Rebellion of mayor Albert

The Rebellion of mayor Albert (bunt wójta Alberta) was an uprising of burghers of the Polish city of Kraków against the duke Władysław I the Elbow-high in the years 1311–12. It ended with Władysław's victory.

The mutiny was led by certain Albert, the vogt (advocatus, wójt) of the city of Kraków, who was effectively a mayor of the town under Magdeburg Law. Hence the name of the uprising is variously translated to English as "rebellion of wójt Albert", "rebellion of vogt Albert" or "mayor Albert".

Background
After Kraków had been devastated during the 1241 Mongol invasion of Poland, it was re-established according to Magdeburg Law by Prince Bolesław V the Chaste and three Silesian settlement contractors (lat. locator): Gedko Stilvoyt and Dethmar Wolk from Breslau, and Jakub de Nissa, in 1257, and then populated with German settlers in the course of the Ostsiedlung.

In 1291 the Duchy of Kraków fell to the Přemyslid king Wenceslaus II of Bohemia, himself a vassal of the Holy Roman Emperor, who in 1300 also became King of Poland. Upon the extinction of the Přemyslids in 1306, the Piast duke Władysław I the Elbow-high assumed the rule at Kraków, while in 1310 the Bohemian Kingdom passed to the House of Luxembourg. The new king John of Bohemia continued to claim the Polish royal title and moreover sought to vassalize the Piast dukes of the adjacent Silesian region.

Rebellion
In 1311 wójt Albert (?-1317), mayor of Kraków (1290-1312), instigated a mutiny against Prince Władysław, with the goal of turning the city – then the capital of the Polish Seniorate Province – over to the Bohemian House of Luxembourg. Albert, himself of German or Czech origin, had a support of many of the German burghers. He had the support of Bishop Jan Muskata, himself of German-Silesian origin, and the Silesian duke Bolko I of Opole, who in turn was appointed stadtholder by King John, as well as of many Kraków citizens. After Władysław laid siege to the city, the revolt ended in failure. Similar rebellions took place in several other cities – particularly Sandomierz and Wieliczka, also crushed by Władysław.

Aftermath
Albert fled to Bohemia and his house was demolished, while the Polish Primate Archbishop Jakub Świnka of Gniezno charged Bishop Jan Muskata with being "an enemy of the Polish people". In the aftermath the City of Kraków lost many of its privileges for the support some of its burghers showed to the uprising. From Prince Władysław's view the revolt had been motivated by anti-Polish sentiments and the German citizens proved disloyal. He reacted with brutality, culminating in the implementation of the shibboleth Soczewica, koło, miele, młyn ("Lentil, wheel, grinds (verb), mill) to distinguish and persecute the German-speaking minority of Kraków. After the failure of the rebellion the citizens lost their political desires and were Polonized. The uprising was chronicled in a contemporary Latin poem De quodam advocate Cracoviensi Alberto ("About a Certain Reeve Albert of Kraków") written by an anonymous author.