]]'' ({{Lang|ar|قاضي}}), meaning 'the judge'.<ref>The second L in ''alcalde'' evolved from the [[Spanish language|Castilian]] and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] attempts at pronouncing the [[emphatic consonant]] [[ḍād]]. The old Portuguese [[cognate]] ''alcalde'' was never applied to the presiding municipal officer and retained its original meaning of "judge". "Alcalde" in Corominas, ''Diccionario crítico'', Vol. A-CA (1), 127.</ref>

The word {{Lang|es|alcalde}} originally was used for simple judges, as in [[Andalusian Arabic]]. Only later was it applied to the presiding municipal magistrate.<ref>Corominas, "Alcalde", 127.</ref> This early use continued to be reflected in its other uses, such as {{Lang|es|alcaldes del crimen}}, the judges in the ''[[Audiencia Real|audiencia]]s''; {{Lang|es|Alcaldes de la Casa y Corte de Su Majestad}}, who formed the highest tribunal in Castile and also managed the royal court; {{Lang|es|alcaldes mayores}}, a synonym for [[Corregidor (position)|''corregidor'']]; and {{Lang|es|alcaldes de barrio}}, who were roughly the equivalent of British [[parish constable]]s.  Because of this, the municipal {{Lang|es|alcalde}} was often referred to as an {{Lang|es|alcalde ordinario}}.