From the end of the thirteenth century onwards, European towns exhibited a significant increase in the use of writing as a tool for administrative and economic purposes, as well as for social communication. The medieval towns of Poland are no exception to this pattern. This book surveys the development of the literacy of Polish burghers in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, revealing socio-economic and cultural processes that changed the life of Polish urban society. Polish urban literacy is examined according to the reception of Western European urban culture more generally. Town networks in medieval Poland are explained, and the literacy skills of the producers and users of the written word are discussed. Literacy skills differed greatly from one social group to another, it is shown, due to the variety of town dwellers (clerics and lay people, professionals of the written word, occasional users of writing, and illiterates). Other issues that are discussed include the cooperation between agents of lay and church literacy, the relationship between literacy and orality, and the difference between developing literacies in Latin and in the vernacular languages.
Author(s): Agnieszka Bartoszewicz
Series: Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy, 39
Publisher: Brepols
Year: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 510
City: Turnhout
Preface xi
Abbreviations xiii
Maps xvii
Introduction: Urban Literacy in Late Medieval Poland: The Main Research Problems 1
About this Book 1
'Status causae et controversiae '2
The Sources 7
Scholarly Literature 19
1. The Urban Network in Late Medieval Poland 23
The Origins of 'German' Law in the Polish Lands 23
The Dynamics of Urban 'locatio' in the Polish Lands during the Fourteenth Century 29
The Development of the Urban Network in the Kingdom of Poland after 1385 30
The 'locatio'-Movement in Mazovia until the End of the Fifteenth Century 32
The Stabilised Town Network in the Kingdom of Poland at the End of the Fifteenth Century 34
The Attitudes of the Rulers towards the Towns 38
2. The Topography of Urban Literacy 43
Estimates of Alphabetisation in Towns 43
Factors Encouraging Urban Literacy: State and Church 48
The State’s Administration and its Influence on Urban Literacy 48
The Church and Urban Literacy 51
The 'gens de savoir' in Polish Towns 57
Levels of Education 59
Educational Opportunities in Town 60
The University 65
Cracow as the Intellectual Centre of Medieval Poland 68
Town and Gown in the Fifteenth Century 73
Education and Literacy Skills as an Instrument of Social Advancement and Prestige 82
3. The Polish Municipal Chanceries and Their Heritage 89
Stages in the Emergence of Urban Chanceries 89
Charters and Letters 93
Matters Treated in Charters and Letters 97
The Earliest Town Books 108
The Registers of the Bench 118
Legal Matters Treated in the Bench Books 122
Fluctuation of the Number of Cases Registered in the Bench Books 127
Joint Registers of the Bench and the 'Advocatus', and the 'Advocatus'' Books 130
Registers of the Municipal Council 132
Legal Matters Treated in the Council Books 134
Fluctuation of the Number of Cases Registered in the Council Books 141
Account Books 142
Registers of New Citizens 146
Criminal Records 147
Registers of Wills and Testaments 148
Sources of Law: Legal Reference Works Produced and Preserved in Urban Chanceries 149
Law Codices, Collections of Legal Advice ('Urteile') and of Urban Privileges 149
Urban Statutes ('Willküren') 154
Documentation of Urban Guilds 158
Historical Writing in the Municipal Chancery 163
4. From Vernacular Memory to Written Record: Literate Behaviour and Legal Procedures 175
Gestures and their Meaning 'coram iudicio' According to Normative Texts 177
Legal Culture 179
Notes in Bench Registers as Evidence for Oral Legal Procedures 183
Interaction between Script and Speech in Judicial Procedures 185
Transfer of Property Rights 191
The Frame of Ritual of the Activities of the Municipal Council 193
Wills and Testaments – A Field of Tension between Orality and Literacy 196
The Relationship between Latin and the Vernacular Languages 200
German Language in the Records of Urban Chanceries in the Polish Kingdom 204
Polish Language in the Records of Municipal Chanceries 216
5. Municipal Clerks 223
The Oldest Evidence about the Office of the Municipal Clerk 227
The Assistant Municipal Clerk 230
The Scribe of the Bench 232
The Clerk of the 'advocatus' 233
'Familiares notarii' 235
The Position of the Municipal Clerk in the Urban Hierarchy 236
Duties and Qualifications 236
Wages in the Municipal Chancery 246
Other Employments and Sources of Income of Municipal Clerks 252
The Financial Status of Municipal Clerks 258
The Position of Municipal Clerks on the Urban Social Ladder 261
Municipal Clerks as a Professional Community 264
Clergymen in the Municipal Chanceries 266
Laymen in the Municipal Chanceries 272
Later Developments 282
Intellectual Municipal Scribes? 285
In Conclusion 287
6. Other Professionals of the Written Word in Polish Towns 293
The 'ministerialis civitatis' 297
'Prolocutores' 302
Translators 307
Employees of the Chanceries of Tribunals for Noblemen 309
Public Notaries and Employees of Ecclesiastical Chanceries 315
Teachers of Parish Schools and Parish Priests 322
Makers of Manuscripts 327
'Pauperes litterati' 330
'Notarii privati' 330
Private Teachers 334
'Scholares' and 'studentes' 335
The Economic Status of the 'pauperes litterati' 337
The Numbers of 'pauperes litterati' and Their Social Origins 339
The Position of the 'pauperes litterati' in the Urban Community 340
7. The Written Word in the Life of Polish Town Dwellers 349
Business Registers 350
Commercial Letters and Documents 358
Wills and Testaments 362
The Functions of Written Records 366
Manuscript Books in Town 373
Women and the Written Word 383
Conclusion 393
Appendix: Chronology of the 'locatio' of the More Important Towns in the Kingdom of Poland 403
Glossary 413
Bibliography 419
Index 469
Plates 477
