Records of the Fiscal Court of the Voivodeship of Krakow (Acta Iudiciorum Fisci Palatinatus Cracoviensis)

Collection

Title:: Records of the Fiscal Court of the Voivodeship of Krakow (Acta Iudiciorum Fisci Palatinatus Cracoviensis)

Title (official language):: Akta sądu skarbowego województwa krakowskiego (Acta Iudiciorum Fisci Palatinatus Cracoviensis)

Scope and content:: This collection contains records regarding overdue taxes payable to the military. It territorially corresponds with the Voivodeship [Province] of Krakow, situated in the south-eastern part of the Lesser Poland (Małopolska) region, in the Kingdom (‘Crown’) of Poland, between 1658 and 1720.

The notes found in these records include settlements of payment with military units, tax collectors, and taxpayers. Usually, the date, type of tax and amount due are specified, along, in some cases, with the person representing the institution (e.g. the Jewish community) before the authorities.

The Jewish-related elements (Varia 14, pp. 127, 179, 255) include petitions against the Jewish community of Kazimierz filed because of failure to pay the realty tax, so-called shos, for houses located in Kazimierz outside the Jewish Town; the topographic location of these houses is interesting (IT 125, k. 7, 10v–11, 34v–35, 37). Cases involving Jewish innkeepers or publicans [Polish, arendarzs] regarding the liquor tax (so-called szelężne) as due in the localities of Wieliczka, Krakow, Kazimierz, and Kleparz. Jewish items are usually dispersed but there are some series of interrelated documents appearing, including receipts confirming the payment of a tax (Varia 13, pp. 16–19, 20–23, 36–42, 42–45, 45).

Archival history:: The collection was stored in the municipal court at the Wawel. After the Third Partition of Poland-Lithuania, local Austrian authorities removed it (around 1799) to the former Jesuit college building in Krakow (presently at 52 Grodzka Street). After Krakow was regained from Austria, the Duchy of Warsaw’s Government mandated the records to the Manager of Mortgages, in 1810. Pursuant to the Congress of Vienna’s decision in 1815, the registers remained in Krakow as property of the Kingdom of Poland supervised by the Kingdom. 1852 saw Russia transfer them to Austria (to be managed by the Land Court of Krakow); in 1877, the collection was taken over by the authorities of Galicia. It was eventually regained by Poland in 1918 and returned to Wawel Castle in 1949.

Administrative/biographical history:: The Fiscal Court of the Voivodeship of Krakow was established based on a resolution of the ‘Dietine of Reports’ (sejmik relacyjny, a regional assembly that regularly followed the sessions of the General Seym, i.e. the national parliament) for the Voivodeship of Krakow of 14th July 1655. Since almost the entire province was occupied by the alien army, the Court was formed only after the liberation and a second resolution of 10th January 1658. Rather than being a permanent court, the body was set up on an ad-hoc basis by the provincial dietine. Any of the so-called deputation courts handling fiscal matters (sąd deputacki skarbowy) consisted of commissioners elected from individual districts (poviats), alongside the land and municipal offices that also took part in their procedures. In connection with the tax collection system reform, the courts in question were abolished by a constitution of the ‘Silent’ Seym of 1717 and ceased functioning a few years later.

Access points: locations:: Kazimierz; Kleparz; Krakow; Małopolska; Wieliczka

System of arrangement:: The collection is composed of verdicts concluding tax proceedings; it also contains bills received from tax collectors and a list of cases:

Acta iudiciorum fisci (records of fiscal courts), 1658–1720 (IT 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129; Varia 13, Varia 14)

Regestra causarum (registers of cases), 1662–3, 1671–1716 (Varia 15a, Varia 15b, Varia 16).

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.

An index and inventory in Polish are available in the reading room.