Source catalogue

King Sigismund III Vasa intercedes with the authorities of Lwów on behalf of the local Jews, who are requesting an extension of an expiring trade agreement concluded with the city. The monarch recommends extending the agreement, pointing out that it will not prejudice the city's rights or revenues.

King Sigismund III Vasa informs the authorities of Lviv that the date of his wedding with Archduchess Constance of Austria has been set for October 30, 1605. The monarch calls upon the proconsul and councilors to send a municipal delegation to the wedding ceremonies in Kraków.

Sigismund III accuses the city authorities of obstructing a settlement between the Jesuits and the Jews. According to the King, the owners of the lands that the Jews wish to purchase for the Jesuits are willing to relinquish them for appropriate compensation, but the city's opposition is blocking the agreement. The King demands that the settlement be brought to fruition.

Sigismund III recalls that the authorities of Lviv themselves supported the establishment of a Jesuit college. He then accuses them of obstructing the matter and inciting the commoners. He sends delegates to end the obstacles and begin the foundation; he calls for cooperation under threat of royal disfavor.

King Sigismund III Vasa orders the authorities and the commonalty of Lwów to urgently fortify the city and gather supplies of ammunition and food in the face of impending danger. He further instructs them to coordinate all defensive actions with the hetman and the starosta in anticipation of the monarch's imminent arrival.

The King recalls a privilege allowing his servant, Domenico Montelupi, to trade in all cities of the Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania throughout the year. The authorities of Lviv restrict him based on their own laws and privileges. The King recommends a settlement without waiting for a royal court ruling and demands again that Montelupi not be prohibited from selling both during and outside of fairs.

King Sigismund III Vasa calls upon the authorities and inhabitants of Lwów to prepare for defense against the approaching threat from pagan forces. He simultaneously informs them of entrusting the supreme command and authority over the defense to the Starosta of Lwów, ordering the magistrate to cooperate closely with him.

Following a complaint from members of the community and explanations from the magistrate, the King orders the resolution of disputes and the observance of privileges, decrees, and amicable settlements. Income granted to the city by a recent privilege is to be used for the public good, not for private gain.

The King reprimands Lwów for failing to send representatives to the parliamentary commission tasked with setting prices. Arguments sent in writing should have been presented by delegates. Separately, he assures the supervision of commissioners over the conduct of soldiers and orders the authorities to ensure the safety of the city.

The King allocates the estate of a locksmith who died without issue to the completion of the town hall tower. He requires the funds to be used for the public good and accounted for before commissioners.

The King receives frequent complaints from the burghers of Lwów against the Starosta Stanisław Bonifacy Mniszek. Before proceeding to execute the parliamentary and court decrees, he asks Bishop Achacy Grochowski to admonish the Starosta and bring about a reconciliation with the city, while preserving and expanding the city's liberties according to a recently granted privilege.

The King orders the Lviv magistrate to strictly observe monetary universals. He mentions Jews, Scots, and others dealing in money, who are forbidden from trading in ducats and thalers contrary to the law, or buying them up for export. He prohibits the import and sale of the specified foreign currency. The office is to punish offenders without delay; negligence or toleration of violations will result in the city authorities themselves being held liable.

King Sigismund I the Old, at the request of Archbishop Bernard Wilczek, confirms the privilege of King Władysław Jagiełło from 1430. The document exempts the estates of the Archdiocese of Lviv from all state burdens, tributes, and services, and equates its immunities with the rights of the Archdiocese of Gniezno.

King Sigismund I the Old grants permission to the Metropolitan Chapter in Lviv to purchase a third part of a mill in front of the Halych Gate from Margaret, widow of the miller Marcin Tłusty, and her children. The income from the mill is to be used to satisfy the needs of the chapter and the vicars, while preserving royal rights.

King Sigismund I grants the cathedral chapter in Lviv permission to purchase, under the right of 'wyderkauf' (redeemable rent), an annual rent worth up to four hundred marks from landed or urban estates to support the clergy. The property acquired in this manner is perpetually exempted from the obligation of all military expeditions.

King Sigismund I settles a dispute between the city council of Lwów and the Starosta Stanisław of Chodecz, prohibiting the operation of taverns in the suburbs and limiting the permitted number of craftsmen in the Kraków Suburb to two tailors, two shoemakers, two blacksmiths, and tanners.

King Sigismund I resolves a dispute between the lessees of the Sniatyn customs and the Lviv city council, confirming documents from 1444 by Jan of Czyżów and Michał Mużyło of Buczacz, which abolished unlawful customs duties in Kolomyia and established fair customs rates in Sniatyn.

King Sigismund I grants permission to Master Michael, notary of Lviv, to purchase a third part of the Baker's Mill in the Lviv suburb for the sum of fifty marks. He records this amount for him, along with the right to collect one-third of the mill's income, with the obligation to bear one-third of the repair costs.

