THE MINERS' UPRISING IN JÁCHYMOV IN 1525
INTRODUCTION
At the beginning of the 16th century, an extraordinary economic transformation was taking place on the Czech side of the Ore Mountains. The discovery of rich silver deposits near the former settlement of Konradsgrün brought thousands of people to the local valley and within a few years created one of the most important mining centers in Central Europe. The place, which had approximately 1,050 inhabitants in 1516, grew rapidly. In 1520, nearly 5,000 people lived there, and five years later approximately 13,400 inhabitants. Jáchymov thus became the second most populous city in the Kingdom of Bohemia after Prague at that time. It reached its peak around 1533, when the population is estimated at 18,000.
On January 6, 1520, Czech King Louis Jagellon elevated Jáchymov to a free mining town. The noble family of Schlick played a crucial role in its development, especially the founder of the town Stephan Schlick and his brothers, who gained a decisive position in local mining business. The Schlicks supported silver mining, organized the mining administration, and developed coinage. Large silver coins minted in Jáchymov from 1520 onwards on the basis of a privilege granted by the Czech Diet and the king became famous as the Joachimsthalers. It was from the German designation Joachimsthaler that the name thaler was later derived, which was also reflected in the English word dollar through other monetary traditions.
Jáchymov's wealth was not solely the result of found silver. Mining required substantial investment, mining technology, drainage, ventilation, ore transport, metallurgical processing, and the organization of a large workforce. Individual miners as well as companies pooling the capital of several shareholders entered the enterprise. Nobles and merchants from distant cities, including Saxony, Leipzig, Nuremberg, Cologne, Basel, and St. Gallen, were interested in mining shares.
Thus, Jáchymov was not an isolated mountain settlement whose fate depended solely on local conditions. It became part of a broader economic network in which the interests of miners, merchants, financiers, mint masters, andseigneurial authorities clashed. The silver mined in the Ore Mountains, after processing and potential minting into coins, entered trade that crossed the borders of the Czech lands.
However, problems were hidden behind the rapid economic rise. The owners of mining shares, the Counts Schlick and their officials, gained a decisive position. At the same time, the miners, upon whose work mining and subsequent production depended, had to rely on the rules of mining enterprise being respected and the persons responsible for mine administration acting honestly.
It was precisely the relationship between the miners' community and the mine administration that became one of the greatest problems of the young town. The miners organized themselves into a miners' brotherhood, referred to in German as Knappschaft, and were thus able to act collectively. This was not a modern labor union in today's sense, but an institution that formed the basis of collective bargaining for miners and allowed them to defend their common interests.
Conflicts did not appear only in 1525. Jáchymov miners had already repeatedly protested in previous years against the way their work and rights were managed. They tried to use collective work refusals, left the town, or gathered outside its walls. In 1525, however, the existing disputes turned into a widespread uprising that fundamentally disrupted the operation of the entire mining center for several days.
The event took place concurrently with the German Peasants' War, which affected large parts of the Holy Roman Empire between 1524 and 1526. Social unrest also spread across Saxony and the Ore Mountains. Therefore, the Jáchymov uprising cannot be separated from the period's atmosphere of resistance against seigneurial interference. At the same time, however, it would be a mistake to consider it merely a local offshoot of the Peasants' War. Jáchymov miners had their own demands, and their conflict stemmed primarily from the conditions within the local mining administration.
CAUSES
The causes of the uprising had been forming for several years. Jáchymov's economic growth created an environment in which the interests of the Counts Schlick, mining shareholders, the town council, mining officials, and miners collided. Individual groups did not have equal opportunities to influence decisions regarding mine operations or the distribution of their yields.
Previous Mining Riots
The first major clash between miners and the mining administration likely took place as early as 1517. However, older chronicler tradition placed the event in 1518. Historical sources thus do not provide entirely uniform dating.
At that time, the miners left Jáchymov and went to Buchholz in Saxony. The departure of workers posed a serious threat to the mine owners. Mining operations required regular maintenance and the work of a large number of people. The interruption of mining could mean loss of income, bring technical complications, and threaten the further functioning of mining works.
The dispute led to the issuance of the first Jáchymov mining ordinance regulation. On August 2, 1518, the Schlicks promulgated a mining ordinance based on the mining law used in Annaberg, Saxony. This was not merely a set of orders for hewers, but rules regulating the functioning of mining, the powers of officials, and the economic relations among individual participants in the mining business.
