Raw Materials, Innovation, Technology of Ancient Cultures – RITaK / „Das synt gemeyne bergrecht…“

Between the 12th and 14th centuries, many legal texts concerned with mining were emerged in the different mining districts of central Europe. In one of the most important medieval mining areas of modern-day Germany, the Ore Mountains, silver mining is first attested in the 12th century. From the 13th century there are direct and indirect references to mining regulations from Freiberg. The Freiberg mining laws in their two versions [A and B] have been preserved as 14th century and later copies. The present volume provides the first translation of the Middle High German text, following the edition of the late 19th century archivist and legal historian Hubert Emisch. A detailed analysis of the contents, presented thematically, and the comparison to information gleaned from mining archaeology, show that these legal texts were indeed very practice-oriented, as has been repeatedly claimed. In addition, dynamic processes in mining organisation and in the technological procedures are observable in connection with the development of the mining regulations. A synthesis of the general history of mining law from the 12th to the 14th centuries provides the starting point for situating the Freiberg mining laws in their inter-regional context and reflects the current state of research.