Request Made to Archduke Charles II for the Transfer of the Fief Holding after the Sale of the Part of the Fief-Based Tithe in Draga on the Sora Plain

440 years ago, in early June 1585, a charter was issued in Škofja Loka, sealed and signed by seven members of nobility: Baltazar, Ludvik, Pankrac and Krištof Gall, Amalija Semenič, Melhior Semenič of Semič, and Kirchfelda Pečaher. The signatories first informed their most gracious territorial prince and feudal lord (Lehensherr), Archduke Charles II, that they had sold a fifth of the tithe from six hides of land (Huben) and a field in Draga, all of which lay within the seigniory of Goričane and were also submitted to the jurisdiction of the Goričane territorial court (Landesgericht). The buyers of the said share of the tithe were Sebastjan Lukančič, a townsman and the town councillor in Škofja Loka, and his wife Neža. The sellers had sold them the whole fifth of the tithe from four of the six hides and from the field, and two thirds of the fifth of the tithe from the other two hides, which at the time of the sale were occupied by Jurij Padwistey and Jakob Polenc; the remaining third was collected by the parish priest in Sora. The charter names Boštjan Žerovec, Primož Mader, Gašper Padwistey, and Krištof Gaber as owners of the four hides (farms), and Jurij Gaber as the person cultivating the field. The signatories of the charter requested Archduke Charles to grant the holding of the fifth of the tithe to Sebastijan Lukančič, who, as the fief holder (Lehensträger), was also to receive it on behalf of his wife Neža. The request of the issuers thus refers to the transfer of their fief holders’ rights over tithe shares, which they renounce in favour of the buyer. Such types of charters are known as Auffsandbriefe. In the charter presented here as this month's archivalia the phrase used is dise Auffsanndt.

In order to answer the question of how the sellers came to possess the fifth of the fief tithe in Draga on the Sora Plain (Sorško polje), we should first examine their family ties more closely. These are largely revealed in the opening text of the charter, where Baltazar, Ludvik, Pankrac, and Krištof Gall are named as brothers, while Amalija, wife of Mihael Semenič, and Neža, the late wife of Melhior Semenič, are identified as their sisters. They were all members of the branch of the noble family of Gall that had its seat at the Gallenstein castle in Lower Carniola, also called Šentjurjeva gora castle/St. Iörgenberg castle (die Galln zu Sanct Georgenperg). Another member of this noble family was Kirchfelda Pečaher, who, upon her marriage to Jakob Pečaher on December 6, 1581, was referred to in the marriage register of the Ljubljana protestant community as the jungfrau Kirchfelda Gallin von Gallenstein zu S. Georgenberg. Their wedding ceremony was also held at the Šentjurjeva gora castle. As for Mihael (II) Semenič, Amalija's husband, it is worth noting that his family came from the Metlika region and in the 16th century began establishing connections with some of the older and more prominent Carniolan families. Melhior Semenič, husband of the late Neža, née Gall, was a younger relative of Mihael.  

And how exactly did one fifth of the tithe in Draga ended up in the hands of the sellers? The primary reason was their inheritance from Baltazar Siegesdorfer, the steward of the Škofja Loka seigniory and the overseer of the Škofja Loka seigniorial granaries. He had five daughters, one of whom was Katarina, who was married to Adam Gall. One-fifth of Baltazar's inheritance went to each of his sons-in-law, also to Adam Gall, who was the father of the aforementioned brothers and sisters. Katarina was their mother, Baltazar Siegesdorfer their grandfather, Katarina being also the mother-in-law to Mihael and Melhior.

This interesting historical document is kept in the fonds of the Carniolan Provincial Commission for Fief-Related Matters. Consisting of 28 archival boxes and one manuscript, this archival fonds includes documents created between the second half of the 13^th and the start of the 19^th century. The majority of the records are transcripts of various charters, among which the so-called feudal charters (Lehenbriefe) are particularly important for understanding fief-based relationships. They are most often transcriptions of feudal letters issued by Carniolan territorial princes of the Habsburg line, starting with Ernest the Iron (1406-1424) up to Leopold I (1657-1705). Another type of records that can tell us a lot about the nature of fief-based relationships are petitions from fief holders requesting a postponement of the personal act of receiving possession of their fief (Lehensurlaub Ansuchen). These are predominantly transcripts of petitions addressed to the then-current territorial prince in his role as feudal lord. The document (charter) by means of which prince granted fief holders a one-year postponement of such personal reception of fiefs, i. e. allowed a one-year extension of their status as fief holders is called Urlaubbrief. The petitions and authorizations related to such postponements or extensions raise the broader question of how fiefs were received and granted over centuries. For the early modern period, the answer is to be found in princely regulations and, above all, princely instructions.

Drawing from the records of the Carniolan Provincial Commission for Fief-Related Matters, particularly those that haven’t been preserved elsewhere, it will be possible in the future to add to or correct many of the information included in various noble and non-noble genealogies and in the lists of the estate holders in Carniola. The commission ceased its work at the start of 1780, partly also due to the conversion of fiefs into allodial (freehold) property, initiated by the then Empress Maria Theresa. All the fiefs in her lands became allodial (freehold), except for the ones inherited through the male line. To learn more about what was going on in relation to these fiefs after Maria Theresa’s reign, we should examine the records preserved in the fonds of the Gubernium in Ljubljana (SI AS 14) as well as of the Provincial Government in Ljubljana (SI AS 33).

Lilijana Žnidaršič Golec