Edewecht's peasant law

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The Bauer Law of Edewecht is one handed down by more than 80 peasant letters from the county Oldenburg .

In the farming village of Edewecht , 12 full farmers (“house people”) formed the “peasantry” that determined society until the early 20th century and managed the community on the basis of the “Edewechter farmer's certificate”. In it mainly the economic and social issues of the village community were regulated. The autonomy of the peasantry and the farmer's certificate was tolerated by the Oldenburg regional rulers as long as they were in accordance with their legal requirements.

The 16 paragraphs of the local peasant law were written down by pastor Gerhard Greverus, who was active from 1626 to 1677, in the patrimonial book of the Edewechter Church. It is pointed out in preliminary remarks that the individual paragraphs are from an earlier period. The mention of " Apostle Days " suggests a pre-Reformation (in Edewecht: 1523) origin.

The commonly mentioned fine of 12 or 24 g (= " Grote fractures " = dime ) was frequently by attachment of Zinngeschirrs driven, which was then auctioned in an economy in the "Bauer beer". When trying to buy back these valuable household items, price gouging often led to arguments and fights. Therefore one tried u. a. through rules of conduct for the "farmer beer" (see §15) to keep the peace in the village community.

§16 is to be seen similarly. Since the influx of less-qualified smallholders (mutt, hirers) in Edewecht led to tensions with the established leadership class of long-established full-time farmers (housekeepers) in later times, the last paragraph §16 was probably added at a later date in order to clarify the social tensions that occurred in the village.

The paragraphs of the Edewechter peasant letter

  • §1 going to church, ban on Sunday work
  • §2 road use
  • §3 Condition of ramparts and enclosures
  • §4 Keeping livestock away from arable land
  • §5 Compliance with and maintenance of property boundaries
  • §6 Grazing of the fields after the harvest
  • §7 cattle hat during harvest time
  • §8 Unwanted begging
  • §9 Measures against restless cattle
  • §10 feeding or grazing of strange cattle
  • §11 Prohibition of keeping sheep and geese
  • §12 Plaggenstechen
  • §13 Participation in road and water maintenance
  • §14 appearing at meetings
  • §15 Behavior with the farmer's beer
  • §16 Heuer and Spieker people (probably added later)

literature

  • Albrecht Eckhardt (Hrsg.): History of the community Edewecht in the Ammerland . Isensee, Oldenburg 2005, ISBN 3-89995-226-X .
  • Ekkehard Seeber: The Oldenburger Bauerbriefe . Holzberg Verlag, Oldenburg 1975, ISBN 3-87358-081-0 .
  • Ekkehard Seeber: Constitutions of Oldenburg peasantry: Edition of rural legal sources from 1580-1814 . V & R unipress, Osnabrück 2008, ISBN 3-89971-414-8 ( limited preview in Google book search).

swell

  • Lower Saxony State Archives Oldenburg, holdings 24 and 289