Quarter captains and their role in Prague’s municipal self-government in the 15th and 16th centuries

Abstract

The author deals with the question of whether the division of late medieval Prague into quarters played a political role in addition to its administrative function together, which we know from several western cities. The author was interested in whether neighbourhoods served to represent local communities vis-à-vis the town council. The oldest quarter regulations towns date from the beginning of the 16th century. The provisions of these regulations mainly concern fire protection, but two other important aspects also appear. The quarter captains also performed the tasks of social supervision in urban households, and their responsibility was tied to the burgomaster and not to the quarter’s community. Therefore, the author works with the hypothesis that the quarter self-government in Central Europe was not a representative of the residents of the quarter when communicating with the town council, but rather a tool through which the town council gained blanket control over the town’s spaces.