Początki urzędu woźnego generalnego (ministerialis Regni generalis) w ziemi chełmskiej w ostatniej ćwierci XVI wieku
THE ORIGINS OF THE OFFICE OF THE JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATOR (MINISTERIALIS REGNI GENERALIS) IN CHEŁM LAND IN THE LAST QUARTER OF THE 16TH CENTURY

Summary/Abstract: Ministerialis Regni generalis, judicial administrators (Polish: woźni generalni), appeared in Chełm Land in the 1570s. The first official with this title is recorded in Chełm’s court register in an entry from 1570. The beginnings of this office in the discussed territory were connected with the process of shaping the legal provisions concerning its functioning thro-ughout Poland, which were regulated for the first time in the Sejm constitution of 1576. Until the beginning of the 17th century, judicial administrators from Chełm Land performed their duties along with land administrators (Polish: woźny ziemski). Gradually, in the 80s and 90s of the 16th century, they ousted their predecessors and took over all of the judicial duties related to pending cases at the circuit (Polish: sąd ziemski) and magistrates’ (Polish: sąd grodzki) courts of Chełm and Krasnystaw districts. The officials in question worked locally, in the majority of cases performing their duties within the borders of Chełm Land, despite the fact that in accordance with the document of appointment they had the right to work in all the territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This stemmed from the fact that they served the local nobility. Judicial administrators’ competences from Chełm Land did not differ from those of land administrators, which were assigned to the office by law. In terms of their social background, judicial administrators from Chełm Land were peasants, subjects from the nobility’s estates, and, in rare cases, townspeople.

• Details
• Contents