Bursprake

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Petri Bursprake from 1363 at the Hamburg State Archives

Bursprake , also Buursprache, civil language and peasant language, referred to in the late Middle Ages in various northern German cities with a focus on Mecklenburg , in some cities in Brandenburg and Westphalia as well as in Livonian Riga either a council meeting at which ordinances were passed, or a citizens' meeting, as in Lübeck and Bremen the resolutions of the council or the Senate of the general public (mostly not involved in the decision-making process) were presented. In a broader sense, it is also the collection of regulatory provisions and instructions from the City Council read out at the meeting. It partly had the character of statutes and laws . In addition to city rights and recesses , the Bursprake was the third element of the urban legal system that can be viewed as part of civic self-government .

introduction

The Burspraken were held in many Hanseatic cities , but also in the other cities, mostly in winter. For example, in Hamburg these were the dates Thomae Apostoli (December 21st) and Cathedra Petri (February 22nd), in Bremen Laetare (3rd Sunday before Easter), in Lübeck again Cathedra Petri, Jacobi (May 1st), Martini ( November 11) and Thomae Apostoli. In Bremen, for example, the collection comprised 225 articles in the knowledgeable role . Even after it was published in book form (1479/1480), the principle of reading out was retained in Lübeck and Hamburg until the 19th century. The resolutions of the Hanseatic Days were also made known through Burspraken, mostly with local additions. The various Burspraken do not show any uniformity either, depending on the existing city and land law and their national affiliations, they varied in their statements and content.

Word origin

"Civiloquium", meaning "bourgeois pronunciation", was the name given to the first citizens' assemblies in Latin. This was also "the name when the mayor of Lübeck read the statutes of this city 4 times a year at the town hall ". Deriving from the Latin word civilis = “concerning citizens” and eloquium = “expression (manner), language, speech”, it can be deduced that “civiloquium is a loan formation based on the Middle Low German word Burspake; comparable are plebiloquium and burgiloquium ”. Basically, the name of Bursprake, also known as Buursprache or peasant language, stands for “assembly with proclamation of statutes”, “citizens' assembly”, “peasant court”, “statute”, “city law”, “wisdom - instruction”, “levy” "And" Circulation of an official notice by the peasantry ". In the Middle Low German language , the word Bursprake stands for citizens 'assembly, citizens' day; also Schwörtag or Echteding.

Contents of the Burspraken

The Burspraken regulated various questions of everyday urban life, including public order and security, they concerned trade and commerce , shipping and the port , wage and servant regulations as well as dress, festival and luxury regulations. In addition to commandments , the minutes also contained prohibitions , for example forbidding any self-help or arbitrariness vis-à-vis the council. One of the precepts was that disputes were to be brought before the city courts alone and that city law had to be followed. It was also forbidden to invoke clerical or foreign judges . The Burspraken listed below show the content, structural and organizational differences and differences.

The Anklamsche Bursprake

Title page of a city description from 1773

In the Hanseatic city of Anklam , ( Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ), Saxon wool weavers settled in around 1188 and received great benefits. They set up a self-government and appointed their representatives . The basis was the "old Anklamsche shopkeeper " from 1330, the statutes of the four cities of Stralsund , Greifswald , Anklam and Demmin from 1353 and ultimately the Anklamsche Bursprake from 1544. The Anklamsche Bursprake, which was made the same as a law when it was announced, served the city's residents mainly as a guideline in the course of trade and change. The origin of the word Bursprake was also interpreted from a note from 1682 , it was pointed out that the city statutes were written in a rural and understandable language . “However, this note is not verifiable because the Bursprake existed before the distinction between High and Low German and was named that way. It is more probable that the edicts are a “castle or burger language”, which has been shortened to “Bursprake” and used the same terminology as “citizens' assembly”.

The burst in Bad Laer

The large Thieplatz in Bad Laer ( Lower Saxony ) has been considered the center of the village from time immemorial, here “all meetings took place in the open air… This also applies to the Burstäe, the court or community meetings. One of the most important tasks of former community leaders was judicial decisions ”.

