Inheritance court

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Fürstenau : Hereditary Court (left) and cultural hall

Inheritance court or patrimonial court (also: feudal court or inheritance court ) was the seat of the sitter in the Middle Ages and early modern times , i.e. that member of the village community who presided over the village court and was able to pass this office on to his descendants without the holder of the lower jurisdiction , this was often the landlord who could influence the filling of the position. The sitter received part of the court fees and the fines due, usually a third. The rest went to the holder of the jurisdiction.

history

In the countries east of the Elbe-Saale line , i.e. the settlement border between German and West Slavic tribes that ran roughly along the Elbe and Saale in the Middle Ages , the office of bureau was created for the establishment of villages under German law ( Sachsenspiegel ) and usually with a particularly large farm. Not infrequently, the place of the vomit came into the possession of the locator and his descendants. He was rewarded for his services to founding the village. And these were often the Erbrichteramt fully licensed and the brewing right connected. That is why restaurants are still called Erbgericht or z. B. Brauschänke (cf. Tafernwirtschaft ).

Court squeeze in Kunnersdorf

The Erbrichter or Erbschulze, called Woith in the Silesian and Polish area , were Erbrichter ( Schultheiße ). They had the right to run the village inn (-krug), also the Kretscham . The taxes were collected from them. They were also allowed to keep craftsmen and operate their own mills. The economic primacy was connected with the village police force and the lower jurisdiction (in the judicial cretscham). There, births and death notices were registered, wedding fees were paid, celebrations were held, and lots were requested. In villages without a school, Kretscham was taught. You acted as an assessor at higher courts.

Kleindrebnitz : Hereditary Court Seal

The function of the feudal judge was very similar to the testator , only that he had his office and his property as a fief . Therefore, he was also obliged to follow the army if his rule asked him to do so. In Upper Lusatia it was not uncommon for judges to be enfeoffed until the Thirty Years' War , they occurred mainly in the Sorbian settlement area, even though the majority of hereditary courts existed there too.

The origin of the Oberlausitzer Richterlehen is unclear. Some historians are of the opinion that they emerged from the Sorbian nobility or the Zupans . The settlement in the east was accompanied by Christianization and converted Sorbian nobles supported the new masters. For many Sorbs, the inheritance jurisdiction introduced by the German colonists with extensive local self-administration seemed advantageous. In 1218, Sorbian peasants rebelled against their feudal lord Mocco von Stolpen and supported Bishop Bruno von Meißen in taking the land.

The hereditary judges in the Stolpen office played a special role . B. in Großdrebnitz . They were not subject to feudal rule , the office of judge was hereditary and the goods were allodified at an early stage, i. i.e. converted into personal property or free goods . The testers were mostly exempt from compulsory labor.

There were villages where judicial office was not hereditary. The judge was appointed by the landlord (set judge ) or the office went among the peasants in turn (rolling court).

Web links

Commons : Inheritance Court  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Roland Paeßler, The Erbrichter in the area of ​​Bischofswerda . In: Mathias Hüsni (ed.): Schiebocker Landstreicher . H. 3, Burkau 2008. ISSN  1866-7872 . Pp. 8-16