Source catalogue

King Sigismund I the Old confirms the privileges exempting the burghers and inhabitants of Lwów from the jurisdiction of noble, land, and castle courts. All their cases are to be heard exclusively before the proper municipal court of Magdeburg Law, under penalty of nullity of any other judgments.

King Sigismund I the Old grants a privilege to the city of Lwów, stating that the burghers of Lwów are not obliged to present or show their rights and documents before any officials or commissioners, but only personally before the King and his successors within the borders of the Kingdom of Poland.

King Sigismund I the Old grants the mayor and councilors of the city of Lwów the perpetual right of patronage and presentation to the provostry of the Holy Spirit church and hospital in Lwów. The document imposes an obligation on the Archbishop of Lwów to institute candidates nominated by the municipal authorities and ensures the inviolability of this right against any potential royal claims.

King Sigismund I the Old grants the mayor and councilors of Lwów land on the Pełtew River in front of the Kraków Gate for the construction of a water mill for their private use. The document transfers full ownership, all revenues from the mill, and complete municipal jurisdiction over it and the miller to the city authorities, excluding them from the jurisdiction of the starosta.

King Sigismund I the Old abolishes clauses of old privileges that burdened city fields with rents and allowed various nations to have separate judiciaries, freeing the burghers from fees and ordering that all inhabitants be judged exclusively by Magdeburg law before the Lwów reeve.

King Sigismund I approves a resolution of the Lviv city council imposing rent on local and visiting merchants and craftsmen setting up stalls and booths in the market square during fairs. The funds collected in this way are to supply the city treasury and serve the needs of the city.

King Sigismund II Augustus confirms and renews all existing rights, privileges, immunities, and possessions granted to the city of Lwów by his predecessors and by himself. At the same time, he places the burghers and their property under royal protection, prohibiting the imposition of new burdens and the violation of the boundaries of municipal jurisdiction.

King Sigismund II Augustus confirms to the elders and the community of Lwów Armenians all rights, privileges, liberties, immunities, and ancient customs granted by his predecessors, including King Sigismund I the Old.

King Sigismund II Augustus exempts the Armenians of Lwów from the jurisdiction of all land and castle courts, placing them exclusively under the jurisdiction of the wójt (advocatus) and Armenian elders judging according to Armenian law. All appeals from this court are reserved exclusively for the royal court.

King Sigismund II Augustus confirms the ancient custom of the municipal gatekeepers in Lwów collecting a fee in the form of one piece of firewood and a bundle of hay or straw from every cart and sleigh entering the city. In return, the gate guards are obliged to keep the passages clean and ensure convenient entry into Lwów.

King Sigismund II Augustus exempts the burghers and suburbanites of Lwów in their private matters from the jurisdiction of royal commissioners' courts and prohibits the issuance of such commissions against them. He further decrees that appeals from municipal verdicts are to be directed straight to the royal court via the official transmission of case records, without the necessity of the parties appearing in person before the commissioners.

King Sigismund II Augustus abolishes the old Lwów custom excluding grandchildren from inheriting from their grandparents and establishes the right of representation, equalizing their share in the inheritance with uncles and aunts. Furthermore, he entrusts the mayor and councilors of Lwów with full authority to resolve all existing inheritance disputes of this kind without the possibility of appeal to the King.

King Sigismund II Augustus confirms the verdict of the General Sejm in Kraków, which dismissed the lawsuit brought by the nobleman Wasiek Łahodowski against the authorities of Lwów before the castle court. The document confirms the privilege exempting Lwów burghers from foreign jurisdiction and orders that they be sued exclusively before the municipal court.

King Sigismund II Augustus annuls the donation of a plot of land near the Low Castle in Lviv made to Mikołaj Leśniowski of Zimna Woda, citing a threat to the defense of the city and the castle. He orders the Starosta of Lviv to demolish the buildings erected there and forbids the city authorities from allowing further development of this area.

King Sigismund Augustus confirms in the form of a transsumpt four earlier royal privileges for the city of Lviv. The document guarantees the exemption of Lviv burghers from foreign jurisdictions and commission courts, and exempts Lviv merchants of all rites from customs duties in, among others, Chełm, Bełz, and Hrubieszów.

King Sigismund II Augustus abolishes the burdensome tribute in kind of live fish, hitherto paid by the burghers of Lwów to the royal castle, replacing it with a fixed monetary fee collected from vessels containing fish brought to the city market. He orders the Starosta of Lwów and his officials to strictly observe the newly established market tax.

King Sigismund II Augustus confirms the privilege of King Władysław III of Varna from 1444, which mandates that the nobility and clergy sell Lviv real estate to Lviv burghers within one year. Additionally, the monarch introduces mandatory official valuation of encumbered properties by the magistrate under oath and prohibits the artificial inflation of mortgage debts beyond the estimated value.

King Sigismund II Augustus establishes the order for the sale of Malmsey and Muscatel wines imported from Greece in Lviv, ordering foreign merchants to display them on market carts for four weeks before they can be stored in the cellars of townspeople. The regulation was intended to curb speculative practices by foreign traders and prevent the artificial inflation of wine prices.

King Sigismund II Augustus grants the burghers of Lviv permission to redeem the royal villages of Kożyce, Jamelna, and Jaromierka, along with an inn, a pond, and a mill, from the wife of Krzysztof Gnojeński. The document guarantees the city peaceful possession and use of these estates for a period of twenty years from the moment of taking formal possession, subject to the monarch's repayment of the pledge sum after that time.

King Sigismund II Augustus confirms the privilege of King Władysław Jagiełło from 1433, granting the village of Wierzbiąż in the Lviv district, along with all benefits, forests along the Dniester, and customs duties, to the canons of the Lviv Cathedral Chapter founded by him. The document guarantees the Chapter perpetual possession of these goods and the right to build dams and ponds.

