Reichskammergericht
Item
Nota de estado
Finalizado
Country
DE
Name of institution (English)
Hamburg State Archive
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
deu
Contact information: postal address
Kattunbleiche 19, 22041 Hamburg
Contact information: phone number
0049 (0)40 428313200
Contact information: web address
http://www.hamburg.de/staatsarchiv/
Contact information: email
office-staatsarchiv@hamburg.de
Reference number
211-2
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Imperial Chamber of Justice
Title (official language of the state)
Reichskammergericht
Language of title
deu
Creator / accumulator
Reichskammergericht
Date(s)
1497/1806
Language(s)
deu
Extent
89.00 linear meters
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Good
Scope and content
The Reichskammergericht (Imperial Chamber of Justice) fonds comprises trial files produced by the supreme court of the Holy Roman Empire. This fonds constitutes a rich source of information on the Sephardic community of Hamburg, as it contains several judicial cases involving Portuguese Jews and conversos. Some examples are the following:
211-2_D 14: Dispute about the power of attorney of Nikolaus Kautholt (Kauthals), a merchant in Amsterdam, who had Dionysius Dierichsen, a Portuguese merchant from Amsterdam, arrested for a debt of 8,759 Flemish pounds in Hamburg. 1613-1620.
211-2_H 48: Appeal of the office of the shipbuilders in Hamburg against Paulo de Milão, a Portuguese Jew in Hamburg. 1629.
211-2_B 102: Refusal to appeal to the High Court in a lawsuit because of a claim of Paul Dierichsen (alias Paulo de Milão), then at Glückstadt, against Otto Brüggemann, attorney of Jacques Budier, both merchants in Hamburg, in the amount of 505 Reichstalers. 1631-1634.
211-2_F 34: Duarte Nunes da Costa (alias Jacob Curiel) is one of the defendants of this case, as an executor of the will of João da Rocha Pinto, whose heiress was Judith de Prado. 1631, 1648-1662.
211-2_D 11: Manuel Rodrigues Isidro complains about the arrest of a consignment of gold and silver due to the claim of a bill of exchange from Duarte Nunes da Costa for 1600 Spanish ducats. 1639-1650
211-2_T 7: Complaint of Diogo Teixeira, a Portuguese merchant in Hamburg against the deputies of the Hamburg Bank. 1639-1673.
211-2_Submission III No. 19: Dispute opposing Manuel Rodrigues, Portuguese merchant in Hamburg, against the heirs of Berendt Dreyer, a mariner of Hamburg, about a commercial transaction to equip the Spanish fleet. 1652.
211-2_T 8 Part 1 and 211-2_T 8 Part 2: Dispute on the payment of a bond concerning the sale of a batch of indigo by Manuel Teixeira, a Portuguese Jewish merchant in Hamburg, to Barthold Beckmann. 1653-1668.
211-2_P 24: Dispute opposing David de Pina, a Portuguese Jewish merchant in Hamburg, and other heirs of Duarte Esteves de Pina against Andreas Schwartz about the payment of a bond amounting to 2,562 riksdalers by Schwartz. 1656-1658.
211-2_G 43: Dispute opposing Jan Goevers, factor in Barbados, then a merchant in Hamburg against Tönnies Schmitt, alias Jacques Ulhoa, a Portuguese Jew in Hamburg, concerning the arrest of a cargo of sugar sent by Goevers, as a former factor of the Dutch merchant Duarte Sonneman from Barbados, and then claimed in part by Ulhoa as the alleged partner of Duarte Sonneman. 1661-1663.
211-2_B 20: Juan Frances Brandon (João Francês Brandão?), a Portuguese Jewish merchant in Hamburg, refused to pay a debt of 1,580 marks from a house purchase due to non-fulfillment by Peter Krueger, also a merchant in Hamburg, of a delivery contract for tobacco and redwood worth 6,000 marks. 1662-1663.
211-2_O 3: Dispute involving Joseph Fidanque, a Portuguese Jew in Hamburg. 1693-1694.
211-2_D 14: Dispute about the power of attorney of Nikolaus Kautholt (Kauthals), a merchant in Amsterdam, who had Dionysius Dierichsen, a Portuguese merchant from Amsterdam, arrested for a debt of 8,759 Flemish pounds in Hamburg. 1613-1620.
211-2_H 48: Appeal of the office of the shipbuilders in Hamburg against Paulo de Milão, a Portuguese Jew in Hamburg. 1629.
211-2_B 102: Refusal to appeal to the High Court in a lawsuit because of a claim of Paul Dierichsen (alias Paulo de Milão), then at Glückstadt, against Otto Brüggemann, attorney of Jacques Budier, both merchants in Hamburg, in the amount of 505 Reichstalers. 1631-1634.
211-2_F 34: Duarte Nunes da Costa (alias Jacob Curiel) is one of the defendants of this case, as an executor of the will of João da Rocha Pinto, whose heiress was Judith de Prado. 1631, 1648-1662.
