Selected quad for the lemma: land_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
land_n	case_n	king_n	tenant_n	2,386	5	9.7362	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A69789	The history of Poland. vol. 2 in several letters to persons of quality, giving an account of the antient and present state of that kingdom, historical, geographical, physical, political and ecclesiastical ... : with sculptures, and a new map after the best geographers : with several letters relating to physick / by Bern. Connor ... who, in his travels in that country, collected these memoirs from the best authors and his own observations ; publish'd by the care and assistance of Mr. Savage.	Connor, Bernard, 1666?-1698.; Savage, John, 1673-1747.	1698 (1698)	Wing C5889; ESTC R8630	198,540	426

Country But here the Citizens in Prussia are excepted for they may possess Lands of what Extent soever out of their Cities Also the Inhabitants of Cracow may purchase and enjoy Lands in any Part of the Kingdom Likewise the Magistrates of Vilna have a Power to possess Lands and the City of Leopol in like manner has a Privilege for its private Citizens to hold Lands A Nobleman Gentleman or one that is free-born of the Kingdom of Poland are the same thing Every Gentleman has his Coat of Arms granted him by the Republick but then either he or some of his Family must have Possessions in Lands there He can pretend to all the greatest Employments and Offices in the Kingdom and buy Lands where he pleases all over the Dominions of Poland and Lithuania He has moreover a Right to the Crown if his Credit and Interest can procure it Every Gentleman is a Sovereign Lord and Master in his own Lands for he has the Power of Life and Death over his Tenants or as the Poles term them his Subjects tho' I may better call them his Slaves for they have neither Privilege nor Law to protect them but are to be govern'd absolutely by the Will and Pleasure of their Lord. They dare not leave his Lands to go to anothers under Pain of Death unless he sells them to his Neighbour as he has the Power to do or has violated or ravish'd their Wives or Daughters insomuch that I have heard that some have wish'd to have had a fine Wife or Daughter that their Lord might thereby have given them Occasion to get rid of him If a Gentleman kills another Gentleman's Slave he is neither to be try'd nor punish'd for it and is only oblig'd to give that Gentleman another Slave in the Room of him or as much Money as will buy one And besides to maintain the Family of the Person that he has kill'd likewise if he kills one of his own Slaves he only pays a matter of fifty Livres to be quit Nay if one Gentleman kills another he cannot be apprehended nor clapt into Prison for his Crime Nisi Jure Victus unless a Court of Justice has first convicted him which commonly gives him Time enough to escape for he must first be cited to appear and upon his Neglect he is declar'd contumacious and consequently convicted But it may very well be suppos'd that he who knows himself guilty will not run the Hazard of Appearing nor venture the losing of his Head This Honour the Poles likewise bestow on the common People Hanging being not the usual Way of Execution in their Country However Hartknoch has these Exceptions from this Privilege for says he if a Nobleman be taken in the very Act of Ravishing Burning of Houses Theft Robbery or the like he may be apprehended by the Laws Likewise if he will not give sufficient Caution according to the Quality of his Offence or lastly if he be found in the Register to have been thrice convicted before Notwithstanding this Privilege of the Nobility says Hauteville I have known one Instance to the contrary for those who assassinated Gonczenski Petty General of Lithuania were seiz'd without any Formality and carry'd Prisoners to Elbing and were afterwards condemn'd to be beheaded at the general Diet at Warsaw in the Year 1664. but then this Crime of theirs was so notorious that the Nobility might well have wav'd their Privilege for these Villains took that Gentleman out of his Bed at Vilna and putting him into a Coach with a Confessor carry'd him out of the City where they scarce allow'd him Time to say his Prayers before they shot him dead with Pistols A Polish Nobleman tho' he be proscrib'd and cited and found guilty cannot be executed without the King's Knowledge and Consent as may appear by the Case of Samuel Zborowski who tho' he had been proscrib'd and condemn'd by the Great Chancellor and General of the Army Zamoiski yet would he not presume to Behead him till he had known King Stephen's Pleasure therein The Polish Gentry also have another Privilege which is that no Soldiers or Officers of the Army can be Quarter'd upon them for if any one should presume to attempt such a thing the Diet would either condemn him to Death or pronounce him infamous whereby he would be depriv'd of the Power of giving his Vote in all Assemblies and moreover be render'd incapable of enjoying any Office or Employment in the State and this is as being degraded from his Nobility whereupon I may take notice of a Passage that hapned at the Diet of Election of John III. and which did not a little contribute