The Prussian Tribute System
The conquest of the Prussian tribes in the thirteenth century was followed, as in most medieval conquests, by the imposition of tribute obligations on the conquered population. The Teutonic Order’s tribute system was adapted to the specific conditions of the Prussian conquest: the relatively small size of the surviving Prussian population, the large number of German immigrants who settled in the state, and the Order’s concern with the Christianisation of the native population.
The Basis of the Tribute
The tribute system was established, in its main lines, by the Treaty of Kruschwitz of 1230, by which Duke Conrad of Masovia ceded Chriacia to the Order, and by the Golden Bull of Rimini of 1226, by which Emperor Frederick II confirmed the cession. The specific obligations were established by a series of subsequent agreements, of which the most important were concluded at the end of each of the major Prussian revolts — particularly those of 1249, 1274 and 1283.
The tribute was, in principle, a payment for the use of land. The Prussians were permitted to hold land, but they were required to pay the Order a portion of the produce, in cash or in kind. The tribute was collected by the local Komtur, the head of the local Komturei, and was transmitted to the central treasury of the Order.
The Rates of Tribute
The standard rate was a tithe of the produce, but the actual rate varied considerably. In the eastern and central regions, the rate was one-fifth or one-sixth; in the western regions, it was one-twentieth or one-thirtieth. The variation reflected both the different conditions of the conquest and the different qualities of the land.
The tribute was, in most cases, paid in kind — grain, livestock, and forest products — and was stored in the Order’s granaries. A portion supported the local convent castle; the remainder was transmitted to the central treasury. The tribute was collected at fixed points, generally the local convent castle or the market town, and the Prussians who failed to present their tribute at the appointed time were subject to a fine, and in extreme cases to the forfeiture of their land.
The Administration of the Tribute
The tribute was administered by a hierarchy of officials. The local Komtur was responsible for the assessment and collection, the maintenance of records, and the transmission to the central treasury. The Komtur was assisted by a staff of clerks, scribes and tax-collectors.
The tribute was assessed by periodic surveys, by which the land of the local Prussians was measured and the tribute due on each parcel was calculated. The surveys were conducted every ten or twenty years, and the results were recorded in the Order’s land registers, the Hufenregister and the Zinsregister. These registers are an important source of information on the demography and economy of the medieval Prussian state.
The Tribute and the Conversion
The tribute was closely linked to the Order’s religious mission. The Prussians were required, in addition to paying the tribute, to attend Christian worship, to send their children to Christian schools, and to observe the Christian sacraments. The Order’s policy was to combine the imposition of the secular tribute with the imposition of the Christian faith.
The combination of the secular and the religious obligations was, effective. The Prussians were gradually converted to Christianity, and the Order was gradually able to reduce the rate of the tribute as the Prussians were integrated into the Christian community.
The Tribute and the German Immigration
The tribute system was complicated by the German immigration. The German immigrants who came to Prussia were, in most cases, not subject to the tribute: they held their land under a different legal regime, generally the Kulm law, and they paid their taxes to the local town council rather than to the Order. The German immigration had, however, a beneficial effect on the tribute system, increasing the absolute amount of revenue and bringing technical skills and commercial networks to the Prussian economy.
The Long-Term Significance
The tribute system was, a successful example of a late-medieval colonial tribute system. It allowed the Order to extract a substantial revenue from the conquered Prussian population, and it contributed to the gradual conversion of the Prussian population to Christianity.
The tribute system did not, however, survive the political upheavals of the fifteenth century. The Prussian Confederation, formed in 1440, included a substantial number of native Prussian gentry, who objected to the tribute obligations on their lands. The Second Peace of Thorn of 1466 effectively suspended the tribute in the western portions of the state, and it was finally abolished in 1525 by the secularisation of the Order.
Sources
- Biskup, Marian, and Gerard Labuda. Dzieje zakonu krzyżackiego w Prusach. Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo Morskie, 1986.
- Boockmann, Hartmut. Der Deutsche Orden: Zwölf Kapitel aus seiner Geschichte. Munich: Beck, 1981.
- Töppen, Max, ed. Acten der Ständetage Preussens unter der Herrschaft des Deutschen Ordens. 5 vols. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1867–1886.
Related Reading
The tribute system is discussed in the main article on the establishment of the state, and the political consequences of the tribute are examined in the article on the Treaty of Kalisz. For the political consequences in the fifteenth century, see the article on the Thirteen Years’ War and the article on the Second Peace of Thorn. For the administration of the Order more generally, see the history of the Order.