Last Wills and Testaments

Full title: Inwentarze pośmiertne i działy spadkowe ludności wiejskiej klucza pelplińskiego. Z dziejów kultury materialnej i praktyki prawnej w Prusach Królewskich w XVIII wieku [Posthumous inventories and inheritance registers of the rural population of the Pelplin fiefdom. From the history of material culture and legal practice in Royal Prussia in the 18th century], [in;] Zapiski Historyczne, vol. LXXVII, 2012, nr 1,p. 79-101

Posthumous inventories and inheritance sections constitute one of the most important sources in the research on social-economic history. The richness and variety of information included there allows their use in the analysis of a wide spectrum of problems; from the questions of production and consumption, down to the problem of wealth, the increase in prices, ways to spend money or the practical dimension of the legal rules. Its advantage is mass availability and a relatively objective full record of wealth heritage presented in an official clerical form.
The aim of this article is to join the research on inheritance among the rural population in the Pelplin fiefdom [NORTHERN POLAND], to show the practical enforcement of inheritance law [CULM LAW, ius culmense, MAGDEBURG LAW] and to outline the material conditions of life of its inhabitants. The following were analyzed: the circumstances od drawing inventories in the monastery (legal significance, participants, appraisers), the layout of documents, elements of contents, the manner the inventory was conducted and the final share of inheritance. The research comprises the questions concerning ownership, inmovables and movables, as well as the problem of debts.

Testaments in Lübeck Law. Exemplified with the practice of Elbing from the 15th to the early 16th c.

The article presents the practice of making testaments in towns governed by the Lübeck Law, illustrated with the mediaeval Elbląg (Elbing). The research was based on 145 surviving testaments of burghers from the 15th–early 16th c., five of them from the New Town and the rest form the Old Town of Elbing. On the basis of those documents, the author describes the practice of making and authenticating last wills, including also their physical shape, the circumstances (time and place) and the official form.
The analysis has revealed that testaments made in Elbing usually followed the same twopart scheme. The first part concerned pious bequests (ad pias causas), while the second — bequests to distant relatives and friends. The article also discusses the issue of choosing testament executors and witnesses. The analysis has shown that the 145 known last will from Elbing mention 327 executors in total. In 1/5 of them at least one of the executors was an alderman. Only some of the aldermen of that period were witnesses, some of them many times. 45 aldermen were noted only once as witnesses, 20 were noted twice and 10 — three times. The same persons acted as witnesses for many years, holding various offices in the municipality. Those observations may be influenced by the particular body of documents that have survived.
The analysis indicates that the making and executing of last wills in Elbing in the researched period was largely controlled by the municipal council. The practice, including the custom of writing last wills by clerks, developed over time, resulting in similar forms and arrangements of contents, which in turn led to a certain conventionalization of dispositions. This, however, did not fully erase the individual character of testators’ dispositions.

The reconstruction of family relations and of their impact on the socio-economic activities of Wallachian merchants in the 18th and early 19th centuries is a rewarding, yet difficult, task. The difficulty results from two main factors: one is that the majority of the available primary sources have an arid, patrimonial nature, and two, the type of documents that might offer more social detail, i.e. family correspondence and chronicles, diaries, etc., are not as numerous as the historian would wish. The author of the present study therefore decided to supplement this uneven documentary base with another type of material: the last wills and testaments of individuals from this socio-professional group. It is from the examination of a documentary corpus of around 100 such texts that the author has attempted to flesh out relations between spouses as well as those between parents and their descendants. A secondary objective of this approach was to identify possible strategies used by merchants in the period under study to ensure continuity in their trade and the ‘security’ of family estates. Despite the nature of the documents, which did not have much scope for affective display, testaments often reveal feelings of love, respect, and loyalty – or a lack thereof – among family members. The fact that most testators usually named close kin (a spouse, surviving children, and siblings) as executors and main beneficiaries of their estates shows the crucial importance of family alliances, affective ties, and solidarities in the longer-term economic survival of family groups.

The article discusses three registers of funeral expenditures that were presented to the urban authorities of Cracow in the 1650s. Unlike last wills and testaments, 16th-17th-century sources documenting the costs of burial and other posthumous expenses are sparsely extant in Poland. The three registers discussed here show the funeral customs of the lower strata of Cracow population, which increases their informative value.

