Life after death. The execution of testaments in the legal culture and social reality of the small towns of Lesser Poland. Exemplified with Dolsk, Krzywiń and Książ (2nd half of the 16th c.–1st half of the 17th c.)

Abstract

The topic of the article is the execution of testaments in three small towns of Lesser Poland, Dolsk, Krzywiń and i Książ, in the second half of the 16th c. and the first half of the 17th c. On the basis of surviving testaments and selected records from municipal books, the author dis-cusses various actions undertaken in conformity with the codified and common law to execute ast wills. Most of the data were drawn from the sources from Dolsk, which had been most thoroughly explored by the author.The first part of the article characterizes the persons named as executors by the testators. Those were usually people holding posts in the municipal government. There were often two executors, sometimes also named as the guardians of the testator’s widow and under-age children. In most cases, municipal books registered the documents that confirmed the execution of particular testamentary dispositions, e.g. transferring money to a Church institution, or movable or immovable property to particular persons; settling a debt or collecting a sum due. The time between making a testament and recording such a confirmation varied from one day to 21 years; but in most cases dispositions were carried out according to the custom, within one year.Even though one of the major objectives of testators was to prevent domestic strife, the execution of testaments sometimes involved conflicts, when some people were disappointed by the last will or when the testator had hidden their debts. The article presents several cases of conflicts over reasons which, as can be surmised, were most common at that time. Sometimes the municipal authorities, the town’s owner or his representative annulled the bequests that had lest to such conflicts; such cases usually concerned immovable property.The sources analysed suggest that the testator’s “life after death”, featuring in the title of the present article, could take an unexpected turn, not necessarily intended when the last will was drawn up. The examples are meant to illustrate the multitude of data available in records on testament execution and to highlight the possibility of more detailed research on selected issues, e.g. on the disposing of inherited property.