Guardian

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Schutzverwandter (also: Schutzgenosse ) is a legal institution from the Middle Ages , which was essentially valid in German countries until the 19th century .

definition

In a broader sense, it describes a person who is connected to a political community and who enjoys its protection without actually belonging to it.

Protective relative (resident of a city)

In the narrower sense, this means a (legitimate) resident of a city who did not have the citizenship , but nevertheless enjoyed a certain protection by the community after taking an oath of protection . Protective relatives were subject to the police and the jurisdiction of the city.

The right of residence and the permission to use the general institutions of the community were regularly included .

A protective relative was not allowed to independently operate a civil trade or join the guilds . This was sometimes even seen as an advantage, since the status of the guardian relatives did not bring with it the (especially financial) obligations of civil rights and the regulations of the guilds. A protective relative was also not allowed to hold public office .

Rights to the communal pastures and wood rights were mostly available to protective relatives in a restricted form; they usually had to make a cash payment in order to take advantage of these advantages.

Since not everyone sought citizenship due to the associated costs, protective relatives were often asked after three months at the latest to acquire full citizenship and, in particular, to make the necessary monetary payments. In some cases, reprisals were used for this, such as threats of expulsion , attachment , arrest or prison. There were tendencies in this regard particularly in the first half of the 19th century, as a result of the loosening of the guild constitutions and as a harbinger of future freedom of trade .

The protection relatives were free to make an annual protection fee. Whoever did this could not be coerced. Such a regulation could be favorable, for example, if someone did not aspire to a master 's position, but despite a marriage worked as a journeyman for a master widow who was entitled to trade. In the event of inheritance , his rights were then equal to those of a citizen. Also exempt from coercion were those who had found refuge in the city from the plague , threat of war or persecution as long as the cause lasted.

As a rule, protective relatives were recruited from the ranks of journeymen, apprentices , workers, day laborers and Jews.

The so-called “comers” (advenae), who only stayed in the city temporarily, had to be distinguished from the protective relatives. Although they could be sued in the local courts, they themselves had no right to sue or claim city benefits.

The term of protection relatives was used until the 19th century, sometimes until after 1918. It was finally no longer used because, from the 19th century, the guardian relatives generally had to bear the same burdens as the full citizens, so that the distinction no longer made sense.

Fellow protection (foreign nationals)

In Germany, it was also used to describe a foreign national who had been guaranteed German consular protection .

literature

  • Johann Georg Krünitz : Economic Encyklopadie or general system of state, city, house and agriculture, in alphabetical order .

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