Consent to a Jewish marriage in legislation of the Free City of Cracow (1815-1846)

The aim of this paper is to present an analysis of the legislation of the Free City of Cracow (1815-1846) concerning an institution of a consent to a Jewish marriage. From the analysis it occurs that the so-called emancipation of Jews, introduced in Cracow with the enlightened reform of Austrian rulers after the third partition of Poland in 1795, was continued under the autonomous government of the Free City. The process was significantly supported in 1810 by the introduction of the Napoleonic Code in Cracow, then a part of the Duchy of Warsaw. The implementation of civil marriage and civil registry required by the Code was also conducted against the Jews, which was underlined in the Statute of organizing Orthodox Jews of 1817. Due to the resistance of the most of the Jewish community, the act of 1821 made performing an exclusively religious marriage a crime, and legitimization of illegitimate children born of such a marriage inadmissible. However, these and other strict measures introduced by the subsequent acts of 1838 and 1844 did not fulfil their aim up to the end of the existence of the Free City in 1846.