King Sigismund I resolves a jurisdictional dispute between the Lviv city council and the Armenian community, abolishing the office of a separate Armenian reeve (wójt) and placing the Armenians under municipal jurisdiction in real estate matters and four criminal articles. In other matters, Armenians are to be judged by the municipal reeve together with six Armenian elders according to their ancestral law, with the right of appeal directly to the royal majesty.

King Sigismund I the Old confirms the privilege of King Alexander Jagiellon allowing the cathedral chapter in Lviv to redeem the village of Czerkasy from leaseholders. The confirmed estates are incorporated in perpetuity into the endowment of the Lviv Metropolitan Chapter.

King Sigismund I grants permission to Jan Odrowąż of Sprowa, Voivode of Bełz and Starosta of Sambor, to pledge the royal village of Łuka in the Sambor district to the nobleman Piotr Mączyński for the sum of 200 florins. The act defines the conditions for the creditor's holding of the estate and reserves the right of redemption by the King or the Starosta.

Commissioners of King Sigismund I resolve the dispute between Lviv butchers and the nobility and townspeople, allowing free meat trade in Lviv every Saturday. Rules were established for collecting the market fee, known as 'sochaczne', stored in a chest with three keys, a portion of which was allocated to assist the butchers in paying the royal rent.

Royal commissioners led by Archbishop Bernard Wilczek resolve long-standing disputes between the Metropolitan Chapter and the municipal authorities of Lwów, regulating the issues of Polish and German preachers, the cathedral school, and the office of the sacristan. The agreement also regulates the management of property and testamentary bequests, the operation of the municipal mill, and the water supply for the cathedral.

The document is an arbitration award regulating long-standing disputes between the Lviv Cathedral Chapter and the Lviv city magistrate, concerning, among other things, Polish and German language preachers, the administration of the cathedral school, deposits and testamentary bequests, and rights to the Olchowy Mill and municipal waterworks. Under penalty of two thousand Hungarian florins, it orders the parties to observe the agreed order in perpetuity.

King Sigismund I the Old allocates the first vacant mansionary at St. Catherine's Church in the Lower Castle of Lviv for the endowment of a German preacher, whose candidacy is to be presented by the city councilors to the King for presentation to the Archbishop of Lviv. The document mandates that the preacher maintain the traditional duty of performing choir service either personally or through a deputy.

King Sigismund I the Old, at the General Sejm in Piotrków, settles a dispute between the burghers of Lviv and the Jews, introducing an ordinance limiting the commercial activities of Lviv and suburban Jews. The document prohibits them, among other things, from home-based and itinerant trade, forbids the sale of spices and silk, and strictly regulates the trade in cloth, wax, hides, and oxen.

King Sigismund I ensures the Lviv councilor, Master Michael, and his elder children, Michael and Anna, the lifelong and undisturbed possession of the Lviv water mill known as the Piekarski Mill. The monarch pledges on his royal word, on behalf of himself and his successors, that the mill will not be redeemed either by subjects or for the royal table during the lifetime of any of these three holders.

King Sigismund I ratifies and approves the sale of an annual redeemable rent, made without prior royal consent by the Lviv sub-starosta Zygmunt Bartoszewski on the third part of the Lviv mill to the vicars of the Lviv Cathedral for one hundred marks. This rent is placed under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical court, with the monarch's rights to the mill remaining intact.

King Sigismund I resolves a dispute between the authorities and the commonalty of the city of Lwów and the heir of the village of Zboiska, Piotr Odnowski, prohibiting the collection of causeway tolls from peasants transporting goods to the Lwów market. The owner of Zboiska retains the right to collect causeway duties from carters and other travelers in accordance with his privileges.

King Sigismund I the Old regulates the mutual jurisdictional relations between the municipal court in Lwów and the judiciary of the Armenian community, including the admissibility of witnesses of different denominations, the jurisdiction over real estate and criminal offenses, and the procedure for arrests. In all other respects, the monarch confirms the existing privileges of both parties.

King Sigismund I the Old grants the incumbent councilors of the city of Lviv half of the revenue from the tap tax as compensation for neglecting their private affairs in favor of public service. The remaining half of the income from this tax is to be allocated to the repair of the city, in accordance with previous regulations.

King Sigismund I the Old restricts the practice of the shoemaking craft in the suburbs of Lviv exclusively to two castle shoemakers and forbids merchants from purchasing hides from newcomers outside the city limits. Furthermore, he orders the starosta Stanisław of Chodecz and the municipal authorities to strictly enforce the guild rights of the shoemakers.

King Sigismund I transfers the villages of Zubrza and Sichów, belonging to Lwów, from land law to Magdeburg law, subordinating them to the authority of the mayor and city council. He exempts the inhabitants and councilors from the jurisdiction of land and castle officials and from all duties and military expeditions, obliging them only to pay the municipal tax (szos) together with Lwów.

King Sigismund I authorizes the authorities of Lviv to collect a fee of half a grosz from every wagon of refugees seeking shelter in the city from enemy invasions. The funds obtained are to cover the costs of cleaning the city of mud and filth and repairing the city walls, ramparts, and moats.

