• Vita

    Maciej Mikuła, PhD, is a professor in the Department of the History of Administration and and the Law of Religious Denominations. He graduated in law from the Jagiellonian University in 2007 and in history from the university's Faculty of History in 2008. In 2012 he defended his doctoral thesis, an abridged version of which was published under the title Royal and Parliamentary Legislation for the Royal Cities in Małopolska (1386-1572): A Study in the Rule of Law in Poland. Habilitated in 2018 (monograph: Municipal Magdeburg Law (Ius municipale Magdeburgense) in Poland 14th-early 16th century: A Study on the Evolution and Adaptation of Law). His research interests include the history of German law (especially Magdeburg law) in Central and Eastern Europe, sources of medieval law, editing of historical legal texts, Polish criminal law of the interwar period, guarantees of religious freedom in Poland, the European Union and the United States. He is involved (as a manager, coordinator or researcher) in nine major research projects funded by the European Commission, CELSA, the International Visegrad Fund, the National Science Centre and the National Programme for the Development of the Humanities. He is assistant editor of "Cracow Studies of Constitutional and Legal History". A member of the Polish Society for Legal History, the Polish Association of Church and State Law, the American Society for Legal History, the Historische Kommission für Schlesien and the City Commission in the Committee of Historical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Manager of the project "IURA. Sources of Law from the Past (www.iura.uj.edu.pl).

  • Research Project

    The Krakow procedural law project of 1544 against the background of legal codification in Central European cities in the 16th century

    The Magdeburg Law was a common legal framework across a vast region between the Elbe and Dnieper rivers. However, its adoption and implementation varied significantly across Central and Eastern Europe. In Poland, the law underwent selective adaptation through various stages, including translation, modification, and selective application to meet local needs. From its introduction in the 13th century, there was a recognized need for adaptation due to royal legislation and city council statutes, which led to the creation of early codifications. The diverse legal collections in cities like Silesia, Bohemia, Moravia, and different regions of Poland reflect this complexity. These collections ranged from unstructured compilations to systematic legal codes. By the 16th century, efforts to codify laws intensified, with attempts at top-down unification by monarchs gaining momentum, especially in Bohemia. However, in Poland, unification was challenging due to the significant differences between the Kulm and Magdeburg Laws. The codification of Kulm Law for Prussian cities has been extensively studied, while the 1544/1546 Krakow codification of civil procedure remains under-researched. Krakow’s codification drew on various legal sources, including Magdeburg Law, the Sachsenspiegel, and canon law. This codification reflects the tension between change and stability, with reform supported by the city elite and the king but opposed by the bourgeoisie for political and substantive reasons.

  • Selected Publications

    "Professors of the Law Faculty of the University of Cracow and Their Legal Writings (16th and Early 17th Centuries)."         In Ius Commune Graeco-Romanum: Essays in Honour of Prof. Dr. Laurent Waelkens, edited by Wouter Druwé, Paolo Angelini, Matthias Castelein, and Wim Decock, 179-208. Iuris Scripta Historica-KVAB; 30. Leuven: Peeters Publishers, 2019.

    "Das sächsisch-magdeburgische Recht in den Manuskripten der Bibliothek des Priestseminars in Kielce, Signatur RK 45/28 - Ergänzung zu Deutsche Rechtsbücher des Mittelalters". Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte: Germanistische Abteilung 1/137 (2020): 505-510; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/zrgg-2020-0012.

    Municipal Magdeburg Law (Ius municipale Magdeburgense) in Late Medieval Poland. A Study on the Evolution and Adaptation of Law, Series: Medieval Law and Its Practice, vol: 30, Leiden-Boston: BRILL, 2021.

    "Iura scripta and Operae Iurisperitorum in Municipal Courts of the Kingdom of Poland (Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries)." In: Authorities in Early Modern Law Courts, ed. Guido Rossi, 122-136. Edinbourgh: Edinbourgh University Press, 2021.

    'Was canon law in use in municipal courts in late-medieval Poland? Regulae iuris in Libro sexto in manuscripts of municipal law'. In: Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Congress of Medieval Canon Law Paris, 17-23 July 2016, eds. Florence Demoulin-Auzary, Nicolas Laurent-Bonne, Franck Roumy, Anna Claire Montealegre, 1411–1419. Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 2022.

    “Last wills of Kraków University Professors and the Scope of Testamentary Freedom in Poland in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries”. In: Testamentary Freedom, 'ius commune' and Particular Law (c. 1400-1620), edited by Mark Vermeer, Wouter Druwé, Maciej Mikula, Iuris Scripta Historica; 31. Leuven: Peeters Publishers, 2023, 203–222