Bautzen Sorbian citizen oath

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bautzen citizen oath

The Sorbian oath of citizenship of Bautzen (Contemporary overwritten with the Burger Eydt Wendisch , Upper Sorbian Budyska přisaha ) is a regular in Sorbian worded oath of citizenship of the city of Bautzen in the early 16th century . It is one of the oldest, more extensive linguistic and written monuments in the Upper Sorbian language area and is therefore of extremely high value in terms of both linguistic and social history.

The Sorbian pastor and journalist Michał Hórnik can be identified as the “discoverer” of this source , who first made the Sorbian public (and Sorbian research ) aware of this important document in an article in 1875. However, ignorant of the historical context, he incorrectly dated it to the late 15th century .

Historical background

The oath is handed down as a handwritten original in a Bautzen city ​​book that was drawn up in 1532 by the then Bautzen city ​​clerk Johann Dö (h) len. The German and Sorbian civic oaths lie directly opposite one another on a double page. When exactly the Sorbian oath was written and how long it was in use cannot be determined with certainty. The oath of allegiance to the Bohemian king , as margrave and sovereign of Upper Lusatia , has been erased and changed several times so that the letter groups Ferd * and * ulff can only be seen indistinctly at the place where the name of the king should be, which is probably refers to the Bohemian kings Ferdinand I (1526–1564) and Rudolf II (1575–1611).

In terms of social and cultural history, the Sorbian citizen's oath refutes an assertion by older (nationalistic) historical research, according to which in the pre-modern era in the area of ​​the so-called Germania Slavica only Germans were granted access to civil rights and thus to urban trades, while Slavs or Wends , such as the Lusatian Sorbs , were excluded from this per se. Rather, it becomes clear that new Sorbian citizens who were not (yet) able to speak German were given the opportunity in Bautzen in the 16th century to swear their rights and obligations as full citizens in their native language.

While the German text of the oath also contains a short passage on manual activities, there is no such passage in the Sorbian version. From this, the conclusion was recently drawn - ex silentio - that the Sorbs in Bautzen, despite the possibility of acquiring citizenship, were not allowed to practice an honest trade (see dishonest profession ). This assumption also seems unfounded - in any case, the archival records of the Bautzen guilds lack any reference to targeted discrimination or rejection of Sorbian apprentices and craftsmen. In addition, neither in Bautzen nor in any other town in Lusatia is there any evidence of special group rights for the Sorbian population that would actually prove such a structural disadvantage (comparable, for example, to the situation of the Jews ). Rather, we know that as early as the 15th century, numerous Sorbs lived in Bautzen (both as citizens and residents ) and, of course, also pursued common handicrafts and trades. The lack of a separate passage on manual activities could simply be due to the fact that the Sorbian version of the citizen's oath was originally based on a different template.

As a legal document, the Bautzen Sorbian citizen oath is largely unique. Further Sorbian citizen journeys are only known from Lieberose (around 1550) and Kamenz (after 1763). In addition, a number of subjects, court, official and tribute oaths in the Sorbian language are preserved in the sources.

language

The language of the Sorbian citizen oath is usually characterized as Upper Sorbian with strong Czech and Lower Sorbian influences. Most recently, however, the Leipzig Sorabist Edward Wornar formulated considerable doubts about this assumption. His linguistic analysis of the text led him to the conclusion that it could hardly be described as a genuine Upper Sorbian language monument. Rather, Wornar suspects the submission of a Czech oath, which was translated into this language in Bautzen by a scribe who was able to speak Upper Sorbian and was only slightly changed. This text transmission could then have been inscribed in the city book by another scribe who, however, was apparently hardly familiar with Slavic, whereby he made some spelling mistakes.

Transcription:
Ja pſchiſaham Bohu a naſchemŭ Neygnad-
neyſchemŭ Knyezu Knyezu Ferd ... ulff
Kraly Czeſkem, a Geho gnadie diediczuom
A wſchiczknym potomnym Kraluom Czeſkym
Burgermaiſtrŭ a
Radyie thohinotzichow, a podanawnta a
Wiyie Budychotzichow, a Radyie
thohiotz otz a pſchy raddie ſtayſch
wſchicznich weczich kotare wony zalepſchÿ
poznayŭ, gych lepſche peytaczſch. A gych
horſche wobwarnowayſch t [ack jacko my]
book pomŭoz a geho Swate S [lowo].