The Last will as a historical source was mainly used by the middle age
and early modern period reasearchers, especially those dealing with economic
and social histories. Altough the three Zemun merchants from the early 19th
century, whose last wills are here published, were not the only merchants with
interesting last testament contents. However, they were chosen because of their
close business relations, and their political relations with the Serbian
merchants who became leaders of the First Serbian Uprising. Teodor Marinović
Vuk is remembered as one of the uprising enablers, and Dragutin Milutinović
was, with Miloš Urošević and Dimitrije Marković-Ratković, one of the major
uprising suppliers and also a man of considerable political influence in Serbia.
Evidence is only scarce when it comes to Ignjat Jeftić and his connections with
his business partners in the Pashaluk of Belgrade.
Altough unequal in length and content, last wills and legacy
inventories published here provide multitude of data on various social
phenomena. These documents indicate that the Zemun merchant elite was
created with a network of marriages, godfathers and business interests. These
documents provide a possiblity to reconstruct the structure of the testator’s
family and family ties, which multi-linked a rather small group of successful
merchant families in and outside the city, and even beyond national borders.
These documents allow the observation of the close relationship between the
Serbian and Greek-Cincar communities, which was not limited only to business
affairs. These documents testify to the presence of religious practice of bequest
prayers for the deceased’s salvation and the practice of leaving contributions to
churches and monasteries. These documents open the questions of demarcation
of religious unity, and the national identity of the Orthodox community.
The last wills reveal the reasons for which they were made and how the
testators were managing their property during life, securing assets, arranging
and conducting affairs, securing debts and the like. They provide insight into
a range of commercial and business ramifications, markets and the routes for
goods transportation, organization of business, size and economic strength of
companies in which the testators took part, and the profits that were achieved.
They also indicate the status and rights of women in marriage, as well as a
Тестаменти и инвентари оставине земунских трговаца с почетка 19. века
265
widow, and the relationship of the deceased towards his wife, her family and
children. Inventories which were used to conduct the public sales of the
testator’s goods complement significantly the knowledge of the property that
was on their testamentary disposal. These inventories also point to the quality
of everyday life of merchant families in Zemun, the houses’ construction
quality, sizes, ways of furnishing, the amount of everyday and luxury items,
including the presence of Oriental and European influence in the living culture

U radu se govori o svojeručnom testamentu kao jednom od najčešćih oblika zavještanja. Autor navodi većinu nedoumica koje se pojavljuju u teoriji i praksi u vezi sa formom olografskog testamenta. Primjenom naučnih metoda, kritički su analizirani stavovi više pravnih teoretičara, zakonodavstva država nastalih na tlu SFRJ, kao i normativna rješenja nekoliko evropskih zemalja i SAD. U zaključku, autor naglašava da bi trebalo reformisati pravne propise kojima se uređuje ova oblast u zemljama nastalim na prostoru bivše Jugoslavije. Između ostalog, trebalo bi preciznije regulisati pojam, uslove i postupak sačinjavanja, kao i potpisivanje i datiranje svojeručnog testamenta. Takođe, autor zaključuje da se u teoriji i praksi mora praviti razlika između sastavljanja i sačinjavanja zavještanja, odnosno svojeručnog pisanja i unošenja teksta.
In this paper, the author analyses the procedural provisions for making holographic will. A holographic will is will that is handwritten and signed by the testator. This will are one of the most common form of last will and testament. The author presents and calls attention to the most substantial problems that exist in theory and practice. The author makes a comparative analysis laws in former Yugoslavia, with the laws of Germany, Austria, France, England and the law of UPC. European laws requires all that the will be entirely handwritten, while Uniform Probate Code in the USA only requires that material portions of the document be in the testator’s handwritting. 
After analysis, the author concluded that the inheritance laws in the states of the former Yugoslavia must be reformed. The author especially criticizes imprecise rules about writing, signing and dating the will.

Práce se zabývá problematikou zbožných
odkazů v pozdně středověkých testamentech olomouckých měšťanů, kdy
vychází z testamentů dochovaných v Nejstarší olomoucké knize a v Kodexu
Václava z Jihlavy mezi lety 1360 až 1466. Pracováno bylo celkem se 75
testamenty a práce zkoumá zbožné odkazy v nich z hlediska materiální
stránky, kam byly odkazy určeny, kdo je psal a jaké konkrétní věci a
z jakých důvodů olomoučtí měšťané odkazovali a zda na nich můžeme
pozorovat vliv doby.

Succession, as provided by the Civil Code, is a mode of acquisition by virtue of which the property, rights, and obligations to the extent of the value of the inheritance, of a person are transmitted through his death to another or others either by his will or by operation of law. Succession is a derivative mode of acquiring ownership whereby only persons with legal capacity may own properties, acquire rights, and incur obligations. It is contemplated that the heirs’ rights to the succession are transmitted only from the moment of the death of the decedent-- a notion which is embodied as well in Article 777 of the Civil Code. Nonetheless, the decedent has the right to designate an heir by executing a will in compliance with the formalities required by law. This is called a testamentary succession. Other forms of succession are (1) legal succession which takes place if a person dies without a will and (2) mixed succession is that effected partly by will and partly by operation of law.

