Jurisdicion of craft guilds in medieval Cracow presented in guild books

The article raises the issue of craft guilds judiciary in the medieval Cracow. Earlier historians studying the articles of guild law, claimed that guilds judged mainly the cases of infringements of guild law, as well as minor civil and criminal cases of corporation members. This study is based on judicial notes from two late medieval guild books - the book of Kleparz clothiers and the book of Cracow goldsmiths. The analysis of source material, however, has revised previous statements. The presence of major criminal causes in guild records revealed that the scope of craft corporations’ jurisdiction was more extensive than it had been thought. The comparison between preserved guild statutes and guild law related causes showed coincidence of judicial practice with the wording of articles. Furthermore, the content of those records showed similarities between judicial proceedings of guilds and municipal court. Those statements prove that craft corporations were in fact the courts of fi rst instance for their members and important part of municipal judiciary in Cracow.