Constitution of the Free City of Strasbourg (24 December 1482) [Introductory note:. This treaty contains the final revision (which remained in effect until 1789) of Strasbourg's fundamental law, which reduced the number of guilds from 28 to 20. Otherwise it follows the common pattern of mixed government by nobles and guildsmen, though here the latter have taken over two-thirds of the civic offices. This document acted as a constitution, and each year in January the magistrates and burghers gathered before the cathedral to renew their oath to abide by this agreement. The document contains very typical language about the obligations of citizens to the magistrates and commune, and of the magistrates to the commune. Source: Jean Lebeau and Jean-Marie Valentin, eds., L'Alsace au siècle de la Réforme 1482-1621 (Nancy, 1985), pp. 18-21. Introductory note and translation by Thomas A. Brady, Jr.] Contents: Establishment of a Council Election of Council Members Oaths of Office The Office of Ammeister Obligations of Citizenship Authority of the Council Image: A view of Strasbourg from Hartmann Schedel, Liber chronicarum CXL (Nuremberg: A. Koberger, 1493). Image source: "Historic Cities," Department of Geography, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Jewish National and University Library.

1) In the name of God, Amen. We, the masters, magistrates, knights, squires, burghers, crafts, and commune, rich and poor, of Strasbourg approve and confirm with this charter, that we are unanimous agreed and have established a common judgment [geriht]. We have done this to the praise of God and his estimable mother Mary, to the honor and welfare of the city of Strasbourg, and for the guidance and improvement of the poor and the rich. And this is the judgment. Namely, the council [rat] shall consist of thirty-one persons: in the first place 10 patricians [constofeler]^[1] and an ammeister from the guilds;^[2] furthermore, 20 persons from the guilds. And when, during the first eight days [of the new year], before the old councilors leave office and when an entirely new council and an ammeister have been selected, so that the new council shall be aware and know about the business handled and dealt with by the old council, each year half of the council shall stay in office.^[3]

[Election of Council Members]

2) Each year half of the council and the ammeister shall be selected according to the ordinance as follows. The Schöffen [members of the guild's ruling court, fifteen per guild] of each guild of a departing councilor shall assemble in their guildhall early in the morning on Thursday after Epiphany, and there they shall elect a another honorable, honest man from their guild in place of the departing one. And they shall select from among themselves one whom, in accordance with their oaths and the laws, they believe to be most able and useful to the city of Strasbourg. Then the whole old council, both patricians and guildsmen, who have been sitting that year shall gather in the large, old council chamber in city hall, and there they shall elect in place of the departing patricians other pious, honest men into the council from among the knights, squires, and burghers,^[4] whom, in accordance with their oaths, they believe to be most able and useful to the city of Strasbourg. And from among the same [patricians] they shall elect two stettmeisters from the patrician societies [constofeln] to join the two who remain from the old council, and each of them shall be stettmeister for a quarter of a year and not longer.

3) And if among the same stettmeisters or other patricians or guildsmen, who sat in the old council, one or more has died, left the city, or become for some other reason unsuitable [untogelich], on the same aforementioned Thursday others shall be elected, who shall sit and remain in the council for one year in the places of those who have died, left the city, or become for some other reason unsuitable. Thereafter, the ten continuing councilors from the guilds shall go into the back room to join the ten whom have that morning been elected to the new council, making all together twenty. These twenty councilors from the guilds shall then elect an able, honest, wise, prominent man as ammeister, whom they, according to their oaths, believe to be most honorable and useful to the city and the commune of Strasbourg. He shall be a guildsman, but he may not come from a guild which already has an old ammeister, nor anyone who has been ammeister within the past five years.

4) Such elections shall be conducted in according with the laws previously approved by the Schöffen and ammeister, and which are recorded in the civic register [stattbüch] and the register of the XV.^[5] These ordinances shall be read annually to the same twenty councilors, who shall swear to uphold them.

[Oaths of Office]

5) The aforementioned patricians, namely, the remaining ones from the old council plus those who are elected on the aforementioned Thursday, making together ten patricians, and then the aforementioned twenty men from the guilds, namely, ten from the old council and ten elected that morning, shall comprise the council for the coming year, and they and the ammeister shall proceed in the customary way. They shall swear in person to God and the Saints to uphold all the measures, points, and articles which are written down, and to accept no gift or donation while they hold office. And whoever accepts a gift or allows one of his dependents to do so, shall be regarded as having perjured himself [meineidig].^[6] And if the stettmeister and council shall ever learn that this has happened, they shall judge the matter, according to their oaths, as is prescribed in the register of the XV.

