late medieval wills in southwest german imperial towns The will of Walburga Schmid of Diessen, a resident of Ulm, disposed of her properties on 11 June 1481 in the form of a deed witnessed and sealed by the judges of Ulm.47 Shortly afterwards, she decided on her estate, the payment of her funeral costs, and the distribution of the remaining sum in the form of a notarial instrument, in which the judges were named as witnesses and sealed it.48 In this way, the form of the notarization was adapted to the legal requirements of the respective legal transactions. Extensive wills could also be drawn up in the form of a libellus, i.e. a parchment booklet consisting of several double leaves. In such a case, the sealing was done through the center fold of the layer, so that not only the binding threads but also the sealing held the booklet together.49 If several parties were affected by the will, several copies of the will with the same wording were distributed to the various parties.50 In addition to wills secured by documentary forms, there were unofficial handwritten wills. In some cases, we learn from the documentary records that such handwritten wills were brought by the testator when public documents were drawn up and read out in front of witnesses, and then composed into a public instrument.51 The Ulm holdings contain several such wills, probably written in the testator’s own hand, in both Latin and German. The will of Konrad Kraft, the pastor of Ulm, is constructed in individual articles like an inventory. At its beginning, reference is made to the fact that the will was written by the priest’s own hand, and in case of non-observance, the offender is threatened with condemnation. At the end, there is another clause which, should the form not satisfy the legal requirements, emphasizes the inviolability of the will, 47 Stadtarchiv Ulm A Urk. 2611, Digitalization and regest at https://www.stadtarchiv-ulm. findbuch.net/php/main.php#412055726b2ex4135. 48 Stadtarchiv Ulm A Urk. 2491, Digitalization and regest at https://www.stadtarchiv-ulm. findbuch.net/php/main.php?ar_id=3766#412055726b2ex4023. 49 Stadtarchiv Reutlingen A 3 Nr. 359. 50 Stadtarchiv Reutlingen, A 2 Nr. 1088; the passage is not mentioned in the regest Deigendesch et al., eds (2023) Nr. 370 p. 274. 51 Stadtarchiv Ulm A Urk. 2188, Digitalization and regest at https://www.stadtarchiv-ulm. findbuch.net/php/main.php?ar_id=3766#412055726b2ex3720; Deigendesch et al., eds (2023) Nr. 668 p. 510; Stadtarchiv Reutlingen A 2 U 818 and A 3 U 151. Cf. on this phenomenon Szende 2001. 30
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