Even so, a testator may revoke a will at any time before his death and any waiver or restriction of this right is void. In fact, the law even recognizes the revocation of a will done outside the Philippines so long as it is done according to the law of the place where the will was made, or according to the law of the place in which the testator had his domicile at the time. This paper aims to present an extensive understanding of the revocation of succession under the Civil Code and the Family Code of the Philippines by discussing the modes available to the decedent, including its subsequent legal effects.

PRÊMIO ARQUIVO NACIONAL/2003 (1º Lugar).
Este trabalho analisa o processo de secularização das atitudes e representações católicas diante da morte, no Rio de Janeiro, nos século XVIII e XIX. Parte da constatação de que, no século XVIII, a Igreja exerceu controle sobre a morte, utilizando-se da pedagogia do medo para convencer os fiéis a seguirem seus ensinamentos, sob a ameaça de condenação eterna, após a morte. No século XIX, principalmente na segunda metade, a difusão do saber médico e dos movimentos liberal, maçônico, protestante, positivista, cientificista, anticlerical, dentre outros, juntamente com os conflitos entre Igreja e Estado, forneceram a base do questionamento ao controle eclesiástico sobre as práticas funerárias e as concepções acerca do além-túmulo, especificamente em relação aos cemitérios públicos, aos enterramentos, ao registro dos óbitos, ao ato de testar com vistas à salvação da alma, ao recurso dos sacramentos e ao temor diante da morte. Aspectos esses que são interpretados como indicadores da secularização da morte, compreendida como perda de legitimidade da instituição eclesiástica sobre a sociedade e como recuo da pedagogia do medo, e não descrença em relação à vida após a morte ou à escatologia católica.

წინამდებარე რეფერატი ეძღვნება ისეთ მნიშვნელოვან და ამავდროულად ცხოვრებისეულ საკითხს, როგორიცაა ანდერძის დამოწმების ფორმები. სანოტარო საქმიანობაში ერთ-ერთ მნიშვნელოვან და მრავალრიცხოვან სანოტარო მოქმედებას ანდერძის დამოწმება შეადგენს. ადამიანი წლების მანძილზე აგროვებს ქონებას და არ ფიქრობს, თუ როგორ მოიპოვონ ამ ქონებაზე საკუთრების უფლება მისთვის სასურველმა პირებმა, მისი გარდაცვალების შემდეგ. აღსანიშნავია, რომ ნოტარიუსის მიერ სანოტარო მოქმედების განხორციელება, კერძოდ ანდერძის დამოწმება წარმოადგენს მეტად საინტერესო შესაძლებლობას, რომლის სიღრმისეული ცოდნა და გაანალიზება წინგადადგმული ნაბიჯია, ვინაიდან ნოტარიუსი გახლავთ სწორედ ის პირი, რომელიც უზრუნველყოფს იმ ფიზიკური და იურიდიული პირების უფლებებისა და კანონიერი ინტერესების დაცვას, რომლებიც მას მიმართავენ სანოტარო მოქმედებათა შესასრულებლად.

The analysis of Dalmatian urban last wills from the Late Middle Ages shows great similarity to the results previously reached by European scholars dealing with this subject in other regions. As in other parts of the Mediterranean, and to a certain extent also in continental Europe, the process of change in the expression and sensibility of religiosity started in the second half of the thirteenth century. These changes in some aspects of religious practice were related mainly to changes within the church (primarily the appearance of the mendicant orders) and urban society (economic development and population increase in the cities). Changes in religiosity may be clearly followed through such research into last wills, which precisely in the Late Middle Ages are submitted to a process of “democratization”. Thus, all members of urban communities were given an opportunity to compose their wills. As has been proved for other European cities from the same period, Dalmatian wills also show the influence of this process of “democratization” on the development of so-called “social Christianity.” Generally, it may be stated that the analysis of urban last wills of Dalmatian testators points to great similarities in the social, economic, and religious development of late medieval Dalmatian cities in comparison to the cities in other European (particularly Mediterranean) regions.