The ability to invoke the mining ordinance was of crucial importance in subsequent disputes. The miners did not act as a group rejecting all seigneurial authority. On the contrary, they invoked rights and rules that had been previously established. The essence of their dissatisfaction was the fact that existing provisions were not, in their belief, consistently observed.
Another dispute broke out in 1519–1520. The miners objected to Saturday shifts because they prevented them from participating in the weekly market, where they supplied themselves with food and other necessities. Through an agreement, a new uprising was prevented, and Saturday shifts were banned. Simultaneously, however, double shifts that allowed miners to increase their earnings were also restricted.
This case shows that relations between the miners' community and the authorities were more complex than a mere clash between employer and employee. Solving one problem could lead to a compromise that simultaneously restricted another option that was economically advantageous for the workers.
According to surviving records, on July 25, 1521, six persons suspected of preparing another uprising were arrested. In 1523, the miners rebelled again, this time gathering on Turkey Hill (Türknerberg), north of the town. The exact course of the termination of this conflict could not be reliably reconstructed. However, what is clear is that neither previous agreements nor the issuance of the mining ordinance eliminated the deeper causes of tension.
Miners' Status and Incomes
When explaining the uprising, it is important not to succumb to the notion that all its participants were people living in absolute poverty and that their sole goal was a wage increase.
Most workers in 16th-century Ore Mountain mining were employed for a predetermined remuneration. Alongside qualified hewers who extracted ore, the mines also employed auxiliary workers operating windlasses and other equipment, young miners, and people performing subsequent work. Their working status, expertise, and income levels were not identical.
The Jáchymov mining ordinance of 1518 set the remuneration for a qualified hewer at twelve white groschen for a full shift. With a five-day work week, this amounted to a nominal earning of sixty white groschen. Compared to some other districts of the Ore Mountains, Jáchymov wages were relatively high.
However, these data do not automatically reflect the miner's actual purchasing power. Knowing the nominal remuneration but only a limited amount of period price data makes it impossible to precisely determine what quantity of food, fuel, clothing, and other necessities a worker could purchase with their money. Furthermore, the income of a qualified miner cannot be confused with the incomes of all persons employed in mining.
The town was located in an area with unfavorable conditions for agricultural production, and the growing population was dependent on food imports. The rapid influx of people thus increased pressure on provisioning and contributed to price fluctuations. Economic problems undoubtedly belonged to the broader background of the unrest, but by themselves they do not explain its specific program.
Also decisive was the miners' community's fear that the abuse of official powers and insufficient control over management threatened their position. If people who could simultaneously benefit from their own position decided on ore weighing, mandatory payments, mining yields, and other matters, room was created for disputes, distrust, and suspicions of corruption.
Corruption in the Mining Administration
The case of Peter Hettersberger, who served as the collector of the mining tithe in Jáchymov from 1519, played a significant role in the growing tension. His function placed him in an important position within the mining administration system. The mining tithe and related financial operations represented a substantial part of the district's economic management.
Regulations limited the possibility for mining officials to derive personal profit from the mining business. However, Hettersberger held shares in profitable mines and was involved in extensive embezzlements. Surviving calculations of damages state an amount of 36,000 guilders. According to another figure, his property was still estimated at 14,000 guilders in 1523.
What was serious was not only the suspicion of embezzlement itself, but also the realization of how difficult it is to control an official who stands simultaneously on the side of administration and economic interests associated with the mining business. Although the case was addressed, conditions in the mining administration did not fundamentally change.
Thus, the miners gained the impression that the problem lay not only with individual offenders, but with the very way official functions were filled and controlled. Therefore, their demands later focused on the possibility of appointing their own people to certain control and accounting functions and gaining a share in negotiations regarding the administration of the mines.
Silver, Coins, and the Economic Interests of the Miners' Community
Jáchymov held a special status in that it was not only a place of silver mining, but also an important center for its processing and coin minting. Silver was transformed here into a tradable commodity, and part of the precious metal entered circulation in the form of thalers, which were significant even beyond the borders of the Czech lands.
At the same time, the miners pointed out the contradiction between the wealth of the district and the monetary conditions of the town itself. While silver and large coins left through merchants to other regions, local residents might face difficulties with provisioning and an adequate supply of quality currency.