The Burspraken in Hamburg

Various Burspraken have come down to us in Hamburg, the oldest is the Petri-Bursprake from 1346. Reading took place on fixed dates and, if necessary, on additional dates. The Cathedra Petri appointment also marked the end of the winter break in shipping that had existed since Martini, and the mayor of Hamburg was also elected on this day in the Middle Ages . The Hamburg Burspraken partially contradicted the regulations of the Hanseatic League , for example in favoring its own citizens in long-distance trade. It belonged "to the original institutions of bourgeois self-government, which was mentioned in Hamburg as early as 1270 and was widespread in northern Germany". The name initially meant the citizens' assembly, which the council convened regularly or when necessary, in order to present its ordinances and announcements from the town hall (less from the pulpit ). It had been handed down in writing in Hamburg since the middle of the 14th century - corrected, supplemented and updated from time to time - before a gradual cessation became apparent in the 16th century. The Hamburg Bursprake was first summarized in book form in 1479/80 and only presented in excerpts until the beginning of the 19th century.

The Lübeck bourgeois language

Bursprake at the Lübeck town hall

In Lübeck it was customary that four times a year, "namely on Petri Stuhlfeyer, on Philippi Jacobi, on Martin Bishop's Day and on the day of the Apostle Thomas, or, if these fall on Sundays, on the following Monday" the so-called peasant language was read out . With the ancients it was also called Buersprake, or building language, or it was called "Ciuiloquium". It was the "ruling mayor, with the window open, from the Löwinge (hall for community meetings), or by combing discontinued contained Gallery, the market out; The Protonotarius standing by his side said the words “... The oldest written Bursprake dates from 1392, from 1533 to 1620 passages were repeatedly changed. The painting opposite was painted by Willibald Leo von Lütgendorff-Leinburg in 1914/15 .

Bursprach von Neuruppin

Part of the civic understanding in Neuruppin ( Brandenburg ) was that according to the old city constitution, all citizens had to be heard at the citizens' assembly . After documentary evidence from the 14th century belonged to the town hall meeting, the councilors , the Gildemeister and some as citizens, their decisions are explicitly provided with the statement that all citizens have made the agreement. When in the middle of the 15th century this custom, which had been chartered for ages, was broken, the complaints from the citizens increased and the more dissatisfied and stormy it was in these meetings. In 1550, the council achieved that the Burspraken was completely forbidden by an electoral rescript , "because the citizens there made all sorts of secret attacks against the council that we commanded the regiment and not you". A commission set up in 1591 restored the use of the Busprake, so in a 1594 recession it was stipulated that the Burspraken should be held as often as the council or the community deemed necessary. In addition, citizens should obediently obey the calling of a citizens' meeting held by the council. Finally, in 1624, the provision was added “that the Bursprake would be held annually on a certain day, namely the Monday after Misericordias domini , that was immediately after the new council entered”. "Whether these Burspraken were held at certain times, or only when the council wanted the community to meet, can no longer be proven with certainty."

The bureau language in Courland

Robbin or Robbert Oelsen (Elßen, Elsen also Ulßen) became master master in Livonia in 1376 ; under his government the Buur language was created, a collection of laws of the city of Riga, which was read aloud every year on the Sunday before Michaelmas Day with a few ceremonies from the open windows of the town hall. The Bursprake of Riga regulated the legal life in the city. “The Latin names plebiloquium and civiloquium have been handed down from the earliest times, later the Middle Low German form bursprake was used, from which peasant or building language emerged after the transition to High German. The oldest surviving Riga Bursprake is written in Middle Low German and dated 1376. Before 1376 it is mentioned in Latin sources, such as in a letter from the Riga Council, probably from 1346: Sic etenim nos de nostro plebiloquio, quod vulgariter proprie buersprake dictur ... ”). The collection of laws that existed from 1376 initially consisted of 96 articles, which were subsequently expanded to 100 articles and again shortened or expanded as required.

Peasant language of Goldingen

The city of Goldingen in what is now Latvia also had its own peasant language and statutes. Duke Friedrich Kasimir Kettler (1650–1698) of Courland and Semigallia confirmed its existence in 1695 and underlined that the so-called “peasant language” had been in use for 300 years and was constantly being used. In its foundations it agreed in many articles with the city ​​law of Riga and its Bursprake.

Peasant language from Windau

The city of Windau , also located in what is now Latvia, lost its written privileges due to a fire in 1495. After confirmation from Duke Heinrich Kasimir in 1694, it was declared that Windau had had a Bursprake since 1610, which was linked to that of Golding and Riga corresponded.