Resumen El presente artículo tiene como objeto contribuir al conocimiento de la religiosi-dad bajomedieval castellana y dilucidar las actitudes ante la muerte del hombre medieval. Con el propósito de esclarecer la mentalidad de los miembros privile-giados de la sociedad seguntina bajomedieval, tanto de laicos como de eclesiás-ticos, hemos analizado un grupo de testamentos conservados en el Archivo de la Catedral de Sigüenza de los siglos XIII, XIV y XV. Gracias a estos documentos oficiales podemos acercarnos a las concepciones sobre la vida y la muerte que imperaban en dicho contexto. En los testamentos quedan codificados los ritos y actitudes que el hombre utilizaba para transitar de la vida terrenal al más allá y alcanzar la tan ansiada Salvación Eterna. Abstract This article contributes to the knowledge of Castilian medieval religious belief and to explain the attitudes of medieval man towards death. It aims at shedding light on the mentality of the privileged members of late medieval

This article discusses the origins and development of the benevolent interpretation of wills. Modern law tends to construe a will, as far as possible, in a way that gives effect to the testator's intention and consequently avoids intestacy. This principle derives from a historical development which traces back to a Roman concept of benignior interpretatio, established by Ulpius Marcellus in the second century AD in a case where the testator's intention was unclear and the results of possible interpretations were even contradictory. Marcellus suggested interpreting the testator's behaviour with regard to his intention, in so far as it can be ascertained, at least partially, as a hypothetical intention. On the basis of an evaluative judgment Marcellus found a solution which is, as far as possible, in the testator's interest (benignior).

RESUMO
Os homes e mulleres da Galicia medieval prestaron unha atención especial á elección de determinados espazos como lugares de inhumación. Isto resulta particularmente evidente entre os membros da aristocracia, preocupados por conservar a súa memoria individual, familiar e social. Neste sentido, o obxectivo do presente traballo é realizar unha primeira aproximación aos lugares e modos de enterramento do Miño medio a través da análise da documentación monástica das institucións da zona e dos restos materiais conservados. Ademais, publícase un catálogo das referencias funerarias atopadas en testamentos e noutros documentos dos mosteiros da área estudada, así como as ilustracións dos principais sepulcros que chegaron até nós, a pesar de que moitos son exemplo non da memoria pétrea senón da desmemoria das pedras.

PALABRAS CLAVE
Historia da Morte, Testamentos, Sepulcros, Topografía funeraria, Miño medio, Idade Media.

ABSTRACT
Men and women of medieval Galicia paid special attention to the election of certain spaces as burial places. This is particularly evident among members of the aristocracy, concerned about the preservation of their individual, family and social memory. In this regard, the main of this paper is to offer a first approach to the places and ways of burial in the Miño medio area through the analysis of monastic documents of the institutions of this region and the analysis of material remains. In addition, I publish a list of burial references found in last wills and other documents of the main monasteries in Miño medio, as well as pictures of the main tombs that have survived to our time, although many of them are examples not of the memory of stones but of the forgetfulness of stones.

KEY WORDS
History of Death, Testaments and Last wills, Tombs, Funerary Topography, Miño medio, Middle Ages.

Publicado en: Alicerces. Revista de estudios sobre o Miño Medio, 3 (2017), pp. 15-112.

A temática da Morte e do momento terminal ganhou particular importância a partir da centúria de 1300, quando se agudizaram as incertezas em relação ao destino da Alma e se dramatizou o momento final, em grande parte devido às pregações dos Mendicantes (BARROCA, 1997). É a partir desse momento nas vésperas da crise da Peste Negra, quando o lado dramático da Morte se transfere para o leito do moribundo e se dá uma nova importância ao derradeiro momento, meticulosamente encenado, que as diversas representações de fenecimento ganham uma nova relevância (ARIÈS, 1977).
Esta perspectiva de análise insere-se numa investigação em desenvolvimento que aborda o notariado público da cidade do Porto, em Portugal, durante o período compreendido entre 1242 e 1495. A cronologia adoptada coincide com a primeira referência sobre um tabelião público portuense (1242) e o final do reinado do último monarca do século XV, D. João II (1481-95). Procuraremos perceber, concretamente, se durante esse período de importantes transformações políticas, culturais e mentais, houve uma modificação dos padrões de actuação do tabelionado, e como a complexificação das estruturas administrativas da coroa poderá ter causado evoluções no notariado público.
Dos 1044 instrumentos públicos que constituem o corpus documental deste trabalho, procedemos à sua clarificação e análise tipológica mediante um critério específico, que recai sobre a distinção de fórmulas contratuais, mediante o tipo jurídico de cada documento, dividindo-os em categorias distintas. Concentramo-nos, portanto, na categoria das disposições de últimas vontades, à qual correspondem as doações mortis causa (20 docs) e os testamentos (38 docs). Na Idade Média, a importância destes dois tipos de documento é redobrada: com efeito, é particularmente difícil encontrar testemunhos que nos aproximem um pouco mais do indivíduo, das suas relações de parentesco ou de serviço, do enquadramento material e espiritual do seu quotidiano, em suma, da sua vida mais íntima (MATTOSO, 1996). Daí a excelência destes documentos, não só pelo seu conteúdo, mas também pela sua raridade, tanto maior quanto se vai recuando na cronologia. Nestas circunstâncias o estatuto social do testador também é um factor relevante, sendo sobretudo conhecidos diplomas relativos às figuras régias, eclesiásticos e membros da nobreza. No entanto, o nosso acervo documental nos dá notícia do “homem comum” medieval, entre cidadãos, mercadores, almocreves, cutileiros, marinheiros, cavaleiros e escudeiros. Especial atenção é feita também aos testamentos e doações outorgadas por mulheres.
O interesse de que se revestem estes manuscritos como representações documentais justificam que procuraremos aferir parcos exemplos levantados ao longo desta investigação, procurando valorizá-los enquanto testemunhos textuais, não só de ordenações das últimas vontades, mas também representações de momentos finais, e enquanto espelho das Mentalidades.

