History of the silver- and coppermines in Schwaz in Tirol

The great historic importance of minig activities in Schwaz in Tyrol is due to the fact, that towards the end of the 15th century 85 % of Europe`s silver production came from these mines. In addition to this, the mining law which was applied in Schwaz in Tyrol affected the governmental mining-legislation in the entire Alpine region. The numerous mining regulations of Schwaz, in particular those which were issued in the time of emperor Maximilian I., gained nationwide importance. In the international research of mining history it is repeatedly and understandably regretted, that until today no edition of the Schwazer mining-orders issued under Maximilian I. is available. It is the main objective of this project hence to compile a complete and critical edition in this respect. Also the entire field of the administrative history of the mining court of Schwaz is still unrevealed. Therefore, this project furthermore aims to remedy this deplorable scientific deficiency. Concerning the mining in Schwaz, the Tyrolean National Archive in Innsbruck is holding historical sources in such vast quantities that it deterred scientists from approaching this specific subject. At first it will be attempted here to selectively and efficiently reveal the administrative and the legal history of the mining era in Schwaz in the late 15th and in the first half of the 16th century.

According to the objectives of the FWF-research project No. P17259, to compile a comprehensive edition of mining laws of Schwaz from the turn of the 15th to the 16th century, all landesfürstlich sanktionierte Schwazer Erfindungen that were trackable from contemporary copies from the 16th century (stored in the Tyrolean Landesarchiv) as well as the decreed norms of mining laws can now be presented in an excerpted form (edition of the mining laws of Schwaz). The fact that such an edition has not existed was often complained about by central European researchers working in the field of mining history. In detail, the so-called Schwazer Erfindung, confirmed by Maximilian I. on 1st July 1490, have to be mentioned in the first place. This considerable body of laws constitutes the centre of the entire early modern mining law of Schwaz. The former norms of mining laws that had been edited in the time of the archduke Siegmund were therein extended and adapted to the various economical and legal problems and requirements of the prospering mining sector in Schwaz. These primary Maximilian mining orders of Schwaz were subsequently supplemented with numerous additional regulations until the year 1512. Besides the original Erfindungen or orders, the edition further contains four law texts by Maximilian I., that can also be classified as part of the body of mining laws of Schwaz: The sovereign decision of competences from 4th July 1494 exactly determined and defined the specific judicial competences of the Tyrolean district courts and the courts responsible for mining affairs. The two shorter sovereign orders from 18th November 1506 and 12th January 1518 were dealing with detailed questions concerning labour legislation and procedural laws. The compliance with the Schwazer Erfindungen and orders were repeatedly insisted on by means of an explicit order to the Schwazer Bergrichter (the head of the court of mining affairs of Schwaz) from 20th January 1513. In the decrees of the sovereign governance from the year 1520 the supreme authority for mining affairs reacted to the complaints by the mining workers of Schwaz with the suspension or reduction of the various mining dues. It was further demanded that existing legal uncertainties and malpractices occurring in new allocations of temporarily closed mines shall be eliminated as soon as possible. The authorities also acted in a cooperative manner regarding the demands of the mining licensees of Schwaz to shut down unprofitable mines. Within the scope of the so-called Anlass, the main mining licensees of Schwaz were taking substantial measures on 8th March 1525 in order to reorganise affairs concerning ownerships and management at Falkenstein, the most important mining area of Schwaz. These measures subsequently reached the status of an official sovereign mining order due to the so-called Confirmation des Anlass on 4th December 1525. The so-called Abschied, decreed by the sovereign governance, and the instruction to the mining authorities of Schwaz by Ferdinand I., both dating from 26th May 1526, were enacted with the purpose to also reform the sovereign national mining administration as a result of the rationalisation measures that had been initiated by the main mining licensees of Schwaz due to the Anlass from 1525. Besides a short decree by Karl V. from the year 1522 regulating open wage claims by the smithies of Schwaz, three minor orders by Ferdinand I. (dating from 30th June 1531, 10th February 1534 and 22nd February 1538) also belong to the historical body of norms of the early modern mining law of Schwaz. The practical scientific benefits of this overall edition of the early modern mining law of Schwaz in the Tyrol consist in the henceforth easy and general accessibility of this eminently significant body of mining norms and laws that were playing a most exemplary and formative role in the mining history of the entire Austrian and Swabian-Southern German region (also including the Alsatian region).