Dwa przekazy źródłowe dotyczące testamentów z terenu władztwa zakonu krzyżackiego w Prusach (podszpitalnika w Pasłęku z 1453 r. i prokuratora w Lochstädt z około 1476 r.)

The study includes an edition of two source texts from the Secret State Archives Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in Berlin‑Dahlem (Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz) regarding the wills and testaments of a spitler in Pasłęk Hans Osterreich from 1453 and a pfleger in Lochstädt Hans von Köckeritz from around 1476. Unfortunately, preserved source texts of this type are sparse. This is why historians’ research into last wills is focused mainly on wills and testaments drawn up by townspeople. Both texts illustrate both the very procedurę of drawing up a will and testament by people appointed by the Teutonic Order, which required the approval of the Grand Master (the spitler), as well as specific information about the personal assets of the Order’s officials and their social environment (the pfleger). Because of this they could be important for further research into the functioning of the lower offices of the Order and the changes in the way of enforcing the principles of the possession and management of personal property by people serving these functions.