Seznamy vratislavských městských radních a přísedících městského a dvorského soudu jako prameny pro poznání strategií vádnoucích elit města

The Among the documents preserved in the local archive (Archiwum Państwowe we Wrocławiu) within the collection of deeds issued by municipal and local government, list of assessors of The Feudal Court (Hof oder Mannengericht) from 1380 till 1611 can be found. The interconnection of this institution bound to the „Hauptmann“ of Wrocław office with interests, aspirations and activities of representatives of “governing elites” of Wrocław townsmen is obvious even from a cursory glance at the constitution of the boards. Selected townsmen were members of the tribunal every year throughout its existence. The possibility to compare the lists of townsmen participating in the above mentioned Board on the Court level and lists of councillors and assessors of Wrocław preserved for years 1287–1744 enables the study of involvement of the most influential townsmen families in both the institutions, both fields of administration. Thus the comparison of representation of individual families in the bodies governing municipal government and in the feudal institution may uncover the methods Wrocław elite used to maintain their influential position within the urban community. The following lines should contribute to such considerations. Based on the analysis and comparison of both the lists we will attempt to evaluate the benefits of such sources for monitoring the mechanisms of the creation and preservation of governing elites and their strategies. The thorough analysis of the list of assessors of The Feudal Court will be complemented with the comparison of representation of selected Wrocław townsmen families, which, based on the previous research, could be considered part of the governing elites or council patriciate, in the bodies of municipal government according to the preserved as well as edited lists of councillors and assessors. The time interval of the research is determined by the extent of the first mentioned source, i.e. list called „Hof oder Mannengericht“ including years 1380–1611. The comparison of changing or repeating names of the representatives of individual families in both the mentioned lists will become the basis for considerations concerning mechanisms used for genesis and strengthening the elites and not only on municipal institutional level.