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Testamenty wójtów krakowskich z ksiąg miejskich Krakowa drugiej połowy XV i początku XVI wieku

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Radomski T.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2012

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vol. 60

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issue 2

312-318

EN

The hereditary vogtship was abolished in Cracow at the beginning of the 14th century after the vogt Albert mutiny. Since that time a judicial vogt was appointed by a monarch or a vogtship lease-holder. In that period the office was often held by members of urban elites – patricians, councillors, aldermen – as it was a lucrative investment. In 1475 control over the vogtship was gained by the Cracow council. After that date the office was restricted for members of communitas and councillors were forbidden to hold it. Between 1446 and 1507 ten different persons acted as judicial vogts in Cracow. Wills of only two of them were found in Cracow urban records. The will of Hartlib Parchiwcz (died 1466) dated August 19, 1466, and the will of Grzegorz Myślemicky (died 1507) dated 1507. Analysis of the documents showed specific similarities of those testaments. Noticeably, there were no devotional clauses and pious bequests. The wills were of strictly financial character. Moreover, they were rather lists of debts and unfinished transactions than divisions of property. It might be argued that vogts as law practitioners acknowledged that there was no necessity to give specific dispositions as urban law regulated inheritance rules. The wills were also a basis for prosopography studies on Cracow vogts. Lists of debtors and creditors mentioned in the documents allowed to explore the business and social circle of those officials. The investigation showed that the vogts were members of governing and social elite; however, they did not belong to financial elite. Although the source material is very limited, a hypothesis that appointment to Cracow vogtship (before as well as after the control over the institution was gained by Cracow council) helped in social advancement might be made; future studies are necessary to answer this question.

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Ciało moje grzeszne oddaję ziemi”. Dyspozycje pogrzebowe szlachty w aktach sądowych lwowskich i przemyskich z pierwszej połowy XVIII wieku

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Vinnychenko O.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2012

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vol. 60

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issue 2

297-311

EN

Funeral dispositions were among the most important decisions stated in testaments. This is also the case in the last wills of the nobility which registered their testaments in the town books of Lviv and Przemyśl in the first half of the 18th c. This group of nobility was a culturally distinct community, which followed from the contacts of nobles of two denominations: Catholic and Orthodox (later Uniate). Funeral dispositions were an important part of a Christian last will, in both the mediaeval and the modern era. They stated where the testator wished to be buried and why this particular place was chosen, specified some details of the funeral ceremony and the ways to help the salvation of his/her soul. The most important disposition concerned the place of burial. In the modern era nobles usually chose Catholic, Orthodox or Uniate churches or cemeteries, depending on their denomination and parish affiliation. Most of the testators chose Dominican churches. Roman Catholics seem to have been more loosely connected with a particular parish, while Orthodox nobles were usually more attached to their parish church. An important characteristics of early modern noble community was the wish to be buried close to one’s relatives. Therefore, the testators usually chose to be buried next to their children, wives, parents and siblings. The funeral was usually described as modest, without pomp and procession, but accompanied and followed with a large number of masses for the testator’s soul. Each testator had a different idea of a “modest” ceremony – for some a funeral “without wordly pomp” cost up to one hundred zloties, for some it was several thousand. The sums allocated for the funeral depended on the testator’s financial situation. The testaments reveal valuable information on the nation’s material culture, as they describe burial clothing, artefacts placed in coffins and coffins themselves. The funeral culture of the Commonwealth was largely dependent on the financial position of particular groups of nobility (magnates, affluent nobles, petty nobles) and this was reflected in funeral ceremonies.

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Testamenty kobiet z I księgi konsystorza pułtuskiego z 1509 roku

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Starczewska E.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2011

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vol. 59

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issue 3-4

313-317

EN

The article discusses six women’s testaments from 1509 registered in the first book of the consistory in Pułtusk, which covers the years 1506-1518. The first part presents the testators’ social status and family situation. Three of the testators were noblewomen, two were burghers, in one case the testament does not specify the testator’s social class. Three of the women were married, two were widowed and one was a spinster; none of the testaments mentions any offspring. The testaments were analysed according to a questionnaire based on the fixed elements of such documents, which included: the title and invocation, the time, place and circumstances of drawing up the testament, lists of witnesses and executors, entrusting one’s soul and body, and instructions concerning one’s property. With little exceptions, the testaments discussed followed the above scheme. All but one contain a title and invocation, which specify the testator’s place of residence, adding the formula In nomine Domini Amen. All specify the time of writing the document, although the actual formulations differ. In one case, when the testament was drawn up by a notary summoned to the testator’s house, the text specifies the year of the present pope’s pontificate and the hour of its writing. Only three of the testaments name the place where they were drawn up, but all of them specify the circumstances. It is always stressed that the testators are facing death or disease; in four cases it is mentioned that the aim is to prevent disagreements between inheritors. The witnesses were usually chosen among the testator’s equals; in one case only a noblewoman’s testament was authenticated by a peasant. The witnesses and executors were relatives or neighbours, and the executors usually also had a share in the inheritance, which may have influenced their efficiency. All the testaments contain a short formula of entrusting one’s soul, but only four mention funeral arrangements. The testators were primarily concerned about legacies. Particularly important were pious legacies, which are included in five of the testaments. They were aimed at paying for exequies and Gregorian masses, and the beneficiaries were usually the testators’ parish churches. Other legacies were meant for relatives, and sometimes servants and friends. All the legacies were left to people living within a close distance of the testators (up to 20 km). The testaments described did not yet have a very elaborate form, also in comparison to men’s last wills from the same year. Only one contained a list of the debts owned by and to the testator, only one included an elaborate dating formula specifying the hour of its drawing up, only half of them specified the place where they were written down, not all contained instructions about the body. Each of them, however, reveals interesting details from the testator’s life and helps to find out what people and institutions were particularly close to her.

