Forschungsprojekt

Legal Plurality and the Establishment of Urban Order under Magdeburg Law in Historical Towns of Ukraine during the Late Medieval and Early Modern Times

Religious heterogeneity of urban population was one of the most characteristic features in the historical lands of Ukraine: typically, a town was inhabited by Orthodox population (indigenous Ruthenians, but also Greeks, Wallachians and Moldavians) and Catholics (Poles, Germans, Italians, Hungarians). In addition, some towns had communities of Armenians, Jews and Muslims (mostly Tatars). The process of establishment of the urban order based on Magdeburg law demonstrated a variety of approaches: from an exclusive domination of Catholics over “the others” (as in Lemberg) to a co-existence of three Christian communities (Catholics, Orthodox and Armenians) each with its own court and a town-council (as in Kamianets of Podolia).

The aim of this project is to demonstrate how legal pluralism manifested itself in the context of urban order and in the formation of urban institutions (town court and town council) after the grant of Magdeburg law, especially taking into account the ethnically and religiously heterogeneous character of the population. Using available sources, it will be possible to see in what towns which (religious) groups were accepted to/excluded from urban rights, who could be elected to the town council/town court and how, in general, religious diversity influenced the unification/pluralization of urban law. The geographical scope of this research is limited to three historical lands of present-day Ukraine: Galicia, Wolynia and Podolia.