Wismar bourgeois language

The name of the Bursprake ("Ciuiloquium") can be found in the documents of the old Hanseatic city of Wismar ( Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ) not before 1344; the first verifiable mention goes back to 1345. Since then, 72 copies are known: “They contain sentences of penance that deal with the violation of city laws, defamation against respectable citizens or for the lack or neglect of in-house armaments. With it the cleaning of the city streets and the keeping of the harbor basin were determined. Among other things, she mentioned the guest trade and the use of incorrect measures and weights as prohibitions. It contained a luxury order and ordinances on prostitution, night rest, fire protection, civil security services, the approval of guilds, the influx of farmers, inner-city livestock keeping and the compulsory service of maids and servants ”.

The civil language of Meschede

The original of the civil language of Meschede in Westphalia , from 1486, was written in Low German:

"In the years of our Lord, when one wrote a thousand four dogs six and eighty, the mayor and council and all mean citizens of freedom Meschede all agreed peacefully and amicably, if they vowed in their oath, as it is written here, firmly to keep and to be obedient when they have vowed and sworn one of them to be loyal and gracious to the other and to our most gracious Lord of Cologne, to do his best to ward off the evil, and to return to all five senses of theirs Power."

- Preamble to the civil language Meshedes

This is the preamble to the Mesched bourgeois language of 1486. ​​This was followed by so-called 16 items in which the individual provisions were laid down. It ended with "Amen".

Civil language as a particular right in the duchies of Mecklenburg

The particular law designates certain legal standards that apply only to defined areas. Shortly after the founding of individual cities in Mecklenburg , assemblies were held between the city authorities and the citizens, which were called civil languages, morning languages ​​or peasant languages ​​(conventus forenses, burgiloquia or civilloquia). In order to document and protect the resolutions, they began to be written down in the 14th century, to be archived with the name of the assembly and attached as an annex. As a result, the current bourgeois languages ​​emerged in almost all cities in Mecklenburg, and only became the subject of attention in the last half of the 18th century. These particular Mecklenburg rights apply alongside the city rights as the most important legal bases of civil self-government.

Mecklenburg city rights and Burspraken in the legal association

Rostock city rights confirmation from 1218

The city ​​rights were sovereign regulations by which places were elevated to cities. They are not defined uniformly and consist of privileges , individual rights and bureaucratic practices. The basis of the Mecklenburg Burspraken was based on a wide variety of rights, including:

  • The Lübeck law was that of the imperial city acquired Lübeck law , which gained in over 100 cities around the Baltic Sea validity. Also in the two duchies of Mecklenburg ( Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz ) the "Lübsche law" was the legal basis for their own city laws and the established Burspraken in many cities.
  • The "Schwerin law" is the oldest local city law in Mecklenburg, the origin and the age goes back to Duke Heinrich the Lion († 1195), when he conquered Mecklenburg and made the city of Schwerin the seat of government.
  • The “Rostock City Law” from 1218 is a law modified from the Schwerin and Lübischen law. As Rostock law it was not a written law until 1757, but only customary law , the second Rostock law from 1757 only applied to the city of Rostock.
  • The "Parchim's right" is the oldest privilege of the city of Parchim , which dates back to the year 1218. In the later explanations, references to "Lübsche law" can be seen, but elements of "Saxon law" and parts of "Schwerin law" were also used. These legal clauses were published early in the city of Parchim in the form of a civic language and in city statutes.
  • In the seaside town of Rostock, the civil language was based on the Luebian law of the imperial city of Lübeck, the Schwerin law and several city laws. It had its own bourgeois language, the origin of which is not known, but apparently dates back to the 14th century.
  • In Boitzenburg , the "Lübsche law" had been in effect since 1267, there was also a council ordinance and a civic language that was read publicly every Monday after Laetare.
  • The city rights of Neubrandenburg were based on the rights of the city of Altbrandenburg , which had concluded a jurisdiction agreement and a commission recession with the state rulers . Their particular rights are anchored in the town ordinance issued by the council on January 14, 1681 and in a civil language. There was also a bourgeois language from the 16th century, which was read publicly every year on Walburgis Day .
  • In Friedland , in which the "Stendalschen Rehte" were valid, there was a bourgeois language, but the reading of which was long out of use. The oldest edition seems to be from the resolutions of the 16th century.
  • Güstrow's city ​​law is based on the “Schwerin law” and consists of various sovereign laws, enacted rescripts, several common laws and a civil language. The old bourgeois language, written in the Low German language, was several centuries old and was still called "Pauerssprache" until the middle of the 17th century, but public reading had already been suspended.
  • The city of Ribnitz received the "Lübsche law" from Prince Waldemar II of Rostock in 1271. The city's civic language was read out to the public annually on the day of St. Peter; it was expanded in 1588 and 1631.
  • In Schwerin the "Schwerin law" originally applied, together with some additions, several customary laws and a common language. The latter had existed for more than centuries and contained few civil law laws. It was read publicly every year on Sunday Laetare by the city secretary from the document book of 1615