towards his being chosen The Palatin of Smolensko's Son went and quarter'd at the House of Wiesnowiski without his Leave as was reported by Order of the Grand General Patz which occasion'd the Marshals who are Judges in these Cases two Days before the breaking up of the Diet to deprive this Palatin of his Vote in the Election whereby Sobieski was freed from a declar'd Enemy and the Austrian Faction lost a profess'd Friend The King likewise cannot now lodg in any Nobleman's House against his Will as he could before the Year 1433. Also wherever any Foreigner dies without Heirs his Estate Escheats to the Lord of those Lands where he dy'd and not to the King And where any Polish Gentleman dies without Heirs the King cannot seize upon his Estate by Right of Escheat if he have a Relation left of the eighth Degree inclusively The Gentry also may have Houses in the King's Cities and Towns but then they must not let such Trades inhabit them as may prove obnoxious or a Nusance to the Citizens and likewise these Houses ought to be subject to the Jurisdiction of the City but which however is seldom or never observ'd The House of a Nobleman moreover is a Kind of Asylum for tho' Delinquents may be arrested there with his Consent yet cannot they be taken thence by Force Not less are a Nobleman's Privileges as to Customs and Taxes for if he will swear his Goods were not bought but arising from his Lands he may send them any where out of the Kingdom to be sold without paying Duties and where he has once so sworn his Testimonials alone for the future will suffice to exempt them Also his Subjects will have the same Privilege wherever they trade In Prussia the Nobles are not only free from Customs but likewise all the other Inhabitants by the Magna Charta of Culm But altho the Polish Nobility are thus said to be free from Taxes yet upon emergent Occasions and Exigencies the Diet usually obliges them to pay them for a certain Time The Nobility also have a Privilege of Preemption of Salt for in the Staples for that Commodity there must be at least a Months Notice before any can be sold to any body else After all these Privileges the Polish Nobility

any Presumption I had to lay down any thing which might in the least contribute or add to the Knowlege of a General Officer of your Experience MY LORD In the Infancy of the Polish Empire the Poles were rather forc'd by an Arbitrary Power than commanded by indulgent Laws to defend their Country and extend its Limits but since Christianity has been received among them Bolestaus Chrobry their first King ordain'd a certain number of Horse out of every Palatinate and District and a set company of Foot out of every City and Town to be ready at a short warning and to bring their Provisions and Ammunition along with them This is what they call their Pospolite Ruszenie or the whole Body of Militia of the Kingdom gathered together under one Head or General at a place and time appointed by the King and those of the Senate that are always to attend him as his Privy-Council To this General Expedition first all Landed Gentry as well Publick as Private a few only excepted which I shall name hereafter are obliged to come 2. All Gentry that live in Cities or Towns upon Usury or otherwise 3. All Citizens that enjoy Lands or Tenements These besides all in Prussia are those of Cracow Vilna and Leopol 4. All Tenants that have hired Lands are to go themselves or to send out others 5. The Kings Tenants 6. Ecclesiastical Scultets or Advocates 7. In cases of imminent danger all Citizens in general are ordered either to send or go themselves 8. Even those Gentry that are clapt up in Jails for hainous Crimes are to be let out to assist at the Pospolite yet when that is once over they are to return to Prison again to expiate the whole extent of their Sentence All these are to be Horse well accoutred but as an Army cannot be compleat without some Foot this Pospolite also did consist formerly of the 20th Boor out of every Village or rather Farm who was to be arm'd with a Scymitar long Gun and Pole-Ax but which is often now chang'd to a Mulct to hire Forreigners Yet there are still some Polish Foot tho' of small Esteem Every Citizen that is now worth 8000 Florens is to find a Horse and he that has only 4000 is to set out a Foot-Soldier well provided The Boors also are to fit out one among 28 Families and to furnish him with Provisions sufficient for half a Year The Poles term both these Wybrancy's that is Pick'd or Selected Men so that Wybraniecka Piechota is a Pick'd Soldier If any of all these refuse to appear upon the third Summons their Lands or Goods are immediately confiscated to the King's Use Those Gentry that are excus'd from appearing at the Pospolite are 1. Such as may depute others in their Room viz. Superannuated or Sick Persons Widows Orphans Minors and lastly the Clergy for their Temporalities When any Publick or Private Nobleman is Sick he must notisie and attest it by the Oaths of several sufficient Witnesses Also it must be observ'd that in Lithuania a Clergy man must send out both for his Spiritual and Temporal Estate as likewise in Poland where there are any Temporal Lands annex'd to his Benefice 2. Those that have