Urbs - Magyar Várostörténeti Évkönyv 12. (Budapest, 2017)
Recenziók
424 Abstracts Martin Štefánik The tax obligations of a mining town - Körmöcbánya in the Middle Ages The study examines the tax obligations of six - or including Bélabánya seven - Low- er-Hungarian mining towns in the Middle Ages. The history of Körmöcbánya is better documented than that of the other mining towns, since the revenue and expenditure statements were preserved relatively undamaged. As a result, the types and amount of the taxes paid to the state can be followed from 1328, when the town received its privileges, until the beginning of the 16th century. The paper extensively describes the tendency of the royal taxes paid by Körmöcbánya, and it concludes that the taxes were paid as regular contributions to the treasury in the 14th century and in the first half of the 15th century. The taxes were paid to the royal treasury until 1424. Then Sigismund granted all the Lower-Hungarian mining towns, including Körmöcbánya, to his wife, Borbála Ciliéi. From this time onwards, the towns belonged to the queen and thus she received the taxes. From the end of the 15th century, the increasing war threat enhanced the role of extraordinary taxes and it coincided with the decline in the profitability of mining. The payment of taxes became increasingly erratic and obscure. The alliance of the Lower-Hungarian mining towns, headed by Körmöcbánya, represented their joint interests against the king more and more consistently; it repeatedly asked tax remission or declared its insolvency. The declining royal power was unable to collect taxes to the extent required, and the king had to negotiate with the towns about the partial payment of the taxes. The deteriorating financial situation and power structure of the country in the early 16th century is well reflected and partly explained by the paid and unpaid taxes. Márton Gyöngyössy Miklós Pfeffersack as count of the chamber (comes camerae) of Nagyszeben. Contribution to the relation between the mint and the town’s ruling elite Miklós Pfeffersack’s activity as count of the chamber is not mentioned in charters. Based on his mint mark on the coins (which is ligature from the viewpoint of epigraphy), it is estimated that he acted as a count of the chamber in 1438-1444. Usually medieval archontology is based on charters and the documentary value of epigraphic and numismatic sources is overlooked by the researchers. However, the case of Miklós Pfeffersack is a good example of how the tenure of an official can be determined or specified with the help of coins.
