Azyl kościelny w protestanckim Gdańsku w świetle incydentu z 1700 roku, opisanego w diariuszu syndyka miejskiego Johanna Ernesta von der Lindego
Church sanctuary in Protestant Gdańsk in the light of the incident from 1700, described in the diary of the municipal syndic, Johann Ernst von der Linde

Summary/Abstract: The event from 1700 presented in the article was described in the diary of a contemporarymunicipal syndic, Johann Ernst von der Linde. A group of fugitives from the Gdańsk Penitentiary (i.e. prison) attempted to invoke the right of the church sanctuary. For this purpose they claimed sanctuary inside the Carmelite Monastery in the Old Town ofGdańsk (Danzig). The incident illustrates tendencies present in the transitional period betweenearly modern times – when such right was accepted – and more recent times – whensense and legitimacy of such procedure were already questioned. The event took place in Gdańsk, a powerful, self-governing, economic centre with a very good system of local law, additionally being a mainstay of Protestantism in the region. The event was also a particulartest of authority between the dominant religion and a religious minority. A successfulescape from the municipal prison, negotiations between the stakeholders referring to thewritten law, custom and precedents, and the fi nal lack of any consequences for the fugitivescasts an interesting light on the penitentiary and criminal system of Gdańsk and the issueof maintaining order in the city in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

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