Estates in several Palatinates or Districts are oblig'd but to appear for one 3. The poorer sort of Gentry are eas'd in some measure for several of them may joyn in the fitting out of one Horse which is practised especially in Masovia Also Brothers that are Joint-Tenants may Depute one to appear for all 4. The King's Court and Retinue are not obliged to Muster under the Palatins and where the King does not go into the Field in Person they are to be totally excus'd 5. About 30 of the Gentry of the Queen's Court are exempt 6. About 12 of the Archbishop of Gnesna's Court and oftentimes some Officers of the Bishop of Cracow and other Bishops Courts especially where their Attendance is otherwise requir'd by the Republick 7. All Ministers to Foreign Courts together with their Domesticks are absolutely to be dispensed with 8. All Starosta's that are left in Garrisons and their Tribunes And lastly the great Constable or Governor of Cracow Castle with his Deputy the Burgraves and two Captains of Foot are to be excus'd Several Provinces and Palatinates likewise have peculiar Privileges relating to this general Meeting for in the Palatinates of Masovia and Plockzko six Brothers altho' they have distinct Estates send but one Horse-man In Podlachia out of ten Farms they send but one Light-Horse and out of twenty but one Cuirassier The Palatinates of Kiovia and Braclaw have likewise peculiar Privileges In a general Expedition the Gentry of Podolia were to continue in Garrison at Caminiec while the Poles had that City in possession The Prussians also need not march beyond the River Vistula Ossa and Drebnicz And lastly Lithuanians are not to go beyond the bounds of their Great Dutchy As to the great number assembled at this Pospolite Basko a Polish Writer says that only in the Palatinate of Lenschet in the time of Boleslaus Chrobry 2000 Cuirassiers and 4000 Light-Horse were raised at one time Starovolscius says that Uladislaus had 100000 Horse against the Prussian Knights over and above what he had left to defend the Provinces I might observe several other prodigious Lustrations out of the aforesaid Author but for brevity sake I omit them only I may affirm with Boterus in his Description of Poland that in case of necessity the Poles can raise upwards of 100000 Horse and the Lithuanians 70000 But Starovolscius is of Opinion they can both raise above 200000 Horse without Expense Also Fredro thinks that the Poles can raise above 200000 Horse The number of Polish Foot is uncertain they being at Liberty to appear or to be excused for Money Starovolscius says that in his time they did not amount to many hundreds being discouraged by the rigour of their Starosta's and wholly confin'd to their rustick Drudgery tho' continues he they are more able to sustain the hardships of War then either the Germans or Hungarians who can scarce live in the Polish Air. He also is of Opinion that the Polish Infantry if encouraged might amount to a considerable number and be not a little serviceable The Foreign hir'd Foot have sometimes exceeded 30000 when the Cosacks serv'd the Poles but they fought also on Horseback and King Stephen in his Expedition against the Suedes in Livonia had above 16000 German and Hungarian Foot in his Pay Now I shall proceed to present your Grace with an account of the manner of raising and Mustering this vast Body of Men. When a Pospolite is once agreed by the General Diet to be summon'd the King after the Ancient manner sends out his Writs or Letters into all the Palatinates or Districts of his Kingdom which being received by the inferiour Officers they are fastned by a small Cord to a long Pole whence they are called

the Church and the Civil Magistrates are oblig'd to be Assisting to them in the Execution of their Sentences as often as they shall be so requir'd To the Ecclesiastical Courts belongs the Court of Nunciature held by the Popes Nuncio for that purpose always residing in Poland However before he can have any Jurisdiction he must have presented the King and the Principal Ministers of State with the Apostolic Brief of his Nunciature The Civil Jurisdiction is divided among divers sorts of Judges and belongs to the Commonalty as well as Gentry Some of these determine Causes exempt from Appeals and others cannot Those from whom there lies no Appeal are the three High-Tribunals instituted by Stephen Batori the Judges whereof are all Gentry Two of these Tribunals are for the Kingdom and one for the Great Dutchy Those for the Kingdom keep their Session Six Months at Petricovia in Low Poland and the other Six at Lublin in High Poland That for the Great Dutchy is alternatively one year at Vilna and another either at Novogrodec or Minski They all consist of so many Judges both Ecclesiastical and Civil chosen out of every Palatinate the former once in four years and the latter once in two Judgment is pronounced here by Plurality of Voices but where Matters are purely Ecclesiastical there ought to be as many of the Clergy as the Laity The Causes here are heard in Order for three days are allow'd to enter all that come and whatever are not enter'd within that time cannot be adjudg'd that sitting A Man that has a Trial in these Courts