Order, cleanliness and security in Kalisz in the light of the documents of the Good Order Commission and the town authorities (1778–1788)

The aim of the paper is to show the endeavours of the Good Order Commission in Kalisz, which was active from 1780 to 1788. I present the regulations and ordinancesissued to achieve its goals by both the Commission itself and the municipal authorities in juxtaposition to the practice of their implementation and the impact that they had on everyday lives of Kalisz inhabitants. It provides an opportunity to discuss the Commission’s efficacy and to evaluate if and in what measure its original goals wereachieved. Such assessment is, however, difficult and imprecise due to destruction of the town in great fire of 1792 and the Partition of Poland (1793).