Verdict of King Władysław IV regarding customs duties of the merchants of the city of Lwów

[p. 1:] WŁADYSŁAW IV, by the grace of God, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Ruthenia, Prussia, Masovia, Samogitia, Livonia, Smolensk, and Chernihiv, and also King of the Swedes, Goths, and Vandals, etc. We hereby announce by this Our letter to all and each person concerned, that the prudent and reputable merchants and registrars of Our city of Lwów in general, of whatever lineage and nation, whether patricians or newcomers from abroad, and enjoying the rights and privileges of the same [city], settled among Us, whose names and surnames should be considered as expressed, regarding their persons and goods and privileges in the matters described below, have been summoned before Us and Our court by Our writ of summons, at the instance of Our and the Republic's prosecutor, by Our express order upon the report of the illustrious Jan Mikołaj Daniłowicz, Grand Crown Treasurer, Starosta of Sambor, Sanok, etc., relying on the statutes and constitutions of the Crown, both new and old, and [on the basis of] a commission of certain commissioners appointed for the prepared case during the reign of the late most serene, of blessed memory, Our most beloved parent, and subsequently suspended in deliberation, from the ready term to which their predecessors or they themselves were summoned for this reason: that they, contrary to the provision of the laws and constitutions of the Crown and relying on certain liberties and alleged privileges, under their pretext refuse to pay customs duties on goods of various kinds and types imported by them into Our Kingdom, due to Our treasury by virtue of Our laws, to the customs clerks in Our chambers, and indeed have long failed to pay this duty as they are obliged, whereby they have fallen into the penalties prescribed by the laws of the Crown against those withholding and exceeding [the payments of] Our customs, and have withheld the sum of money due to Our treasury for past years according to the registers of the customs clerks – all namely jointly and each of them individually in their own interest [were summoned] to see and hear the resolution of the said deliberation of the late most serene parent of Ours by Us, and the issuance of a verdict in the case, and so that regardless of the presentation of privileges at the assessor's court and the objections of their claims, they be forced to the immediate payment of this kind of Our royal customs duty to Our treasury along with the arrears specified in the registers of the clerks, and the remaining matters be decided and judged according to the requirement of law and the case. At which term of this summons, when the parties appeared before Our assessor's court and entered into a dispute, Our assessor's court – for the reason that it concerned the recognition of Our privileges – referred this case to Us and Our own relational courts, just as Our summons and the process of the case more extensively state and declare. Therefore, on this present day [p. 2:] of Our own relational court, legally resulting from that referral and continued until now, when the above-mentioned parties – the plaintiff by proxy, and the defendant by the noble Marcin Świeżawski and the honest Andrzej Wachlowicz, juror and syndic of the city of Lwów, Iwaszko and Krzysztof Bernatowicz, senior sworn Armenians, as well as Robert Bandinelli and Stefan Laskowski, proxies on behalf of the commonalty, and as their own envoys – appeared before Us and Our court, and considering that term and entering into a dispute on the legal path, the plaintiff party argued according to its summons, while the defendant party raised a procedural objection regarding the term for the reason that the summons was issued for the purpose of settling a certain deliberation against these same defendants, which cannot be proven, nor has the case with these same defendants ever been conducted before either in Our assessor's court or before Us; nevertheless, so as not to appear to be evading, it presented its privileges in its justification that they are not obliged to pay this duty: First, the privilege from the year 1387 of the late most serene Jadwiga, Queen of Poland, in which, among other liberties, all customs and tributes unduly and unjustly imposed after the death of the most serene King Casimir were abolished; Next, the privilege of the late most serene King Władysław