may be said to have all the Nation for his Judges Deputies both Ecclesiastical and Temporal being sent thither for that purpose from all Parts of the Kingdom The Senate also Judges of Civil or Criminal Matters without Appeal As do likewise the Great Marshals in all Cases relating to the King's Officers And the Great Chancellors in matters of Appeal to the Court which they have only Cognisance of But the Marshal's Jurisdiction extends over all Merchants and Strangers both who find but little Justice done them in Poland when they have occasion for it Also there are two Exchequer Courts for the Revenue one held at Radom in High Poland and the other at Vilna These Courts seldom sit above a Fortnight or Three Weeks Those that are not exempt from Appeals are the Courts of the Gentry and Commonalty in every Palatinate which are by no means to have any of the Clergy for Judges Those for the Gentry are either the Courts of Land-Judicature or those of the Starostas and are more or fewer in number according to the Extent of the Palatinate where they are held The Courts of Land-Judicature have one Judge an Associate and a Natory or Head-Clerk to Try Causes and Administer all Civil Justice in some Places four in others six times a year and in others once a Month. The Courseof these Courts can only be interrupted by the Death of any of their Judges by the Diet or by the general Meeting of the Palatines and Magistrates which last is every Autumn to hear Appeals from Inferiour Courts The Towns where the Gentry sit are in great number and it must be observ'd that none who have Lands or Goods within each Jurisdiction can be made to Appear at a Court where they have none The immediate Appeal from these Courts is to the Vice-Chamberlain of the Palatinate who either by himself or his Deputy the Chamberlain of that District restores all that have been Dispossess'd and ascertains all Bounds and Limits of Lands This is as it were his whole Jurisdiction But where there is any Contest between the King and any of the Gentry in this Kind then at their request Commissioners are appointed out of the Senate to inspect the matter disputed and to do Justice therein Likewise where the Difference is between the King and a Clergy-man Commissioners are order'd but there the Bishop of the Diocess Claims the Nomination of one or more of them When any of the Officers of the Courts of Land-Judicature die the King cannot Name others till the District to which they belong'd have chosen Four out of the House-keepers but then he may pitch upon One for each Election This Office being once obtain'd it cannot be forfeited but by a Higher Promotion or Male Administration The other Courts for the Gentry are those that take cognizance of Criminal Cases whereof there is one only in every Starostaship call'd Sudy Grodskie Where either the Starosta himself or his Lieutenant-Criminal Administers Justice in his Castle or some other publick Place at least every Six Weeks He likewise has Cognisance of Civil Causes between such as have no Lands and such Forreigners as come to Trade here Process in Criminal Cases is to be serv'd here a Fortnight and in Civil a Week before the Court sits He is also the Executive Minister of all Sentences pronounc'd and likewise a sole Conservator of the Peace within his Territories He is oblig'd by himself or his Officers to see all Publick Executions perform'd The Courts of the Commonalty are either in Cities or Villages In Cities Justice is Administred by the Scabins Town-Hall or Judg-Advocate The Scabins have cognisance of all Capital Offences and Criminal Matters the Town-Hall of all Civil Cases to which likewise the Gentry are subject and the Judg-Advocate of Offences committed by Soldiers Civil Matters of small Moment are determin'd solely by the Governour of the City but which are subject to Appeal to the Town-Hall and thence to the King In Villages the Commonalty are subject to Scabins being the Kings Officers and to Scultets or Peculiar Lords from which last lies no Appeal Here Justice is almost Arbitrary except in Criminal Cases The Scultets are Hereditary Judges The Execution of all Sentences in Cities and Towns is in the hands of its own Magistrates though in some cases they are forc'd to beg Assistance from the Starostas The Officers and Magistrates of the Plebeian Courts are some nam'd by their Peculiar Lords and some Elected by their Fellow Citizens except in Cracow only where the Palatine has a Right of Choosing the Magistrates though he has not the same Power to dis-place them after they are once chosen for they are to continue their Office for Life unless they forfeit it by Infamy or Inability Out of the XXIV composing the Council or Senate of Cracow the Palatine every year deputes Eight with the Title and Power of Presidents He also Names the Judge and Scabins by the Magdeburg Laws though these in other Cities are chosen by the Council The Scultets or Hereditary Judges cannot be remov'd but in extraordinary Cases The Profits of all Offices are but very small and scarce any certain the Poles esteeming the Honour of enjoying them sufficient Recompence Nevertheless they have all Salaries and Perquisites though inconsiderable The Military