History of Wills, Testators and Their Families in Late Medieval Krakow
Tools of Power
Series: - Later Medieval Europe, Volume: 23
This volume offers the first comprehensive analysis of wills in late medieval Krakow. It presents the origins of testamentary acts in the Kingdom of Poland and its centre, Krakow, and their subsequent transformation from so called ‘canonical wills’ to ‘communal wills’. Wysmułek discusses the socio-cultural role of wills and sets them in their contemporary legal, social, and economic context. In doing so, he uncovers their influence on property ownership and family relations in the city, as well as on the religious practices of the burghers. Ultimately, this work seeks to change the perception of wills by treating the testamentary act itself as an important agent of historical social change – a ‘tool of power’.
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Jakub Wysmułek, Ph.D., (2013), University of Warsaw, is a historian and sociologist at the Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw). His main fields of research are premodern urban social history and collective memory in the contemporary world.
Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Tables
Abbreviations
Introduction
1 Definition of a ‘Will’
2 The Will – A Theoretical Perspective
3 Source Base
4 Subject Literature
5 Structure of the Work
1 The Institution of the Will
1 Wills in Poland in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
2 Church Guardianship over Wills
3 Property Laws in Medieval Cities
4 The Influence of Roman Law
5 Property Bequests and Canonical Wills in Fourteenth-Century Krakow
6 Emergence of the Communal Will in Krakow
7 Open and Closed Wills in the Fifteenth Century
8 Fifteenth-Century Wills “Made in Sickness and in Health”
9 Formula for Wills from 1485
10 Liber Testamentorum from 1450
11 The Number of Wills in Krakow from 1300 to 1500
12 The Reasons for Writing Wills
2 The Socio-economic Position of Testators
1 Social Characteristics of the Late Medieval City
2 Categories of Urban Social Subdivisions
3 Municipal Authorities as Testators
4 Occupational Structure of Testators
4.1 Merchants and Stallholders
4.2 Goldsmiths and Belt Makers
4.3 Food-Related Crafts
4.4 Clothing-Related Crafts
4.5 Metalworking and Armour-Making Crafts
4.6 Professionals of the Written Word
4.7 Other Crafts
4.8 Summary: Trade and Handicraft
5 The Financial Situation of Krakovian Testators
6 Social Structure in Other Cities and Towns
7 Wealth and Social Status
8 Dower Records in Krakovian Wills
9 Estimates of Testators’ Wealth
10 Characteristics of Particular Social Groups
10.1 Impoverished Testators
10.2 Testators of Modest Means
10.3 Moderately Well-Off Testators
10.4 Wealthy Testators
10.5 Extremely Wealthy Testators
11 Female Testators
12 Immigrant Testators
12.1 Immigration and the City’s Population
12.2 Newcomers to the City
12.3 Cultural Capital of Newcomers
13 Determinants of Testators’ Social Position
13.1 Economic Capital
13.2 Cultural Capital – Education
13.3 Social Capital – Quarter Captains, Tower Commanders and Administrators
14 Changes in Social Position
14.1 The Dower and Level of Wealth
14.2 Social Mobility
3 The Burgher Family
1 Family and Marriage in the Light of Law and Tradition
2 New Forms of Bequests for Wives
3 The Situation of the Widow
4 Children
5 Grandchildren
6 Siblings, Nieces and Nephews
7 Other Relatives
8 Servants and Co-workers
9 The Image of the Burgher Family as Presented in Late-Medieval Wills
4 The Burgher Religiosity
1 A Personal Relationship with God
1.1 Clergy
1.1.1 Confessors
1.1.2 Preachers
1.1.3 Other Clergy
1.2 Religious Objects in Wills
1.2.1 Rosaries
1.2.2 Books and Paintings
1.2.3 Expensive Symbols of Piety: Crosses and Agnus Dei Medaillons
1.3 Participation in the sacrum: Personal Belongings Used for Religious Purposes
2 The Familial Dimension of Piety
3 The Corporate Dimension of Burghers’ Piety
4 Parish Identity and Ties to Other Religious Institutions in the Medieval City
5 Religion Civique – Communal Religiosity
5.1 Beguinages
6 Christian Duty
7 Summary
Conclusion
Appendix
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
List of Figures and Tables
Abbreviations
Introduction
1 Definition of a ‘Will’
2 The Will – A Theoretical Perspective
3 Source Base
4 Subject Literature
5 Structure of the Work
1 The Institution of the Will
1 Wills in Poland in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
2 Church Guardianship over Wills
3 Property Laws in Medieval Cities
4 The Influence of Roman Law
5 Property Bequests and Canonical Wills in Fourteenth-Century Krakow
6 Emergence of the Communal Will in Krakow
7 Open and Closed Wills in the Fifteenth Century
8 Fifteenth-Century Wills “Made in Sickness and in Health”
9 Formula for Wills from 1485
10 Liber Testamentorum from 1450
11 The Number of Wills in Krakow from 1300 to 1500
12 The Reasons for Writing Wills
2 The Socio-economic Position of Testators
1 Social Characteristics of the Late Medieval City
2 Categories of Urban Social Subdivisions
3 Municipal Authorities as Testators
4 Occupational Structure of Testators
4.1 Merchants and Stallholders
4.2 Goldsmiths and Belt Makers
4.3 Food-Related Crafts
4.4 Clothing-Related Crafts
4.5 Metalworking and Armour-Making Crafts
4.6 Professionals of the Written Word
4.7 Other Crafts
4.8 Summary: Trade and Handicraft
5 The Financial Situation of Krakovian Testators
6 Social Structure in Other Cities and Towns
7 Wealth and Social Status
8 Dower Records in Krakovian Wills
9 Estimates of Testators’ Wealth
10 Characteristics of Particular Social Groups
10.1 Impoverished Testators
10.2 Testators of Modest Means
10.3 Moderately Well-Off Testators
10.4 Wealthy Testators
10.5 Extremely Wealthy Testators
11 Female Testators
12 Immigrant Testators
12.1 Immigration and the City’s Population
12.2 Newcomers to the City
12.3 Cultural Capital of Newcomers
13 Determinants of Testators’ Social Position
13.1 Economic Capital
13.2 Cultural Capital – Education
13.3 Social Capital – Quarter Captains, Tower Commanders and Administrators
14 Changes in Social Position
14.1 The Dower and Level of Wealth
14.2 Social Mobility
3 The Burgher Family
1 Family and Marriage in the Light of Law and Tradition
2 New Forms of Bequests for Wives
3 The Situation of the Widow
4 Children
5 Grandchildren
6 Siblings, Nieces and Nephews
7 Other Relatives
8 Servants and Co-workers
9 The Image of the Burgher Family as Presented in Late-Medieval Wills
4 The Burgher Religiosity
1 A Personal Relationship with God
1.1 Clergy
1.1.1 Confessors
1.1.2 Preachers
1.1.3 Other Clergy
1.2 Religious Objects in Wills
1.2.1 Rosaries
1.2.2 Books and Paintings
1.2.3 Expensive Symbols of Piety: Crosses and Agnus Dei Medaillons
1.3 Participation in the sacrum: Personal Belongings Used for Religious Purposes
2 The Familial Dimension of Piety
3 The Corporate Dimension of Burghers’ Piety
4 Parish Identity and Ties to Other Religious Institutions in the Medieval City
5 Religion Civique – Communal Religiosity
5.1 Beguinages
6 Christian Duty
7 Summary
Conclusion
Appendix
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Urban historians of the late medieval period interested in the socio-cultural development of law, and anyone interested in medieval documentary history.