Węgorzyno – szlacheckie miasto prywatne w czasach nowożytnych
Węgorzyno – a Private Town of the Gentry in the Modern Times

Summary/Abstract: Węgorzyno is an example of a private town, the property of the gentry family of (von)Borcke. The town was not founded by virtue of one legal act; Węgorzyno became a townin a process of many years when it kept acquiring successive urban functions. The inhabitants were subjects (lieges) of the von Borcke Family and obliged to additional dutiesfor their feudal lord. In the 16th–18th centuries the town’s inhabitants earned their livingas craftsmen and petty tradesmen, agriculture was a significant addition to their incomefirst of all providing the basis of their diet. Węgorzyno functioned as a small centre ofcrafts and trade for the surrounding area. The 30-year war caused a notable decrease inthe economic and demographic potential of the town, which was not recovered until themid-18th century.

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