Essa dissertação tem como objetivo analisar as práticas fúnebres setecentistas, entre livres e
escravos, adultos e crianças, empreendidas nas freguesias de São Gonçalo de Amarante e São
Sebastião de Itaipu, no Bispado do Rio de Janeiro. No período estudado, a morte cristã era um
evento que demandava a realização de diversos rituais para a salvação da alma. A partir da
documentação paroquial de São Gonçalo e Itaipu, investiga-se a administração dos últimos
sacramentos, o uso de mortalhas e a eleição de sepulturas no setecentos. Discute-se também a
especificidade dos costumes fúnebres para as crianças, já que estas contavam apenas com o
batismo enquanto estratégia de salvação. A Igreja Católica Latina insistia nesses cuidados
para que seu rebanho pudesse alcançar o paraíso ou, ao menos, fosse para o purgatório. Neste
local, a alma poderia ter seu tempo de purgação abreviado caso os vivos lhes fizessem os
sufrágios fúnebres. Logo, os vivos podiam interferir no espaço e ainda modificar o tempo do
além-mundo. Dessa maneira, analisa-se como a noção escatológica de tempo cristã apresentase
através das solicitações de missas nos testamentos setecentistas.

Na presente tese está proposta a reflexão sobre a crença no Purgatório por meio de suas
práticas, a exemplo do recurso às indulgências e da requisição de missas pelas almas, entre os
católicos da cidade do Rio de Janeiro setecentista. Promovidas pela crença no Purgatório,
essas ações incidem luz sobre as diversas estratégias existentes para a salvação no período
colonial. Para tal objetivo, dois conjuntos documentais foram analisados: os breves
apostólicos e os testamentos. Os breves eram solicitados à Santa Sé para a aquisição de
indulgências mediante a execução de rituais católicos. Nos testamentos setecentistas
analisados, encontram-se variados pedidos de missas fúnebres com vistas à salvação da
própria alma e da de terceiros. Por meio dessa documentação principal e de outras fontes,
buscou-se observar como os católicos obstinados pela salvação pessoal recorreram às
indulgências e às missas fúnebres para abreviar ou extinguir o tempo de purgação, dado o
medo incutido pela Igreja Católica quanto à terribilidade das penas do Purgatório. Nesse
sentido, verificaram-se variadas estratégias tomadas pelos fiéis frente a um post mortem
incerto e atemorizador.

Miguel García-Fernández, "O testamento de Rodrigo de Moscoso, cabaleiro e pertegueiro maior da Terra de Santiago (†1458)", Murguía. Revista Galega de Historia, 39 (2019), pp. 13-31.

Resumen: el objetivo de este artículo es dar a conocer las últimas voluntades de Rodrigo de Moscos, miembro de uno de los más destacados linajes de la Galicia del siglo XV: la Casa de Moscoso. además de publicar su testamento, conservado en una copia del siglo XVII, se ofrece una breve aproximación a la figura de este caballero que llegó a ser pertiguero mayor de la Tierra de Santiago entre 1456 y 1458 y cuyos últimos meses de vida estuvieron marcados por su enfrentamiento con don Rodrigo de Luna, arzobispo de Compostela.

