1517 The Treaty of St. Wenceslaus (Nobility and Cities)
The fight over the acceptance of the Land Ordinance of Vladislav/Wladislav started in 1500; in the summer of that year the text of the law was printed. The Treaty of St. Wenceslaus, which followed seventeen years later, was an attempt to organize the relations between the noblemen and the cities, as (the cities) continued to voice their demand to be represented in the diets and included into the country’s administration during the king’s absence. The Treaty of St. Wenceslaus stipulated that the estates defined certain rules that were necessary for the functioning of the society in the frame of the political rights of the different estates.
The cities wanted their economic rights and successes confirmed. It was the confirmation of the freedom of the market. But the nobility was awarded the right to brew beer. Additional articles of this treaty deal primarily with the organization of the law courts and processional rights. For a short time the treaty staved off unrest in Bohemia, i.e. between nobility and less powerful cities.
Antonín Kalous
