Przepisy prawa miejskiego a wybory władz w Knyszynie (XVI – pocz. XVIII w.)

The municipal law and the election of the government in Knyszyn (16th – beg. of 18th century)The article focuses on some regulations of the Polish-Magdeburg Law and the proceedings related to municipal elections in Knyszyn (a royal town in the Podlaskie Voivodeship) from 16th to the beginning of 18th century. The first, theoretical part of the article, describing pertinent rules of that law, is based on books written by the 16th-century Polish lawyers Bartholomaeus Groicki and Paulus Szczerbic. Its second part analyses some documents from the municipal records in order to explain the practice of elections in this town. Unfortunately, the number of available sources is limited, as we only have the royal privilege from 1568 A.D. and some information about the elections from 1625, 1643 and 1706. The article tries to find the answer to the following questions: the attitude of the inhabitants of that town toward the municipal offices and its representatives, the circle of persons exercising power and its stability, the infl uence of external factors on the appointment of officials. Summing up, the author points to some changes in the electoral procedure and to the multilateral interest in the results of the election