A charter's the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It's implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the recipient admits a limited (or inferior) status within the relationship, and it's within that sense that charters were historically granted, and that sense's retained in modern usage of the term. Also, charter can simply be a document giving royal permission… (More on Charter)