The vroedschap was the name for the city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a vroedman, literally a "wise man". A honorific title of the vroedschap was the vroede vaderen, the "wise fathers" Most early modern Dutch cities were ruled by a government of male burghers or poorters (bourgeois) who were members of the regent class, the ruling elite. During late Medieval times, the regents had in all cities gradually managed to exclude men of the artisan cl… (More on Vroedschap)