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THE RELIGIOUSNESS OF WARSAW BURGHERS IN THE LATE MIDDLE AGES IN THE LIGHT OF THE OLDEST TESTAMENTS (Religijnosc mieszczan póznosredniowiecznej Warszawy w swietle najstarszych zachowanych testamentów)

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Mrozowski K.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2010

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vol. 58

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issue 2

191-196

EN

The article presents the results of the research on the religiousness of Warsaw burghers in the late Middle Ages based on the oldest preserved testaments. The sixteen documents from the years 1431-1526 show varied forms of religiousness characteristic of urban communities, including bequests to churches, legacies for the benefit of hospitals and the poor, choosing one's burial place and funding masses for one's soul. The repetitiveness of legacies contrasts with the wide spectrum of testators, which includes not only members of the patriciate but also poor inhabitants of the suburbs, women and men, artisans and intellectuals. In general, it seems that most of the testators were primarily concerned with the good of the urban community, which was supposed to cherish the memory of the dead.

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MATERIAL CULTURE IN TESTAMENTS FROM ELBLAG FROM THE 15TH - EARLY 16TH CENTURY (Kultura materialna w testamentach elblaskich z XV - poczatku XVI w.)

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Kubicki R.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2010

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vol. 58

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issue 2

197-210

EN

Studying the material culture of burghers in the late Middle Ages on the basis of testaments allows for certain generalizations due to the relatively homogenous format of the documents. The article is based on the analysis of 145 last wills of the inhabitants of Elblag from the years 1409-1515. Best represented among the testators are merchants, members of the ruling elite (town councillors, mayors and their relatives), ship-owners and skippers. There are fewer surviving testaments of the much larger groups of city dwellers, such as tradesmen and stallholders; artisans, however, are quite well represented. In many cases the testator's social position could not be identified; many of those, judging from the possessions described in their last wills, were merchants, tradesmen or artisans. The records preserved usually concern the richest burghers, who owned the greatest share of valuable objects; therefore, it is the material culture of the urban elite that can be most fully reconstructed. Among the objects that manifested the prestige and the social status of the owner we should mention golden and silver ornaments and pearls. Last wills clearly indicate a correlation between the global value of the property and the proportions between its parts allocated to consumption, accumulation and deposits. As to movables, a special status was assigned to the dispositions concerning the right to inherit the armour, weapons and fighting gear. Other status indicators were clothes, often mentioned in testaments (coats, caftans, doublets). Most testaments included dispositions concerning domestic appliances, which were covered by the general formula of 'other movables' or listed in detail. Items listed as domestic appliances were usually covers, carpets, beds and bedlinen, pieces of furniture, especially benches and tables. Affluent burghers used silverware (goblets, bowls, spoons). Another element of the material culture which sheds light on the life of burghers in that period was the arrangement of their workshops. As a separate entry last wills included charitable bequests concerning the purchase of shoes and clothes for the poor. Testaments are mainly helpful in establishing the evaluation and disposition of material possessions, while precise data on the objects themselves can be gained from archaeological excavations.

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Testamenty mieszczan miasta Ołyki z lat 1660-1670

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Biłous N.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2011