6) And the ammeister, who is now elected as an ammeister, shall also swear in person to God and the Saints that he will accept no present, gift, nor donation, whether few or many, small or large, nor allow any of his dependents to do the same, but he shall always conduct himself in an honest and upright fashion, upholding all the measures, points, and article recorded in the civic register and in the register of the XV. These are read each year to the ammeister on the day of his election. And if an ammeister shall violate this rule and not so conduct himself, in any way whatsoever, his life and property shall be forfeit to the city of Strasbourg. And the stettmeister and council shall swear not to let him get away [faren zu lossen]. If the stettmeister and council do not do this, the said ammeister, who has broken the laws, will be a traitor and be an outlaw with respect to all burghers.^[7] Every councilor shall on his oath judge censure a crime as though it were a blood crime.

[The Office of Ammeister]

7) From now on, too, no ammeister shall be allowed to have building on or in his house or elsewhere done, whether small or large, at civic expense. He shall do such things at his own cost and not by means of city workmen or city equipment. Further, from now on an ammeister shall not be paid more than sixteen shillings per week for the drinks for the watch [scharwachter trunck], which he shall on his oath give to the watch as is customary.

8) If an ammeister shall die in office, the aforementioned twenty councilors from the guilds shall elect a fellow guildsman as ammeister, just as before, and the one elected shall be ammeister for the rest of the year. Similarly, if an ammeister falls ill, the same twenty shall elect another in his stead in the prescribed manner. And such an ammeister shall receive while in office the ammeister's ounce [the 16 shillings]. And when an ammeister is chosen to replace one who has died or fallen ill, the oath to him shall be sworn just as it was to the old ammeister at the beginning of the year in front of the cathedral, and the new ammeister shall be bound and must swear to uphold everything that the councilors and the old ammeister, who has died or fallen ill, had sworn on their oath to uphold during this year in front of the cathedral, all without any reservations.

9) The ammeister, four stettmeisters, councilors, knights, burghers, guildsmen, and commune, both rich and poor, at Strasbourg shall swear to be loyal and obedient [getruwe und holt], to promote and increase the city's honor, welfare, and moral character [frommen], to warn it of and ward off dangers from it, to the best of their abilities, all without any reservations. Everyone shall swear to the aforementioned ammeister, the four stettmeisters, the council, and their guild courts to obey loyally their commands and prohibitions [jren gebotten und verbotten geruwelich gehorsam beroten und beholffen zu sinde] against all who oppose them or their judgments.

10) Yet, it shall be understood about the oath to the ammeister that no ammeister shall have authority or power to dispense anyone from or to cancel or change any part of anything established by the stettmeister and council or the assembly of the Schöffen, without their knowledge and consent. The aforesaid ammeister, the four stettmeisters, and the councilors shall also swear loyally to protect and guard [getrüwelich zu behüten und zu bewaren] the knights, burghers, guilds, and commune, rich and poor, of Strasbourg, as best they can with life and limb, and to judge poor and rich alike, without any difference

[Obligations of Citizenship]

11) We, the knights and burghers declared that we renounce our right to elect to the council, which we formerly possessed, and that we shall never again demand or claim this right in any form whatsoever.[8]

12) When a lad turns eighteen years, whether he is a knight, squire, burgher, or guildsman, he shall swear to uphold this charter. And anyone who learns of someone who has not sworn, he shall on his oath report [rügen] this to the ammeister and council, and if it is found that such a person has not sworn, the ammeister and council shall determine what he shall do to make up for it.

13) Each year, after the old council is dissolved and the new council is sworn in at city hall, everyone shall swear in front of the cathedral to uphold this charter. If, God forbid, the bells have to be rung, no one shall take up arms except if the murder bell is rung, and no one except the ruling ammeister shall have authority to have this bell rung. Otherwise, when the bells are heard, everyone shall come on foot in to the square before the cathedral, gather before the ammeister and other masters, and obey them. And when the ammeister and the other masters dismiss them, they shall on their oaths go quietly to their homes. When, however, there is a fire, the guildsmen shall arm themselves and gather in front of the cathedral and then move wherever they are sent and obey the ammeister and the other masters. The patricians, however, shall not take up arms unless the ammeister and the other masters tell them on their oaths to arm themselves and to assemble, and they shall then immediately do whatever they are commanded to do. If a nobleman rides to the square before the cathedral, he shall send immediately his horse back home.

