Financial carieer of Przecław Potulicki, the castellan of Rogoźno, in late medieval Wielkopolska

The second half of the fifteenth century saw the growing importance of the magnates of Wielkopolska, supported by King Casimir the Jagiellon, who sought a counterbalance to the hitherto leading role of the nobles of Małopolska. This was the beginning of lasting political and property careers of a number of families from Wielkopolska.

Legislation on Family Fideicommissa in the Second Polish Republic

The article describes the creation and content of legal regulations in the Second Polish Republic regarding a special institution, which were family fideicommissa (entails), called in Poland ordynacje rodowe – indivisible estates in the hands of aristocratic families, excluded from the general principles of inheritance, with restrictions in the field of, i.a., disposition and charging. The author proves that the legislation in this respect was influenced by the then agrarian policy and attempts to regulate the land reform. Family laws were perceived in particular as a relic of feudalism contrary to the constitutional order and a policy aimed at basing the agricultural structure on middle and small property and thus raising the social and economic status of the poor masses of Polish peasants. The author describes political postulates in this regard, successive legal acts created by the legislature and the accompanying parliamentary discussions.