The role of Magdeburg law for the political, economic and cultural formation of Ostroh in the XVI-XVII centuries

Abstract

The article examines the impact of the concept of Magdeburglawontheeconomic, political and cultural development of Ostrohin the 16th-17th centuries. The author establishes that today there are many issues which require through research and resolution, inparticular, the introduction of a clear division of administrative functions between state authorities and local self-government bodies, improvement of the system and structure of local self-government bodies, and creation of an appropriate legislative framework. It is believed that it is impossible to solve these problems without a clear and systematic analysis of the mainstages of formation of local self-government in the contex to historical data on Magdeburg law.
 The author establishes that Magdeburg law is a medieval type of law under which cities were partially exempted from the power of the central royal administration or the power of a feudal lord and, as a result, were able to self-governon a corporate basis. Thanks to the privileges of Magdeburg law, cities for the first time received self-government, their own mayor, mayor, councilors, shopkeepers, their own courts, and the right to create their own craftsmen’s shops.
 The article confirms the idea that Magdeburg law is perhaps the clearest evidence that Ukrainian cities form any centuries were in a single political, cultural and economic space on a par with the leading cities of Europe. This thesis is confirmed by the history of the Magdeburg in many centers of our country, including the largest educational center of sixteenth-century Volhynia, the legendary city of Ostroh. Despite the outstanding importance of Ostroh in the socio-political and cultural life of Ukraine at the turn of the Middle Agesand the Modernera, the formation of the Magdeburg in this city has long been misinterpreted due to the lack of historical sources. The adoption of the concept of Magdeburg law provided Ostroh with a unique opportunity to develop local trade and, most importantly, the educational sphere. A characteristic feature of Magdeburg law in Ukrainian cities at the end of the sixteenth century was the transformation of its norms due to the influence of current factors of socio-economic development, as well as ancient Russian traditions of urban organization and law. Thus, the Magdeburg law did not initiate a new process of establishing local government in Ukraine, but only modified to a certain extent the existing norms of life and management of local affairs.