Młynarstwo w państwie zakonu krzyżackiego w Prusach w XIII-XV w. (do 1454 r.) / Milling Industry in the State of the Teutonic Order in Prussia in the 13th-15th Century (to Year 1454), Gdańsk 2012, ss. 608 + I + CD ROM. (original) (raw)

Milling Industry in the State of the Teutonic Order in Prussia in the 13th-15th Century (to Year 1454) The subject of this book is issue connected with coming into being, development and functioning of the milling industry in the State of the Teutonic Order from the 13th until the end of the first half of the 15th century. Our point of departure was the conviction that in order to be able to present important factors which shaped the social and economic picture of medieval Europe, it is essential to study some key elements which shaped the living conditions of contemporary society, including the methods for supplying people with grain products, an issue of utmost importance for organization of everyday life. Reconstruction of the development process of the network of watermills and windmills, within the entire area of the State of the Teutonic Order, was supposed to show the dynamic character and complexity of the issue connected with economic, political and social transformations which were taking place over the period of time from the beginning of the State of the Teutonic Order in the 13th century, at the time of its economic boom, right to the outbreak of the Thirteen Years' War in mid 15th century. The areas subject to the research were the regions which used to be part of the state, namely Prussia proper and Chełmno Land, where the Order could develop its economic policy most intensely, as well as Pomeralia, where it found already established law regulations and economic and ownership structure which had been developed at the duke's times. Having that in mind, we have also decided to raise the issue of milling industry in the united church property (monastic – mainly the Cistercians) and mills located in knight's estates and cities. Selecting such a particular state organism as the State of the Teutonic Order, where centralized structure of relatively uniform administration created exceptional conditions for conscious development of rural economy, relations village-mill, village-city, for the purpose of following through the process was not accidental. We did not only want to present the specificity of the conditions where the phenomenon, interconnected with the planting of towns carried out by the Knights of the Teutonic Order, was taking place but also the transformations which were introduced to the functioning of rural structures within the developed areas at the duke's times in Pomeralia. Given the above, it was vital to try to answer the question about some important factors which influenced the specific situation within the areas. To what extent was the development of the milling industry determined by the process of establishing rural and urban settlement by the Teutonic Knights, individual bishoprics and chapters of bishops, often on previously undeveloped areas? What was brought about by the consistent and long-term economic policy implemented by the Teutonic Order, finally – what were the effects of their legal regulations, including the mill regalia, which were possessed by the Knights, but also individual bishops and chapters of bishops? Another important question was the issue of similarities and possible differences in policies applied to millers and to the milling industry by the above institutions. Additionally, in order to present a wider context of economic transformations, reflected in the changes taking place in the network of mills, the data about the objects which existed until the first half of the 15th century was put together with a list of objects from the second half of the 16th century. Second vital issue, apart from the process of popularizing grain mills, was to determine their economic significance for the Teutonic Order, which did not only charge rural millers with a rent payable in money and goods, but also managed huge milling facilities located in biggest cities (Gdańsk, Elbląg, Królewiec, Toruń) and in the vicinity of the capital in Malbork on its own. Thanks to the fact that part of the inventories, inspections and accounts of the Order, and in particular detailed accounts of master millers, have survived, an attempt was made to evaluate the milling capacity of the facilities and reconstruct their annual operating cycle. The outcomes have showed the main factors which used to determine the efficiency of individual milling facilities including, apart from the obvious cyclical nature of cultivation and harvest times, the size of a given facility (measured by the number of millwheels) and the area from which grains were supplied to given facility as well as local water conditions. While looking into the issue of economic importance of rural and urban mills, we also included the aspects connected with trading mills (sale / purchase agreements), pledges, leases and collecting rent by territorial rulers. The question connected with the importance of mills for united church property (episcopal, capitular and monastic) as well as the organization and fiscal significance of the Teutonic Knight's mills (urban and castle) has been presented separately. While discussing the role of mills in economy, we have made an account of financial condition of rural areas, organization of milling process, existing relations between rural areas and mills (the milling constraint), functioning of auxiliary farms to rural mills, development of settlements and new ways of organizing rural areas. For this purpose we have analysed the relation between location of mills and the legal framework of local villages and estates (based on Polish, Chełmno, Magdeburg and Prussia law). Basing on the available source materials, we have made an attempt to reconstruct information about the structure, construction technique and use of milling facilities. We have also prepared a list of detailed information on the kinds of contemporary milling devices, the technique of founding different types of watermills, swelling water and building other milling facilities (windmills, ship mills and treadmills) as well as different methods for obtaining millstones and maintaining the facilities in good operating condition (peasants' charter duties). The third important question concerned the issue of "social consequences" which were brought about by the emergence and popularization of grain mills. This lead to the appearance of a separate, in both legal and economic sense, group of millers who were particularly distinguished from among other villagers by their economic standing. Given the above, an attempt was made to present the internally diversified professional group and its individual members. Apart from a general perspective, we have also provided an individual characteristic of all the internal changes, which however, due to the state of source materials, could only be done in some limited extent. We have pointed to the internal diversification of millers, both in legal and economic scope. All the issues have been presented in a selection of detailed tables, charts and choropleth maps which offer better presentation of many of the discussed issues. Second fundamental part of the publication includes a list of rents collected from watermills and windmills within the period to the year 1454 and an alphabetical list of mills and windmills operating within the area of the State of the Teutonic Order until the end of the first half of the 15th century. It includes a table and a historical and geographical dictionary of detailed data concerning over 900 facilities operating within the State of the Teutonic Order at that time. Undoubtedly, the collected information shall constitute an important element in further studies aimed at reconstructing settlement relationships within the area, in particular these concerning the development of Prussia proper. Thanks to the source information, we have managed to reconstruct the size and operating cycle of huge Teutonic Order mills, with an accuracy of weekly grinding capacity and all this to over long periods of time accounting for even as much as several years, which can be used as a hint when studying the issue of real crops within the area of operating of individual mills. Basing on the same source materials, we have also calculated grinding productivity of watermills in the 15th century more precisely. We have also made an attempt at determining the grinding productivity of mills and define factors which influenced it. When reconstructing information about the kinds of rent collected from rural mills, usually in cash or grains, sometimes also both, we have determined the kind of rent as a vital hint on the state of rural economy development, the measure of its relation to market and use of money in economic exchange. Basing on the analysis of the ways rent was collected, its due dates and principles of paying it (one-off payments, instalments), we have revealed a close relation to the cycle of agricultural production, which was somehow reflected in the milling activity of the mills. We have also suggested using the information about periods of exemption from paying the rent which used to be granted to the millers who were only settling in as a measure for evaluating development of rural settlements within a given area. Our analysis of the tendency to lower the rent observed in the 30's and 40's of the 15th century has provided yet another mean for measuring the scale of economic crisis, which was attributed to destruction resulting from wars fought against Poland, in the state.