The Statutes of Casimir the Great or Piotrków-Wiślica Statutes () are a collection of laws issued by

Casimir III the Great Casimir III the Great (; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, retaining the title throughout the Galicia–Volhynia Wars. He was the last Polish king fr ...

, the

king of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

, in the years 1346-1362 during congresses in Piotrków and Wiślica. It was the first and the only significant codification of laws during the times of the

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule in Pol ...

Background

In the middle of the 12th century, following the ill-thought testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty, his sons begun the process of

fragmentation of Poland The period of rule by the Piast dynasty between the 10th and 14th centuries is the first major stage of the history of Poland, history of the Polish state. The dynasty was founded by a series of dukes listed by the chronicler Gall Anonymous in t ...

.pg 369 - It would take Polish rulers over two centuries to unite most of the lands that Bolesław controlled under one ruler. This was achieved in the 14th century by Władysław I Łokietek. Władysław's son,

, earned his singular reputation not through military exploits but through his acumen as a builder, administrator and diplomat. One of his project included an attempt to unify and codify law in the lands he controlled, in the attempt to build stronger ties between different provinces, and to tie them more tightly to the central government. In the end, due to opposition from various factions, which saw the codification and unification of the legal system in the Kingdom of Poland as weakening their position, Casimir was not able to fully accomplish his task. He was nonetheless able to do so in two major provinces of Poland. The Piotrków statute regulated the law in

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...

(Wielkopolska), and the Wiślica statute in

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

(Małopolska). The date specific statutes were passed is not certain; it is accepted that most work was done in the years 1346-1362, that it took multiple congresses (wiec), and that both statutes were finished by 1362.Stanisław Kutrzeba,
Franciszek Piekosiński jako historyk prawa polskiego
', in: Kwartalnik historyczny, Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne, Lwów, Instytut Historii (Polska Akademia Nauk), 1908 Further, historians now agree that the Statutes were partially written after the death of Casimir, and later the entire work was incorrectly attributed to him. Wacław Uruszczak

/ref>

Statutes

About 2/3 of the Statutes concerned the

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

; the rest, private (civil) law. Characteristically, most provisions are written with a didactic justification for them. The Statutes were written in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. In the early 15th century they were translated into Polish and later, into Ruthenian. In the late 15th century they were printed. Since May 2024, the early 16th century Polish translation of the Statutes is exhibited at a permanent exhibition in the Palace of the Commonwealth in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. The text of this copy was written on parchment and

illuminated Illuminated may refer to: * Illuminated (song), "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts * Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house * ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album) * Illuminated manuscript See also

with decorative

initial In a written or published work, an initial is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter (books), chapter, or a paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text. The word is ultimately derived from the Latin ''initiālis'', which means '' ...

s and floral motifs in the margins.

Importance

The statutes for the first time in Poland codified the existing legal customs. They would form the basis of the

Polish law The Polish law or legal system in Poland has been developing since the first centuries of Polish history, over 1,000 years ago. The public and private laws of Poland are codified. The supreme law in Poland is the Constitution of Poland. Po ...

in centuries to come, and would be expanded by codification of other customs, precedents and passing of other legal acts. They also succeeded in uniting the country.

Notes

Bibliography

External links

*Ḟedor Ḟedorovīch Zigel, ''Lectures on Slavonic law: being the Ilchester lectures for the year 1900'', p. 115-118
Google Print (public domain book)

, Encyklopedia Internautica {{wikisource, pl:Statuty Kazimierza Wielkiego 1360s in law Medieval legal codes Legal history of Poland Casimir III the Great 14th century in Poland 1340s in law 1350s in law