ZASTAWY DÓBR KRÓLEWSKICH W KORONIE DO 1504 ROKU. ZAŁOŻENIA BADAWCZE
PLEDGING OF ROYAL ESTATES IN THE CROWN UNTIL 1504. RESEARCH ASSUMPTIONS

Summary/Abstract: The article is an overview of the opinions present in Polish historical literature on the subject of royal pledges, or more broadly, fiscal policy. These opinions are critical or very critical. The treasury organization was also negatively assessed as inefficient and backward, forcing monarchs to seek credit. There were also opinions attributing recklessness to the first Jagiellonian rulers and leading to the erosion of state revenues by handing over its main source, as is commonly believed, i.e., the demesne, to pledgees. Although not all researchers share this view, the fact remains that the state of research on this issue, as well as on 15th-century treasury management in general, is unsatisfactory. Detailed research, primarily based on primary sources, is needed. Bearing in mind the state of research on the economic history of Poland at that time, as well as the place occupied by pledge policy, as part of the project "The Jagiellonian Era and its Legacy in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1795. Economic and social issues, the history of cities" (project no. 0468/NPRH5/ h30/84/2017) funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (National Programme for the Development of Humanities), a database of pledges of royal estates in the Kingdom of Poland until 1504 was developed and made publicly available on the Internet. The database is open-access, with the intention of expanding it by adding further information.

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