This problem was captured in the third and fourth articles of later reconstructions of the seventeen articles. The miners demanded restrictions on the export of silver and coins, because in their view it contributed to a shortage of money in Jáchymov and rising prices. Their demands thus went beyond immediate mining operations and touched upon the broader economic life of the town.
The removal of precious metal naturally had its economic reasons. Merchants used silver in long-distance transactions, and its movement corresponded to the functioning of the monetary and credit system of the time. From the perspective of the miners' community, however, a problem arose if the wealth created by local labor did not also lead to a sufficient amount of quality money for the local market.
This contradiction is important for understanding the uprising. The miners addressed not only the relationship between wages and working hours, but also how mining revenues were distributed in the economy, who decided on financial flows, and what consequences the management method had for the town's inhabitants.
Religious Dimension and the Influence of the Lutheran Reformation
The religious development in the region was also an important foundation of the dispute. The events of 1525 in Jáchymov were noticeably influenced by the spread of the Lutheran Reformation. Miners coming from the Saxon environment brought with them Lutheran ideas that emphasized justice, the moral responsibility of the authorities, and the demand for the free preaching of the Word of God and the election of their own clergy.
Evangelical preachers played an important role on the eve of and during the unrest. Significant figures included Johann Bindemann, Johannes Sylvius Egranus (real name Johann Wildenauer), and the Lutheran theologian Johann Schlaginhaufen (a pupil of Martin Luther). Their sermons appealed to the broad miners' community and shaped an atmosphere in which resistance against injustice and the abuse of official power also became a question of Christian morality.
Immediate Context of 1525
In the spring of 1525, unrest also hit Saxony and other parts of the Ore Mountains. The Peasants' War was underway in the German lands, with participants opposing seigneurial duties, administrative conditions, and certain ecclesiastical and social institutions. Unrest is also documented in Geyer, Buchholz, and Marienberg.
In Jáchymov, the situation began to escalate as early as the end of April. The mentioned preachers Johann Bindemann and Johann Schlaginhaufen tried to calm the miners, but unresolved problems in the mining administration remained.
One of the immediate circumstances that helped trigger the uprising is considered to be the departure of Counts Lorenz and Albrecht Schlick with forty horsemen on May 16, 1525. They headed to help Saxon Duke George the Bearded in the fight against the insurgents. The main leader of the family, Stephan Schlick, was also bound by military duties outside the town. The departure of some Schlick representatives affected the situation in the town precisely at a time when tension was reaching its peak.
However, the entire outbreak of the uprising cannot be explained by a single immediate stimulus. Corruption cases, disputes over the mining ordinance, and repeated protests had already existed before. The spring events of 1525 created a broader context in which long-term local tension could grow into open resistance.
COURSE OF EVENTS
The decisive action by the miners began on Saturday, May 20, 1525, at the Bread Market (Brotmarkt). Approximately three people gathered there. Saturday was an important day not only because of the weekly market, but also because in mining operations it represented part of the regular work regime.
The gathering quickly turned into an open revolt. The insurgents attacked the town hall and the house of mining captain Heinrich von Könneritz. They destroyed or scattered official registries, documents, and other paperwork. Könneritz managed to escape, while burgomaster Jobst Schober was captured and imprisoned in a mining work.
The attack on the documents was of fundamental importance. Official books were a tool by which the town and mining administration recorded legal obligations, management, and various duties. Action against them was therefore not merely an expression of anger toward officials. The insurgents sought to eliminate records that, based on their experience, could serve to enforce claims and powers they considered unfair.
The destruction of some town and mining documents is simultaneously significant for today's understanding of the uprising. The preserved picture of events is incomplete, and some details have been preserved only through other written records and later historical processing. Precisely for this reason, every single item of the miners' original demands cannot be unconditionally reconstructed.
Subsequently, the insurgents also seized Freudenstein Castle, which the Schlicks had built above the town. The castle had strategic importance for the protection of the mining area and represented one of the centers of seigneurial administration. Its occupation and ransacking meant that the rebels managed to control not only the town hall and part of the municipal administration, but also an important power point above Jáchymov.
This rapid success represented a fundamental turning point. Originally a local protest, it grew into a situation where the authorities could not rely on the normal operation of administrative institutions. The insurgents controlled the town and tried to consolidate their position. They blocked access roads and restricted communication with the surroundings to prevent a rapid reaction by opponents.
