The Free Judges were a class of land owners in the County of Kladsko (German: Glatz, Polish: Kłodzko) who belonged to the Third Estate.
The history of the Free Judges is closely related to the settlement of ethnic Germans in Kłodzko Valley.
This settlement began under King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia and grew during the reign of his son Ottokar II.
These were people who had been granted special privileges by the King of Bohemia to reclaim and settle uninhabited areas.
These villages were mostly located along the roads to Prague and Brno and were administered by a Schultheiß, an official appointed by the Burgrave.
This document confirmed existing privileges and promised that Kłodzko would never be separated from the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, nor would it be sold or mortgaged.
However, the King broke his promise only two years later, when his friend Arnošt of Pardubice, Archbishop of Prague, donated the two villages of Starków and Szalejów Dolny, which belonged to him and his two brothers, to the Canons Regular of Glatz.
Unlike the Free Judges, the nobility in Kłodzko held their property only as a royal fief.
During this period, the Free Judges lost most of their wealth to fines, looting and war taxes.
After the Hussite wars, the nobility gradually gained jurisdiction over the villages, and during the 16th century, the Free Judges lost their judicial role.