Metadata: Registers of the Voivode’s Court for the Jews of Krakow
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 29/25
- Title:
- Registers of the Voivode’s Court for the Jews of Krakow
- Title (official language):
- Księgi sądu wojewodzińskiego żydowskiego krakowskiego
- Creator/accumulator:
- Court and the Office of the Voivode
- Date(s):
- 1620/1649
- Language:
- Latin
- Polish
- Extent:
- 1 linear metre (3 volumes)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection is a fragment of a larger fond of land and castle court registers. In terms of territory, the collection covers the area of the Voivodeship of Krakow that was part of the Crown (Kingdom of Poland) before 1795 – mainly Krakow and the town of Kazimierz.
The Voivode’s Court handled major disputes between Jews and those between Jewish residents and Christians suing them. The first category included cases of higher financial importance and those previously unsettled by adjudication of the Jewish community’s elders. Issues concerning matrimony or inheritance were rarely brought to this court. Of no lesser importance was the Voivode’s Office which exercised administrative supervision and surveillance over Jewish residents, which extended to election of the kahal authorities. For the needs of the court and the parties to litigation, issues were written down, copies and extracts dispensed, entries received from Jews and Christians (with respect to Jews): the Voivode’s registers acted as those of public credibility (notariate).
In 1620–49, the period covered by the collection, the number of entries made at the Voivode’s Office by legal and, particularly, private persons increased. The official documents concern tax affairs, contain inventories of Jewish houses, the beadle’s reports on actions performed/completed, incl. intromissions (i.e. introductions into proprietorship, as e.g. of a house), bequests and donations. There also are royal mandates, verdicts, privileges/charters for the community or private persons and safe conducts. A separate category includes oaths sworn by Jewish elders and by the szkolnik (shames, teacher in the local cheder) or Jewish customs inspectors upon assumption of their office. Rulings and adjudications passed by other courts, including Jewish (translated), were entered in the books. The community and individual Jews reported to the Office on occurrences, thus formally notifying the competent authority; wounds inflicted were demonstrated, robberies or thefts committed were reported on, results of official site visits or other official acts noted down. There are publications of infamies cast by the Jewish community at sentenced Jews; the same holds true for petitions, remissions, or verdict annulments.
Characteristic of the period was a growing number of protests and manifestations caused by failure to abide by contractual terms, or incidents occurring (brawl, thrashing, wounding, public offence). The other party would (for instance) file re-protestation, which could have initiated a lawsuit. Moreover, various testimonies were submitted under the civil law, such as acknowledging debts/liabilities or attestations on somebody’s favour. A separate category was that of kwitacjas, which denoted declarations confirming the delivery of a contract by the other party; otherwise, the parties to a contract would have reciprocally acknowledged each other of the same. Rights were waived (to real property, or otherwise), or ceded/transferred to another person; donations were made, and plenipotentiaries established. Distribution of property/estate, testaments/(last) wills, deeds of guardianship/trusteeship appear only sporadically.
The collection is unique as it is one of the two remnants of voivode’s court records presently preserved in Poland. Its rank is reinforced owing to the location – the capital city of Krakow and the district (town) of Kazimierz, and to the period – prior to the wars and crises of the years 1648–1717.
- Archival history:
- The history of this collection is not very well known; we are not aware why some of the registers have survived whilst the others have not. The first attested date of the Court’s operation is 1412. In the seventeenth century, the Court held its sessions mainly on Mondays and Thursdays at the Old Synagogue in Szeroka St. or, less frequently, at the Wawel or Voivode’s palace. Auxiliary registers are known to have existed whilst fair copies were compiled somewhat later. The officials appear to have taken copies of the registers home, although they were supposed to keep the archival resources in well-protected places. By 1662, as many as twenty-five registers of the Voivode’s Court had come to existence, which means that many more must have been produced in the period to 1795.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The charter granted by Duke Boleslaus the Pious (Bolesław Pobożny) in 1264 guaranteed that Jewish residents should be judged by the ruler, the voivode and, thirdly, by the voivode’s court. This privilege extended to Lesser Poland (Małopolska) from 1367 on; since 1539, only Jews from the royal towns were subjected to the Court’s jurisdiction. The Voivode of Krakow, who was amongst the country’s top-ranking officials, would exercise his judicatory power rather seldom; from 1633 on, he could be replaced by his deputy (podwojewodzi), but usually by the voivode-appointed judge (sędzia wojewodziński) – that is, obligatorily, a settled nobleman lawyer. The Bench was moreover joined by the scribe, who was proposed for the office in consultation with the Jewish elders. At least one assessor from among the Jewish community’s elders would have joined the Court.
- Access points: locations:
- Krakow
- Subject terms:
- Crime
- Jewish oath
- Kahal
- Legal matters
- Privileges
- Taxation
- Wills
- System of arrangement:
- The extant fragment of the fond of the Voivode’s Court registers has approx. 6,770 running pages, specified as follows: Varia 10, p. 2811: Rulings of the Voivode’s Office (pp. 1–1655); verdicts of the Voivode’s Court (pp. 1657–1766); entries, kwitacjas (statements of acknowledgement), protestations (pp. 2245–2648); liens/pledges (pp. 2649–2724); plenipotentiary powers (pp. 2749–2811). Varia 11, (s. 1–1842). Varia 12, stron 2116: entries, kwitacjas, protestations (pp. 1–1670); rulings of the Voivode’s Court (pp. 1675–1766).
- 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.
Also see:
Zbiór aktów do historii ustroju sądów prawa polskiego i kancelarii sądowych województwa krakowskiego w wieku XVI–XVIII, wyd. Stanisław Kutrzeba, Archiwum Komisji Prawniczej, t. VIII, cz. 2, Kraków 1909.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute
- Author of the description:
- Janusz S. Dąbrowski; Kraków; 2015
