Urban Literacy in Late Medieval Poland

Description

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. 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