conclusion

The greatest common denominator of all Burspraken is that with them, at the end of the Middle Ages , civil rights were taken into account and supported by the sovereigns . Laws, ordinances, recesses and redicts, the effects of which were brought into orderly collections, were, like the Burspraken, the beginning part of a bourgeois self-government. As a final example of Bursprake to Eversael am Niederrhein serve this purpose there is to the story: "The affairs in the village completed in former times the farmers together by the peasant language, a meeting within the Honnschaft . The peasant language is an old law of the free peasants, which originated from the Germanic times and with which the self-elected aldermen could judge their fellow citizens (speak right). The peasant language continued into the 17th century, because in 1667 the preacher Vorstman complained that the 'peasant bench' and 'peasant language' are held on Sundays with the desecration of the same. "

literature

  • Dzintra Lele-Rozentäle: The position of the Burspraken of Riga as specific legal texts of the city. Examined on the basis of the Ciuiloquium of 1376. In: Jörg Meier, Arne Ziegler (Hrsg.): Tasks of a future law firm language research. (= Contributions to office language research. 3). Vienna, pp. 119–130. books.google.de
  • Jürgen Bohmbach , Jochen Goetze: Sources on Hanseatic history. edited by R. Sprandel. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1982.
  • Jürgen Bolland : Hamburg Burspraken 1346–1594. 2 volumes. Christians Verlag, Hamburg 1960.
  • Christian Daniel Anderson : Hamburg private law: Hamburg statutes vd J. 1270, 1276, 1292 and 1497. Volume 1, Verlag Bohn, 1782, original from Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, digitized July 20, 2010, “Appendix from the Hamburgische Bursprake and the Recessen. I. Von der Bursprake ", p. 499 ff. ( Limited preview in the Google book search)
  • Albrecht Greule , Jörg Meier, Arne Ziegler (eds.): Office language research: An international handbook. Verlag Walter de Gruyter, 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-026188-2 . ( limited preview in Google Book search)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ For the sake of simplicity, the term "Burprake" will be used in the further course of a general description
  2. ^ Rainer Postel : Contributions to the history of Hamburg in the early modern period, selected essays, published on the occasion of Lars Jockheck's 65th birthday. LIT-Verlag, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 3-8258-9263-8 , p. 138 ff.
  3. Civiloquium. In: Johann Heinrich Zedler : Large complete universal lexicon of all sciences and arts . Volume 6, Leipzig 1733, column 195.
  4. Peter Stotz : Handbook on the Latin language of the Middle Ages: Change of meaning and word formation. Verlag CH Beck, 2000, p. 311, § 60.1. ( books.google.de , accessed June 17, 2016)
  5. Peasant language . In: Prussian Academy of Sciences (Hrsg.): German legal dictionary . tape 1 , issue 9 (edited by Eberhard von Künßberg ). Hermann Böhlaus successor, Weimar ( adw.uni-heidelberg.de - publication date 1931 or 1932).
  6. ^ Entry on Peter CA Schels: Small Encyclopedia of the German Middle Ages. ( u01151612502.user.hosting-agency.de ( Memento of the original from June 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / u01151612502.user.hosting-agency.de
  7. In Germanic law, Thing or Ding denotes the sovereign assembly of free men to decide all questions concerning the community. In: lexexakt.de Legal Lexicon
  8. ^ Rainer Postel: Contributions to the history of Hamburg in the early modern period: selected essays on Lars Lockheck's 65th birthday. LIT-Verlag, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 3-8258-9263-8 , p. 138. ( books.google.de , accessed June 22, 2016)
  9. ^ Adolph Friedrich Riedel : Magazine of the provincial and statutory law of the Mark Brandenburg and the Duchy of Pomerania. Volume 1. Verlag Hayn, 1837, p. 117 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive )
