Domen
Misico dux Vandalorum
In Germany there functions what I would call the Ostsiedlung Myth, acccording to which Germans constructed all cities in Central and Eastern Europe, and according to which the Magdeburg Law was something originally created by the "nation of German burghers" as a collective, rather than by two people (Archbishop of Magdeburg Wichman and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa).
They also think that no cities existed there before settlers from Germany came.
The reality is a lot more complex.
This is why they call that phenomenon the "Ostsiedlung", which translates as "settlement in the east" or "eastward expansion".
In Poland we have a more realistic name - "settlement on German law" ("osadnictwo na prawie niemieckim").
In reality, the phenomenon of the so called "Ostsiedlung" should be divided into several aspects:
1) Reorganizing already existing cities and towns according to legal systems modelled on those of Magdeburg, Lubeck, or some others (i.e. charters, or lokacje in Polish).
1a) The history of German urban law dates back to year 1188, when Archbishop Wichman granted a privilege for Magdeburg, and Emperor Frederick granted a privilege for Lubeck (these two privileges became known as respectively Magdeburg Law and Lubeck Law, and they were gradually adopted - usually with some modifications - by most other cities and towns within the HRE as well as in other countries, many of which modelled their legal systems on Magdeburg or Lubeck). In Poland first town which adopted the Magdeburg Law from 1188 was Złotoryja in 1211.
1a) Soon also new local variants of that urban law from 1188 were created, initially modelled on one of two original versions, Magdeburg or Lubeck. Later they themselves became models for other towns. In Poland one of such locally developed variants of urban law was for example Prawo Średzkie (Środa Law) from 1235, which was created with help of an advice / assistance given to the people of Środa by the people of Halle at the Saale River.
2) Establishing new cities & towns from scratch (lokacje na surowym korzeniu in Polish)
3) Founding villages organized according to German rural law.
4) Immigration of people from the HRE and other countries (e.g. Walloons).
4a) Initially (since ca. year 1175) those settlers from the HRE settled only in villages, shortly later immigrants started to settle in towns and cities as well (both in existing ones and in newly established ones). In case of villages they usually settled in new villages, established after land was granted to them by local dukes. Less often they settled in already existing villages.
5) Internal migrations of local people from villages or towns to new towns or villages.
6) That some city or town was granted the legal system (privilege) based on Magdeburg or Lubeck Law does not yet mean, that settlers from the HRE came to that city or town. On the other hand, that some city or town remained more traditional in forms of organization and law, also does not yet mean, that no immigrants / settlers from the HRE came to that płace.
Thus, the chartering of towns on Magdeburg Law (or legal systems modelled on the original Magdeburg Privilege from 1188) and the eastward emigration or expansion of settlers from Germany (but also from other places - for example Walloons from what is now Belgium) should be researched as two relatively separate things (even though to some extent overlapping each other), rather than as one and innately interrelated phenomenon.
They also think that no cities existed there before settlers from Germany came.
The reality is a lot more complex.
This is why they call that phenomenon the "Ostsiedlung", which translates as "settlement in the east" or "eastward expansion".
In Poland we have a more realistic name - "settlement on German law" ("osadnictwo na prawie niemieckim").
In reality, the phenomenon of the so called "Ostsiedlung" should be divided into several aspects:
1) Reorganizing already existing cities and towns according to legal systems modelled on those of Magdeburg, Lubeck, or some others (i.e. charters, or lokacje in Polish).
1a) The history of German urban law dates back to year 1188, when Archbishop Wichman granted a privilege for Magdeburg, and Emperor Frederick granted a privilege for Lubeck (these two privileges became known as respectively Magdeburg Law and Lubeck Law, and they were gradually adopted - usually with some modifications - by most other cities and towns within the HRE as well as in other countries, many of which modelled their legal systems on Magdeburg or Lubeck). In Poland first town which adopted the Magdeburg Law from 1188 was Złotoryja in 1211.
1a) Soon also new local variants of that urban law from 1188 were created, initially modelled on one of two original versions, Magdeburg or Lubeck. Later they themselves became models for other towns. In Poland one of such locally developed variants of urban law was for example Prawo Średzkie (Środa Law) from 1235, which was created with help of an advice / assistance given to the people of Środa by the people of Halle at the Saale River.
2) Establishing new cities & towns from scratch (lokacje na surowym korzeniu in Polish)
3) Founding villages organized according to German rural law.
4) Immigration of people from the HRE and other countries (e.g. Walloons).
4a) Initially (since ca. year 1175) those settlers from the HRE settled only in villages, shortly later immigrants started to settle in towns and cities as well (both in existing ones and in newly established ones). In case of villages they usually settled in new villages, established after land was granted to them by local dukes. Less often they settled in already existing villages.
5) Internal migrations of local people from villages or towns to new towns or villages.
6) That some city or town was granted the legal system (privilege) based on Magdeburg or Lubeck Law does not yet mean, that settlers from the HRE came to that city or town. On the other hand, that some city or town remained more traditional in forms of organization and law, also does not yet mean, that no immigrants / settlers from the HRE came to that płace.
Thus, the chartering of towns on Magdeburg Law (or legal systems modelled on the original Magdeburg Privilege from 1188) and the eastward emigration or expansion of settlers from Germany (but also from other places - for example Walloons from what is now Belgium) should be researched as two relatively separate things (even though to some extent overlapping each other), rather than as one and innately interrelated phenomenon.
