Certificate of the Lviv City Council regarding the granting of citizenship and customs exemptions to Mikołaj Bajdułowicz

COUNCILORS OF THE CITY OF LVIV To all and individual [persons], of whatever status, condition, dignity, and rank they may be, and in particular to the heads of customs offices throughout and within the Kingdom of Poland, Masovia, Ruthenia, Prussia, etc., etc., and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, wherever established, as well as their clerks and deputies, our honorable lords and venerable friends, sending greetings from the heart and wishes for the successful development of affairs, and with zeal presenting our services and rights to Your Excellencies, by this our letter we make known and certify that the reputable Mikołaj Bajdułowicz, an Armenian, born of lawful wedlock to the once reputable father Mikołaj Bajdułowicz and mother Gorchatona, residents of Suceava, appeared personally before our council office and requested that, for the sake of safer trade and the conduct of his business, he be enrolled by us among the burghers of this city, in accordance with the requirements and custom of the laws of this city. Granting his request, which is in accordance with law and justice, and having regard for the recommendation and intercession for the said Mikołaj Bajdułowicz by the reputable Stefan Chodzigijowicz and Mikołaj Warteryszowicz, Armenians of Lviv, we have granted and bestowed upon him the right of this city, after receiving from him an oath of bodily allegiance, according to the rule of law, sworn both to His Most Serene Royal Majesty, our Most Gracious Lord, and to the city. And therefore, we recognize him, on an equal footing with us, as a true and legitimate burgher of Lviv, included in the enjoyment of the rights, privileges, immunities, and freedoms long ago graciously given and granted by the Most Serene kings and princes of the Kingdom of Poland of holy memory to the city of Lviv and to all of us, its inhabitants, and recently renewed, fully approved, and confirmed in every respect by the Most Serene Władysław IV, His Royal Majesty, our Most Gracious Lord, happily reigning, in a special diploma dated in Lviv on the twenty-fifth day of the month of October in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and thirty-four, recently passed. In accordance with which [privileges] we are in particular exempt and free from paying all customs duties, tolls, embankment fees, bridge tolls, market fees, water fees, shipping fees, and other such charges. Being endowed with this same freedom, together with all and individual our fellow burghers, and always and everywhere, both inside and outside the Kingdom of Poland, preserved in it and enjoying it, we most earnestly request Your Excellencies that you recognize, hold, and admit the said Mikołaj Bajdułowicz, an Armenian, a burgher of Lviv, his goods and servants, if he entrusts this letter to them, relying on the liberties of the city, as a true and legitimate burgher of Lviv, and that you make him free, unhindered, and at liberty, and allow him to pass with his things and goods traveling by land and water, exempt from all collection or extortion of customs duties, tolls, market fees, water fees, shipping fees, embankment fees, and bridge tolls, as well as all taxes of the Commonwealth, the Kingdom, and the above-praised individual cities; and this both due to the rights and liberties of the city of Lviv, hitherto inviolate, and due to your special grace, favor, and kindness toward the city and its inhabitants. For which we shall be able to reciprocate and compensate Your Excellencies at every opportunity with a willingness to show gratitude. For greater faith in all these things and more evident testimony, the seal of the city and the entire Lviv Council has been attached hereto. Done in Lviv on Wednesday before the upcoming feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and thirty-five. Wojciech Zimnicki, sworn clerk of the city of Lviv, by his own hand. [Verso:] [Archival note at the top:] 830. / (page of the fascicle) [Historical/archival note on the left:] excluded from the fascicle of loose acts / titled "Producta Officii Consularis (1641–1653)" / no. 179. / cf. Archive Catalog Vol. III, p. 50. / Lviv 21/II 1938. / Dr. K. Badecki [At the bottom right in pencil:] 1635 [Round ink seal:] ARCHIVE OF ANCIENT ACTS OF THE CITY OF LVIV

