Source catalogue

King Sigismund III Vasa orders the mayor and council of Lwów to appoint arbitrators from among the councilors to reach an amicable settlement in a dispute over contracts and mutual accounts between Armenian burghers: Jan and Awedik Bernatowicz and Zachariasz Iwaszkowicz. The settlement is intended to prevent the financial ruin of the parties, but must not violate the validity of previous royal decrees.

King Władysław IV Vasa admonishes the Lwów magistrate in connection with a complaint from the local Armenians, who are suffering prejudice to their rights and privileges granted by monarchs. He orders the city authorities not to violate Armenian liberties and to refrain from causing them any harm or obstacles.

King John II Casimir orders the authorities of Lviv to organize the transport of three hundred lances left in the city and deliver them to Lublin. Krzysztof Bernatowicz is to provide detailed information regarding the transport of the weapons and the banners belonging to them.

King Władysław Jagiełło approves the privilege of the General Starosta of Ruthenia, Spytko of Jarosław, allowing the Lviv Armenian Atabe to relocate and erect a new wooden bathhouse in the city moat near the walls of Lviv. The document specifies the conditions for the construction and operation of the bathhouse, including separate entrances for men and women, and the amount of fees to be paid to the castle and the city council.

The merchant guild complains about the challenging of their approximately hundred-year possession of their own tenement house, demands for rent, and the imprisonment of its members. The King orders any claims to be presented to a commission and places the guild under his protection.

A fragmentarily preserved judicial document concerning a property dispute between the daughters of Hołubiej and the Lviv Armenian woman Duchna regarding the villages of Laszkowice and Soroki.

Following a reduction in the value of currency, the Podolian Voivodeship established a commission to set prices for goods and equipment. Merchants requested a postponement for submitting their registers and closed their shops. The commission ordered sales at half the previous price. The magistrates of Kamieniec requested information from Lwów regarding a similar tariff; the final resolution remains open.

Ruthenian Voivode Andrzej Odrowąż limits the number of craftsmen allowed to settle under the Lwów castle, prohibits local markets there, and subjects suburban Armenians and foreign merchants to municipal jurisdiction. Furthermore, he confirms the magistrate's right to appoint translators and regulates the rules for grain milling and the use of royal forests.

King Casimir IV Jagiellon, at the request of Dean Jan Czochrański, confirms ancient royal and official privileges from the years 1415–1478 for the subjects of the deanery of St. John's Church in Lviv. The document sanctions the transfer of the local Armenians and other inhabitants to Armenian law and completely exempts them from the jurisdiction of castle officials and all castle labor duties.

Lviv Archbishop Bernard Wilczek erects the altar of St. Bartholomew the Apostle in the Metropolitan Cathedral in Lviv, founded by Elżbieta, widow of the Lviv Castellan Jerzy Strumiłło of Dmoszyn. The foundation is endowed with income from the Armenian bathhouse by virtue of transumed privileges of King John I Albert from the years 1494 and 1497.

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 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 exempts all Christian inhabitants of Lviv from rents, the 'szos' tax, and other fees for twenty years due to the destruction caused by the city fire. Furthermore, he exempts the burghers from the 'czopowe' tax for a period of seven years, ordering that these revenues be allocated for the next six years to the reconstruction of the city walls and fortifications.

Crown Deputy Chancellor Piotr Gembicki addresses the reeve and elders of the Armenian community in Lviv with a request to suspend the execution of an assessor court verdict concerning the guarantee of a debt incurred by the Armenian bishop. He indicates that the matter is to be settled amicably at the upcoming Sejm.

King Sigismund I the Old orders the tax collectors of the Ruthenian lands to maintain the Armenian and Ruthenian clergy in Lviv in their ancient custom of paying public taxes and performing municipal duties jointly and equally with other Lviv burghers.

The Nuncio asks the authorities of Lviv to restrain the opponents of the Armenian archbishop and his supporters. The letter uses the polemical term "schismatics" and appeals to the protection of believers.