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vol. 59

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issue 3-4

346-362

EN

The town of Ołyka was part of the Nieśwież entail of the Radziwiłł family, ruled by Duke Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł (1625-1680), son of Ludwik Radziwiłł and Tekla Wołłowicz. After the end of the Cossack wars in the years 1660-1679 Ołyka experienced economic boom, but a great fire in 1679 and a Swedish attack in 1702 led to the town’s decline. Most of the town archives were destroyed by the fire of the town hall in 1870; a few surviving registers are now kept in the Central State Archive of Ukraine in Kiev (collection no. 1237). The article is based on 47 testaments from the years 1660-1670 recorded in register no. 7 and on several burgher probate inventories from the same register. All the texts are in Polish; they have never been published or used by researchers. The testators include representatives of the middle class as well as of the town élite. 32 testaments were drawn up by men and 15 by women. 25 of the testators were Uniats, 11 were Catholics and 11 belonged to the Orthodox Church. The collection of sources that was examined for the purposes of this article sheds light on various aspects of social life in one of the major towns of Volhynia. They reflect burghers’ financial condition, business activities, social status and family connections. The major aim of making testaments was to prevent conflicts between inheritors. Other reasons included: 1) the wish to provide for the spouse when the testator was childless, 2) the wish to safeguard children, grandchildren or other relatives, 3) the intention to bequeath money to religious and charitable institutions. Testaments were usually written at home. Sometimes the testator appointed a person (usually the spouse, a child or a friend) to take care of the funeral. The place of burial was often specified, as was the sum allocated for the funeral. Catholic burghers, who mostly lived in the centre of the town, were usually buried at the old cemetery next to St Peter’s church; richer burghers were buried next to the Holy Trinity collegiate church. Uniats, who lived in the “middle town” and in the Zawrocie suburb, were buried at the cemetery next to the Holy Trinity Uniate church, while members of the Orthodox Church, residing in the Zalasocze suburb, had their two local churches with cemeteries. The largest sums for the funeral and charitable legacies were left by Catholics. In their major features and formulations testaments from Ołyka did not differ much from last wills from other parts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, although they often omitted the conventional opening and closing formulae. Sanctio is rarely found in them; at the end there is usually a corroboratio, i.e. the testator’s confirmation of the witnesses. Testament instructions concerned primarily the testator’s soul and body, and secondly the property. The most important part of property were certainly immovables; movables are mentioned in only half of the testaments examined. The most frequently bequeathed movable property was livestock, with garments closely following.

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Testament jako źródło do badań nad piśmiennością mieszczańską w późnym średniowieczu

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Bartoszewicz A.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2011

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vol. 59

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issue 3-4

293-303

EN

A testament is by its very nature an evidence of a literate culture. Regardless of the social and legal factors that shaped the custom of recording one’s last will in writing, its emergence was only possible in those communities in which writing was a tool of everyday communication and work. Therefore, registering and cataloguing surviving testaments, as well as analysing their content, is very important for research on the literacy of burghers. Vital information can be inferred from studying the ways of authenticating burgher testaments and the institutions that were involved in that process, since there is much variety in this area. Burghers’ last wills could be written down as notarial deeds; they could also be private documents or documents issued by the town council. They could be authorised by being recorded in the town council register or in the consistory register. Bigger town kept separate records of testaments. On the one hand, testaments show the increased role of writing in burghers’ life, on the other – writing down a testament and dividing the legacy started bureaucratic procedures, necessitated decisions and settlements made before municipal offices, bringing in contact with them people who had never needed their services. It is particularly interesting to observe contacts between burghers and municipal offices from various towns. Records from the oldest surviving municipal registers of small and medium towns (from the beginning of the 15th c.) indicate that the custom of writing down one’s last will contributed to the development of literacy among burghers. The most interesting data on the literacy of the community represented by testators can be drawn from the content of particular testaments. The analysis primarily concerns the forms used for testaments. Very valuable information can also be inferred from the type and character of documents kept in burgher archives. Significant clues are also found in all, even very laconic, mentions about burghers’ libraries. Equally important are those testaments that testify to burghers’ financial, family and social contacts with people earning their living through mental work (clerks, notaries, teachers, etc.). Very interesting for a historian of literacy are testaments written down by municipal clerks. The testament is undoubtedly an important element of burghers’ literacy, with the word ‘element’ playing a key role. While reading a particular last will, we always have to consider whether and to what extent it is a part of a larger output; we also have to ask whether the source analysed is really the final settlement of one’s worldly affairs or only a part of it. Such a reflection is necessary especially when we deal with testaments of representatives of burgher élite, who had wide family and business connections and who used writing in their everyday life: merchants, officials, notaries and clerks.

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Testament Stanisława Tarnowskiego, pisarza żup wielickich

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Gołąb M.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2011

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vol. 59

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issue 3-4

304-312

EN

The article explores the testament of Stanisław Tarnowski, a Wieliczka mine clerk, and the testator’s biography. The testament, a previously unexplored source available in the Central Archives of Historical Records, can help in reconstructing Tarnowski’s life. The data from the testament were supplemented with information from other sources, for instance the Councillor book of the town of Warsaw. Stanisław Tarnowski came from moderately rich gentry from Stara Nieszawa. In 1505 he enrolled at Cracow University, where he got the degree of bachelor of liberal arts; he also studied at the Medical College, but did not graduate. Since 1509 he worked as a clerk in the salt mine in Wieliczka; in 1518 by the order of the mine supervisor, Jan Boner, he prepared the first part of the document that is now known as A description of the Cracow salt mines, being also responsible for the editing of the whole text. In 1518 he left Cracow, moving to Warsaw, where he became the town’s citizen in 1521, with most illustrious members of the patriciate being his guarantors. He died soon after that. Tarnowski left a testament containing an extensive list of immovable properties and a list of people connected with him in some way. An analysis of the list of people mentioned in the testament as legatees or executors indicates that Tarnowski’s connections with Warsaw must have been much more stable and long-lasting than it is reflected in other sources. Attaining the status of the town’s citizen by the nobleman connected with salt trade can be considered as the culmination of his career, although it can be supposed that he would have achieved even more if not for his early death. Tarnowski’s last will brings interesting data on both the affluence of those who aspired to the patriciate of Warsaw and the broad horizons of this group, which are evident from bequeathing significant sums to particular charitable institutions. The probate inventory, especially the list of garments, is particularly valuable as it can be confronted with iconographic sources. It indicates clearly that Tarnowski attached great significance to his garments, which allows a historian to look at him from a fresh and very interesting perspective.