211-2_D 11: Manuel Rodrigues Isidro complains about the arrest of a consignment of gold and silver due to the claim of a bill of exchange from Duarte Nunes da Costa for 1600 Spanish ducats. 1639-1650
211-2_T 7: Complaint of Diogo Teixeira, a Portuguese merchant in Hamburg against the deputies of the Hamburg Bank. 1639-1673.
211-2_Submission III No. 19: Dispute opposing Manuel Rodrigues, Portuguese merchant in Hamburg, against the heirs of Berendt Dreyer, a mariner of Hamburg, about a commercial transaction to equip the Spanish fleet. 1652.
211-2_T 8 Part 1 and 211-2_T 8 Part 2: Dispute on the payment of a bond concerning the sale of a batch of indigo by Manuel Teixeira, a Portuguese Jewish merchant in Hamburg, to Barthold Beckmann. 1653-1668.
211-2_P 24: Dispute opposing David de Pina, a Portuguese Jewish merchant in Hamburg, and other heirs of Duarte Esteves de Pina against Andreas Schwartz about the payment of a bond amounting to 2,562 riksdalers by Schwartz. 1656-1658.
211-2_G 43: Dispute opposing Jan Goevers, factor in Barbados, then a merchant in Hamburg against Tönnies Schmitt, alias Jacques Ulhoa, a Portuguese Jew in Hamburg, concerning the arrest of a cargo of sugar sent by Goevers, as a former factor of the Dutch merchant Duarte Sonneman from Barbados, and then claimed in part by Ulhoa as the alleged partner of Duarte Sonneman. 1661-1663.
211-2_B 20: Juan Frances Brandon (João Francês Brandão?), a Portuguese Jewish merchant in Hamburg, refused to pay a debt of 1,580 marks from a house purchase due to non-fulfillment by Peter Krueger, also a merchant in Hamburg, of a delivery contract for tobacco and redwood worth 6,000 marks. 1662-1663.
211-2_O 3: Dispute involving Joseph Fidanque, a Portuguese Jew in Hamburg. 1693-1694.
Archival history
After the Reichskammergericht (Imperial Chamber of Justice) was dissolved in 1806, its documentation was taken care of by a commission of the Deutschen Bundesversammlung (German Federal Assembly). On September 4, 1845, the Deutschen Bundesversammlung passed a resolution about the management of the Reichskammergericht archive, determining that it should be distributed to the member states of the German Confederation. The residence of the defendants in each case was the criterion used to distribute the documentation. In the case of disputes between governments of states, they should agree on the whereabouts of the files resulting from such lawsuits. If there was no agreement, the files remained in the "untrennbaren Bestand" (inseparable stock).
The documentation of this fonds was delivered to the city of Hamburg between 1847 and 1852.
The documentation of this fonds was delivered to the city of Hamburg between 1847 and 1852.
Administrative / Biographical history
Reichskammergericht (Imperial Chamber of Justice) was the supreme court of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established by Maximilian I (1459-1519) in 1495 and was dissolved in 1806. The court resided first at Frankfurt, later at Speyer (1527-1689), and finally at Wetzlar.
Contrary to other courts, it did not act as a personal court of the emperor but rather as the empire’s official court. The Chief Justice (who had to be a high aristocrat), the two (later four) presidents of court senates, and a number of judges were directly appointed by the emperor. However, the majority of the court members were selected by the various component states of the empire.
The areas of jurisdiction of the Reichskammergericht were gradually defined by statute and use. It gained responsibility over cases of public peace, arbitrary imprisonment, pleas that concerned the treasury, violations of the emperor’s decrees or laws passed by the Diet, disputes about property between immediate vassals of the empire or the subjects of different rulers, and suits against immediate vassals of the empire—with the exception of criminal charges and matters relating to imperial fiefs, which went to the Aulic Council. The Reichskammergericht also acted as a court of appeal from territorial courts in civil and, to a small extent, criminal cases, except in territories that enjoyed privileges of non-appeal, such as the territories of the electors.
Contrary to other courts, it did not act as a personal court of the emperor but rather as the empire’s official court. The Chief Justice (who had to be a high aristocrat), the two (later four) presidents of court senates, and a number of judges were directly appointed by the emperor. However, the majority of the court members were selected by the various component states of the empire.
The areas of jurisdiction of the Reichskammergericht were gradually defined by statute and use. It gained responsibility over cases of public peace, arbitrary imprisonment, pleas that concerned the treasury, violations of the emperor’s decrees or laws passed by the Diet, disputes about property between immediate vassals of the empire or the subjects of different rulers, and suits against immediate vassals of the empire—with the exception of criminal charges and matters relating to imperial fiefs, which went to the Aulic Council. The Reichskammergericht also acted as a court of appeal from territorial courts in civil and, to a small extent, criminal cases, except in territories that enjoyed privileges of non-appeal, such as the territories of the electors.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The fonds is organised alphabetically.
Access, restrictions
Some of the documentation is microfilmed:
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Kevin Soares, 2022
Linked resources
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| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Staatsarchiv Hamburg | Collections (official language of the state) |