Listy dobrego urodzenia i dobrej sławy w procedurze nadawania prawa miejskiego Lwowa w XV wieku
Letters of good parentage and good behavior in a procedure of bestowing civic rights in Lviv (Lemberg) in 15th century

Summary/Abstract: Certificates of good parentage and good behavior (litterae genealogiae, litterae conservationis) were prepared for those who aspired for municipal citizenship. Bestowing civic rights was a procedure of including to the local municipal community. It took place aft er an acceptation of city council and fulfilling by the candidate a number of qualifying conditions; one of which defined his personal values, that are: legal birth, from honest parents, and unblemished honour. Letters were to certify that a newcomer, candidate for a citizen, fulfils conditions specified in a dictum: frei, echt und recht, which means, that he was free, legally born and righteous. In the 15th century Lviv, organised according to the Magdeburg law, the rules of bestowing civic rights were no other than in communal type cities of the whole Central Europe. Th e most common mean for confirming candidate’s ability for obtaining civic rights was written certificate, a letter issued usually by the city council from the city of candidate’s previous residence.

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