Ius regale montanorum I Lore Books

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An abridged copy of the Royal Mining Law on the people in the mines.

Text

Ius regale montanorum I

On the People in the Silver Mines
All the people in the silver ore mining industry are divided into four groups according to their responsibilities. Among the primary persons we count the chief clerks, the “Urburers” (who oversee the royal share) and the mint masters, as well as the sworn burghers, judges and the Bergmeisters, who all have judicial powers. We may include the scribes of the appointed “Urbura” officials.
Other people are the lower mining clerks, i.e. the stewards, surveyors, joiners and watchmen, who conduct supervision in the mines.
And a third group, by which we mean the miners, namely, the primary miners, the secondary miners, and the “Lehenhauers” or “querks”, who are chiefly to bear the profit and loss in the extraction of silver.
And lastly, the fourth group, which are all the other persons under the direction of the querks, of whom details are given elsewhere.

On the Urburers and Administrators
The Urburers are appointed according to the Urbura they are in charge of. They are to act with reason, which is to be their virtue, for reason will guide them in the right way, so that they may not go astray. Urburers are to observe the customs and treat their inferiors neither too mildly nor too harshly, lest they diminish their authority or cause too much distress to their inferiorss. By the will of the king, his officials are to cling to the liberty which they are to preserve for the inferiors, since they themselves also demand it from the superiors. Lastly, the king commands that the inferiors should honour and obey their superiors, and not rebel against them, but always obey this law.

On the Post of the Climbers and Revisors
The revisors or climbers have the duties of crawling through the mines day and night and, if necessary, repairing everything there. If they find new leasings or excavations anywhere, they are obliged to report them to the Bergmeisters or guards of the place in order to ensure that they are leased as quickly as possible. Should this fail to happen, the revisors may, with the consent of the Urburers, take lease of it themselves at the highest possible price and for the shortest possible time.
Climbers or Revisors are appointed by the Urburers and it is to them that they make their oath. There are to be only two in the mine at any time, so that they may serve day and night, and only if the workings are extended in width or depth may they ask for two new good climbers to assist them in their work. This is meant by the good will of the King to be at the expense of the mine owners, who hire the revisors out of their share of the mining profits, and it is their responsibility to select them in view of the hardship and constant hard work they have to do in the mines.

On the Office of Surveyors
The office of surveyors was introduced to end boundary disputes. All boundary disputes are to be heard by the Revisors except for cases to be heard by the Mine Surveyor. This is the case where a new vein of ore could be found by a stranger in the rising or lying side of some mountain, and there would be doubt whether it lay in the free field, that is, outside the mine already measured, or within the established mine measure. In such a case, the disputants are to unanimously elect three wise men and one urburer as the fourth. These four, after taking the oath, shall begin to measure. The actual measuring is done by means of a cord and, if necessary, a passage is dug between the two veins. Finally, they will render a verdict according to the truth ascertained or settle the dispute amicably. Either way, what they lay down must be observed. During the measurement, the mined ore is deposited with a third party, who then releases the ore to the victorious party after the dispute is settled.

On the Ore Distributors
It is the duty of the ore distributors to divide the ore from one pile into specified portions, which they are then to deliver to the various parties. First they separate 1/8 as the share or royal portion, then 1/9 for the mine smiths, 1/16 for the leases, and divide the remainder into 4 parts, that is, according to the shifts that did the mining.
In the case where they do not have to pay 1/16 for the leases, this remainder of the ore is divided equally between the shifts. The place and time of the division of the ore is to be such that no one can miss it. If any one should violate this law, he shall be immediately dismissed with disgrace, and another shall be put in his place who shall observe it.