Translation:
I swear to God and our most gracious
Lord, Mr. Ferd ... ulff
to be loyal, obedient and devoted to the Bohemian King and his grace heirs
and all future Bohemian kings,
the mayor and the council of the city of
Budissin
by day and at night when I am
asked by them , and to stand by the advice to seek their best
in all things which they consider best
. And
to keep them from evil, so
help God and his holy word.

Translation according to: Kito Lorenc : Sorbian reading book. Serbska Čitanka. Leipzig 1981, p. 18.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michał Hórnik : Serbska přisaha, pomnik ryče z třećeje štwórće 15. lětstotka. In: Časopis Maćicy Serbskeje , XXVIII (1875), pp. 49-53. [Digitized SLUB Dresden]
  2. ↑ Bautzen City Archives , Best. 68002, Sign. U.III.204 / I., Fol. 59r.
  3. ↑ See Hagen Schulz: Between Reformation and Pönfall. Highlights of Bautzen's city history in the first half of the 16th century. In: Between catheter, throne and dungeon. Life and work of the humanist Caspar Peucer 1525–1602. Bautzen 2002, p. 21.
  4. ↑ For example Dietrich Scholze: Bautzen as the political and cultural center of the Sorbs. In: Stadtarchiv Bautzen (Ed.): Bautzen. Bautzen 2002, p. 33.
  5. ^ See also Hans-Jörg Gilomen : Urban special groups in civil rights. In: Rainer Christoph Schwinges (ed.): New citizens in the late Middle Ages. Migration and exchange in the urban landscape of the old empire (1250–1550). Berlin 2002, pp. 126–154.
  6. ↑ See: Tino Fröde: Privileges and Statutes of the Upper Lusatian Six Cities. A journey through the organization of urban life in Zittau, Bautzen, Görlitz, Löbau, Kamenz and Lauban in the early modern period. Spitzkunnersdorf 2008.
  7. ↑ Cf. Jakob Jatzwauk : The population and financial situation of the city of Bautzen at the beginning of the 15th century. Bautzen 1912.
  8. ↑ Examples from Heinz Schuster-Šewc : Sprachdenkmäler as well as from Frido Mětšk : The Sorbs in the territorial administrative structure .
  9. ↑ After: Schuster-Šewc: Sorbische Sprachdenkmäler , p. 33 f.

literature

  • Heinz Schuster-Šewc : Sorbian language monuments. 16.-18. Century. Bautzen 1967, p. 33.
  • Frido Mětšk : The position of the Sorbs in the territorial administrative structure of German feudalism. Bautzen 1968.
  • Kito Lorenc : Sorbian Reader. Serbska Čitanka. Reclam, Leipzig 1981, p. 17 f.
  • Edward Wornar: Kak serbska je Budyska přisaha? In: Lětopis 59 (2012) 2, pp. 114–121.
  • Friedrich Pollack: Citizens' oath and Wendenpassus - Sorbs in the city of the Middle Ages and the early modern period. New perspectives on an old research problem (with edition of two Kamenz citizen journeys from the 18th century). In: Lětopis 62 (2015) 2, pp. 133–151.
  • Norbert Kersken: Urban freedom and the non-German population. Livonia and Upper Lusatia in comparison. In: Journal for East Central Europe Research 57 (2008) 1, pp. 4–22.
  • Wilhelm Ebel : The citizen oath as the validity and design principle of the German medieval city law. Böhlau, Weimar 1958.
  • Gerhard Dilcher : Citizenship and Citizenship Oath as an Urban Constitutional Structure. In: Rainer Christoph Schwinges (ed.): New citizens in the late Middle Ages. Migration and exchange in the urban landscape of the old empire (1250–1550). Berlin 2002, pp. 83-97.
  • Eberhard Isenmann : Citizenship and citizenship in the late medieval and early modern city. In: Rainer Christoph Schwinges (ed.): New citizens in the late Middle Ages. Migration and exchange in the urban landscape of the old empire (1250–1550). Berlin 2002, pp. 203-249.