ORIGINAL OF THE “RENOVATION PRIVILEGE OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE FREE CITY OF KANIV, 1792”. FROM THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF UKRAINIAN HISTORY FUNDS

Abstract

The article studies the original of the “Renovation privilege…” from the funds of the NMUH. The differences between the published copy of the “Renovation privilege ...” and the original document are revealed and analyzed. The usage of the published document in the scholarly literature is highlighted and the lack of scholarly attention to the original document is revealed. The content of the document text is analyzed. This document is a compilation of 18 legal documents (sejm constitutions, royal acts, lustrations excerptions), of the 16–18 centuries which concerned the city of Kaniv. Based on the facts set forth in the document, the hypothesis that Kaniv obtained the Magdeburg Law in 1564 is put forward. The large seal in the tin plate and a small imprint of the seal on sheet 1 were identified as the Great Crown Seal of Stanislav August Poniatovsky and a “seal of confirmation” (“stempel szacunku”) respectively.

Key worlds: Kaniv, Magdeburg Law, Stanislav August Poniatovskyi, renovation privilege, coat of arms of Kaniv, the Great Crown Seal, lustration