of the gates to collect one log, a truss of hay or a straw bundleat the entrance to the city
from each cart or sledwith firewood, hay and straw [7, p. 313
–316].
The Sigismund II Augustus’s administration, like of his predecessors, continued
the policy of finding new sources and opportunities for the restoration of urban
fortifications. Sigismund II Augustus grantedmunicipal councilors of the city of Lviv
the right in 1555 to use the legacy of Lviv burghers who died without heirs to rebuild
the city fortifications. The king explained that step by saying that "the inhabitants are
in need of expenditures to build new city fortifications and to restore and renew the old
ones that are worn out" [7, p. 345]. So, the king directly pointed to the unsatisfactory
state of fortifications as of the middle of the 16
th
century.
With his privilege of April 9, 1565, Sigismund II directed a quarter of the profits
from the szos to the needs of the city and the renewal of its fortifications, the rest of
the amount had to come annually to the Royal Treasure [7, p. 360
–362]. In general,
Sigismund II Augustus, in comparison with his predecessors, granted the smallest
number of privileges that would contribute to the establishment of the city's defense
capability, restoration and construction of new fortifications. All these indicate that the
construction of new fortifications during the reign of Sigismund II Augustus
discontinued, and the restoration of an already existing defense complex was neglected.
Many king’s privileges are the proof of the privileges granted by his predecessors.
Thus, by a decree of May 28, 1569 Sigismund II August preserved the privilege of
Władysław III for the Lviv burghers, who exempted them from all sorts of payment for
the supplies, despite the fact that according to one of the Sejm constitutions such
privileges for all the cities of the Commonwealth have already been abolished. In his
decree, the king emphasized that "since the city of Lviv is situated near the borders of
the Kingdom and is therefore at risk from enemies and frequent attacks, for the
prevention and repression of which, as expected, much money and expense are
required" [7, p. 365
–367]. Interestingly, the grounds for granting the privilege were the
vicissitudes caused by the judicial prevarication between the burghers and the royal
administration, which demanded the payment of tax on supplies for as long as three
years – so much time passed since exemption from its payment was cancelled. The
king, in order to preserve the loyalty of the townspeople, decided to exempt them from
both future payments and payment of the amount owed.
Already in the end of his reign, Sigismund II Augustusgrantedthe privilegeto the
city in 1571, according to which he gave czopowe for six years to Lviv in order to use
the proceeds from this tax to rebuild the towers, military guns and other fortifications
destroyed by fire [7, p. 368
–367]. The reason for granting the privilege was the fire
that arose in Lviv in 1571 and destroyed the eastern part of the city center together with
the Assumption Church [16, p. 194]. As stated in the privilege, city fortifications
particularly suffered from the fire. For the same reason, the king gave the townsmen a
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