Die Böhmischen Robotpatente von 1680 und der Rechtsschutz von Untertanen
The Bohemian Peasant Patents of 1680 and Legal Protection of Serfs

Edition of Documents

Summary/Abstract: The present study seeks to provide documents concerning the legal status of serfs in Bohemia.It brings the first comprehensive edition of Robotpatente (i.e. peasant patents) for Bohemiaand Moravia of 1680, and 1713, the instruction for the Prokurator (i.e. prosecutingattorney) and connected documents, which provided framework for the legal protection ofserfs in Habsburg Bohemia. It will be followed in next years by editions of documents forfurther periods in the development of serfdom. The introductory historical study explainswhy it is important to return to studying the legal status of serfs, and how this approachdiffers from the research in peasant rebellions and class struggles. Since I try to build on thenarrative of Bauernbefreiung I provide here also a detailed survey of the development of thishistoriographical narrative mode. The introduction also elucidates what the Robotpatentesay about the legal status of serfs and the role of legal institutions before 1680. Since therole of statutory law in the Early Modern Age may not be overrated, this picture is completedby customary law. Our analysis draws on the legal disputes between the landlord andthe serfs as individuals and serfs in village communities. We prove that the Leibeigenschaft(serfdom) was connected with limitations of personal freedom. The scope of these limitshad been known already before 1680. The edition of documents presents the two peasantpatents of 1680 for Bohemia, but also a collection of documents concerning the publicationof the patents. It brings also an unknown ‘second Robotpatent’ of 1681 and the version inwhich the Robotpatent of 1680 was implemented in Moravia in 1713.

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