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to publish the last will and testament of Rodrigo de Moscoso, member of one of the most important lineages in Galiza during 15th Century: the House of Moscoso. In addition to transcribing his last will and testament, preserved in a copy of 17th Century, I make a brief historical approach to this knight, who became pertegueiro maior of Terra de Santiago between 1456 and 1458 and whose final months of life were marked by his confrontation with D. Rodrigo de Moscoso, archbishop of Santiago.

Resumo: O obxectivo deste artigo é dar a coñecer as últimas vontades de Rodrigo de Moscoso, membro dunha das máis destacadas liñaxes da Galiza do século XV: a Casa de Moscoso. Ademais de publicar o seu testamento, conservado nunha copia do século XVII, ofrécese unha breve aproximación á figura deste cabaleiro que chegou a ser pertegueiro maior da Terra de Santiago entre 1456 e 1458 e cuxos últimos meses de vida estiveron marcados polo seu enfrontamento con don Rodrigo de Luna, arcebispo de Compostela.

Pablo S. Otero Piñeyro Maseda y Miguel García-Fernández, “Documentos de doña Aldonza de Mendoza”, en Eduardo Pardo de Guevara y Valdés (ed.), Mujeres con poder en la Galicia medieval (siglos XIII-XV). Estudios, biografías y documentos, Santiago de Compostela, Instituto de Estudios Gallegos Padre Sarmiento; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 2017, pp. 723-838.

Si analizza la prassi della restituzione testamentaria delle usure, attraverso un campione di testamenti bolognesi dei secoli XIII e XIV, provenienti dagli archivi conventuali di S. Domenico e S. Francesco e oggi conservati presso l'Archivio di Stato di Bologna

LE TESTAMENT D’UN KTITOR JASSYOT: L’ÉCHANSON IORDACHE LOZONSCHI (1827)
En 2014, l’auteur a publié quelques informations concernant l’échanson Iordache Lozonschi, fondateur (ktitor) d’une église de la ville de Jassy, qui porte encore son nom (St.-Georges Lozonschi). Son intérêt pour ce personnage est justifié aussi par une vieille parenté qui rattachait, à la fin du XVIIIe siècle et au début du XIXe, les Lozonschi à une branche des Gorovei. Le testament inédit, aimablement signalé par M. Mihai Dim. Sturdza, permet à l’auteur de revenir au sujet du personnage avec de nouvelles informations concernant sa famille et ses parentés (y compris les Gorovei, fils d’une de ses soeurs). Quoique descendant des răzeși (successeurs des nobles d’autrefois, mais possédant à l’époque des débris des anciens domaines ancestraux), la terre ne figure pas parmi les biens dont le partage devait être réglementé par ce testament. Les légataires – son épouse, son frère, ses neveux (fils et filles des frères et des soeurs), ses fils, un fils naturel – recevront surtout des grosses sommes d’argent, et les plus proches partageront ses biens immobiliers. Autour de ce testament, l’auteur a rassemblé plusieurs informations nécessaires pour éclaircir les origines de l’échanson Lozonschi et ses parentés.

Il contributo affronta il tema del ruolo politico femminile ai vertici della società europea medievale partendo dalla pratica testamentaria. Utilizzando il “Fondo testamenti” dell’Archivio di Stato di Torino (sezione Corte) il contributo analizza le ultime volontà delle principesse sabaude, in un arco cronologico compreso tra la fine del Duecento e gli inizi del Quindicesimo secolo, quando la maggior parte delle società europee adottarono norme che limitarono fortemente il ruolo femminile nelle prassi successorie. Buoni indicatori dell’ambivalenza del ruolo femminile (di figlie, spose, madri e vedove), i testamenti medievali delle principesse sabaude si presentano come spazi di contrattazione dai quali emergono sia i caratteri di identità femminili diverse, sia alcuni passaggi cruciali dell’evoluzione politico-istituzionale di quei domìni fra XIII e XV secolo.