King Sigismund I the Old approves and grants the city of Lviv its existing coat of arms depicting a gate with three towers and a standing lion. Furthermore, the monarch grants the municipal authorities the honorable privilege of sealing all documents and letters with red wax.

King Sigismund I establishes the rules for the annual submission of accounts of municipal revenues by the incumbent Lviv councilors before former councilors, four assessors, and six representatives of the commonalty. He simultaneously orders all participants of the audit to keep the obtained information strictly confidential under an oath of allegiance to the King.

King Sigismund I the Old guarantees the prelates and canons of the Metropolitan Chapter in Lviv the inviolable possession of one-third of the royal mill in the Halych Suburb for a period of 15 years. The monarch pledges that neither he, nor his successors, nor anyone else will redeem the said mill during this time.

King Sigismund I the Old, at the request of the Lviv city authorities, moves the annual fair from the Feast of the Holy Trinity to the Feast of Saint Margaret, exempting arriving merchants from customs duties. At the same time, he confirms the holding of the fair on the Feast of Saint Agnes, maintaining the existing obligation to pay customs duties.

King Sigismund I approves the 1528 decree of the mayor and councilors of Lviv, which awarded disputed meadows formed on drained ponds in Zamarstynów to Marcin Schöngreger, guardian of the widow and children of the late Bernard Tyczka. The inhabitants of the village of Zamarstynów were ordered to maintain perpetual silence on this matter.

King Sigismund I the Old consolidates previous debt records on the royal village of Honiatycze into a single sum of 220 marks and pledges it to the Metropolitan Chapter in Lviv. The Chapter is to hold and use the village as a pledge until the debt is fully repaid by the monarch or his successors.

King Sigismund I transfers the village of Zhydatychi, belonging to the metropolitan chapter in Lviv, from land law to ecclesiastical law. At the same time, he exempts this property from the obligation of military expeditions, tax levies, and all other burdens of secular law.

King Sigismund I confirms the privilege of King Casimir IV Jagiellon from 1456, securing quarterly payments for the Archbishop and Chapter of Lviv from the Lviv and Gródek customs duties and the Drohobych salt mines. He orders the customs collectors and salt mine officials to make timely payments under penalty of sanctions and enforcement by the Starosta of Lviv.

King Sigismund I the Old grants the authorities and citizens of Lwów the right to collect a new bridge toll of two denarii for every ox driven for sale, exempting Lwów citizens from this fee. The income obtained is to be used for the permanent maintenance and repair of bridges around the city to ensure the safe passage of merchants and travelers.

King Sigismund I settles a dispute between the customs lessee Andrzej of Tęczyn and the Lviv burghers, allowing Lviv merchants to travel through Kraków and Sandomierz to Lublin and beyond, bypassing the customs chambers in Bełz, Chełm, and Hrubieszów, while ordering them to return via these routes if they abandon their further journey. At the same time, he suspends Lviv's customs exemption in these three chambers solely for the duration of the lease of the Tęczyński family's estates, while confirming the general customs privilege of King Alexander.

King Sigismund I the Old confirms the 1533 letter of the royal commissioners establishing the detailed delimitation of the village of Wierbiąż, belonging to the Lviv Chapter, from the royal estates of Demnia, Drohowyże, and Uście, leased by Paweł Tarło. The document describes the course of the boundary marked by 32 mounds and signs on trees and adjudicates to the Chapter the rights to the waters of the Zubrza, Szczerzec, and Dniester rivers.

King Sigismund I the Old orders the municipal authorities of Lviv that files of appeal cases should not be handed over to the parties, but delivered to the royal court exclusively by a special court messenger. The cost of the expedition of the files is to be covered by the appealing party, in accordance with the ancient custom of Magdeburg law.

King Sigismund I resolves a jurisdictional dispute between the Lviv city council and the starosta Stanisław Odrowąż, confirming the jurisdiction of Magdeburg law over all visitors and merchants staying in the city, in the suburbs, and under the High Castle. The judicial powers of the starosta were limited exclusively to cases of homicide and housebreaking committed within the castle jurisdiction.

King Sigismund I the Old orders royal and municipal officials to assist Lviv burghers in detaining merchants who bypass the Lviv staple right. He prohibits the illegal transport of oxen, wax, and other goods from Ruthenia and Podolia, bypassing Lviv and the due customs duties, under penalty of financial sanctions.

King Sigismund I postpones the final resolution of the dispute between the cities of Lwów and Lublin concerning the transit of merchants from the East. Until the privileges of both parties are thoroughly examined, the monarch orders the maintenance of the Lwów staple right and the detention of Turkish, Tatar, and Wallachian merchants.

King Sigismund I postpones for six years the resolution of a dispute between Kraków and Lwów regarding staple rights and approves a temporary settlement regulating the trade rules for merchants of both cities. The document orders the citizens of Lwów to pass through Kraków and restricts the export of oxen, while forbidding the citizens of Kraków from bypassing Lwów and purchasing cattle further than Gliniany.