14) If anyone shall have bound himself to another with oaths, declarations of loyalty [truwe], or letters, they shall on their oaths release one another from such engagements, and no one, high or low, poor or rich, shall make any alliance. Whoever violates this in any wall shall be considered perjured [meineidig] and outlawed. He shall be banished for twenty years, day and night, from this city, and after the twenty years he shall not be readmittd without the consent of the sitting stettmeister and council. And whoever knows of such an agreement, shall on his oath report it immediately to the stettmeister and council.

15) If any of our burghers wants to renounced his citizenship, he shall appear before the sitting stettmeister and council, announced his intention to them, and renounced his citizenship orally, as is the ancient custom, and not in writing. And the stettmeister and council shall then release him from his civic rights and obligations. If, however, one who wishes to renounce his citizenship has been committed a felony or is charged therewith or has "grasped the staff," he must stand trial before the sitting stettmeister and council. And no one shall renounced his citizenship except as prescribed and on his oath.

[Authority of the Council]

16) The stettmeister and council, the Schöffen and ammeister, and everyone else at Strasbourg are to obey and uphold loyally [getruwelich] the aforementioned Council of XV, to whom the laws and affairs of the city of Strasbourg are entrusted, in all things commanded or to be in the future commanded, and shall aid and support them against all foes, as best they can and on their oaths.

17) If anyone acts against this charter and against this judgment or any article written in this charter, and if this becomes known to the incumbent stettmeister and council, such a person shall be declared perjured [meineidig] and stripped of his citizenship, and he shall never again come within the jurisdiction [burgbanne], nor become a burgher. His life and goods shall be forfeit to the stettmeister and council, who shall confiscate all of his property and holdings, in the city or in the countryside, as much as they can, on their oaths and without fail. And if a stettmeister and council fail to order this against the criminal, they shall be declared perjured und dishonored [meineidig und erelosz] and shall never again be stettmeister or councilors of the city of Strasbourg.

To confirm all these above written stipulations, we append the great seal of the city of Strasbourg, together with the seals of the [twenty] knights, squires, burghers, and [fifty-two] guildsmen whose names are recorded below. . . . Each and every one of us has appended his seal to this charter, which is proclaimed on Christmas Eve, 1482.

Notes

1. The urban nobles (constofeler, at Strasbourg), were from the 16th century on called by the Roman term "patricians." They were usually members of old, prestigious families of the untitled or "lesser" nobility, among whom the possession of a purchased charter of ennoblement (from the emperor) was no guarantee of social acceptance. Formerly the city's sole rulers, in most towns they came to have a reduced, even minority, share of public offices.

2. The office of ammeisterwas introduced during the guild revolts in the 14th century, and all ammeister (also called ammann) had to be members of guilds. Five of them were in office at any one time, the role of ruling ammeister -- de facto head of the regime -- rotated among them. The ceremonial head of the regime was the stettmeister, an older office reserved to patricians, which rotated among four persons every three months.

3. This clumsy formulation means that half of the council was renewed each year for two-year terms, following which a former magistrate was ineligible for one year. At Strasbourg they apparently were selected by the ruling court (Zunftgericht) of the guild.

4. At Strasbourg the word "burgher" could have the usual, general meaning of a member of the commune, and it could refer to wealthy non-nobles who stood socially somewhere the patricians and the guildsmen, but who had been admitted to the patrician societies.

5. The XV were one of two privy councils, whose members, all of them former councilors, were coopted for life. The XV handled domestic affairs, the other, the XIII, foreign affairs. Together they sat with the council as the supreme deliberative body.

6. The modern English "perjured" does not begin to convey the solemn and terrible sense of "meinedig," which is in origin, of course, a religious concept. It means "oath-breaker."

7. See note 4 above. This is the other, more general meaning of "burgher."

8. Note above that the patrician councilors were elected not by the patrician societies but by by the patrician and guild councilors.