Mining law of Despot Stefan Lazarević
Ley minera del déspota Stefan Lazarević
- Date
- 1412 · confidence medium
- Place
- Novo Brdo, Kosovo
- Credited to
- Despot Stefan Lazarević
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
A code regulating the exploitation of Serbia's silver and gold mines: miners' rights, taxes, work organisation and courts. The Novo Brdo mines were among the richest on the continent.
It was promulgated in 1412 for the Despot's Serbia (the place of promulgation is not certain); Novo Brdo was the chief mining centre. The text survives in later copies.
What it led to
- silver output that sustained Serbian finances and the trade with Ragusa
- a Saxon mining colony and the use of central European mining techniques