from the year 1424, by which this same privilege of the most serene Queen Jadwiga is confirmed; In addition, the privilege of the most serene King Alexander from the year 1505 at the general Crown sejm in Radom, in which, at the requests of the prelates and barons of the Kingdom, the townspeople, merchants, and inhabitants of Lwów were exempted from paying customs, river tolls, bridge tolls, and embankment tolls anywhere in the Kingdom [p. 3:] and in the lands, cities, towns, and any places of the Kingdom for all time; Furthermore, the privilege of the late most serene King Henry from the year 1574, containing within itself the decree of the most serene King Sigismund Augustus from the year 1567 of the general Crown sejm, in which they were ordered to swear an oath to the freedom from customs, as well as the taking of an oath in that same year before the Lwów land court by two of the councilors, two jurors, and three from the commonalty; Moreover, from the Crown constitutions of the year 1565, the presentation of freedom regarding these same customs during the revision of letters according to the provision of earlier constitutions and other later confirmations of the most serene kings of Poland concerning these same freedoms from customs, presenting them; Also, the Lwów Armenians also presented their privileges, such as that of the late most serene King Alexander from the year 1505, by which they were made free and exempt from paying customs on goods imported to Lwów from foreign countries, namely from Wallachia, Turkey, Hungary, Muscovy, Tatary, Silesia, Lithuania, and other external lands, provided, however, that annually these same Armenians, by virtue of that freedom, were obliged to pay to Our treasury twelve kopa [of groschen]; Similarly, the privilege of the most serene King Sigismund I from the year 1509, confirming the privileges of the most serene: King Louis, Queen Elizabeth, and other kings: Władysław, Casimir, Alexander, granted in the matter of the freedom of these same Armenians; Next, the privilege of the declaration of the most serene Sigismund I from the year 1524, in which the Armenians, because they pay a certain sum to the treasury by virtue of import customs, were declared free from paying the customs that other townspeople are obliged to pay; [p. 4:] In addition, the privilege of confirmation of all privileges serving the liberties of these same Armenians from the year 1548, with the force of a sworn oath; Furthermore, the privilege of confirmations of subsequent most serene kings, namely Sigismund Augustus, Henry, Stephen, Sigismund III, and Ours, under the same rigor of a sworn oath of all the above-written liberties; Finally, the privilege of the declaration of the late most serene King Stephen from the year 1583, in which the Lwów townspeople were exempted from paying customs on their goods imported and brought into the Kingdom from Turkey, Moldavia, Esztergom, and anywhere else, provided, however, that under the pretext of their freedom they do not import the goods of others, for which they are obliged to take an oath; finally, receipts of payment of the said fee of twelve kopa until this time by virtue of the freedom from paying customs on goods imported from foreign lands, presenting them – after the presentation of all of which privileges and receipts, they demanded to be recognized as free from paying the above-described customs and to be maintained in their rights and privileges strengthened by oaths. WE, together with the advisors sitting by Our side, having heard the arguments of the parties and having viewed, diligently considered, and examined the privileges presented and brought by both parties – because the rights of the treasury are of the strictest law, and the privileges, liberties, and immunities presented by the defendant Lwów townspeople and Armenians do not contain within themselves any special or express exclusion or release from the payment of the old border customs on goods imported into the Kingdom, which is the matter now at hand, but only from paying customs [p. 5:] inside the Kingdom, both in transit and upon return with their goods; and the rights of the treasury can in no way be subject to prescription nor can they be abolished or violated by any contrary custom – therefore, regardless of these privileges, we have ruled that these same defendants are obliged to bring and pay this border customs duty on all goods imported into Our Kingdom