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 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 orders all Armenians residing in Lviv to unconditionally submit to Armenian law and jurisdiction and to bear municipal burdens equally. The document invalidates all existing and future letters exempting them from this jurisdiction.

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 Henry Valois, at the coronation sejm, confirms all rights, privileges, immunities, and customs granted to the Lviv Armenian community by his predecessors. He orders royal officials and the municipal authorities of Lviv to strictly observe and protect the Lviv Armenians.

King Stefan Batory confirms all rights, privileges, immunities, and ancient customs granted to the Armenian community of Lwów by his predecessors. The monarch orders the Starosta of Lwów and the municipal authorities to observe and protect these rights inviolably.

King Stephen Báthory resolves a dispute between the Armenian community and the magistrate of the city of Lwów, granting the Armenians rights equal to those of other burghers regarding trade, crafts, and the use of municipal liberties. The document simultaneously guarantees the preservation of the separate customary laws and the internal judiciary of the Armenian community.

King Sigismund III Vasa confirms and ratifies at the coronation sejm all rights, privileges, liberties, immunities, and ancient customs granted to the Armenian community of the city of Lviv by his predecessors.

King Sigismund III Vasa clarifies the privilege of Stefan Batory, specifying the rules for cloth trade, the retailing of alcoholic beverages, and the limit of permitted Armenian craftsmen in Lwów. The document confirms the rights of both nations to trade, setting the framework for Armenian tailoring, tavern-keeping, and craft activities under penalty of a fine.

King Sigismund III Vasa settles a dispute between the municipal authorities and the Armenian community in Lviv, setting the limit of hereditary Armenian houses at seventy-three, excluding church buildings and the hospital from this count. He further orders the Armenians to sell back houses located at the Market Square and a stall to Catholics within one year in exchange for the return of the invested sums, prohibiting them from further transactions within the Market Square area.

King Władysław IV examines a dispute over an unpaid debt between Maciej Fik of Gdańsk and the Lwów Armenian Gabriel Bernatowicz, and confirms the privilege of Sigismund Augustus exempting Armenians from answering before commission courts. On this basis, the monarch refers the case to the competent Armenian court in Lwów.

King Władysław IV Vasa approves the safe-conduct letters issued by Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski, Chancellor Tomasz Zamoyski, and Voivode Janusz Tyszkiewicz for the Armenian priest Krzysztof Głuszkowicz. Furthermore, the monarch admits him into the ranks of royal servitors, granting him trade freedoms and exemption from municipal jurisdiction.

King Władysław IV exempts the Armenians living within the walls of the city of Lwów from all customs duties on goods and money imported into the Kingdom or exported beyond its borders. This freedom is to remain in effect on the condition that the transported goods are recorded in customs registers until the final resolution of the matter by the General Sejm.

King Władysław IV orders Lwów merchants to pay border customs duties on imported goods, abolishing the Armenian lump sum of twelve kopa, while simultaneously releasing the townspeople from past arrears and upholding their exemption from internal customs duties.

King John II Casimir grants the Armenian community of Lviv full freedom to trade in all goods, including cloth and spices, as well as the right to brew and sell alcoholic beverages on equal terms with other city residents. This privilege serves as compensation for the loyalty and sacrifices made by the Lviv Armenians during the recent siege of Lviv by Cossack-Tatar forces.

King John III Sobieski extends royal protection to Greek merchants, shielding them from oppression and unlawful claims by the Lviv interpreter Wartana Szymonowicz, who used a fraudulently obtained privilege. The monarch orders a halt to all harassment of the merchants at trade fairs until the case is finally resolved before the royal court.

King Augustus III approves and renews the general rights, immunities, privileges, and customs granted to the Armenian community in Lwów by former Polish kings. The document contains a chain transumpt of confirmations issued successively by John III Sobieski, Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki, John Casimir, and Władysław IV.

The Rector and authorities of the University of Lwów certify that Florian Minasiewicz, catechist at the Armenian monastery schools and censor of books, has fulfilled all academic requirements and defended theological theses, conferring upon him the title of Doctor of Theology along with the associated privileges.