Privilege of King Sigismund I the Old regarding fish duties for the burghers of Lviv

Sigismund, by the grace of God, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Lord and Heir of Rus, Prussia, Masovia, etc. We announce by the wording of this [document] to all whom it may concern. That whereas our burghers and merchants of Lviv have complained before us that, although they are free from our customs and Lviv market duties on herring and other fish purchased elsewhere by them, according to the laws and liberties granted to the city of Lviv and its inhabitants by our predecessors, they are nevertheless very often harassed and forced to pay said customs and market duties by the officials of our Lviv castle to their great detriment and burden; and on the other hand, the illustrious Stanisław of Chodecz, Marshal of our Kingdom and Starosta of Lviv, dear to us, argued that many Lviv burghers, running out onto public roads and anticipating one another in trade or purchase of fish, buy up on those roads herring and other fish which were being transported directly to Lviv by foreign people, who are obliged to pay customs and our market duties, to the fraud and detriment of the customs chamber and our Lviv castle. We, wishing to remedy our loss, and not wanting to cause any oppression or detriment to those Lviv burghers in their liberties and rights, have deemed it appropriate to decide, order, and decree as follows. We therefore decide, decree, and order that if the officials of our Lviv castle do not wish to believe the simple statement of a Lviv burgher that he did not buy herring or other salted fish in containers on the road from a met carter or merchant heading towards Lviv, then that burgher, if he does not possess any legal document to confirm his statement, should prove by his own corporal oath that he had previously concluded a purchase agreement for those fish, which were brought to Busk or some other place [...], and ordered them to be stored there, from where they could be more conveniently transported by him to Lviv by a shorter route. It shall be permitted for those Lviv burghers to buy salted fish, wherever they are brought to Busk by the Busk burghers themselves, without any payment of customs or market duties. In witness whereof, this letter, to which our seal has been appended. Given in Kraków, at the general sejm, on the Wednesday next after the Sunday of Laetare, in the year of our Lord one thousand five hundred and twenty-seventh, and in the twenty-first year of our reign. [Bottom left:] Peter, Bishop and Deputy Chancellor [signed] [Bottom right:] Report of the most reverend father in Christ, Lord Peter, Bishop of Kraków and Deputy Chancellor of the Kingdom of Poland [Verso:] [Archival note:] to bundle 148 [Archival note:] No. 19 [Year date:] 1527 [16th-century register:] On not collecting market duties on fish when they are transported in containers. For certain reasons, without offending [...], a provision made at the castle, upon which they relied. [Chancery mark:] Registered [Modern ink stamp:] ARCHIWUM AKT DAWNYCH MIASTA LWOWA [Seal:] [Smaller royal seal of Sigismund I the Old in a natural wax bowl, impression in red wax, suspended on a parchment strip; four-field shield with the Eagle and the Vytis, in the border an inscription in majuscule].

Sigismundus Dei gratia Rex Polonie, Magnus dux Lithvanie, Russie, Prussie, Masouie etc. dominus et heres. Significamus tenore presentium quibus expedit universis. Quia cum questi essent coram nobis Cives et Mercatores nostri Leopolien[ses], q[uod] q[uam]vis ipsi secundum iura et libertates Civitati Leopolien[si] et eius Incolis, per nostros predecessores concessas, liberi essent, a theloneis et foralibus nostris Leopolien[sibus], ab allecibus, aliisq[ue] piscibus alibi per eos coemptis, tamen impeterentur frequentius et ad solutionem ipsius Thelonei et foralium cogerentur ab officialibus castri nostri Leopolien[sis] in magnum eorum preiudicium et gravamen, ac e diverso Magnificus Stanislaus de Chodecz Marschalcus regni nostri ac Leopolien[sis] Capitaneus, sincere nobis dilectus, allegasset, q[uod] pleriq[ue] Cives Leopolien[ses] excurrendo ad itinera publica, et alter alteri mercaturam seu emptionem piscium preripiendo allecia et alios pisces qui ab alienigenis seu exteris hominibus, ad solvendum theloneum, et foralia nostra obnoxiis, recta in Leopoldim ducerentur, in ipsis itineribus compararent, in fraudem et iacturam camere Thelonei et castri nostri Leopolien[sis]. Volen[tes] nos indemnitati nostre prospicere, ipsisq[ue] civibus Leopolien[sibus] in eorum libertatibus et iuribus nullum gravamen aut preiudicium fieri cupien[tes] ita statuendum ordinandum et decernendum duximus. Statuimusq[ue], decernimus, et ordinamus, quod si officiales castri nostri Leopolien[sis] simplici assertioni alicuius Civis Leopolien[sis] credere nollent, q[uod] ipse non in itinere, a vectore seu mercatore obvio versus Leopoldim proficiscente, allecia vel alios pisces salsos in vasis emerit tunc idem civis si nullum documentum legitimum ad verificandam hanc suam assertionem habuerit, iuramento suo proprio corporali probare debebit, q[uod] ipse pro illis piscibus qui adducti fuissent in Busko, aut aliquem alium locum in temere, contractum emptionis antea fecisset, et q[uod] illic deponerentur, ordinasset, que comodius breviori vie compendio in Leopoldim by ipsi pisces vehi per eum potuissent. Liberum autem erit eisdem civibus Leopolien[sibus], emere pisces salsos undecumq[ue] illuc in Busko per ipsosmet Cives Buscen[ses] adductos, sine quavis thelonei aut foralium solutione. Harum testimonio literarum quibus sigillum nostrum est Appensum. Dat[um] Cracovie, in conventu generali, feria quarta proxima post dominicam Letare, Anno domini Millesimo Quingentesimo Vigesimo Septimo Regni vero Nostri Anno Vigesimo Primo. [Po lewej u dołu:] Petrus Ep[iscop]us et vicecancell[arius] [subscripsit] [Po prawej u dołu:] Relatio Reverendi in christo patris domini Petri Episcopi Cracovien[sis] et Regni Polonie Vicecancellarii [Verso:] [Nota archiwalna:] ad Fas[ciculum] 148 [Nota archiwalna:] No 19 [Data roczna:] 1527 [Regest XVI w.:] Pro non recipien[dis] foralibus a piscibus cum in vasis adduct[is]. Ex certis causis non offen[dend? ...] ordinatio in Castro facta niterentur. [Znak kancelaryjny:] R[egis]t[r]a[ta] [Pieczęć tuszowa nowożytna:] ARCHIWUM AKT DAWNYCH MIASTA LWOWA [Pieczęć:] [Pieczęć mniejsza koronna Zygmunta I Starego w misce z naturalnego wosku, odcisk w czerwonym wosku, zawieszona na pasku pergaminowym; tarcza czteropolowa z Orłem i Pogonią, w otoku napis majuskułą].