according to Our regulation, under the penalties sanctioned in the common laws; and we make and declare the Armenians themselves free and exempt from the payment of the twelve kopa, which they were accustomed to pay by virtue of the privilege of the late most serene King Alexander granted to them on account of such customs. As for other liberties, immunities, and prerogatives contained in these same privileges and in any way serving the above-named defendants, in particular the non-payment of customs inside the Kingdom, both in transit and upon return with their goods – all these Lwów townspeople and Armenians we maintain in them for all time. Finally, as for the demand for payment of arrears sought by the current prosecutor, namely the Crown and Republic's instigator, having regard both to the fact that Our declaration and interpretation of the rights and privileges of the defendants in this measure has now occurred for the first time, and to the fact that according to the provision of the law, these defendant townspeople, as acting in good faith and relying on their privileges, should be bound and obligated only for the future: therefore, from the payment of all these arrears by virtue of such customs, we make and declare the defendant Lwów townspeople, all, both Catholics, Armenians, and Ruthenians, free and released by the power of this Our decree. [p. 6:] In witness whereof, the seal of Our Kingdom has been affixed to this. Given in Warsaw, on the Friday next after the octave of the Most Holy Body of Christ, in the Year of Our Lord 1643, the twelfth year of Our reigns in Poland and Sweden. Jerzy Ossoliński, Crown Chancellor, with his own hand. Relation of the most illustrious lord Jerzy of Tęczyn Ossoliński, Grand Chancellor of the Polish Kingdom, Starosta of Bydgoszcz, Luboml, Lubaczów, Ropczyce, Andrychów, etc. Filip Huctinus, His Royal Majesty's secretary and notary, signed. [Chancery note in the lower left corner:] Between the Crown Instigator and the Lwów Merchants. [Censorship/correction mark in the lower right corner:] Corrected [paraph] [p. 7:] 4 [p. 8 / Verso:] [Archival notes:] 1643. Cupboard 16/a E D2. Bundle 281 Second rubric Letter B. No. 26. 2. B. 26. [Latin regest from the era:] Decree of Władysław IV between the Crown instigator and all merchants of the city of Lwów, [...] in the treasury court, by which [...] border customs [...] 1643. [Round ink seal:] ARCHIVE OF ANCIENT RECORDS OF THE CITY OF LWÓW

[s. 1:] VLADISLAUS IV Dei gratia Rex Poloniae, Magnus Dux Lith[vaniae], Russ[iae], Prus[siae], Mazov[iae], Samog[itiae], Livon[iae], Smolen[sciae], Czerniech[oviae]que, necnon Suecor[um], Gothor[um], Vandal[orum]que etc. Rex. Significamus praesentibus literis Nostris, quorum interest universis et singulis. Cratos fuisse ad Nostrum et Iudicium Nostrum literis citationis Nostrae Spectabiles et Famatos Civitatis Nostrae Leopolien[sis] Mercatores et Registratores in universum vel cuiuscunque gentis et nationis, sive Patricios, sive aliunde advenas, et Iuribus ac Privilegijs eiusdem fruentes, Nobis adsitos, quorum etiam Nomina et cognomina pro expressis haberi debent de personis ac bonis eorum, Privilegijsque super infra scriptis ad Instantiam Instigatoris Nostri et Reipublicae Actoris, ad expressum Mandatum Nostrum ex Delatione Magnifici Joannis Nicolai Daniłowicz Supremi Regni Thesaurarij, Samborien[sis], Sanocien[sis] etc. Capitanei inhaerendo Statutis et Constitutionibus Regni tam Novis quam antiquis atque comissiorii certorum Commissariorum ad paratam causam ipsius sub Regimine Serenissimi olim Divae Memoriae Parentis Nostri desideratissimi instituti et in deliberatione deinde pendentem paratum Terminum ex ea posuerant, qua Antecessores ipsorum, seu ipsimet citati fuerint pro eo: Quia ipsi contra praescriptum Iurium et Constitutionum Regni, libertatisque quibusdum [!] et Privilegijs assertis sese opponentes, sub praetextu eorundem solutionem Thelonei ab inductis per ipsos in Regnum Nostrum diversi generis et speciei Mericibus [!] Thesauro Nostro vigore Iurium Nostrorum servien[tis] Notarijs Theloneatoribus in Cameris Nostris praestare recusant, imo a multo tempore hoc Theloneum, prout tenentur, non solunt [!], neque solverunt, per quod poenas contra Retentores et transgressores Theloneorum Nostrorum Iuribus Regni descriptas incurrerunt, et Summam pecuniariam, iuxta Regestra Notariorum Theloneorum respectu superiorum Annorum Thesauro Nostro provenien[tem] retinuerunt omnes