The Right of the Bailiff from Třebušice

Exhibit of the Month 1 / 2022

The Right of the Bailiff from Třebušice

The so-called right of the bailiff served as a badge or symbol of the bailiff. Its use spread particularly in the early modern period, and the bailiff used it, for example, to initiate meetings, wore it on ceremonial occasions, and also used it in the exercise of his other powers.

The bailiff in a village or town performed a function similar to that of a mayor. Generally, his duties included the exercise of lower judiciary in the town or village, administrative functions, representing the community to the outside, and often he was also a representative of the nobility, ensuring compliance with obligations and orders and collecting taxes, fees, and interests. From the end of the high Middle Ages, his powers gradually shifted more into the area of police in towns, while the administrative functions were performed by the burgrave with the help of councilors. In royal towns, the bailiff was de facto a direct representative of the monarch, often balancing the influence of the town council led by the burgrave. In the rural environment, the bailiff remained the head of the community even in modern times and mostly represented the interests of the nobility.

In the collections of the Regional Museum and Gallery in Most, we find a nice collection of bailiff rights from the Most region. Many of them, however, were previously attributed to incorrect municipalities. An example is the presented exhibit, which was for years associated with Dolní Jiřetín. In reality, it comes from Třebušice. Thanks to the diligent search of our staff, its true origin has been uncovered. The exhibit was donated to the collections of the old museum on November 15, 1891, by Anton Dienelt, the head of the municipality of Třebušice and "owner of the farm." The right is carved and partially turned from a single piece of wood and, like those from other municipalities in the Most region, depicts a forearm with a hand clenched in a fist. It can be said with some exaggeration that in appearance it is distantly similar to the Hussite mace, which is also symbolically associated with the famous military leader Jan Žižka.

Text: Michal Soukup