  10. Carl Friedrich Stavenhagen , Joachim Friedrich Sprengel: Topographical and chronological description of the Pomeranian commercial and commercial city of Anklam. 1773, p. 247 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive )
  11. ^ Bad Laer - Thieplatz and the Paulbrink. In: City magazine Bad Laer. ( bad-laer.de , accessed June 21, 2016)
  12. At the publication of the Hamburg Burspraken from 1346 to 1594 by the Hamburg state archive was Jürgen Bolland significantly involved.
  13. Ulla Reiss: More than cogs and merchants. Overview of a workshop. H-Net Reviews, July 2010, accessed November 12, 2010 .
  14. ^ Rainer Postel: Contributions to the history of Hamburg in the early modern period: selected essays on Lars Lockheck's 65th birthday. LIT-Verlag, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 3-8258-9263-8 , p. 138. ( books.google.de )
  15. Ernst Deecke : Basic lines for the history of Lübeck: 1143-1226. A cheer. Verlag Rohden'sche Buchh., 1839, p. 33. ( books.google.de )
  16. The VII. Main part of the civil language. In: Jacob von Melle : Thorough message from the Kaiserl. freyen and the HR Reich city of Lübeck. Editor Johann Hermann Schnobel . Edition 3, 1787, p. 110 f. ( books.google.de )
  17. History of spiritual foundations, noble families, cities and castles. Volume 1, Volume 4, 1844, p. 225. ( books.google.de )
  18. ibid., P. 225.
  19. ibid. After Kampes' excellent treatise on the development of the urban regiment in the city of Neuruppin in the Neuruppiner gymnastics program of April 10, 1840. ( books.google.de )
  20. About the origin of the nobility in the Baltic Sea provinces of Russia and the predicate Freiherr due to the old knight families there , Verlag GA Reyher, 1843, p. 139. ( books.google.de )
  21. cf. Napiersky 1876/1976 , LXXXVIII. Dzintra Lele-Rozentäle: The position of the Burspraken of Riga as specific legal texts of the city. Investigated using the Ciuiloquium of 1376 . In: Jörg Meier, Arne Ziegler (Hrsg.): Tasks of a future law firm language research. (= Contributions to office language research. 3). Vienna, pp. 119–130. ff. books.google.de
  22. ^ The Liefländische Chronik Ander Theil von Liefland under its masters, which explains the ancient history of the order and the neighboring peoples; Both with the inclusion of the printed and unprinted writers and fornemlich from a large number of old documents ... Volume 2, Verlag Gebauer, 1753, p. 110. ( books.google.de )
  23. ^ State law of the Herzogthumer Curland and Gemgallen. 1772, p. 303. ( books.google.de )
  24. ibid., P. 303, accessed June 16, 2016.
  25. The civil languages ​​and civil contracts of the city of Wismar , Verlag H. Schmidt u. von Cossel, 1840. ( books.google.de )
  26. Bursprache. In: Peter CA Schels: Small Encyclopedia of the German Middle Ages. ( u01151612502.user.hosting-agency.de ( Memento of the original from June 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / u01151612502.user.hosting-agency.de
  27. 1486 Old civil language of freedom Meschede Low German original. ( meschede.de (PDF) Meschede City Archives, accessed June 21, 2016)
  28. 1486 Old civil language of freedom Meschede high German. City archive Meschede, meschede.de (PDF) accessed June 21, 2016
  29. ^ Karl Christoph Albert Heinrich von Kamptz : civil law of the duchies of Mecklenburg. Volume 2, Verlag Bödner, 1805, p. 307. (Original from Bayerische Staatsbibliothek books.google.de )
  30. ibid. , Pp. 308/309.
  31. ibid., P. 152.
  32. Christian Hövisch: Schwerinisches law. ( rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de )
  33. ^ Karl Christoph Albert Heinrich von Kamptz: civil law of the duchies of Mecklenburg. Volume 2, Verlag Bödner, 1805, p. 258.
  34. ^ City history of Rostock. ( Kulturhistorisches-museum-rostock.de )
  35. ^ Karl Christoph Albert Heinrich von Kamptz: civil law of the duchies of Mecklenburg. Volume 2, Verlag Bödner, 1805, pp. 272 ​​and 282.
  36. ibid., P. 285.
  37. ibid., Pp. 157 and 310
  38. ibid., P. 163 and 316
  39. ibid., Pp. 166, 290 and 314
  40. ibid., P. 176 and 316
  41. ibid., Pp. 187 and 318
  42. ibid., Pp. 214 and 317
  43. ibid., Pp. 217 and 315
  44. cf .: Eversael # history