Schulzenhof (homestead)
The Schulzenhof was the farm on which the village mayor (Sculetus, Schultheiß or Schulte) lived. The village mayor was the head of a village and stood between the sovereign and the farmers. Together with the lay judges, he had to ensure justice and peace in the village community.
The Schulzenhof was originally the largest courtyard in a village, larger than the normal Acker- and Halbackerhöfe and the Kossathen- and landed estate offices . As with other farms, the areas have been reduced over the centuries due to inheritance divisions or payments by siblings.
If the farm was a feudal school, the office of the school went hand in hand with the ownership of the farm. When the Lehnschulzen died , the Schulzenamt was passed on to the oldest male descendant. If there was no male heir, the farm was passed on to a daughter and the office was taken over by the man by marriage.
In the 16th century, the aristocratic landlords in Brandenburg managed to bring many feudal schools into their possession through legal changes. So from 1517 they were allowed to move in and transfer to their own property, where the male succession had been demolished. From 1540 they were even able to buy out operational feudal schools in order to expand them into manors.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans K. Schulze : Settlement, economy and constitution in the Middle Ages: Selected essays on the history of Central and Eastern Germany. Böhlau, Cologne, 2006, ISBN 3-412-15602-7 , p. 218
- ^ Lieselott Enders : The Altmark. History of a Kurmark landscape in the early modern period (late 15th to early 19th century). Berliner-Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin 2008, p. 512 ff.
- ^ Heinrich Kaak: The Brandenburg village as a scene of social and economic developments (15th to 19th centuries) ; P. 3 .