Ilko Lemko: How the Lviv magistrate governed the city.

Denys Zubrytskyi, the chief chronicler of Lviv, respectfully and passionately outlines the significance of the activities of the Lviv city authorities: “The duties of the Council were not limited to governance, judiciary functions, and punishment; it was also to foster the prosperity of the entire city and the success of individuals and workers. In a word, the magistrate had the same responsibilities towards the city and its citizens as a father has towards his family.”

Bartolomey Zymorovych, describing the actions of the Lviv city authorities in the 16th century, tracked the transformation from German municipal governance to Polish:

“At that time, the Germans held a prominent position in Lviv, distributing all municipal positions only among their relatives and excluding Poles from the Council. However, there was a constant mixing of these two nations, as well as a combination through common public duties, so that Poles also found their way and access to the city Council… From the moment when Poles and Germans, holding the reins of power with a common hand, governed the city community, both nations’ concerns for the enhancement and beautification of the city intensified, as almost everyone contributed something exceptional to the community… Beginning in the 16th century, the German language gradually disappeared from the public life of the city, and the Lviv City Council transitioned to Polish.”

The Lviv magistrate, fulfilling its core function, established regulations for the lives of the city’s citizens, customary norms, and behavioral standards. Particularly interesting is the law from 1383 concerning the fight against luxury: “The magistrate's law against women. After luxury, the bane of the city, began to affect our ancestors, at that moment, following Spartan customs against the debauchery and depravity of women, it was not the government of morality, but laws on expenditures for luxury that declared:

“The councilors together with the entire community decided that if anyone wished to organize or celebrate a wedding, they must have sixteen guests and four dishes, no more, and they may have two jesters, no more, under the threat of a fine of four hryvnias. Women who have given birth or are postpartum should not organize any banquets under the threat of four hryvnias.” In subsequent years, an additional paragraph was added: “No lady who has given birth shall have covers made of silk or camlet under the penalty of one hryvnia.”

Especially noteworthy is the decree limiting the number of guests at wedding banquets – a typical example of the very common medieval “laws against luxury” in Western and Central Europe. Their main aim was to avoid provoking outrage among the lower classes, dissatisfied with the excessive wealth of the city elite. One significant motive was also the desire for funds to be directed, besides the city's defense, into crafts and trade, as this would contribute to increasing the revenues of the city magistrate.

In 1387, the Lviv magistrate prohibited dice games: “The councilors also decided that no one should play dice in the city for any gain, neither small nor large. And those who play and who win and who lose must give one hryvnia from the winnings, and the loser must pay one hryvnia as a fine, and anyone fined three times must have the right to keep a tavern revoked, so they cannot serve anymore.”

The city also faced considerable challenges in regulating property issues, as evidenced by a record in the chronicle from 1390: “In these years, an indecent dispute occurred in Lviv between Archbishop Bernhard and the city over a house in the upper part of the Market… Raising property claims on the house, the impatient archbishop wanted to occupy it by force, the city resisted, and this led to such tension that ultimately Bernhard formally cursed the city. The case even involved Pope Boniface IX, a lawsuit was initiated against the archbishop, but since Bernhard died in 1391, the process was halted.”

The magistrate also regulated family relations. In 1401, the councilors adopted the law “On the tax for unmarried men,” as noted in the chronicle:

“As far as our ancestors cared for the increase of citizens, it is evident that all unmarried men and those who did not wish to have offspring were listed in one queue, and it was decided to collect a tax from them, simply called 'bull tax,' of four groats annually per head. Ten years later, a previous decree was either adopted or renewed, stating that unmarried citizens without real estate must pay to the city treasury 'arbitrum' four groats annually. That year, there were 28 such individuals. Later, they were not allowed to municipal rights, thus to labor and trade, unless guaranteed by two worthy fellow citizens who would ensure they would marry and acquire real estate within a year.”

The defense of the city was one of the most important issues for the Lviv authorities. In 1408, the Council decreed that each guild master from each guild, at his own expense, should acquire one machine for launching arrows and cannonballs from the city walls. They immediately ordered them from an archer, paying half a groat as a deposit for each, with the remainder promised to be paid after the work was completed. That year, Lviv already had a city executioner, who, besides his direct duties, also had to remove garbage and filth from the city.

The regulation of trade in the city and the resolution of disputed issues were carried out by the Lviv magistrate with great scrutiny. In 1441, Lviv received two privileges from the king. The first exempted Lviv merchants from all kinds of duties, and the second allowed the city Council to establish as many shops and stalls as needed, with the freedom to choose and appoint translators, who were mostly Armenians.

The merchant class consisted of three tiers: wealthy merchants, smaller merchants, and traders who displayed their goods and small items in public places on benches and movable stalls, taking them away at night. The first, the so-called wealthy, formed a brotherhood, a congregation with an elected elder at the head, and had their own market under a roof in the Market, which was locked at night, containing 40 shops, as there could be no more members in the brotherhood. These shops were hereditary and could be sold. If a shop was sold, it was contested by merchants of the second category, shop owners, who were often as wealthy as the first, although their trade was limited to certain goods and retail sales, as they were prohibited from trading in wholesale goods.

Trade outside the city walls was regulated by the starost's authority, which was directly subordinate to the queen. The directive of Lviv starost Mnishek from 1618 indicates the establishment of a separate guild for Ukrainian shoemakers in the Krakow suburb:

“Since shoemakers from the Krakow suburb, especially those of the Greek rite, gathered 40 good masters, suitable for the guild, whom the Catholics from the city do not want to accept into their guild, they asked me to designate a place for them to open shoemaking stalls, … wishing to have those craftsmen in good order, I designated a place before the Krakow Gate (The Krakow Gate stood at the intersection of modern Krakow and Lesya Ukrainka streets – I. L.) These stalls together with their area should serve the same shoemakers-Rusyns, craftsmen of the Greek faith, for them and their descendants for all time. Each of them shall be free to gift, pledge, sell their stall and use it with the greatest benefit for themselves, however, with the stipulation that they must go to a craftsman, a good master, suitable for the guild.”

The city authorities also dealt with regulating guild matters. Guild statutes regulated the production activities of artisans, the quality and quantity of products, their sale, the purchase of raw materials, the rights and obligations of masters, and the treatment of journeymen and apprentices, defining working hours and pay.

Of particular interest is the Statute of the Lviv masons and stonecutters from 1572, which states:

“Every master with his fellows and workers must begin work at dawn, as soon as the city gates open, during specified hours he must work with due diligence and will have specified breaks: one hour for breakfast, a second at noon, and finally, in summer, he must finish his work at 10 PM, and in winter at 11 PM. Senior masters must closely monitor that fellows do not give each other bad and offensive nicknames under the threat of a fine of one hryvnia for the benefit of the council's government. A fellow who refuses to work on Monday, is disobedient, a troublemaker, or negligent in work, must be dismissed to the council government for punishment for his offense.”