Kulm law

Kulm law, Culm law (German: Kulmer Recht; Latin: Jus Culmense vetus; Polish: Prawo chełmińskie) was a German legal constitution for a municipal form of government used in several Central European cities during the Middle Ages. The Handfeste was the copy handed out to the cities.

It was initiated on 28 December 1233 in the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights by Hochmeister Hermann von Salza and Hermann Balk when the towns of Thorn (Toruń) and Kulm (Chełmno) received German town law, in particular a modification of Magdeburg rights. Named after the town it was signed in, the original Kulmer Handfeste document was lost in 1244 when the townhall burned due to an attack by Swantopolk II, Duke of Pomerania. The renewed Erneuerte Kulmer Handfeste of 1 October 1251 was based on a copy in Thorn, but the rights were reduced.

This type of law was mostly granted by the Teutonic Order to cities within their monastic state, but also adopted by cities elsewhere, mainly in the neighboring independent Duchy of Masovia. In addition, the Kulm law was expanded, independently from the Knights, to a larger set of laws called Alter Kulm.

Cities located under Kulm law include:

In the Monastic state of Prussia	In independent Duchy of Masovia
Kulm (Chełmno) - 1233 Thorn (Toruń) - 1233 Marienwerder (Kwidzyn) - 1233 Memel (Klaipėda) - 1258 Königsberg (Kaliningrad) - 1286 Graudenz (Grudziądz) - 1291 Deutsch Eylau (Iława) - 1305 Soldau (Działdowo) - 1344 Bütow (Bytów) - 1346 Allenstein (Olsztyn) - 1348 Baldenburg (Biały Bór) - 1395	Płock - 1237 Warsaw - 1334 Różan - 1378 Ciechanów - 1400

See also

• German town law
• Lübeck law
• Magdeburg law
• History of Prussia
• Håndfæstning, Handfeste

Literature

• Jus Culmense ex ultima revisione, oder das vollständige culmische Recht, mit Anmerkungen, Danzig 1767 [1] [2]
• Danuta Janicka: Nauka o winie i karze w dziejach klasycznej szkoły prawa karnego w Niemczech w 1 połowie XIX wieku, Toruń: Wydaw. Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika, 1998, ISBN 83-231-0985-0
• Danuta Maria Janicka: Prawo karne w trzech rewizjach prawa chełmińskiego z XVI wieku, Toruń: TNT, 1992, ISBN 83-85196-50-1
• Peter Johanek: Artikel 'Alter Kulm' in Kurt Ruh u.a. (Hg.): Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters. Verfasserlexikon Bd. 2, Berlin u.a. 2. Auflage 1978, Sp. 267-269
• Alexander Rogatschewski: Zur Geschichte des 'Alten Kulms' und anderer preußischer Rechtsbücher nach St. Petersburger Quellen, in: R.G. Päsler/D. Schmidtke (Hg.): Deutschsprachige Literatur des Mittelalters im Östlichen Europa. Forschungsstand und Forschungsperspektiven, Heildelberg 2006, S. 199-244
• Ralf G. Päsler: Deutschsprachige Sachliteratur im Preußenland bis 1500. Untersuchungen zu ihrer Überlieferung, Köln u.a. 2003, S. 197, 222-224 und 243-252