Magdeburg Law as a factor of the economic development of Kamianets-Podilskyi

The purpose of the article is to investigate the influence of Magdeburg laws on the economic development of Kamianets-Podilskyi, to find out the place and role of the application of German legal norms of city self-government in the evolution of guild craft production, to find out the essence, content, and specificity of Magdeburg workshop traditions in the broad chronological framework of life the largest Podillia city. The methodological foundation of the research is the principles of dialectics, objectivity, historicism, systematicity, and comprehensiveness. The research methodology is based on general scientific and special-historical methods, particularly analytical typology, documentary, historical-genetic, historical-typological, comparative-historical, problem-chronological, structural-systemic, etc. The scientific novelty lies in an attempt to scientifically reconstruct the permanent spread, implementation, and historical conditioning of the dominance of Magdeburg law in the production practice of the city over a long historical period. The novelty of the presented material lies in the interpretation, using the example of the main city of Podillia, of a complete system of production structures, which gradually transformed from medieval workshop organizations into powerful guild craft corporations of the New Age, which in some ways existed until the beginning of the 20th century. Conclusions. Our research proves that in the economic development of Kamianets-Podilskyi during the 14th - early 20th centuries, the factor of Magdeburg law played an important role. Magdeburg law went through several evolutionary stages of functioning, gradually covering and later shaping the economic life of Kamianets. Given the deep Magdeburg traditions in the system of organizing economic life, even after the annexation of Kamianets-Podilskyi by the Russian Empire, the city economy continued to function according to Magdeburg norms. In the 19th century, the Magdeburg production tradition continued to ensure the stability of the development of urban craft but gradually inhibited the development of new, more progressive forms of urban industry.