Købstadsfinanser i begyndelsen af 1500-tallet LYDER VAN FREDENS KÆMNERREGNSKABER FOR MALMØ 1517-20

Resumé

The major problem in dealing with the municipal finances of the late-medieval Danish city is the scarcity of sources; however, we do have one source that can be utilized: the account books of the city treasurer, Lyder van Freden, of the Scanian town of Malmø, covering the period from Easter 1517 tojuly 1520.

During these years king Christian II waged war on Sweden, which had seceded from the Union, established at Calmar in 1397. The political events have made their mark on the accounts, as is demonstrated in part 11, which discusses the information, supplied by entries in the accounts, concerning national affairs.

In part 111 the financial administration and the organization of the accounts are discussed. The city treasurer, kæmner, was a member of the city council and in charge of all municipal income and expenditures, although certain major accounts (military expenditures, the municipal tile kiln) might be delegated to a fellow councillor. The books were audited yearly in the presence of representatives of the citizenry and the accounts show the effect of that, being organized in the same way for each fiscal year, beginning at Easter. First, income is enumerated, beginning with a list of taxpayers and their payments and followed by an itemized list of other types of income. Then, expenditures are listed, beginning with wages to municipal employees and other administrative costs and followed by a list of other expenses, arranged chronologically, except for the major expenditures caused by the fortificatory works undertaken in 1517 and 1519. All expenses incurred in this connection are arranged at the end of the accounts for the respective year.

In parts IV and V the quantitative information of the accounts is analyzed. The taxlists show that taxpayers were assessed individually. Additional sources reveal that a taxpayer paid about 1-2% of the valuc of his or her income and propcrty. The median tax (8 shillings) corresponds to between one and five dav wages for artisans and semi-skilled labourers. The income from the regular tax, the byskat, remained fairly stable, even if the number of taxpayers and taxpayments fluctuated (TABLES 1 and 2). The increase in the number of taxpayers comes primarily from those paying the lowest taxes (TABLE 3) while the artisans remained the most stable contributiors to the byskat, paying slightly more than warranted by their numbers (TABLE 4). Apparently, the city council could not or would not change the tax rate. Increments in the byskat income were the result of stricter assessment and collection of taxes.

The byskat made up the largest part of the municipal income, which fluctuated greatly during the three years as a result of the war (two towns reimbursing Malmø for quartering soldiers) and of the previous kæmner's belated return of surplus from his tenure (TABLE 5). If, however, the regular income is extracted we find that, in faet, the size of the income, the city could count on in normal years, was quite stable (TABLE 6). Expenditures (TABLE 7) fluctuated similarly but, again, expenses not caused by the wars can be extracted and prove to be similarly stable (TABLE 7A) and less than the ordinary income. The types of expenditures are discussed on the following pages.

Part VI discusses if and how representative the accounts from Malmø, the

second largest city in the country, are, basedon the extant notices concerning fiscal administration from three other towns, the ducal city of Flensborg, socially and economically comparable to the royal city of Malmø, the smaller royal town of Kolding, and Copenhagen, the capital and the largest city.

While the fiscal administration of Copenhagen was divided among several councillors and a great part of its income came from the large number of municipal properties, the other cities had a firm fiscal administration in the hånds of the kæmner, a balanced budget, though of modest size, during normal years and yearly public audits.

It is concluded that municipal fiscal administration in Denmark was fairly set by the late Middle Ages and that the amounts passing through the city's coffers were rather modest, deriving from fairly low regular taxes and administered by unpaid councillors and citizens paying their civic obligations. It is argued, however, that this modesty in size and activity should not be interpreted as backward or primitive. The evidence also shows that during periods of war or political unrest when additional money, silver, gold and military services were needed and extracted through extraordinary taxes and royal orders, the medieval Danish city was able to draw on the capital, the administrative practice and the military services that its citizens and leaders could offer. This may in part explain how the kingdom was able to remain at war or preparing for war uninterruptedly for almost 40 years with the financial and human resources this state of affairs demanded.