The will and codicil of the Basque master mason Juan de Álava, dated on 18th and 20th September, 1537, is made known in this article. Much behavior in common with contemporary urban oligarchy are detected in the analysis of this document, as he shared with them social habits and levels of wealth. But above all, the interest is focused on biographical and professional aspects. Regarding the former, we present some unknown data (illegitimate sons, legitimate daughters and wife). More important are professional matters: we find the latest architectural works in which Juan de Álava was involved, as the debts contracted with him for the direction of the works are listed. These were in Salamanca (the Cathedral, the Dominican Convent of St. Stephen, Fonseca College and The Holy Cross College), Alba de Tormes (St. Leonard Jerónimos Monastery), Zamora (Montamarta Jerónimos Monastery) and León (Convent of St. Mark).
Se dan a conocer el testamento y codicilo del maestro de cantería vasco Juan de Álava, que llevan la fecha del 18 y 20 de septiembre de 1537. A través de su análisis se detectan muchos comportamientos comunes con la oligarquía urbana coetánea, con la que compartía hábitos sociales y niveles de riqueza. Pero sobre todo nos interesan los aspectos biográficos y profesionales que se desvelan. Respecto a los primeros, descubrimos datos familiares inéditos (hijos ilegítimos, hijas y esposa legítimas). Los asuntos profesionales, no obstante, son los de mayor importancia, pues nos descubren las últimas obras en las que estuvo involucrado el maestro, de las que aún quedaban deudas pendientes por su tarea al frente de ellas: la Catedral, el convento de San Esteban, el Colegio Fonseca y el de Santa Cruz de Cañizares en Salamanca, además de los monasterios jerónimos de San Leonardo en Alba de Tormes y de Montamarta en Zamora, y el convento de San Marcos de León.

Summary

The Elbląg Last Wills.
A Study from the History of the Town and Its Inhabitants in the late Middle Ages

1. The Elbląg last wills - introductory remarks

The basis for the analyses presented in the book are the documents of last will written in Elbląg, currently stored in the collection of the State Archives in Gdańsk. It is the largest collection of original preserved medieval bourgeois last wills from Royal Prussia. It contains a total of 142 original documents, and a few preserved in copies, drawn up mostly by citizens of the Old Town of Elbląg, with only several specimens created by citizens of the New Town of Elbląg and priests connected with Elbląg. The majority of the documents was written in the second half of the 15th century. Among these: 32 come from the years 1409-1454, 25 from the years 1455-1466 and 87 from the years 1467-1515, whereas after the year 1500 only 17 documents were written. The records of last will preserved until today constitute the basis for presenting not only the community inhabiting the town but also numerous elements typical of lives of the citizens of the Monastic and Royal Prussia of the time. The specifics of Elbląg in terms of the way last wills were created and stored result from the fact that the town was governed by means of Lübeck law. This fact would foster their creation in several copies, at first only on parchment, in form of autonomous documents, from which one copy was stored in town council archives. It was due to the developed practice of them having been written by scribes and confirmed by councillors, and later of storing those private documents in the town hall that we attribute their survival until our times. From the content of the preserved documents it appears that usually a similar form was used while drafting them. The content of subsequent legacies is generally ordered into two prime parts. The first part contained clauses for pious causes (ad pias causas), donations to churches, cloisters, hospitals or to the poor, whereas the other one comprised dispositions regarding the division of property among distant relatives and acquaintances of the testator as well as due payments of his. Some of the documents contain donations for pious causes exclusively, yet there are also documents in which such dispositions do not occur. In few cases only, a different form was implemented, including a form of notary act. Proper implementation of the testator’s last will relied upon executors (guardians/legal representatives) of the last will (vormunder, testamentarien). The persons responsible for fulfilling the duty were chosen by the testator himself. The selection of executors came undoubtedly as the result of testator’s consideration and was carried out within the circle of people well known to him: family members, business partners as well as friends or neighbours. The number of executors appointed in a single testament depended on the decision of the testator himself. There were usually two or three of them, although in some documents more executors were noted. Collegiality was essential, therefore there had to be at least two of them. In general, we have information about the total of 327 last will executors appointed in 145 documents. What seems interesting is the fact that town councillors were appointed as executors quite often as well, in about a fifth of the documents, even in cases when they did not belong to the social group the testator had derived from. Councillors would also exclusively hold the function of witnesses confirming the execution of the legal deed. That obligation was imposed upon them by Lübeck law regulations. The supervision over the implementation of last wills conducted by the council was also a result of their role in overseeing the foundation after the executors’ demise. In such a way it was in actual control over issues connected with inheritance and testaments. The council would also make sure that the donations bestowed were actually to be received by church institutions, over which it often had direct supervision (churches, hospitals).

