Od darowizny i sprzedaży po zastaw i sprzedaż z prawem odkupu. Tytuły prawne dzierżenia wójtostw w królewskich miastach w Małopolsce (połowa XIV–połowa XVI w.)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to trace the evolution of the legal titles under which aldermanships were possessed in royal towns in the period from the mid-14th to the mid-16th centuries. As the analysis of royal documents shows, interest in increasing control over the turnover of aldermanships can be noted as early as the reign of the first two Jagiellonian kings. This is confirmed by the increased frequency of the clause of obligatory royal consent in alienation. However, control of turnover was only the first step in a deeper evolution to move away from divided ownership to pledge and sale with a right of repurchase. These latter legal titles provided the monarch with greater freedom in the trading of aldermanships, thereby enabling him to use aldermanic property to reward merit and for broader personal political purposes.