The Piotrków Statutes () were a set of laws enacted in the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

in 1496. King

John I Albert John I Albert ( pl, Jan I Olbracht; 27 December 1459 – 17 June 1501) was King of Poland from 1492 until his death in 1501 and Duke of Głogów (Glogau) from 1491 to 1498. He was the fourth Polish sovereign from the Jagiellonian dynasty, the s ...

made a number of concessions to the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

, whose support he required in war. Among other things, the nobles were relieved of certain taxes and were granted exclusive rights to high Church offices. Additionally city burghers were forbidden from holding royal and national offices while the peasants were restricted in their mobility; according to the statutes, only one peasant was allowed to leave his home village per year and only one member of a peasant family was allowed to move to the towns. The statute also removed all tariffs on internal trade along waterways.

See also