Metadata: Municipal Books/Registers of Oswiecim (Acta Castrensia Osviecimensia)
Collection
- Country:
- Poland
- Holding institution:
- National Archives in Krakow
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archiwum Narodowe w Krakowie
- Postal address:
- ul. Sienna 16, 30–960 Kraków
- Phone number:
- (+48 12) 422 40 94; (+48 12) 4212790; (+48 12) 421 68 81
- Web address:
- http://ank.gov.pl/
- Email:
- sekretariat@ank.gov.pl
- Reference number:
- PL 29/6.0
- Title:
- Municipal Books/Registers of Oswiecim (Acta Castrensia Osviecimensia)
- Title (official language):
- Księgi grodzkie oświęcimskie (Acta Castrensia Osviecimensia)
- Creator/accumulator:
- Court and castle office of Oswiecim
- Date(s):
- 1598/1784
- Language:
- Polish
- Latin
- Extent:
- 5.63 linear metres (61 units)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The district (poviat) of Oswiecim, encompassing the Duchies of Oswiecim and Zator, was situated west of Krakow; it belonged to the Voivodeship of Krakow and to the Kingdom of Poland between 1563 and 1772, later on forming part of Austria (within the region of Galicia) in 1772–1918.
The Municipal Books of Oswiecim were compiled between 1564 and 1783.
The type of notes depends upon the series of books/registers. Moreover, the categorisation into protocollon (the record) and inducta (final draft/clean copy) is of relevance. The records included signatures of the parties; for Jews, the Hebrew alphabet is used in most cases.
From 1565 onwards, owing to a considerable number of cases, entries were made chronologically in two equiponderant books; from 1578 on, the cases were separated into the section of reports and inscriptions and office/court decrees for disputes or contentious issues. 1579 saw the singling out of inscriptions as a separate series, also referred to as the records (Inscriptiones), that is, non-contentious disposals of real properties, landed estates/demesnes, and other perpetual decisions with respect to property: the final drafts were compiled till 1767, and the records were made between 1580 and 1780.
Other entries, including all entries other than inscriptions (i.e. reports/accounts, manifestations, protestations, so-called oblates [entries of legal acts in court registers], empowerments/powers-of-attorney, were made in the reports (Relationes) section.
In order to facilitate the handling of the records, the following were specified within the reports section:
– empowerments/powers-of-attorney records, 1634–1784;
– as of 1676, clean copy (not found elsewhere) and records of the reports on the suits filed;
– self-contained records (no fair copy) of manifestations, 1684–1712: forensic examinations/post-mortems, presentations of persons and things to the office, oaths, proclamations of manslaughter, releases from prison;
– records of oaths in tax issues (one item extant, dated 1629).
The decrees were divided into court decrees (from 1589 to 1676) and office decrees (until 1766, replaced afterwards by self-contained record [without a fair copy]).
The clean copies are the only surviving record for tax-related matters (1591–1652).
A section of lists/summaries (regests) of the cases was also kept, 1622–1783.
Jewish-related records in the Municipal Books/Registers of Oswiecim are dispersed and scarce. The record of the reports from the time of King John II Casimir (Jan Kazimierz) is not easily legible; the reviewed fragment features a single note, quite interesting as it is, accusing a Jewish duty collector, of undue seizure of commodity of Italian origin (Castr. Osv. 108, s. 98). The only register preserved locally from the reign of King John III Sobieski (Castr. Osv. 163) includes a dozen lawsuits brought by/against Jews. More notes are probably to be found for a later period, i.e. the eighteenth century.
- Archival history:
- The collection of the Oswiecim castle court registers, spanning 1564–1783, also includes the archives of the earlier-existing land courts-of-assessors of Zator and Oswiecim, written in the Czech language. The Oswiecim books were specifically kept in Polish, rather than in Latin. It is known that, in spite of the recommended option to store and protect the collection at the town hall, the archive was stored at Oswiecim castle. Once the court was liquidated in 1784, the Austrian authorities transported the fond to Lwów and placed it in the so-called Bernardine Archive where the registers were paginated, bound, and furnished with indices. After the land authorities of Galicia took over the resource, the collection of the Oswiecim castle court registers was transferred to Krakow in 1897 (based on a Land Diet resolution adopted in 1896). During World War 2, after Oswiecim was incorporated into the Third Reich, a total of 270 books of Oswiecim and 149 volumes of related indices were removed, with only a small portion returning to Krakow after the war.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Duchies of Oswiecim and Zator, purchased by Poland in mid-15th century, were incorporated within the Crown (the Kingdom of Poland) as a jurisdictional district (poviat) of Silesia. The competencies of the court extended to public security (against attacks on houses, arsons, assault in public road, rape), safety of courts and enforcement of verdicts, and cases involving landless noblemen (so-called gołota). The court grew in importance with time due to its accessibility and possibility to file a case based on the parties’ election, with an option for perpetual records opened since 1589. Presided by the starost, the court held special sessions to hear cases of importance; the practice disappeared around 1676. The office, run by the subprefect (podstarości), handled entries in the files on a daily basis and heard cases that initially were minor. In the Austrian period, since 1778, the collegial court, led by the podstarości, was deprived of the right to manage perpetual entries and was eventually dismantled in 1784.
- Access points: locations:
- Galicia
- Małopolska
- Zator
- Subject terms:
- Legal matters
- Real estate
- System of arrangement:
-
The internal organisation into series/sections of the castle court books/registers of Oswiecim reflects the structure of the local court of law/office. The following items are extant:
Relationes, 1503–1784 (Castr. Osv. 93–109, 216–21 8, 220–225, 227–230, 232–240); Decreta, 1614–1784 (Castr. Osv. 137–138, 143, 146, 148–152, 154–157); Plenipotentiae, 1634–1784 (Castr. Osv. 158–159); Relationes positarum citationum, 1676–1777 (Castr. Osv. 163); Regestra causarum, 1633–1783 (Castr. Osv. 161, 161a, 164–167).
- Access, restrictions:
- If a copy (microfilm, scan, photocopy) of a document exists, this is what will be made available. Access to the originals requires the consent of the Director.
- Finding aids:
-
Inventory available online.
See also:
Katalog Krajowego Archiwum Aktów Grodzkich i Ziemskich w Krakowie. Wydał Dr. Stanisław Kutrzeba, Kraków 1909, s. 86–93, 157–187.
Materiały źródłowe do dziejów Żydów w księgach grodzkich dawnego województwa krakowskiego z lat 1674–1696, opracował Adam Kaźmierczyk, Tom I, Lata 1674–1683, Kraków 1995.
Materiały źródłowe do dziejów Żydów w księgach grodzkich dawnego województwa krakowskiego z lat 1674–1696, opracował i wstępem opatrzył Adam Kaźmierczyk, Tom II, Lata 1683–1696, Kraków.
The reading room also holds indexes to names, places and subjects.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute
- Author of the description:
- Janusz S. Dąbrowski; Kraków; 2015
