This article presents Jewish mutual aid associations in the Kingdom of Poland in the nineteenth
century. Among the discussed matters are: the legal foundations for organising associations of
this type, the chronology of their establishment, the socio-professional character of the founders
and members, the attitudes of the authorities towards the creation and operation of these associations.
The article is based on original, previously rarely used archives. There were 67 associations
established in the discussed time period, including 32 in the Piotrków district (gubernia)
and 17 in the Warsaw district.
The National Lottery was established in the Free City of Kraków (1815–1846) by the Representative
Assembly in 1821. It was the source of revenue for the treasury and was leased to a private
entrepreneur, Florian Straszewski, known for having contributed to the creation of the Planty Park
in Kraków. The lottery was divided class and numerical lotteries, each of which was organised
according to different regulations, but with the same lottery administrator (Directorate of the
Lottery). It was supervised by the city Senate. The latter issued several laws which regulated the
organisation and functioning of the Directory of the Lottery, the sale points, and State Commissioners
who were involved in the lottery drawings. The article also discusses the conditions of
a typical contract signed with F. Straszewski and the “Plan loterii klasowej” (Plan of the Class
Lottery) of 1840. The National Lottery functioned between 1822–1844.
The article presents changes introduced in the Russian military and civic jurisdiction with respect
to duels of honour from the eighteenth century through the beginning of the twentieth century. All
legal regulations passed during this period are discussed, concentrating on the system of punishments,
types of courts, defi nitions of duels as a crime, as well as the everyday procedures of courts
in these matters. The question of the socio-cultural specifi city of duels in the Tsarist army, ways
of their organisation, and the goals of participants are discussed as well.
This article discusses two successive confederations established by the clients and employees of
Janusz Ostrogski. They functioned just after the death of their patron, mainly within the Ostrogski
Fee Tail. The fi rst, founded in 1620, was concerned with the property claims of Ostrogski’s
most trusted servants and clients during the settlement of his estate. The second exemplifi ed
the political demands of the landed nobility whose domains fell within the Ostrogski Fee Tail.
Both of these played an important role in shaping the legal and organisational framework
for estates.