King Sigismund II Augustus approves the commission act establishing the boundaries between royal villages and the estates of the Lviv Metropolitan Chapter. The issuer grants perpetual legal force to the findings of the commissioners previously appointed by Sigismund I the Old.

King Sigismund II Augustus performs a transumpt of three earlier royal privileges for Lviv: Casimir the Great from 1368 (confirmed in 1389) regarding 100 Franconian hides; Władysław Jagiełło from 1415 regarding the so-called areas and Krzywylas; and Władysław of Varna regarding the management of surplus hides beyond the Brzuchowicka river. The document grants the inscribed acts full and undoubted legal force equal to the originals.

King Sigismund II Augustus, at the request of the Metropolitan Chapter of Lwów, confirms the 1396 document of Jan of Tarnów, which settled a dispute over estates in Jamne and along the Godowica River in favor of the Church of St. John the Baptist in the Lwów suburb and the village of Godowica against Dymitr Wieczerza.

King Sigismund II Augustus resolves a dispute between Andrzej Gembicki and the reeve and benchers of Lwów, confirming the principle that files of appeal cases must be sent to the royal court or the higher Magdeburg law court at the Wawel Castle in Kraków exclusively in sealed scrolls by a court messenger. Consequently, the monarch releases the municipal authorities of Lwów from the allegations and claims of the plaintiff, who demanded that the procedural documentation be handed over to him personally.

King Sigismund Augustus confirms in the form of a vidimus transumpt two earlier privileges of kings Władysław Jagiełło (1415) and Władysław of Varna (1444), concerning the granting and use by the city of Lviv of suburban lands and surplus fields, the so-called 'obszary'. The document guarantees the transumed copy the same legal force and credibility as the original documents.

King Sigismund II Augustus decrees that all property owners in Lviv and those conducting commercial activities there are subject to the jurisdiction of the magistrate and the obligation to pay municipal taxes, regardless of their social status. The document abolishes all exemptions, immunities, and servitorates, authorizing city authorities to enforce municipal duties equally upon all residents.

King Sigismund II Augustus confirms and transumes four privileges granted by kings Casimir Jagiellon and Sigismund I to the shoemakers' guild of the city of Lwów. These concern the limitation of the number of shoemakers in the castle suburb to two masters, the prohibition of practicing the shoemaking craft in noble manors outside the city walls, the rules for the sale of hides by tanners, and the prohibition of purchasing hides before the city gates.

King Sigismund II Augustus, at the general sejm in Kraków, approves a document from the Lwów assessors dated 1554, certifying the sale of a hide of arable land with meadows and thickets in the village of Kleparów to the peasant Grzegorz Sołtys by Stanisław Kmitowicz and Barbara and Katarzyna Kmitówna. The issued diploma ensures the buyer and his heirs perpetual and inviolable ownership rights to the acquired land.

King Sigismund II Augustus confirms to Jan Krowicki and the inhabitants of the jurisdiction of the Church of St. John the Baptist in the suburbs of Lwów the ancient privileges of kings and officials regarding Armenian law and exemptions from castle burdens. Furthermore, the monarch permits the local Armenian craftsmen to freely practice all crafts according to ancient custom.

King Sigismund Augustus adjudicates the ownership of the Brzuchowice estate, including the mill, to the city of Lwów and confirms municipal jurisdiction over the villages of Brzuchowice and Hołosko. He ensures the successors of Marcin Hanel the right to collect income from the Hołosko estate, while maintaining traditional labor services (szarwarki) owed to the city.

King Sigismund Augustus resolves a dispute between the city authorities of Lviv and the butchers' guild, confirming a 1550 agreement regulating meat trade rules on free market days. At the same time, the monarch reserves the exclusive right of Lviv butchers to sell meat outside designated market days and cancels mutual court costs for both parties.

King Sigismund II Augustus resolves a dispute between Lublin councilor Maciej Kasprowicz and the municipal authorities of Lwów, upholding the privileges of the citizens of Lwów to be judged exclusively within the borders of the Crown. The monarch rules that in cases subject to Magdeburg law, a summons 'by one edict for three' does not constitute a peremptory term, but merely a first ordinary summons to court.

King Sigismund Augustus clarifies and confirms the privilege of his father, stipulating that appeal cases from the municipal courts of Lwów, sent in sealed scrolls by a designated messenger, are to be heard by the royal court regardless of general adjournments (limitations). This principle was extended to persons of all estates and jurisdictions litigating before the Lwów courts.

The document resolves a jurisdictional dispute between the authorities of Lviv and the Armenian community, defining the scope of competence of the municipal court and the Armenian court in criminal and property cases. The King confirms the right of the Armenians to elect twelve seniors to adjudicate in rotation with the wójt (advocatus) and regulates issues of municipal order and the taking of oaths.

King Sigismund II Augustus confirms the submitted articles and legal order of the Lwów soap-makers' guild, previously approved by the councillors of the city of Lwów in 1561.

King Sigismund II Augustus confirms the right of the Lviv Metropolitan Chapter to collect bridge and causeway tolls in the village of Wierzbiż, originally granted by Władysław Jagiełło, and establishes a detailed tariff of fees intended for necessary repairs of roads, causeways, and bridges.

King Sigismund II Augustus approves an entry from the Piotrków municipal council books of 1538 concerning the sale of a house with a plot and garden behind the Kraków Gate in Piotrków by the altarist Jan Kraska to the councilors and mayor of the city of Lwów. The buyers were obliged to pay an annual rent of 15 groszy to the aforementioned altar on the feast of St. Matthew.