The town hall and its role in shaping the archives and chancellery of the town of Lwów in late medieval times

Abstract

The town hall and its role in shaping the archives and chancellery of the town of Lwów in late medieval times

(Summary)

There is no information on the initial period of operation of the municipal chancellery in Lviv. The town writers and documents issued by the council and the municipal tribunal were first mentioned in the second half of the 14^th century. One of the chancellery’s basic tasks was to produce and maintain documents of various provenance. The first, unfortunately lost, archive was established in the second half of the 14th century. There are various hypotheses as to its location, including the former town hall, which was erected around the mid-14th century. The archives were burnt down in 1381 together with the town hall, as is mentioned in the old chronicles of Lviv and later in the town books of Lviv. From the early 15th century, with the development of various forms of chancellery, the town hall became the place where activities of the chancellery and of particular offices of the municipality were conducted; the place where current documentation was maintained, the place where official activities took place and parties for the chancellery staff were held. Until the end of the 15th century the municipal archives were housed in the town hall, then in the house of the writer, in a building on Szewska Street. The most important documents and deeds were stored in the treasury at the town hall.