Abstract
Women’s wills of the nobility are an intriguing but still largely unexplored source. This alsoapplies to wills from Royal Prussia, mainly because of their scarce number and difficult availability.An important element when considering the nobility of Royal Prussia is their specific legalsituation. Since 1599 the so-called Prussian Adjustment, based on the Chełmno Law, was in force,under which only movable property could be freely disposed of in wills. Against this background,the legal status of women was all the more impaired. Often they could not independently asserttheir property rights without the legal protection of men.This legal disadvantage was also strongly pervaded in the social consciousness. For theupbringing of girls focused on the education of the future wife and mother. However, suchan upbringing could paradoxically produce surprisingly high levels of competence. Women used themwillingly, for example when drawing up their last will, in a way breaking the formal restrictionsimposed on them by law.
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