On March 27, in the old town square, a certain Bolesław Wiegand was beheaded with an axe for marital infidelity, and that same year, on October 18, Barbara Teichler was buried alive for strangling a newborn. It seems that the first punishment, by today’s standards, was too severe (ZB). We do not have many details about the work of the city council during this period, but it can be assumed that the city’s population was dissatisfied, because in 1511 a revolt of the urban poor and burghers broke out, as a result of which the city council was overthrown. The new city council nevertheless continued to enforce strict laws against crime, as confirmed by a note from 1515 about the construction of a dungeon and trapdoor for convicts in the town hall tower.
An interesting case was recorded in 1516, when a group of Czech merchants arrived in Bolesławiec and paid for the goods they purchased with counterfeit coins. After they were exposed, the court in Bolesławiec sentenced them to have pouches filled with counterfeit coins hung around their necks and to be burned at the stake. The sentence was carried out.
A serious problem for the city council, however, was the conflict between the mayor, the burghers and the craftsmen during the annual elections for a new council. The dispute concerned the candidates put forward by the opposing sides (does this sound familiar? – ZB).
In 1517, after the election of a new city council, the Legnica governor Henryk supported the former council. The burghers and craftsmen refused to accept this and “drove out the City Council.” For the rebellion and disobedience, the duke imposed a fine of 2,000 Hungarian florins on the burghers, payable in two instalments. The council was imprisoned, and troops were stationed throughout the city.
Despite the problems, city councils continued to focus on matters important to the city, as confirmed by the construction of a sewage and water-supply system in 1531, the opening of a post office in the market square in 1536, and the establishment of the Guildsmen’s Association in Bolesławiec in 1544. In 1554, the city opened a hospital and a poorhouse in the Dominican monastery buildings, and in 1555 the city council could afford to raise the city gates.
Concern for the health of the inhabitants led to the opening in Bolesławiec in 1558 of the first pharmacy in Silesia. In return, its owner provided free medicines for the mayor and councillors. Interestingly, on the days of city council meetings, each councillor received half a small cup of bitter drops, which were used to aid digestion and the passing of gas.
The city council sometimes faced problems that were difficult and costly to resolve. One such case was the visit in 1536 of Emperor Ferdinand’s son Maximilian with his entire retinue, which cost the city approximately 500 marks—a considerable sum of money.
In 1565, the council resolved another important problem for the city: it built a water-supply system operating by gravity. Water was delivered to 9 of the 148 buildings through wooden gutters, which were later replaced first with stone ones and then with ceramic ones.
We continue to observe the city council’s efforts to regulate many aspects of life in the city, as confirmed by an interesting document from 1570. In it, the city council allowed foodstuffs to be sold only in the market square, rather than—as before—also in front of the city gates. It imposed a strict ban on pigs roaming the city, a ban on pouring waste into the streets from dawn until dusk, a ban on baking in bakeries after 8 p.m. and in bathhouses after midnight, a ban on seating wedding guests at more than two tables, and limited weddings to two days. It also banned gifts in the form of money and alcohol, set daily wages for hired workers at 21 groschen without food and 1 groschen with food, and banned working in the countryside when spending the winter in the city (how many current proposals are there here? – ZB).
To be continued.