The economic background of the royal rule in Hungary in the eleventh century

Studija analizira vladarske prihode Kraljevine Ugarske u 11. stoljeću, bilo da se radi o dohocima u naravi ili u novcu. Struktura vladarskih prihoda uspostavljena je već u doba Stjepana I., a tijekom 11. stoljeća mogu se primijetiti samo manje promjene, tako da studija analizira različite prihode isključivo kao dijelove jedinstvenog sustava: carine, naplata poreza, prihodi od kovanja novca i rudarenja plemenitih metala i soli. Studija završava ispitivanjem povremenih dohodaka na koje je vladar imao pravo, poput dijela novčanih kazni i darova.In the eleventh century, the royal finances of the Kingdom of Hungary relied on differentiated revenues. In the conditions of primarily natural economy, the income of the royal household to a significant extent came from the dues paid in kind and services of the dependent groups of people living in the court and the castle-estates. The structure of the financial background of the eleventh century royal power was formed already during the reign of the first king, Stephen I. From the population was levied a tax, which was in later sources called by the terms of the “money of the free” (liberi denarii) or “money of the freemen” (libertini denarii), and was colloquially called as “money of a hearth” (vulgo fumarii). In addition to the “money of the free,” the existence of other types of taxes can also be assumed, so in later sources, in addition to the “money of the free,” the pondus is noted, which was called “heavy,” or the census paid for the redemption of labour service. Travelers and merchants in the country were had to pay customs. The non-permanent income of the ruler included fines and gifts received from the comites/ispánok, foreign rulers, or the pope. The main source of income of the Royal Treasury According to Béla III’s income list, was a profit from minting. The first emission of money probably was made more from the reasons of prestige, but the regular minting can be traced back to 1015. The profit from minting was twofold: there was a fee on minting and a currency exchange fee. The latter became a permanent income with the start of periodic coinage, which could have started during the reign of Ladislas I. Minting would not been possible without mining of noble ore, which also increased royal incomes, though the income from this fell far short of the revenues from this item in later centuries. In addition to ore mining, the king certainly benefited also from the Transylvanian salt mining