The municipal legal system of the 12th century, originating in Magdeburg, extended far into Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. A town upon which the Magdeburg Law had been conferred withdrew from the previously valid territorial law and obtained its own municipal constitution. Depending on whether or not this legal system was also valid for Jews, it promoted either their civic inclusion or exclusion. Moreover, it was significant for the degree of Jewish autonomy. With the division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the validity of the Magd…