THE VICISSITUDES OF URBAN LIFE 231for their perpetual re-election. Every year, the twelve retiring members of the
Ruling Council exchanged places with the twelve returning members of the
Alternative Council, who could then be counted on to return the compliment
twelve months later; and so on, ad infinitum. Despite a ruling in the royal courts
which prevented the abolition of formal elections, the councillors invariably
filled vacancies within their own ranks or on the Magistrates' Bench with can-
didates of their own choosing. On this score, the Group of Forty was quite pow-
erless. The commoners could not hope to dismantle the oligarchy. Rather, by
supervising its legislation and holding its purse-strings, they could only hope to
trim its worst excesses.^7
In Danzig, where there were two distinct cities and corporations, the provisions
for communal government were still more elaborate. As in Cracow, the citizen
commoners had evolved an organ in the form of the 'Hundred Men' whereby they
supervised the conduct of the executive offices. Here, since German was the sole
language of government, all Danzig's institutions - from the Stadtrat (City
Council) to the Ratsherrn (Councillors), the Schoppenherrn (Magistrates), and
the Richter (Judge) - possessed exclusively German names. An account of the
government and finances of Danzig is to be found in the papers of John
Sanderson, who served as British consul there in the late seventeenth century:
A short Account of the Present Estate ofDantzig. 1675
Danzig is divided into two parts: viz: the altStadt and the Rechtstadt or the old and the
Right Towne each haveing its distinct magistrates and Senate House. The magistrates of
the old towne are; 5 Senators or Rahts-Herrn; and 12 Schoppen-Herrn alias Scabini. One
of the Senators is yearely Praesedent, whch they call wortfuhrender Heir, or Speaker: and
an other is Richter or Judge: wch offices are by these 5 executed alternately. The
Schoppen or Scabinate do iudge all Criminal causes and some civil ones...
The magistrates of the Right towne are divided into 3 Orders, viz: the Senate, the
Schoppen, and the Common councell, called the '100' men. The Senate, consists of 4
burgermasters and 14 Rahts-herrn or Senators wch togeth wth one senator from the old
towne (who comes alwayes to their Session) is the higheste magistracie, having the Rule
of whatsoever concernes the whole Citie in Generall, & the executive power of all their
lawes, not onely Civil but alsoe ecclesiasticall, they haveing by a Priveledg from King
Casimirus & Stephanus ius episcopate over all the churches in their territories: which are
10 within the walls, 3 in the Suburbs & 10 or 11 more in those villadges under the
Towne's iurisdiction, onely the Romane Catholicque Churches are excepted, wch are
two belonging to the Dominican & Carmelite frei jers & one to the Nunns of St. Brigitta's
Order, all three being within the walls.
One of the 4 burgomasters is yearely Praesident, et an other Vice-Praesedent, wch
offices they all execute by turnes, as for example Buergermaster Krumhausen is now
Praesedent, and van Bummeln vice-Praesedent. The next yeare he thats now vice-
praesedent must bee Praesedent, & van Bodecker vice-praesedent who is to bee suc-
ceeded by Burgermeister von der Lind....
The Senate doth yearely chuse a Richter or Judge wch must bee a Senator,... to which
belongs all contraversies concerning matters of debt, wch when he hath determined
either partie may appeale to the Senate, from whence they may alsoe appeale to the King