Collection of predominantly handwritten copies of documents, dated 1591-1821, in many different hands, related to the governance of territories derived from the medieval duchy (Herzogtum) of Braunschweig-Lüneburg (Brunswick-Lüneburg). A series of loose documents (Box 1) and a bound volume (Box 2) pertain to the Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel division of the duchy, or Fürstentum (Principality) Wolfenbüttel. Another bound volume (Box 3; items dated 1591-1752) pertains to the Braunschweig-Lüneburg division, or Fürstentum Lüneburg. Both fall within today's German federal state of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony). The loose items, dating from 1647 to 1793 (possibly contemporary copies), are ordered chronologically under names of rulers, with most being decrees or regulations (Edict, Verordnung, rescriptum, constitutio, Ausschreiben). Diverse topics include: pollution of streets and rivers; taxation, tithes, and duties; scarcity of corn; inheritance; coinage; monasteries; fire insurance or prevention; inventory of cattle; importation or brewing of beer; marriage; discharge of soldiers; Jews; beggars; guardianship; prohibition against officials accepting gifts; illegitimate children; bankruptcy; prevention of cattle disease (Vieh-Seuche); care of the poor; price of grain; games of chance; mourning at court (Hof-Trauer Reglement); surgeons; censorship; gluttony; forests; and guns. A regulation for stone masons (Mauer) is accompanied by 2 copies of the printed decree (Folder 8). Items of a local nature include: an item about a bill of exchange (Wechsel) held by Christoph Isenbart (Folder 8); 3 items from the office (Amt) Lutter am Barenberge (regulations on salt works; report about regulations on grinding flour having been read to the town's bakers, millers) (Folder 16); a draft responding to a request for land surveys of Seesen and Bornhausen (Folder 16); 3 items by officials of Helmstedt (Christoph Isenbart, Joachim Diedrich Lichtenstein, Georg Wilhelm Wettberg) (Folder 10); and a petition from a Jewish woman requesting permission to marry (Jura Stolae der Juden, wenn dieselben sich verheirathen; Folder 10). 1 item is an excerpt from a financial agreement between Braunschweig-Lüneburg and Anhalt-Zerbst (Folder 15). Documents in the related bound volume, dating from 1603 to 1722, include ordinances on schools, hospitals, and hunting; a chart of duties on goods (Zoll Rolle); letters of privileges (Innungs Brieff; Gilde Brieff) to guilds of carpenters and of ropemakers; and a chart relating grain prices to the baking of types of breads. A table of contents is included (p. 371-372). The only item dated after 1793 is a booklet (Folder 17) of instructions for the local government official (Anweisung für die Orts-Vorsteher), dated 1821, without apparent place references. Similarly unspecifiable is an undated item on the dangers of swearing a false oath (Meyneid) (Folder 18).
