Normativní prameny pro úřad zemského hejtmana v Opolsko-ratibořském knížectví v raném novověku

The article deals with normative sources pertaining to the activities of a provincial governor, the most important territorial officer in the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz in the early modern age. As a matter of fact, the provincial governor was basically a royal vice-regent whose existence was embedded in the law, namely in The Great Privilege by Jan II the Good, the last Piast duke of the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz, published already in 1531. This document treated basic legal and administrative issues in the duchy and also provided basic competencies and powers of the provincial governor. It was followed by the Land Ordinance for the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz, confirmed by Ferdinand I in 1562. This legal codex – which served as the basis for the administration of the duchy until the end of the Habsburg rule in Silesia, or more precisely in Opole and Racibórz – extended The Great Privilege by adding further provisions pertaining to all areas of administration; in the case of the governor, it adjusted some of his competences and also stated the form of his oath. During the 17th century, the provincial governor’s activities were regulated in more detail by adding several instructions for individual representatives of this office. These instructions did not deal with the basic framework for the operation of the office; they pertained to specific and often topical issues and delineated in more detail relations between the provincial governor and other offices and officials in the actual duchy, as well as in entire Silesia.