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CRACOW TESTAMENTS FROM THE TURN TO THE MODERN ERA IN THE LIGHT OF THE MAGDEBURG LAW (Testamenty krakowskie z przelomu sredniowiecza i nowozytnosci wobec zasad dziedziczenia wedlug prawa magdeburskiego)

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Sowina U.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2010

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vol. 58

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issue 2

185-189

EN

The article is based on investigating 612 testaments registered before the year 1545 in Cracow court records (three books of testaments as well as alderman and councillor books) preserved in the State Archive in Cracow. The testaments were confronted with the rules of the Magdeburg Law, which was operative in Cracow, collected in the Magdeburg Weichbild (Ius municipale) and in the Sachsensspiegel, which covers civil and criminal law as well as procedural law, supplemented in the 15th-16th c. with the rulings of Magdeburg councillors and the resolutions of the city council of Cracow. The analysis indicates that the disposition of property in testaments followed the Magdeburg Law; moreover, it often was an additional confirmation of the regulations. This was probably the best way to implement the property strategies of Cracow families. The analysis revealed several recurrent elements decisive in the disposition of the bequeathed property. Those included: decisions concerning the testator's living spouse, which are listed as the most important ones, then decisions on legal heirs, legacies to the Church, monasteries and charitable institutions, and legacies to people whom the testator wanted to favour specially or to whom he/she had some obligations. Testaments also commonly included lists of the debts owed by and/or to the testator, which were so extensive that last wills often played the role of final financial statements. They also functioned as probate inventories, especially as concerned the movables that the testator was entitled to bequeath according to his/her wish (excluding geradae and armae bellicae, which were inherited by law as hereditates).

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Testamenty duchowieństwa diecezji wileńskiej w drugiej połowie XVI w. Prawo i praktyka

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Pawlikowska W.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2011

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vol. 59

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issue 3-4

394-407

EN

Over 40 years ago Jerzy Ochmański stated that the cathedral chapter in Vilnius gathered the intellectual élite of Lithuania. In the mid-16th c. this group comprised 75 high-status clergymen (prelates and canons), 73 of them being lay clergymen and two – friars of the Dominican Order. Lay clergymen were able to bequeath their property, unlike friars, who were deprived of private property by the vow of poverty. Therefore, testaments of friars are rarities. Based on testaments, prosecutor accounts, shorthand notes from chapter meetings and the statute of the chapter, the article reconstructs the way of executing testaments. One of the decrees of the Vilnius chapter statute stated what should be done with the movable property of a canon or prelate if he did not leave a testament. Another decree granted the right to draw up a testament to each canon and prelate. Information on inheritance proceedings and on ways of sharing out the movable property can be found in accounts of chapter meetings. Records included in the accounts differ in length, frequency and the level of detail depending on the time they come from (from laconic mentions at the beginning of the period in question to more detailed descriptions at the end of the 16th c.), on who was in charge of the documents at that time, and possibly on what difficulties were encountered by the executors. Additional information can be drawn from the surviving yearly accounts of the chapter prosecutors from the last quarter of the 16th c. In several cases the originals or vidimuses have survived, therefore it was possible to compare testament instructions with their execution. In inheritance proceedings concerning the property of its member the chapter as a body strove to obey the statute both when the late clergyman drew up a last will and when he died not having shared out his properties. Nevertheless, it sometimes happened that particular members committed misappropriations or embezzlements. Other members reacted to such cases immediately; first of all they tried to recover the money and movables lost. The article aims to describe how the movables and money left by members of the Vilnius chapter were dispensed by the other members or testament executors. The data collected in the article can also provide a basis for further conclusions, for instance about clergymen’s mentality and personal relations; they also shed some light on the doings of the intellectual élite of Lithuania.

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Testamenty mieszkańców małych miast wielkopolskich z XVII wieku

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Głowacka-Penczyńska A.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2011