nimirum coniunctim et quemlibet eorum ex suo interesse ad videndum et audiendum deliberatum praefatam Serenissimi olim Parentis Nostri per Nos expediri, Cawsamque [!] fieri decidi, ipsosque ex productione Privilegiorum Assessorio allegatibo praetensionibus eorum non attenta ad solutionem huiusmodi Thelonei Nostri Regalis Thesauro Nostro una cum retentis creditis in Regnis [!] Notariorum specificatis paratam stringi, ceteraque pro Iuris et causae exigentia statui et sententiari. Quo in Termino ex eadem citatione inibi cum partes coram Iudicio Assessorio Nostro comparerent et in controversias descenderent, Iudicium Assessorium Nostrum, eo quod ageretur de cognitione Privilegiorum Nostrorum causam hanc ad Nos et Iudicia Relationum Nostrarum propriarum remiserat, ata [!] prout citatio Nostra et Processus causae fusius de praemissis disponit et obloquitur. In Termino itaque hodierno [s. 2:] Iudicij Relationum Nostrarum propriarum ex eadem Remissione legitime provenienti et hucusque continuato, partibus supra nominatis, Actorica pl[en]i[potentiario], Citata vero per Nobilem Martinum Swiezawski et Honoratos Andream Wachlowicz Scabinum et Syndicum Civitatis Leopolien[sis], Ivaszkonem et Christophorum Bernatowicz Seniores Juratos Armenorum, tum et Robertum Bandenelli et Stephanum Laskowski ex Communitate Plenipotentes ac inter Nuntios suos coram Nobis et Iudicio Nostro comparentibus, eumque Terminum attenta ac in controversias Iure mediante descendentibus, et Actorica quidem ex citatione sua proponente, Citata vero Terminum, eo quod citatio ad expediendam deliberationem quandam contra eosdem citatos extradita est, quae probari non potest, nec causa cum ijsdem citatis antea unquam tam in Iudicio Assessorio Nostro quam coram Nobis agitata fuit, excipiente, Nihilominus, ne subterfugere videatur, Privilegia sua causa iustificationis suae quod ad eiusdem Thelonei persolutionem non teneantur producente. In primis quidem Privilegium Anni Millesimi Trecentesimi Octogesimi Septimi Serenissimae olim Hedvigis Reginae Poloniae, quo inter alias libertates omnia Thelonea et Tributa post mortem Serenissimi Casimiri Regis indebite et iniuste statuta sublata sunt; Deinde Privilegium Serenissimi olim Vladislai Regis Anni Millesimi Quadringentesimi Vigesimi Quarti quo idem Privilegium Serenissimae Hedvigis Reginae confirmatur; Ad haec Privilegium Serenissimi Alexandri Regis Anni Millesimi Quingentesimi Quinti in Conventu Regni Generali Radomien[si], quo ad preces Praelatorum et Baronum Regni Cives et Mercatores ac Incolas Leopolien[ses] a solutione erum [!] Theloneorum, Navigiorum, Pontalium, Aggeralium ubivis in Regno [s. 3:] ac in Terris, Civitatibus, Oppidis et Locis quibusvis Regni temporibus perpetuo duraturis sunt liberifacti. Praeterea Privilegium Serenissimi olim Henrici Regis Anni Millesimi Quingentesimi Septuagesimi Quarti continens in se Decretum Serenissimi Sigismundi Augusti Regis Anni Millesimi Quingentesimi Sexagesimi Septimi Conventus Regni Generalis, quo ipsis iniunctum fuit, ut super libertatem a Theloneis iurarent, tum et eiusdem Anni praestitionem Juramenti coram Iudicio Terrestri Leopolien[si] per duos ex Consulibus, duos Scabinos, tres ex Communitate. Insuper et ex Constitutionibus Regni Anni Millesimi Quingentesimi Sexagesimi Quinti productionem libertatum super eadem Thelonea in Revisione Literarum iuxta praescriptum anteriorum Constitutionum et alias subsequentes Confirmationes Serenissimorum Regum Poloniae super easdem libertates a Theloneis producente; Armeni quoque Leopolien[ses] itidem Privilegia sua utpote Serenissimi olim Alexandri Regis Anni Millesimi Quingentesimi Quinti, quo a solutione Thelonei a Mercibus ex extraneis partibus, scilicet Valachia, Turcia, Hungaria, Moschovia, Tartaria, Silesia, Lituana, alijsque externis Regionibus Leopolim adductis liberi et immunes facti, ita tamen ut quotannis ijdem Armeni respectu eiusdem libertatis duodecim Sexagenas solvere Thesauro Nostro teneantur; Item Privilegium Serenissimi Sigismundi Primi Regis Anni Millesimi Quingentesimi Noni approbatorium Privilegiorum Serenorum Regis Ludovici, Reginae Helizabethae, aliorumque Regum Vladislai, Casimiri, Alexandri super libertatibus eorundem Armenorum datorum; Deinde Privilegium Declarationis Serenissimi Sigismundi Primi Anni Millesimi Quingentesimi Vigesimi Quarti quo Armeni, quoniam certam Summam Thesauro respectu Thelonei induxitu [!] solvunt, liberi pronunciati a solutione Thelonei, quod alij Cives solvere