The Role of the Court of Appeal from 1548 to 1783

The Role of the Court of Appeal from 1548 to 1783 The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the development of the Court of Appeal in Prague between the years 1548 and 1783. The thesis describes the role of one the most important tribunals in the Czech Lands during the Early Modern Age. The reason for my research is that this issue has not been elaborated complexly by modern historians. The aim of the thesis is to complete and revise results of former researches in this area. The thesis is composed of an introductory, ten chapters and conclusions. Some chapters are subdivided into parts. The introduction defines the topic, describes existing literature and other materials. The investigation is based both on published and archival documents. The last ones were examined in the National Archives and chosen regional archives. Chapter One examines why the Court of Appeal was established, specifies its legal framwork and describes members of the Court. The Court was established in January 1548 by Czech King Ferdinand I Habsburg (1526-1564) in order to restrict the power of royal towns in the Czech Lands after the sovereign suppressed the revolt of the Estates in 1547. The judges of the Court of Appeal were representatives of all Estates in Bohemia (high nobility, gentry, burgesses) and four erudite..