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vol. 59

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issue 3-4

380-393

EN

The article concerns testaments of inhabitants of 13 small towns in Great Poland from the 17th c. The source basis comprises 852 last wills written down in the years 1601-1700. The towns examined had populations of under 2000 inhabitants, but they had significant economic functions. The list includes important centres of craftsmanship. For example, Kłecko, Gostyń, Poniec and Rydzyna produced woollen cloth and linen not only for the local market. The towns in question thrived thanks to being situated along the vital trade routes connecting Silesia with Prussia, Lithuania and Russia. Among important commercial centres, especially known for grain, flour, textile and cattle trade, we should mention Rydzyna, Radziejów and Wolsztyn. Other towns had artisan guilds and held markets and fairs of local import. At the same time, many inhabitants worked on the land. A typical agricultural town was Sulmierzyce. Seventeenth-century testaments had a fairly uniform structure. They comprised an invocation, a preamble, funeral instructions, the disposition of property, lists of debts owned by and to the testator, and instructions for inheritors. Testaments do not contain much information about testators. Apart from the name and surname, they sometimes mention the testator’s profession, marital status and origin. The reason of writing a testament was the expectation that death was near, resulting in a wish to settle one’s worldly affairs, especially financial affairs, and to secure one’s family. The property was divided in order to prevent conflicts between inheritors, lawsuits and wasting the property. The most elaborate part of a testament is the disposition of property. It usually includes legacies left to the closest relatives or other inheritors, bequests to religious and charitable institutions, instructions concerning the funeral and the commemorative ceremony. Bequests included money, immovable property (houses, gardens, orchards, farmland), domestic utensils (furniture, tableware, kitchenware), bed covering and bedlinen, garments, jewellery, weapons, books, farming and craft tools, livestock, food. Testaments also contain very detailed lists of creditors and debtors. Testaments reveal information not only on testators’ property but also on their family relations. They indicate what feelings testators had for their spouses and children and how they tried to secure their future. They also convey thanks to friends, neighbours or servants for love, friendship and help shown in difficult situations.

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TESTAMENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE ORTHODOX AND UNIATE CHURCHES AS A SOURCE OF DATA ON THE HISTORY OF THE EASTERN RITES IN THE POLISH-LITHUANIAN COMMONWEALTH IN THE 16TH-18TH C. (THE STATE OF RESEARCH AND RESEARCH POSTULATES) (Polish title below)

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Zielecka W.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2010

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vol. 58

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issue 2

237-243

EN

(Polish title: Testamenty prawoslawnych i unitów jako zródlo do badan nad dziejami konfesji wschodnich w Rzeczypospolitej XVI-XVIII wieku (stan badan, postulaty badawcze). The previous studies concerning testaments of members of the Eastern Churches were mostly focused on the publication of last wills undertaken in the 19th c. by the specially appointed Russian state commissions in Vilnius, Kiev, Witebsk and St Petersburg. Testaments have not been considered so far as a source of data on the history of the Orthodox and Uniate Churches in the eastern part of the Commonwealth. In view of the scarcity of sources concerning the monasteries and churches of both rites it seems advisable to use alternative sources. Last wills were used sporadically in studies devoted to Byelorussian architecture (Inessa Sljunkova), the charitable activity (Antoni Mironowicz) and religious foundations (Tomasz Kempa) of Orthodox Christians in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The author of the present article used testaments to show the attitude of Eastern Christians to death and to funeral ceremonies. She also explored the usefulness of this type of source in establishing the religious affiliation and describing the religious activity of the gentry in the eastern part of the Commonwealth. Among the Ukrainian studies related to the subject we should mention the works of S. Horin devoted to monasticism in Ruthenian territories and of M. Dovbyshchenko, the author of a monograph of the religious movements of Volhynian gentry in the end of the 16th and the first half of the 17th c. Although based on extensive sources, this work is controversial. The author draws far-reaching conclusions solely on the basis of last wills. Some of the conclusions are questionable, especially as regards the interpretation of bequests to churches or lack thereof. One of the previously unexplored topics is the personal property of the priests and hierarchs of both Churches. Since high positions in the hierarchy were given to monks, it is interesting to consider whether the life standard of Eastern bishops was close to monastic poverty or to the level of the gentry. Another question concerns the garments used by Eastern priests both in liturgy and in everyday life, especially to what extent priests financed the liturgical vestments mentioned in testaments. In connection with testaments it can also be asked whether priests sponsored other church accessories, who inherited the artefacts connected with the testator's priesthood and service, and how those artefacts were perceived by testators. Valuable insights supplementing such research could be gained from probate inventories.

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Krakowska liber testamentorum jako źródło do badań społeczeństwa miasta późnośredniowiecznego (zarys problematyki)

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Wysmułek J.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2011

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vol. 59

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issue 3-4

304-312

EN

The article characterises a group of Cracow burghers from the 15th and 16th c. whose testaments were included in the Cracow liber testamentorum between 1427 and 1543. The book contains 292 records of testaments from that period, among them several mentions of new versions of earlier testaments or their supplements. Only a partial correlation was established between the increased number of testaments in certain years and the dates of epidemics in Cracow. A clear correlation can be assumed in the case of the epidemics of 1482 (12 testaments) and of 1543 (40 testaments). As far as the language is concerned, more testaments were written in German than in Latin until the end of the 15th c.; the tendency changed in the 16th c., when Latin started to dominate. This phenomenon was probably caused by the increasing influence of the renaissance and of Polish gentry culture on the German -language culture of Cracow burghers. In the period discussed about 30% of the testaments recorded in the book were made by women. This was a general tendency which is also evidenced in other large mediaeval towns. One hundred testators from the years 1427-1467 were examined more closely to estimate their wealth. This was done by analysing the value of dowries, which were specified in 49 cases, and other mentions that indicated the testators’ financial standing. It was estimated that over a half of the testators were very affluent, while only 10 were relatively poor. The analysis showed that the testators recorded in the liber testamentorum were primarily rich and very rich, with men dominating. The group, however, was not homogenous, and the tendencies connected with the language of testaments, as well as the relatively small impact of epidemics on the number of testaments, suggest that there might have been other, unidentified factors that induced burghers to draw up testaments and record them in the town register. Further research on the whole collection of Cracow testaments will help to understand the character of this book and to discover the principle by which Cracow councillors decided to register particular testaments in it.