The number of participants increased in the following days. Estimates of the overall scale of the movement range from more than ten thousand to approximately eighteen thousand people. However, it is necessary to distinguish between the Jáchymov miners themselves and other participants or supporters. Residents of the surroundings and the rural population also joined the events, a part of which formed its own camp near the town. Exact numbers cannot be understood as the result of a reliable census of everyone present.
The miners tried to gain support in other mining centers on the Saxon side of the Ore Mountains as well. They sent messengers to neighboring towns and sought to expand their movement. However, the results were limited. A general uprising connecting most mining districts could not be provoked from the wider surroundings.
Jáchymov miner Thomas Seidel played a significant role. He negotiated with the elders of the Annaberg miners' brotherhood regarding the delivery of five hundred pikes, two centners of gunpowder, and several firearms. Willingness among some free journeymen in Annaberg to join the uprising appeared, but broader support remained limited. This very fact significantly restricted the possibility of expanding the conflict to other mining towns.
Radical organizers of the broader Ore Mountain and Vogtland unrest, Wolf Göftel and Andreas Cosener, also came to Jáchymov. Göftel had previously operated among insurgent miners and peasants and participated in forging alliances between individual groups. Cosener cooperated with him in gaining further support.
However, their arrival cannot be confused with the origin of the Jáchymov uprising itself. Local conflicts had existed for several years before their involvement. Göftel and Cosener strove primarily to expand ongoing unrest to other areas and to connect the miners' action with the broader insurgent movement.
The attempt at a general uprising ultimately failed. Neighboring mining centers did not provide support on the necessary scale, and the Schlicks gained time to organize resistance. Thus, the crucial question ceased to be merely whether the miners could control their own town, but also whether they would maintain this control against the armed force of the authorities.
Disruption of Mining and Minting Operations
The uprising also had consequences for the operation of Jáchymov's economy itself. The interruption of work in the mines disrupted the supply of new ore and affected operations directly linked to mining. Jáchymov was not merely a place where silver was extracted. Smelters and the mint, where the precious metal was turned into a tradable coin, were also part of the local economic system.
During the main phase of the uprising, mining was paralyzed and the operation of the mint was disrupted. Historical overviews also mention a temporary halt to the minting of Jáchymov thalers. However, the exact duration of this outage cannot be unconditionally determined because some texts feature a time interval tied to a different dating of the uprising's beginning.
The significance of such an interruption was greater than the mere loss of a few working days. Mining operations, metallurgical processing, and minting formed an interconnected system. If mining stopped, the supply of raw material to subsequent operations dropped. If processing or minting was restricted, planned deliveries of silver and coins could not take place on the usual scale.
The uprising thus affected an economy upon whose operation not only the incomes of the authorities and shareholders depended, but also merchants and financiers connected with the Jáchymov district. This very economic interconnection explains why it was in the interest of both parties to resume operations and prevent further disruption of mining.
NEGOTIATIONS
The Schlicks prepared militarily against the insurgents. According to surviving overviews, they gathered approximately 2,500 to 3,000 armed men. Opposing them was a large group of insurgents who controlled Jáchymov and its important administrative points.
A potential military clash could have serious consequences for both sides. The Schlicks depended on the yields of the mines and could not overlook the risk of further paralyzing mining production. The insurgents, on the other hand, had no certainty that they would manage to hold the town against a well-organized armed force, especially when they failed to gain sufficient support from other mining districts.
Therefore, alongside military preparations, negotiations were also initiated. The first intermediary on the Schlick side was Alexander von Leisnig. Subsequently, representatives and experts from several mining towns joined the negotiations in an attempt to find a solution to the conflict.
Town secretary Master Anton Römhilt, administrator and master miner Urban Osan, and master miner Hans Röhling arrived from Annaberg. Smelter master and mint master Hans Hausmann and shift master Ulrich Grösgen arrived from Freiberg. Their participation was also important because they represented experience with the functioning of other major mining centers.
Appearing on the Schlick side, among others, were Jan Pluh of Rabštejn, Rudolf von Bünau, Apel IV Vitzthum, and pastor Jobst Thusel of Falknov. The miners' community was represented by Erhard Gladitz, Hans Lederer, and Gregor Hacker. The spokesperson for the miners' side was Master Philipp Rosenecker, who had experience with negotiations during peasant unrest in Vogtland.