CONSVLES CIVITATIS LEOPOLIENSIS Vniuersis et singulis, cuiuscunq[ue] status, conditionis, dignitatis, et praeeminentiae existentibus, praesertim vero Praefectis Theloneorum per et intra Regnum Poloniae, Masouia[e], Russiae, Prussiae etc. etc. Magniq[ue] Ducatuum Lithuaniae vbique locorum constitutis, ac eorum Notarijs eijusq[ue] gerentibus DD[ dominis] nostris obseruandis ac Amicis honorandis Salutem et felicem rerum successum ex animo preca[n]tes, studiaq[ue] nostra ac Jura V[est]rae D[om]i[n]ationis sedulo deferentes praesentibus literis nostris notum ac testatum facimus Famatum Nicolaum Baydulowicz Armenum ex Famatis olim Nicolao Baydulowicz Patre, et Gorchatona Matre, Incolis Szoczeaviensibus legittime susceptum Filium, personaliter in praesentia officij nostri Consularis comparuisse, atq[ue] vt inter Cives Ciuitatis eiusdem quo tutius rem Mercatoriam exercere, suasq[ue] sue rationes ducere possit, iuxta Jurium Ciuitatis eiusdem consuetudinem exigentiam referatur a nobis petijsse. Ad cuius asectationem Juri et aequitati consentaneam et ad commendationem intercessionemq[ue] Famatorum Stephani Chodzigiowicz, et Nicolai Warteryszowicz Armenorum Leopoliensium pro praenominato Nicolao Baydulowicz factam, eidem Jus Ciuitatis eiusdem recepto ab eodem fidelitatis tam Sacrae Regiae Maiestati D[omi]no n[ost]ro Clementissimo, quam Ciuitati Juramento iuxta Juris praescriptum corporali concessimus et contulimus. Ac proinde ipsum nobiscum Vna Vti Verum et legitimum Ciuem Leopoliensem Juribus et Priuilegijs immunitatibus ac libertatibus a Serenissimis Diuae memoriae Regibus ac Principibus Regni Poloniae Ciuitati Leopoliensi, ac omnibus nobis eam incolentibus, antiquitus benigne datis et concessis per Serenissimum vero Vladislaum Quartum suam Regiam Maiestatem D[omi]n[u]m D[omi]n[u]m Clementi[ssi]m[um] feliciter regnantem speciali Dyplomate de data Leopoli die Vigesima Quinta Mensis Octobris Anno Domini Millesimo Sexcentesimo Trigesimo Quarto proxime praeterito, innouatis in totoq[ue] ac per omnia approbatis et confirmatis incorporatum gaudere arrogitamus. Quibus praecipue a solutione quorumuis Theloneorum Vectigalium Aggeralium Pontalium Terragiorum Aquagiorum Nauigiorum, et id genus aliarum, exactio[num] num sumus exempti atq[ue] liberi. Qua quidem libertate pariter cum Conciuibus nostris omnibus et singulis, dotati, ac ea semper vbique tam intra quam extra Regnum Poloniae conseruati et fruentes, rogamus diligentissime D.D. V[est]ras Vt praefatum Nicolaum Baydulowicz Armenum, Ciuem Leopoliensem, mercaturas et familiam si quibus has literas concrediderit, Ciuitatis libertatibus fretum pro vero et legitimo Ciue Leopolien[si] agnoscant, habeant, admittantq[ue] et ab omni Theloneorum Vectigalium Terragiorum Aquagiorum Nauigiorum Aggeralium et Pontalium contributionumq[ue] quarumuis Reipublicae Regni et Civitatis Separatibus proximi praemissis laudatorum exactione seu extorsione cum illius rebus et Mercibus, per Terras Aquas deflectant euntem et redeuntem, immunem indemnem ac liberum faciant admittantq[ue], et id quidem tum pro Juribus ac Libertatibus Ciuitatis Leopoliensis, quibus hactenus et illaes[is], tum pro V[est]ra erga Ciuitatem et incolas eiusdem singulari gratia fauore et benevolentia. Quam V[est]ris D[ominati]onibus omni occasionum genere et studio gratificandi referre et compensare poterimus. In praemissorum omnium maiorem fidem atq[ue] euidentius Testimonium Sigillum Ciuitatis ac Pleni Consularis Leopoliensis praesentibus est appensum. Actum Leopoli Feria Quarta ante Festum Conceptionis Beatae Virginis Mariae proxima Anno Domini Millesimo Sexcentesimo Trigesimo Quinto. Albertus Zimnicki Civitatis Leopoliensis Notarius iuratus m[anu] p[ro]p[ri]a. [Verso:] [Nota archiwalna u góry:] 830. / (strona fascykułu) [Nota historyczna/archiwalna po lewej:] wyłączono z fascykułu akt luźnych / p.t. „Producta Officii Consularis (1641–1653)” / nr. 179. / ob. Katalog Archiwum T. III, s. 50. / Lwów 21/II 1938. / Dr K. Badecki [U dołu po prawej ołówkiem:] 1635 [Okrągła pieczęć tuszowa:] ARCHIWUM AKT DAWNYCH MIASTA LWOWA