Printed legal works based on the Magdeburg Law began to appear in Polish towns in the 16th century. The article analyzes them in terms of the presence of references to the symbol of the sword which was significant in this law. The use of the word “sword/gladius” in the works of Cervus-Tucholczyk, Jaskier, Cerasinus, Groicki and Szczerbic was typologized according to the intensity of their symbolic sense ("literal meaning," «language and customs,» «a symbol of abstract concepts»). Cases belonging to particular categories were analyzed. Their presence in individual texts was also examined, which led to the conclusion that the intensity (qualitative and quantitative) of these references depends on the degree of closeness of a given text to Sachsenspiegel and Weichbild as well as on the presence of a gloss in a given text. It leads to a conclusion that there was a negligible reception in Polish towns to the ideas contained within the contents of the German law. There are three proposals to explain this phenomenon. The first one refers to a lack of distinction between towns with and without ius gladii in Poland. The second proposal concerns the differences between the political structures in Poland and in German-speaking territories. The last one is connected with the deeply-rooted symbol of the sword in German lands, which was expressed and reinforced by the existence of Roland statues. The symbolism of the sword in Poland was devoid of support in the urban space and in political perceptions. A thesis was also put forwarded which stated that the Magdeburg Law was not used to define the position of Polish towns in a wider structure nor to provide an ideological basis for their functioning as political communities.
Source: Bryl G. (2021). The symbolism of the sword in the 16th century Polish municipal law compendiums. Czasopismo Prawno-Historyczne. 73(1): 399–414
Source web-site: https://pressto.amu.edu.pl/index.php/cph/article/view/28748/25789
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