Further information will be found in the sections on local government in the articles on the various countries; see also A. Shaw, _Municipal Government in Continental Europe_; J. A. Fairlie, _Municipal Administration_; S. and B. Webb, _English Local Government_; Redlich and Hirst, _Local Government in England_; A. L. Lowell, _The Government of England_. FOOTNOTES: [1] If a place was of mercantile importance it was called a port (from _porta_, the city gate), and the reeve or bailiff, a "portreeve." [2] The mayors of certain cities in the United Kingdom (London, York, Dublin) have acquired by prescription the prefix of "lord." In the case of London it seems to date from 1540. It has also been conferred during the closing years of the 19th century by letters patent on other cities--Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Sheffield, Leeds, Cardiff, Bradford, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Belfast, Cork. In 1910 it was granted to Norwich. Lord mayors are entitled to be addressed as "right honourable." MAYOR OF THE PALACE.--The office of mayor of the palace was an institution peculiar to the Franks of the Merovingian period. A landowner who did not manage his own estate placed it in the hands of a steward (_major_), who superintended the working of the estate and collected its revenues. If he had several estates, he appointed a chief steward, who managed the whole of the estates and was called the _major domus_. Each great personage had a _major domus_--the queen had hers, the king his; and since the royal house was called the palace, this officer took the name of "mayor of the palace." The mayor of the palace, however, did not remain restricted to domestic functions; he had the discipline of the palace and tried persons who resided there. Soon his functions expanded. If the king were a minor, the mayor of the palace supervised his education in the capacity of guardian (_nutricius_), and often also occupied himself with affairs of state. When the king came of age, the mayor exerted himself to keep this power, and succeeded. In the 7th century he became the head of the administration and a veritable prime minister. He took part in the nomination of the counts and dukes; in the king's absence he presided over the royal tribunal; and he often commanded the armies. When the custom of commendation developed, the king charged the mayor of the palace to protect those who had commended themselves to him and to intervene at law on their behalf. The mayor of the palace thus found himself at the head of the _commendati_, just as he was at the head of the functionaries.