The Magdeburg Rights (or Magdeburg law) were the laws of the Imperial Free City of Magdeburg during many centuries of the Holy Roman Empire, and possibly the most important set of Germanic medieval city laws. Aphorism Critical legal studies Jurisprudence Law (principle) Legal research Letter versus Spirit List of legal abbreviations Legal code Natural justice Natural law Philosophy of law Religious law External links Find more information on Law by searching one of Wikipedias sibling projects: Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School... In the Holy Roman Empire, an imperial free city (in German: freie Reichsstadt) was a city formally responsible to the emperor only — as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which belonged to a territory and were thus governed by one of the many princes (Fürsten) of... Magdeburg, the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, lies on the Elbe river. ... Coats of arms of the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire This page is about the Germanic empire. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Town privileges were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. ...

Spread of the law

Among the most advanced systems of old Germanic law of the time, in the 13th and 14th centuries, the Magdeburg rights were granted to more than a hundred cities, in the north and east towards Russia, including Schleswig, Bohemia, Poland, especially in Pomerania and Province of Prussia, where they were known as German or Teutonic law. Since the local tribunal of Magdeburg thus also became the superior court for these towns, Magdeburg, together with Lübeck, practically defined the law of northern Germany and Poland for centuries, being the heart of the most important "family" of city laws. This role remained until the old Germanic laws were successively replaced with Roman law under the influence of the Reichskammergericht, in the centuries after its establishment during the Imperial Reform of 1495. (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right}. It is housed in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to... The region of Schleswig (Former English name: Sleswick, Danish: Sønderjylland, Low Saxon: Sleswig, North Frisian: Slaswik or Sleesweg) covers the area about 30 km north and 40 km south of the border between Germany and Denmark. ... Bohemia This article is about the historical region in central Europe; for other uses, see Bohemia (disambiguation). ... Historic Pomerania (outlined in yellow) Pomerania (Polish: Pomorze, German: Pommern and Pommerellen, Pomeranian (Kashubian): Pòmòrze and Pòmòrskô, Latin: Pomerania, Pomorania) is a geographical and historical region in northern Poland and Germany on the south coasts of the Baltic Sea between and on both sides of the... The Province of Prussia was a province of Poland from the 15th century until 1660, consisting of Royal Prussia and Ducal Prussia. ... A court is an official, public forum which a public power establishes by lawful authority to adjudicate disputes, and to dispense civil, labour, administrative and criminal justice under the law. ... Statistics State: Schleswig-Holstein District: Independent city Area: 214. ... Roman Law is the legal system of ancient Rome. ... The Reichskammergericht was the highest judicial institution in the Holy Roman Empire, founded in 1495 by the Reichstag in Worms. ... In 1495, an attempt was made at a Reichstag in the city of Worms to give the disintegrating Holy Roman Empire a new structure, commonly referred to as Imperial Reform (in German: Whether this reform can be considered successful depends on how one defines its goals; today, many scholars believe... Events February 22 - King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the citys throne. ...

Contents

As with most medieval city laws, the Rights were primarily targeted at regulating trade to the benefit of the local merchants and artisans, who formed the most important part of the population of many such cities. In medieval Poland, Jews were invited along with German merchants to settle in cities as part of the royal city development policy.

Jews and Germans were sometimes competitors in those cities. Jews lived under privileges that they carefully negotiated with the king or emperor. They were not subject to city jurisdiction. These privileges guaranteed that they could maintain communal autonomy, live according to their laws, and be subjected directly to the royal jurisdiction in matters concerning Jews and Christians. One of the most interesting provisions of the settlement privileges granted to Jews was that a Jew could not be made Gewährsmann, that is, he could not be compelled to tell from whom he acquired any object which had been sold or pledged to him and which was found in his possession. This effectively amounted to permission to buy stolen property. Other provisions frequently mentioned were a permission to sell meat to Christians, or employ Christian servants.

External merchants coming into the city were not allowed to trade on their own, but instead forced to sell the goods they had brought into the city to local buyers, if any wished to buy them.

Being a member of the Hanseatic league, Magdeburg thus was one of the most important trade cities also, maintaining commerce with the west (towards Flanders), with the countries of the Baltic Sea, and the interior (for example Braunschweig). The Hanseatic League (German: die Hanse) was an alliance of trading cities that established and maintained a trade monopoly over most of Northern Europe and the Baltic for a time in the later Middle Ages and the Early Modern period (ie between the 13th and 17th century). ... Flanders (Flemish, Fleming) (Dutch: Vlaanderen (Vlaams, Vlaming), French: Flandre(s), (flamand, flamand), German: Flandern, (flämisch, Flame) has two main designations: a constituent community of the federal Belgian state through its social and political organisations, and through the institutions of the Flemish Community (with its own Flemish government and Flemish... The Baltic Sea The terms Baltic countries, Baltic Sea countries, Baltic states, and Balticum refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea. ... Map of Germany showing Braunschweig Braunschweig [ˈbraunʃvaik] (English & French: Brunswick) is a city of 245,500 people (as of December 31, 2004), located in Lower Saxony, Germany. ...

See also

• Chełm law
• Lübeck law