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Testamenty szlachty wielkopolskiej z XVII wieku

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Wilczek-Karczewska M.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2011

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vol. 59

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issue 3-4

333-345

EN

The article is devoted to testaments of gentry from Great Poland. The last will is analysed as a legal document – a mortis causa deed, since its basic function is to dispose one’s property in the case of death. Nevertheless, in Old Poland there was no opportunity to bequeath all one’s property to a sole beneficiary; in particular the limitations concerned the bequest of immovable property. The article advances the hypothesis a major characteristics of gentry testaments was disposing property by legacies to many legatees. The analysis of sources distinguished vindication and damnation legacies. In the case of vindication legacies, which were more common, the legatee was entitled to claim the object of legacy from the heir as its owner by rei vindicatio. Such legacies resulted in transferring property rights and were the best way to secure the bequest of valuables. In the case of damnation legacies the heir was obliged to act in a specified way towards the legatee. Such legacies did not change property rights, but effected the heir’s liability to the legatee. Through a damnation legacy it was possible to bequeath an object that was to be created in the future. Legacies were often supplemented with particular instructions or conditions. Legatees were often clergymen and Church institutions (especially parishes and monasteries). Objects of legacy were usually livestock, garments and various utensils. It is pointed out in the article that it was not customary in Old Polish testaments to specify all the property of the testator. Therefore, last wills cannot be the sole basis for researching the financial position of gentry and should be supplemented with inventory sources. Finally, the article also signals problems connected with the execution of testaments.

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LAW AND CONVENTION VS. PERSONAL REFLECTION. A STUDY OF THE TESTAMENTS OF THE PLOCK DIOCESE CLERGY IN THE 17TH AND 18 C. (Miedzy prawem i konwencja a osobista refleksja. Ze studiów nad testamentami duchowienstwa diecezji plockiej w XVII i XVIII w.)

100%

Glówka D.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2010

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vol. 58

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issue 2

259-266

EN

The article is based on 250 testaments from the years 1628-1794, preserved in the Diocese Archive in Plock. This material allows the author to consider the issue of individual choices made by the individual in the act of making the last will. An individual attitude can be expected in decisions concerning the disposition of one's property and the organization of one's funeral; it can be asked, however, if it was also reflected in the testator's mentality, religiousness and worldview, which surfaced in testaments. Synod regulations influenced the contents of last wills, but it did not have an immediate impact on their structure and formulation. Those could have been inspired by the widely accepted convention of the last will, which did not differ much across various social groups. Although no ready form of a clergyman's testament was discovered, it cannot be excluded that such forms existed; perhaps they could be found in the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century ars moriendi guides. The layout of Plock clergy testaments is the same as that of laymen's last wills. It should be noted, however, that in modern times the testament was an evolving type of text, whose function and form changed. Before its typical structure was established, it had probably been much simpler. The invocations were short and the religious accents very limited. In the period of introducing the Trent regulations it was probably primarily an instrument of property disposition. It was only later that priests started to include in testaments their reflections on man's destiny and relation to God. Text conventions and the expression of personal reflections viewed as two partly conflicting aspects of the last will can be best traced in the invocations. The testaments of Plock clergymen reveal some motifs, known also among laymen, concerning the human condition, its sinfulness and dependence on God's will. There are numerous mentions of God's severe judgement, of Christ's sacrifice to cleanse human sins and of the intercession of the Holy Virgin and the saints. One of the most frequent testament conventions was to open the section on funeral instructions with a formula about committing one's body, as a mortal element, to the earthly order. It is worth considering by what criteria some formulations are judged as reflecting personal experiences and impressions, while others as based on stereotypical notions. Apart from the researcher's intuition there seem to be no objective ways of differentiating. When analyzing the role of legal norms, stylistic conventions, mentality and individual reflections in clergymen's testaments, one is reminded of a colourful patterned textile, whose complicated weave is hidden from the viewer. A clergyman's last will interweaves personal reflections with the sentences and phrases of religious treaties once read, of sermons once heard or delivered, of other people's testaments once read. Further research on the subject can be facilitated by a better insight into the notions, ideas, emotions and customs of the people of those times, as well as into their ways of expressing themselves in writing. Therefore, their cultural background should be studied more extensively, including for instance the popular religious texts which were intended to be read in private. Perhaps such studies will disclose their individual views to us. In the testaments analyzed for the purpose of the study the individual aspect was not always prominent. It was clear in the documents quoted in the article, but in many others it gave way to clichés. This probably resulted not from the limitations imposed by legal norms, but from the overwhelming literary and stylistic conventions. The author tries to draw the reader's attention to the beliefs, perceptions and feelings which transcended social status barriers and differences in circumstances. It may be supposed that the situations in which last wills were made, such as the testator's illness, exhaustion, fear of epidemics, wish to die a good death and fear of sin in the final moment, curbed his individuality, making him look for stereotypical formulas, which were safer due to being widely used or accepted by the Church.

