A successful town in an age of crisis. Bratislava’s city budget in the 16th and early 17th centuries
One of the most important questions for early modern cities was how to respond to increasing financial pressures with different financial resources. In the perspective of the radically changed situation of the Kingdom of Hungary after the Ottoman expansion, the budget balance of the city of Brat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | ces |
| Published: |
Institute of History, Slovak Academy of Sciences
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Historický Časopis |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.historickycasopis.sk/22023/tozsa-rigo-attila-eine-erfolgreiche-stadt-im-zeitalter-der-krise-pressburgs-stadthaushalt-im-16-jahrhundert-und-am-anfang-des-17-jahrhunderts.pdf |
| Summary: | One of the most important questions for early modern cities was how to
respond to increasing financial pressures with different financial resources.
In the perspective of the radically changed situation of the Kingdom of
Hungary after the Ottoman expansion, the budget balance of the city of
Bratislava (in Hungarian Pozsony) is of particular importance.
Bratislava’s situation during this period was complex in many respects.
The city was already a regional centre in the western borderlands of the
Kingdom of Hungary in the late Middle Ages. The defeat at Mohács
changed the fate of Hungary for centuries. Bratislava’s economic power
increased temporarily after 1526. After the conquest of Buda (1541), the
economic functions of the former capital were taken over mainly by the
cities of western Hungary especially Bratislava and Trnava (in Hungarian
Nagyszombat). Within a short time after the battle of Mohács, Bratislava
became the administrative and political centre of the Kingdom of Hungary
under Habsburg rule.
For the study of the city budget, we have first of all the source group of the
chamber books of the city of Bratislava at our disposal. The chamber books
show that the town had several means to compensate for the increased
expenditure (military expenditure, fortification costs, funds allocated to
the central administration). In particular, taxes were increased, which
undoubtedly shows that the town‘s citizenry was engaged in considerable
economic activity during the period. Another important source of income
was the “Weingeld”. This was the revenue from the sale of wine. |
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| ISSN: | 0018-2575 2585-9099 |