Knížecí spravedlnost. Soudnictví ve Valdštejnově Frýdlantském vévodství

Abstract

The Principality (later the Duchy) of Frýdlant existed only briefly, not much more than 10 years. Nevertheless, during this time, a number of remarkable legal monuments were created on its soil, including a draft of its own land constitution, which included a peculiar regulation of court proceedings. It is the knowledge of the Frýdlant judiciary from various perspectives that is the subject of this study, which aims to provide an overview of its personnel, normative and factual aspects. It begins with a brief analysis of the degree of independence of the judiciary and Wallenstein’s “happy land” in general, followed by three further sections in the sense described above. In the first, the judicial tribunal, also called the government (Regierung) and combining in its hands – with the omission of the landlord himself, of course – the highest judicial and executive powers, is introduced in some detail. The content of those articles of the above-mentioned land constitution which concerned jurisdiction and procedural law is reproduced. Finally, attention is also paid to the real form of the judiciary, taking into account the materials preserved in the separate Valdštejniana fund in the National Archives. However, these are rather only some basic theses, because the scope of these materials clearly requires further, extensive research (which can be stated mutatis mutandis also about the whole history of the Duchy of Frýdlant).