Kulm law, Culm law or Chełmno Law (german: Kulmer Recht; lat, Jus Culmense vetus; pl, Prawo chełmińskie) was a legal

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

for a

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

form of government used in several Central European cities during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. It was initiated on 28 December 1233 in the

Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights The State of the Teutonic Order (german: Staat des Deutschen Ordens, ; la, Civitas Ordinis Theutonici; lt, Vokiečių ordino valstybė; pl, Państwo zakonu krzyżackiego), also called () or (), was a medieval Crusader state, located in Cen ...

Hochmeister The Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (german: Hochmeister des Deutschen Ordens; la, Magister generalis Ordo Teutonicus) is the supreme head of the Teutonic Order. It is equivalent to the grand master of other military orders and the supe ...

Hermann von Salza Hermann von Salza (or Herman of Salza; c. 1165 – 20 March 1239) was the fourth Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1210 to 1239. A skilled diplomat with ties to the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope, Hermann oversaw the expansio ...

and

Hermann Balk Hermann Balk (died March 5, 1239, Würzburg), also known as Hermann von Balk or Hermann Balke, was a Knight-Brother of the Teutonic Order and its first '' Landmeister'', or Provincial Master, in both Prussia and Livonia. From 1219 to 1227, he serv ...

when the towns of

Thorn Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Com ...

(Toruń) and

Chełmno Chełmno (; older en, Culm; formerly ) is a town in northern Poland near the Vistula river with 18,915 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the seat of the Chełmno County in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Due to its regional impor ...

(Kulm) received German town law, in particular as a modification of

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within ...

. Named after the town it was signed in, the original document (''Kulmer Handfeste'') was lost in 1244 when the town hall burned due to an attack by

Swantopolk II, Duke of Pomerania Swietopelk II, also Zwantepolc II or Swantopolk II, (1190/1200 – 11 January 1266), sometimes known as the Great ( pl, Świętopełk II Wielki; Kashubian language, Kashubian: ''Swiãtopôłk II Wiôldżi''), was the ruling List of Pomeranian d ...

. The renewed charter of 1 October 1251 was based on a copy in Thorn, but the rights were reduced. This type of law was mostly granted by the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

to cities within their monastic state, but also adopted by cities elsewhere, mainly in the neighboring independent

Duchy of Masovia Duchy of Masovia was a district principality and a fiefdom of the Kingdom of Poland, existing during the Middle Ages. The state was centered in Mazovia in the northeastern Kingdom of Poland, and during its existence, its capital was located i ...

. In addition, the Kulm law was expanded, independently from the Knights, to a larger set of laws called '' Alter Kulm''. Cities located under Kulm law include:

Literature

* ''Jus Culmense ex ultima revisione, oder das vollständige culmische Recht, mit Anmerkungen''. Danzig: Johann Friedrich Battels, 1767

* Janicka, Danuta. ''Prawo karne w trzech rewizjach prawa chełmińskiego z XVI wieku''. Toruń: TNT, 1992. * Janicka, Danuta. ''Nauka o winie i karze w dziejach klasycznej szkoły prawa karnego w Niemczech w 1 połowie XIX wieku''. Toruń: Wydaw. Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika, 1998. * Johanek, Peter. "Alter Kulm." In ''Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters. Verfasserlexikon'', vol. 1, edited by Kurt Ruh, 267–269. Berlin: Auflage, 1978. * Rogatschewski, Alexander. "Zur Geschichte des 'Alten Kulms' und anderer preußischer Rechtsbücher nach St. Petersburger Quellen." In ''Deutschsprachige Literatur des Mittelalters im Östlichen Europa: Forschungsstand und Forschungsperspektiven'', edited by R. G. Päsler and D. Schmidtke, 199–244. Heildelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2006. * Päsler, Ralf G. ''Deutschsprachige Sachliteratur im Preußenland bis 1500: Untersuchungen zu ihrer Überlieferung'', 197, 222–224, 243–252. Köln: Bohlau, 2003. * Urban, William. ''The Prussian Crusade'', 123–128. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1980. Kulm law, Legal history of the Holy Roman Empire Urban planning in Germany {{Poland-hist-stub

See also

Literature