The composition of the negotiating groups shows that the conflict was not resolved merely by an improvised agreement between the authorities and a crowd in the square. Those involved dealt with concrete economic, legal, and administrative issues. Negotiations therefore required knowledge of mining law as well as operational conditions in mines and smelters.
The Seventeen Articles of the Miners' Community
The basis of the negotiations was a list of seventeen articles of demands that the Jáchymov miners submitted to the authorities. Their significance lies primarily in showing what the miners' community truly wanted to change.
Above all, it must be emphasized that in the preserved reconstruction of demands, we do not find programmatic requests for wage increases or a blanket shortening of working hours. The main goal was not a general transformation of the social order. The miners wanted compliance with their mining rights and greater control over management and the performance of official functions.
The first article concerned compliance with mining freedom and rights that stemmed from the existing mining ordinance. Mining freedom did not mean unlimited independence for the miners or their right to operate mines without any rules. It designated a set of special rights and provisions under which mining was supposed to function.
The third and fourth articles were directed against the export of silver and coins. The miners linked the outflow of precious metal and currency with a shortage of money and rising prices. This was an economic demand that affected the functioning of the entire town and its provisioning, not just individual mines.
The fifth article demanded more precise rules for weighing ore and paying wages. Trust in how ore was measured and how remuneration was calculated was crucial for the relationship between miners, mine owners, and officials. If workers lacked certainty that weighing and financial accounting were carried out according to established rules, room was created for suspicions of unauthorized interference.
The sixth article demanded that the miners' brotherhood be allowed to appoint its own collector of the mining tithe, the so-called Zehntner, alongside the person appointed by the Counts Schlick. The eighth article similarly aimed at appointing an own accountant or controller of smelter management, referred to as the Hüttenraiter. The eleventh article demanded an own person responsible for issuing shares of the mining yield.
The tenth article concerned the right of the miners' brotherhood to participate in negotiations between mine supervisors, the town council, and the mining captain. The seventeenth article then demanded compliance with the Schlick mining ordinance of 1518, especially in relation to mandatory financial contributions to mine operations and the distribution of mining yields.
To understand these demands, it is important to clarify a few period terms. Zubußen were contributions or additional financial deposits that might be needed to continue mining operations. Ausbeute designated the mining yield intended for distribution among authorized business participants. Hüttenraiter was an accountant or controller of smelter management. These were therefore not names of modern job positions, but part of the complex system of mining enterprise at the time.
The common denominator of the demands was the effort to control persons who decided on finances, accounting, ore weighing, and the distribution of yields. The miners did not want to merely declare that a certain official had acted unfairly. They demanded the creation of rules and control mechanisms that would make the repetition of similar cases more difficult.
The exact complete wording of all seventeen articles has not been preserved in a form that would allow every point to be safely reconstructed. We know some parts from historical overviews and records of the later settlement. Therefore, missing formulations cannot be supplemented based on analogies with other uprisings and presented as documented demands of the Jáchymov miners.
Course and Outcome of Negotiations
Negotiations lasted for several days. Both sides remained in a state of armed readiness, but a major military clash did not occur. The mediation of other mining towns and the fact that both sides had reasons to strive for an agreement were of decisive importance.
According to the expert overview, eleven of the original seventeen articles were accepted in principle in full. The remaining points were rejected or only partially accommodated.
The agreement explicitly condemned corrupt behavior. Master miners were stipulated that during inspections and surveying of mining works, they must not demand remuneration exceeding the amounts permitted by the mining ordinance. Overmen (shift bosses) and shift masters were not allowed to transfer for a fee to third parties work they were supposed to perform themselves as part of their duties.
The question of finances and official accountability was also important. The accepted conditions were intended to limit opportunities to abuse positions in the mining administration and contribute to more consistent compliance with existing rules. This was not about eliminating all economic contradictions, but about concrete interventions in a system that the miners' community considered insufficiently controlled.
The written settlement was subsequently reflected in a new official document. The entire process resulted in the adoption of the Supplementary Mining Ordinance of July 7, 1525 (containing thirty-five articles). This document confirmed the mine owners' obligation to pay wages properly, refined official duties, and established the functions of independent mine accountants under the supervision of both the town council and the miners. This July date represents the official legal codification of the agreed changes and differs from the termination of the armed phase of the dispute in May.
