- Propination laws
Propination laws were a privilege granted to Polish
szlachta that gave landowners a monopoly over profits from alcohol drank by peasants they owned. In many cases, profits from propination exceeded those from agricultural production or other sources.These laws usually included:
* peasants were not allowed to purchase any alcohol not produced in their owner's distillery
* alternatively, they could be allowed to brew their own drinks but had to pay a fee according to the amount produced
* peasants had to buy at least a given quota ofvodka orokovita . Those who didn't comply had the remaining amount dumped in front of their houses and had to pay the costs.These laws first appeared in the 16th and were wide-spread by the 17th century. They lasted until 1845 (
Prussian Partition ), 1889 (Galicia) and 1898 (Russian Partition ).Propination was the main cause for massive
alcoholism in Poland; also, because taverns in rural region were leased nearly exclusively byJews who took part in enforcing these privileges (being banned from most other occupations), it was also a major reason foranti-semitism among peasants.
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