tenentur. [s. 4:] Ad haec Privilegium Confirmationis omnium Privilegiorum super libertates eorundem Armenorum servien[s] Anni Millesimi Quingentesimi Quadragesimi Octavi sub vigore Juramenti praestiti. Praeterea Privilegium Confirmationum subsequen[tium] Serenissimorum Regum scilicet Sigismundi Augusti, Henrici, Stephani, Sigismundi Tertij et Nostrum sub eodem rigore Juramenti praestiti omnium libertatum suprascriptarum. Ad extremum Privilegium Declarationis Serenissimi olim Stephani Regis Anni Millesimi Quingentesimi Octogesimi Tertij quo Cives Leopolien[ses] a solutione Theloneorum a Mercibus suis ex Turcia, Moldavia, Strigonia, aliis unde cunque in Regnum illatis et importatis sunt liberi facti, ita tamen ne Merces alienas potius sub praetextu libertatis suae inducant, quod teneantur eo nomine Juramentum praestare; demum Quietationes solutionis dictarum Duodecim Sexagenarum adhuc usque tempus respectu libertatis a solutione Thelonei inductarum Mercium ex exteris Regionibus producentibus, quibus omnibus Privilegijs et Quietationibus productis se liberos a solutione suprascripti Thelonei pronunciari et circa Iura et Privilegia Juramentis firmata conservari expetentibus. NOS cum Consiliarijs Lateri Nostro assiden[tibus] auditis partium allegionibus [!] tum et Privilegijs productis visis et diligenter trutinatis ac examinatis per utramque partem illatis. Quandoquidem Iura Fisci sunt strictissimi Iuris, Privilegia vero et libertates ac immunitates per citatos Cives et Armenos Leopolien[ses] producta nullam specialem ac disertam exemptionem neque libertatem a solutione antiqui Thelonei Finitimi ab inductis mercibus in Regnum de quo nunc agitur, sed tantum a solutione Theloneorum [s. 5:] intra Regnum tam in eundo quam in redeundo cum Mercibus suis in se continent. Iura quoque Fisci nullo modo praescribi neque ulla contraria consuetudine tolli aut infringi possunt; ideo non obstantibus ijsdem Privilegijs eosdem citatos teneri ad pendendum et solvendum hocce Theloneum finitimum inducendarum quarumcunque Mercium ad Regnum Nostrum iuxta ordinationem Nostram sub poenis in Legibus publicis sancitis decrevimus, ipsos vero Armenos a solutione Duodecim Sexagenarum quas iuxta Privilegium Serenissimi olim Alexandri Regis ipsis concessum ratione huiusmodi Thelonei pendere solebant, liberos et immunes facimus et declaramus. Quo ad vero alias libertates, immunitates et praerogativas in ijsdem Privilegijs contentas et Citatis praenominatis quomodolibet servientes praecipue vero non solutionis Theloneorum intra Regnum tam in eundo quam in redeundo cum Mercibus suis eosdem omnes Cives et Armenos Leopolien[ses] circa ipsas perpetuo conservamus. Quantum denique attinet solutionem Retentorum per Actorem modernum scilicet Instigatorem Regni et Reipublicae affectam tam eo in consideratione habito, quod Nostra declaratio et interpretatio Iurium et Privilegiorum Citatorum iurium ea in parte nunc primum intercesserit, quam iuxta Iuris praescriptum eosdem citatos Cives tanquam bona fide et Privilegijs suis fretos non nisi in futurum stringere et obligare debeat: Ideo a solutione eorundem Retentorum quorumcunque ratione huiusmodi Thelonei Citatos Cives Leopolienses omnes tam Catholicos quam Armenos et Ruthenos liberos et immunes facimus et pronuntiamus praesentis Decreti Nostri vigore. [s. 6:] In cuius rei fidem praesentibus Sigillum Regni Nostri est appressum. Datum Varsaviae Feria Sexta post Octavas Sacratissimi Corporis Christi proxima Anno Domini Millesimo Sexcentesimo Quadragesimo Tertio, Regnorum Nostrorum Poloniae et Sueciae Duodecimo Anno. Georgius Ossolinski Cancellarius Reg[ni] mpr. Relatio Illustrissimi Domini Georgij a Tenczyn Ossolinski Supremi Regni Poloniae Cancellarij, Bydgostien[sis], Lubomlen[sis], Lubaczovien[sis], Ropczycen[sis], Andrehovien[sis] etc. Capitanei. Philippus Huctinus S[uae] R[egiae] M[aiestatis] Secret[arius] et Not[arius] ss. [Nota kancelaryjna w lewym dolnym rogu:] Inter Instigatorem Regni et Mercatores Leopolien[ses]. [Znak cenzury/korekty w prawym dolnym rogu:] Correct[um] [parafa] [s. 7 (czysta, paginacja ołówkiem/atramentem):] 4 [s. 8 / Verso:] [Zapiski archiwalne:] 1643. Arca 16/a E D2. Fasc. 281 Rubrica Secunda Litt. B. Nro 26. 2. B. 26. [Regest łaciński z epoki:] Decretum Wladislai IV inter Instigatorem Regni et omnes Mercatores Civitatis Leopoliensis tam in Fisco Iudicatus habiti, quo ... Theloneum Finitimum ... 1643. [Okrągła pieczęć tuszowa:] ARCHIWUM AKT DAWNYCH MIASTA LWOWA