The outcome of the negotiations was not a clear victory for either side. The miners pushed through a significant portion of their demands and achieved a refinement of rules, but the authorities retained a decisive position. Part of the settlement also included measures restricting the independence of the miners' brotherhood, including placing its banner and treasury under the control of the town.
SUPPRESSION
The Jáchymov uprising did not end with a large-scale battle or the military conquest of the town. After several days of armed tension, an agreement was reached that allowed the gradual laying down of arms and the restoration of normal town operations. Therefore, the term "suppression" in this case does not describe a bloody military intervention, but primarily a combination of military pressure, negotiations, and subsequent repressive measures.
The Schlicks gathered several thousand armed men and signaled that they were ready to end the uprising by force. At the same time, however, they had to consider the economic consequences that a long-term paralysis of one of the most important silver districts in their possession would bring. The final peace allowed them to restore control over the town without widespread bloodshed.
After the end of the conflict, a commission was established consisting of four representatives of the miners' brotherhood and four representatives of the Schlicks. Its task was to assess the damages incurred. Subsequently, eighteen individuals were accused as the main instigators of the unrest.
According to the preserved reconstruction, these local participants were not executed en mass. They had to publicly admit their guilt and take the so-called Urfehde, an oath of peace and renunciation of further hostility. Such a commitment was intended to prevent the continuation of the dispute and potential revenge. After taking it, the accused were allowed to remain in Jáchymov.
It is important to emphasize that the eighteen accused cannot be simply equated with all representatives of the miners' community or with all persons who participated in the uprising. This was a group designated during the subsequent investigation as the main instigators of the unrest. Moreover, some sources and later overviews state slightly different numbers of arrested or accused persons.
A different fate awaited the radical organizers who attempted to expand the revolt beyond the borders of the Jáchymov district. Wolf Göftel was a prominent figure in the unrest in the Ore Mountains and Vogtland. He tried to unite the demands of miners and peasants, gain further supporters, and give the insurgent movement a broader dimension. However, in Jáchymov he operated only during the course of the unrest, not as the instigator of long-term local disputes.
Göftel was arrested on June 27, 1525, and subsequently ended up on the scaffold in Buchholz. Andreas Cosener, who also participated in efforts to expand the unrest, was handed over to Saxon authorities and, after interrogations and confession, was also executed. Their fate thus differed from the treatment of local miners, whose demands were focused primarily on economic and administrative conditions in Jáchymov.
Saxon authorities tried to prevent unrest from spilling over across the borders of individual territories. People who participated in the uprising on the Saxon side of the Ore Mountains and subsequently sought refuge in Bohemia could be extradited back at the request of Saxon rulers. Events in Jáchymov were thus not merely a local dispute, but part of a broader effort by monarchical and seigneurial authorities to restore order after the wave of uprisings in 1525.
The fundamental result was the restoration of the Schlicks' control over the town and its mining. The miners' brotherhood retained its existence, but its independence was curtailed. Placing the banner and treasury under town control represented an intervention into the means that could enable the rapid summoning and organization of further mass resistance.
CONCLUSION
The Jáchymov miners' uprising of 1525 is exceptional primarily due to the scale and organization of the action. Thousands of miners and other residents managed to take control of one of the most important mining towns in Central Europe for several days. It did not remain merely a spontaneous protest. The insurgents presented concrete demands, tried to gain the support of other mining districts, and ultimately entered into negotiations involving both their representatives and expert intermediaries.
The event is often described as one of the first general strikes in European history. This designation has its justification in the scope of the collective work refusal and the effort to intervene in the functioning of the entire mining district. However, it cannot be used without explanation as if it were a clearly proven first in the global history of labor protests. Older mining strikes and collective work departures are also documented in other Ore Mountain districts.
Similarly, the Jáchymov uprising cannot be simply labeled as a struggle for modern trade union rights. The participants acted under 16th-century conditions, within the environment of special mining law and a society of estates. Their demands stemmed primarily from the conviction that the existing rights of the miners' community should be respected and that mining officials must not abuse their positions.
The uprising also shows that the relationship between employers and workers in early modern mining cannot be explained solely by the level of remuneration. Jáchymov hewers had relatively favorable nominal wages compared to some other districts, but at the same time they faced problems associated with management, control of officials, distribution of yields, and rising living costs. Their demands therefore aimed primarily at gaining a greater ability to influence rules and control the persons who decided on their work.
