The Privilege to Dubno weavers’ guild (1679) in the Archive of the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Abstract

The article introduces into scientific circulation a previously unpublished charter of Prince Dymitr Jerzy Wiśniowiecki dated November 17, 1679, granted to the weavers of Dubno (Volyn, Polish Kingdom). Thus, the act dates back to the time of Wiśniowiecki’s actual ownership of the Ostrog entail. The document belongs to the collection of N. P. Likhachev and is stored in the Archive of St. Petersburg Institute of History, Russian Academy of Sciences (Western European Section). The number of charters of this kind from the 17th century to the craftsmen of the Right Bank Dnieper region is small, and the discovery of each example seems important for the local history and the diplomatic studies in Polish privilege. Dubno was an important trade and craft center of Lutsk powiat, famous among other things for its textiles. Until today, it was known about the existence of a weavers’ guild in the city of Dubno, which received Magdeburg law at the beginning of the 16th century, but the date when the guild began its activities was not known. Moreover, the document contains a number of articles defining the legal basis of the guild organization in terms of relations with municipal authorities and the Church. This allows us to talk about what is special and different in the conditions of activity of the weaving guild in Dubno and in other cities of South-Western Rus’.