16

Dobroczynne i religijne legaty lwowskich mieszczan w świetle ich testamentów z lat 1550-1700

100%

Karpiński A.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2011

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vol. 59

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issue 3-4

363-378

EN

The article is based on 630 testaments from Lvov from the second half of the 16th c. and the 17th c., which indicate that Lvov burghers often made donations to churches, monasteries, religious fraternities and hospitals. The analysis concerned 952 legacies of money, or movable and immovable properties, which were less frequently bequeathed. It was found that 63.7% of money bequests were left to churches and monasteries, while 15% to poorhouses. With time poorhouses were donated to less frequently, which was connected with the waning of the mediaeval attitude to the poor, as well as with the popularisation of the new forms of religious devotion after the Council of Trent. In contrast, since the first half of the 17th c. more and more bequests were left to religious fraternities and particular chapels and altars. In the years 1551-1700 Lvov burghers bequeathed money to almost 100 religious or charitable institutions, including 6 hospitals, 43 Catholic churches, Orthodox churches and monasteries, 20 fraternities and 30 particular chapels and altars. The largest number of legacies, 85, was left to the Bernardine friars (Observants); among the most popular beneficiaries were also the Dominicans (55 legacies) and the Franciscans (53 legacies). Throughout the period in question many legacies were also left to the Metropolitan Cathedral, the parish church of Our Lady of the Snows, and the St Stanisław and the Holy Spirit hospitals. An analysis of almost a thousand money bequests showed that over 1/3 of them were of small value, equivalent to less than 200 grams of silver. More valuable legacies, equivalent to more than 1 kg of silver, constituted only 19.8% of the total value of money bequests; their number increased in the 17th c. This might have been connected with the policy of the Church, which called for substantial, not only symbolic support for concrete institutions. Table 3, which summarises the legacies left to the most popular churches, monasteries and hospitals, shows that in the period considered those institutions received means equivalent to almost 700 kg of silver. The largest proportion of this value, over 203 and a half kg of silver, went to the Lvov Metropolitan Cathedral; over 50 kg of silver was bequeathed to the Holy Spirit Hospital, and to several monasteries, fraternities, altars and chapels. A comparison of Lvov burgher testaments with data on other major Polish cities (Cracow, Poznań, Lublin) reveals many analogies, which result from a general change of the model of religiousness in Polish society induced by the Council of Trent.

17

TESTAMENTS OF THE INHABITANTS OF KIEV IN THE 16TH AND THE 1ST HALF OF THE 17TH C. (THE HISTORICAL AND SOURCE-TEXT ASPECTS) (Testamenty mieszkanców Kijowa z XVI - pierwszej polowy XVII wieku)

100%

Bilous N.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2010

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vol. 58

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issue 2

245-258

EN

The texts discussed in the present article have not been studied by historians so far, although testaments from Kiev, like testaments from the territory of the Crown of Poland, offer wide research opportunities. They can be used to study legal and economic issues, everyday life, mentality, spirituality and human attitudes to death. They present the testator's last will against the wide social context, involving the family, neighbours, friends, debtors and creditors. They indicate the financial position of the testator, and sometimes even show how money could be earned and how it was supposed to be spent (this concerns mostly the contents of trunks and stalls). The analysis of movables owned by the elite of Kiev burghers leads to the conclusion that they tried to imitate the lifestyle of the local gentry. Secondly, as is pointed out by Andrzej Pospiech, movables, regardless of how accessible they are in comparison with estates, are very clear indicators of social status. One of such indicators is undoubtedly the clothing. Burgher dress was largely influenced by the costume of the gentry, which was one of the symptoms of the extensive influence of the gentry culture on burgher elites, both in the Crown and in the Ukraine. The observations presented in the article should be treated as preliminary, due to the limited source basis available. Testaments from the Ukraine, especially those of the gentry from the Ruthenian and Volhynian voivodeships, have survived in hundreds, together with the basic archives of court records. In the case of Kiev, however, the situation is different, since all the city records from the period in question were destroyed by wars and fires. Only a few extracts and bequests recorded in other sources have been preserved. Since testaments give us much wider opportunities of studying the history of Ukrainian burghers that could be presented in the article, it seems that those few surviving texts should be published. Comparing them to the last wills from other towns will undauntedly contribute to the study of the living standard of the inhabitants of the south-eastern part of the Commonwealth.

