Danzig law

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Danzig law (German: Danziger Willkür^[1] ^[2]; in Polish: Gdański Wilkierz ^[3]) was the official set of records of the laws of city of Gdańsk originating since 1226. Danziger Willkür means „Danzig's choice by free will“, as opposed to having been imposed from outside, as while part of the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. Nowadays, the meaning of Willkür has eroded to arbitrariness.

1 History
2 See also
3 References

[edit] History

Seal of Gdańsk ruler Zwantepolc de Danceke, 1228

Danzig while part of the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights

Danzig not affected by the First Partition of Poland (1772)

The models for the Danzig Law were the statute books of the Holy Roman Empire and of other Hanseatic cities, especially Lübeck. Gdańsk received Lübeck law in 1226.

The official copies of laws were certified by attaching seals (sigilla) as means of authentication. The earliest known seal of the city of Gdańsk of 1224 was inscribed, in capital letters, Sigillum Burgensium in Dantzike^[4], Latin/German of the empire for "Seal of the burghers in Dantzike".

In the 15th century, the Prussian Confederation was founded to oppose the policy of the Teutonic Order. The Prussians seceded from the Monastic state in 1454, triggering the Thirteen Years' War. During that time, Danzig continued with its own set of law system, which it gave itself. The recognition of this law, and other Danzig's privileges, by the King of Poland was a prerequisite for allying with him resp. subjecting as Royal Prussia to his overlordship. The Second Peace of Thorn of 1466 confirmed the rights. When they were in danger in the 1570s, it lead to the Danzig rebellion and the Siege of Danzig (1577).

In the First Partition of Poland in 1772, when the Kingdom of Prussia annexed Poland's province of Royal Prussia an renamed it to West Prussia, Danzig continued its self=government for two decades to come. Following the annexation of the city during the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, its laws were supplanted by Prussian laws.

[edit] Danziger Willkür

There were several incarnations of the laws that mainly covered internal government:

1435-1448 (draft)
1455 first known written form ^[5]
1479-1500
1574 during succession dispute leading to the Siege of Danzig (1577)
1597 Der See- und Handelstadt Dantzig Rechte oder Willkür ("The Laws of the Sea and Trade City of Danzig")
1678 (draft)
1732 Re-print of the 1597 Danzig Laws, by Seelmann, Danzig
1761^[6]

[edit] Danziger Privileg

The privileges of Danzig confirmed rights of Danzig in external relations, like trading, coinage, and since 1454, with the Polish Crown. For example, the ius indigenatus was a requirement for people to hold office in Royal Prussia, and thus the city as well. It limited offices and land ownership to local natives. Each new king had to confirm the privileges. When this was in danger in the 1570s, it lead to the Danzig rebellion.

Danzig had a a special status, due to its large population (in 1772 47,600 inside the city walls, 35,000 to 40,000 outside), its harbour and wealth. Some of its politicians maintained that it was loyal to the King of Poland, claiming that its status was similar to an Imperial Free City, this one-sided position was never accepted by Sejm. German authors also shy away from such belief, writing that it was more similar in status to French city of Marseilles in XVI and XVII century towards the French King.^[7]

[edit] Historians

Already in the 17th century, local historians studied the history of Danzig law, such as Elias Constantius von Treuen-Schroeder (1625-1680) and Johann Ernst von der Linde (1651-1721). They did not publish, but Gottfried Lengnich acknowlegded their work in the foreword to his Ius publicum civitatis Gedanensis oder der Stadt Danzig Verfassung und Rechte (Public law of the city of Danzig, or the city's constitution and rights, 1769).^[8] Lengnich wanted to find out whether us Prussians ... are the Poles ' equal brothers or their servants^[9] and encouraged others to study local history, too. Among others Michael Christoph Hanow, Georg Daniel Seyler and David Braun studied the history of their home towns.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ [1]
^ [2]
^ [3]
^ [4]
^ [5]
^ Tadeusz Maciejewski, Zbiory wilkierzy w miastach Państwa Zakonnego do 1454 i Prus Królewskich lokowanych na prawie chełmińskim (Collections of willkürs for the cities of the Teutonic Order State and Royal Prussia located under Kulm Law), Uniwersytet Gdanski, Gdansk 1989 (German edition, comment in German)
^ Gegenüber der Szlachta und dem Sejm berief sich die Stadt auf den polnischen König als alleinigen Oberherrn: "daß die Stadt dem Könige von Polen, sowohl dem regierenden als dessen erstgekrönten Nachfolgern, und sonst niemanden die Treue gelohet [...]. Wannenhero es ein Fehler ist, wann zuweilen vorgegeben wird, die Republik Polen sei Herr über die Stadt und ihre Rechte [...]. So oft nun die Republik sich einiges Recht über die Stadt anmassen und sie ihren Verordnungen unterwerfen wollen, wozu insonderheit die Zeiten, wenn der königliche Thron erledigt gewesen, Gelegenheit gegeben, hat die Stadt jederzeit behauptet, daß sie unter keines anderen, als des einzigen Königes Herrschaft stehe"...Um dieser einseitigen Rechtsposition, die vom Sejm niemals anerkannt wurde...Historisch und staatsrechtlich plausibler ware wohl die Analogie zur Stellung Marseilles gegenuber dem franzossichen Konig im 16 und 17 Jahrundert - p. 115, Hans-Jürgen Bömelburg, Zwischen polnischer Ständegesellschaft und preussischem Obrigkeitsstaat: Vom Königlichen Preußen zu Westpreußen (1756-1806) 1995, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag Prussia (Germany) ISBN 3486561278 [6]
^ In seiner Vorrede rühmt Lengnich die ungedruckt gebliebenen Werke der Danziger Staatsrechtler Elias Constantius von Treuen-Schroeder (1625-1680) und Johann Ernst von der Linde (1651-1721) - Dick van Stekelenburg: Michael Albinus "dantiscanus" (1610-1653): Eine Fallstudie zum Danziger Literaturbarock, 1988, ISBN 9062037704 [7]
^ Karin Friedrich, The Other Prussia: Royal Prussia, Poland and Liberty, 1569-1772 [8]

Des Syndicus der Stadt Danzig Gottfried Lengnich ius publicum civitatis Gedanensis oder der Stadt Danzig Verfassung und Rechte, 1769, published by Otto Günther, Danzig 1900 (initially only intended for internal use within city administration) [10]
Paul Simson: Geschichte der Danziger Willkür. Quellen und Darstellungen zur Geschichte Westpreußens Nr. 3. Danzig 1904 [11]. Reprint: Nicolaus-Copernicus-Verlag, Münster 2006, ISBN 978-3-924238-36-0. [12]
Hans-Jürgen Bömelburg, Zwischen polnischer Ständegesellschaft und preussischem Obrigkeitsstaat: Vom Königlichen Preußen zu Westpreußen (1756-1806) 1995, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag Prussia (Germany) ISBN 3486561278 [13]