Manuscripts - court ledger (late 15 th century) and district court-book (16 th century)

The court ledger covering the years 1472-1486 documents the works of the Higher Court of Magdeburg Law, established in Cracow by King Casimir the Great. The Court issued legal guidelines to towns and villages in Little Poland, which had adopted the Magdeburg Law, and ruled on appeals of judgements by lower municipal courts. The ledger contains valuable data on the history of towns and villages in Little Poland in the late 15 th century, which is of particular interest since other local records have not survived.

The second manuscript is a district record-book, covering the years 1531-1562. It contains records of a gentry court that functioned in the Zator Duchy. Entries in the book refer to civil law issues (land sales, property disputes, wills) and criminal offences (robberies, thefts). The book is valuable since it illustrates the expansion of Polish gentry into the area of that former autonomous duchy of the Piast dynasty.

Both manuscripts in the late 18 th century were moved to the State Archive in Cracow. In October 1939 they were looted and in the years 1941-1944 were in the possession of a German judge in Cracow. After that, they were taken to Germany.

On 4 th March 2002 Minister of Foreign Affairs Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz presented the manuscripts to the Mayor of Cracow.