18

Legaty pieniężne i rzeczowe na rzecz instytucji kościelnych w testamentach duchownych z diecezji płockiej w XVII wieku

100%

Główka D.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

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2011

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vol. 59

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issue 3-4

408-414

EN

Among many bequests included in testaments, following from the wish to settle one’s worldly affairs and share out one’s property, there were the so-called religious legacies. They concerned various elements of personal property: valuable objects, livestock, crops and money, which were bequeathed to Church institutions or congregations. It should be stressed that 17th-century testaments rarely specified the motifs of bequeathing property to Church institutions by clergymen. It seems that the motifs were so obvious that they were not considered worth mentioning. Legacies of that type may have been conventional and customary among the clergy. It was common, however, to specify the purpose of the legacy. In the testaments analysed there were 37 mentions of Gregorian masses, 13 of anniversary masses, 2 of alms. There are also legacies described by various terms but meant to pay for prayers for the testator, to finance repairs of churches or to buy liturgical paraphernalia (named “pro fabrica”). The last category was most numerous in the documents examined, amounting to 42 legacies. The purposes of such legacies were often described very generally, but sometimes they were specified more precisely, for instance building a belfry, repairing a church roof or founding an organ. In most cases, however, the money bequeathed was left at the disposal of the parish. The second most common type of legacy concerned paying for 30 day-after-day masses for the testator. The sums left for that purpose were between 10 to 100 zloties, but in most cases they did not exceed 30 zloties. Masses were usually celebrated at convent churches. Legacies of that type were usually made by priests of lower rank (altarists, curates or parish priests). Bequests to parish churches were mostly made by local priests. The same concerns legacies left to religious fraternities in Płock, Pułtusk and other towns. Legacies were also made to neighbouring parishes. The documents analysed reflect the impact of convents on parish clergy. Most legacies (40) were left to the Bernardine friars (Observants); less popular beneficiaries were the Jesuits, the Reformati and the Carmelites. The connections between convents and lay clergy did not exceed the range of 50 km. Among less common bequests were those of grain, livestock and woollen cloth (7 cases). Worth mentioning are also legacies to hospitals, which inherited sums reaching up to 10 zloties from 8 testators in 6 parishes. The most privileged beneficiaries were the hospitals of St Lazarus and of the Holy Spirit in Pułtusk. To conclude, it should be stressed that the religious legacies of Płock diocese clergy in the 17th c. had two dimensions: the spiritual one, regarding departing this life and the testator’s wish to ensure that he will be prayed for by the living, and the worldly one connected with property and the intangible sphere of the testator’s relationships with other clergymen.

19

VÝPOVEDNÁ HODNOTA KREMNICKÝCH TESTAMENTOV ZO 16. STOROČIA

88%

Haas Kianička D.

Mesto a dejiny

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2015

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vol. 4

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issue 1

6 – 14

EN

There are testaments from the 16th century preserved in Kremnica state archive. They are written in Latin, German and in one sample also in Slovak language. Last wills prepared a man for a death in spiritual and secular (division of property) way. Testaments eliminated conﬂict between secular property and desire for an eternal life. Formally testaments consist of several parts – invocation, intitulation, profession of faith, passages about human mortality, composing of the last will and redress of sins, heritages of property, conﬁrmation, corroborating and date formulas. The content of the testaments is an important historical source for economic, law, culture, regional history and also history of material culture and everyday life.

20

BISKUPI A TESTAMENTY UHORSKÉHO DUCHOVENSTVA V STREDOVEKU

75%

Nemeš J.

Studia Historica Nitriensia

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2020

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vol. 24

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issue 2

322 – 338

EN

In our paper we deal with testaments of clergymen in the Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages in relation with bishops and archbishops. As the highest ranked officials of the Church, bishops represented guarantees and protectors of testamentary law of clerics. Their episcopal power became a pledge for practical exercise of their testamentary law in the kingdom. They performed tasks as witnesses, executors or they provided confirmation of last wills in higher ranks of the hierarchy. At the same time they were recipients of various testamentary messages in material, financial or spiritual forms or they formed messages of such kinds. In our paper we also analyze personal testaments of bishops and archbishops.

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LAW AND CONVENTION VS. PERSONAL REFLECTION. A STUDY OF THE TESTAMENTS OF THE PLOCK DIOCESE CLERGY IN THE 17TH AND 18 C. (Miedzy prawem i konwencja a osobista refleksja. Ze studiów nad testamentami duchowienstwa diecezji plockiej w XVII i XVIII w.)

Dobroczynne i religijne legaty lwowskich mieszczan w świetle ich testamentów z lat 1550-1700

TESTAMENTS OF THE INHABITANTS OF KIEV IN THE 16TH AND THE 1ST HALF OF THE 17TH C. (THE HISTORICAL AND SOURCE-TEXT ASPECTS) (Testamenty mieszkanców Kijowa z XVI - pierwszej polowy XVII wieku)

Legaty pieniężne i rzeczowe na rzecz instytucji kościelnych w testamentach duchownych z diecezji płockiej w XVII wieku

VÝPOVEDNÁ HODNOTA KREMNICKÝCH TESTAMENTOV ZO 16. STOROČIA

BISKUPI A TESTAMENTY UHORSKÉHO DUCHOVENSTVA V STREDOVEKU