History

‘Stadtluft macht frei’ (‘City air makes you free’) is a popular German saying, referring to a principle of law in place in Europe during the Middle Ages. This one would enable a serf living unfree under feudalism to become free from their lord, in a city, after a period of one year and one day. This increased the migration of medieval people seeking freedom from the feudal territories to the cities from the 11th century onwards.

Because of that freedom, cities became a centre of trade, gathering merchants, entertainers and much more, and offering a large variety of products and services. This made the cities vibrant and prosperous, with its inhabitants enjoying better life conditions than on the feudal territories.

In the beginning of the 1960s, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had the monopoly of radio in the United Kingdom. In fact, apart from one commercial TV network, the airwaves were owned by the BBC. As it happens with any monopoly, because of the lack of competition, the broadcaster was not particularly interested in providing better quality services, and ones that would fit the demand of the British. Because of that, some people started their own radio stations broadcasting their programmes from boats located outside the British territorial waters. These were known as free (or pirate) radios.

The Window Tax was a property tax based on the number of windows in a house, first introduced in Britain in 1696 and later on, in France. It resulted in a new form of tax avoidance, as people started to brick up their windows in order to avoid paying the tax. Those old houses with windows having been bricked up or plastered can still be seen in England and France today.

Reblochon is a soft French cheese made in the Alpine region of Savoie from raw cow’s milk. It is, without a doubt, one of the most famous French cheeses. It is commonly used for cooking in France and is a key ingredient to several dishes such as the popular Tartiflette; a Savoyard gratin made from potatoes, bacon and onions. However, few people know the story behind the origin of this cheese. In fact, Reblochon was born as a result of an early form of tax evasion in the Middle Ages.