2. Inhabitants of Elbląg in the light of the last wills

The analysis of the content of the last will documents of the citizens of Elbląg allows for a reconstruction of numerous elements constituting the image of the town’s life, mainly in the second half of the 15th century. A correct assessment of data contained in the preserved testaments may not overlook the issue of their representativeness. It needs to be reminded that in practice also the non-testament inheritance occurred, sometimes the last will would even be expressed orally. Undoubtedly, the testators must have belonged to a citizen group possessing some type of wealth. Therefore, the remaining records usually refer to the affluent, with majority of data concerning the highest stratum of bourgeoisie. For that reason group of burghers represented best comprises merchants, members of the local authorities elites (councillors, mayors and their families). We still have testaments of craftsmen, although considerably less represented, taking into consideration the size of that citizen group in the town.
Not only do the testaments allow for the assessment of the testator’s property, but also show his position in the town’s community. Dispositions contained in the testaments enable us to follow the decisions made concerning the disposal of his own property. To a certain extent it uncovers to us the character of family bonds and other forms of community life, typical of corporate communities of medieval towns (relations with distant family, affiliations with brotherhoods, guilds or shares in mercantile joint ventures). The preserved testaments contain information not only about the testators themselves but also about their close ones, and indirectly even about the whole town community. A single testament contains information about circa ten people, thus in total the data comprised in them refers to much over a thousand inhabitants of the town. Therefore, from their content, indications may be drawn on the rich representatives of the town’s elite (the mayor and councillors), priests, monks, town scribes, poor relatives handed over for upbringing as well as servants and the sick and the poor staying in the town. As it was mentioned before, the group of merchants and authorities elite members: councillors, mayors and their families is represented best. Not many testaments of people belonging to the more numerous group of merchants and vendors remain, however. The other group comprises craftsmen, who possessed properties of similar sizes, sometimes even including estates (sheds, gardens). Unfortunately, the most populous group has not been more closely recognised. Given the sizes of their properties, some of them may have belonged to the group of merchants, vendors and craftsmen.
Last will dispositions also contain information on the topic of family relations. Alongside donations to their children, testators would often name among their inheritors their siblings and half-brothers or half-sisters as well as distant relatives. Permanent household members of a wealthy burgher house also comprised persons in service (servants and cooks). They would also become recipients of last will dispositions.
The last wills from Elbląg contain a series of interesting data on the topic of legal and economical situation of women in a town of that period. It allows for an observation of the woman’s family and social position not simply by means of the binding law and norms, but mainly through practice existing then. Unfortunately, we only have very few testaments prepared by women (usually widows) at our disposal.
The testaments also bring a series of valuable information on the topic of material culture of the bourgeois in Elbląg.

3. Religious life of inhabitants in the light of the last wills

An important part of the content of most of the testaments comprises clauses for pious causes (ad pias causas). They were one of the essential motifs behind creating many of the preserved documents. Although, most probably, they do not always uncover before us the personal motivations and beliefs of the donors, they do present customs and preferences dominating in a given environment. The ad pias causas clauses were provided in 101 of the 128 known testaments from the years 1450-1515, which constitutes nearly 80%. The analysis of legacies intended for that cause indicates that majority of them would benefit the parish church in the Old Town of Elbląg. Apart from donations to the parish church in general, many were intended for funding masses as well as for supporting and the maintenance of its chapels. Another institution particularly often considered by the townsfolk was the Dominican cloister. An incentive for donations on its behalf was the guarantee of remembrance function conducted by monks, including prayers for the donor’s soul and an entry into the cloister’s records, which was important from the testator’s point of view.
From the content of the preserved documents it occurs that in the second half of the 15th century, burghers supported the newly created cloister of Brigittines especially intensively. At that time, legacies for the church and the Dominican cloister decreased temporarily. What seems characteristic is the fact that when monks and nuns from St. Brigitte cloister left Elbląg at the end of the 15th century, the burghers began to direct a larger number of donations to the local Dominicans once again. In some of the last wills, especially those of wealthy merchants and the town authorities elite, legacies for churches located outside the settlement complex of Elbląg occur, usually to those in nearby villages. In testaments of merchants, a large number of donations to numerous Mendicant or monk’s cloisters in all the Royal and the Monastic Prussia was included.

Controversial recent wills law reforms, embodied in new provisions of both the Uniform Probate Code and the Restatement of Property, excuse so-called harmless errors in will execution and permit judicial correction of erroneous terms in a will or trust. Both reforms pose evidentiary dangers, as proof of the error must come from outside the attested instrument and will be offered after the testator's death. To respond to this concern, both the error and the testator's true intent must be established by " clear and convincing " evidence. This Article is the first to examine how courts have applied the clear and convincing evidence standard to these important reforms of wills law. In practice, the clear and convincing evidence standard provides less evidentiary protection than its proponents expected. More importantly, judicial struggles with the clear and convincing evidence standard expose a deep fissure in the very concept of testamentary freedom. The reforms assume—as does the Wills Act itself—a fully formed, fixed set of choices that the testator has sought to express in his will, choices made by a conventionally rational choosing testamentary self for whom wills rules further self-determined ends. This conventionally rational testator makes only innocent, inconsequential errors. Many of the testators in the actual cases, however, display only bounded rationality. Their errors are not