Historical-Economic Aspects Pertaining to the Bishopric of Transylvania As Reflected in the Pontifical Tithe Register (1332–1337)
Historical-Economic Aspects Pertaining to the Bishopric of Transylvania As Reflected in the Pontifical Tithe Register (1332–1337)

Summary/Abstract: The paper analyzes, from a historical-economic point of view, the tithe register (1332–1337) compiled by tax collectors Jacobus Berengarii and Raimundus de Bonofato, envoys of Pope John XXII, for at least two reasons: firstly, it has never been analyzed in order to determine the main rationale behind the register, which was economic in nature; secondly, because this register is structurally more complex than the other registers drawn up by the tax collectors active in the Kingdom of Hungary before 1331. We provide an inventory of parishes and an estimate of the overall financial situation at the level of their archdeaconry, in order to see what were, throughout the whole of Transylvania, the tithes paid by the clergymen of the Bishopric of Transylvania to the Apostolic Chamber of Avignon, between 1332 and 1337. The amounts collected can be identified in most cases, but given the various gaps in the register the rate of identification stands at 90.25%, if we also factor in the amounts paid in tithe during the period in question by the bishop of Transylvania. Without the 1,170 marks paid by the local bishop, the rate of identification of the amounts paid decreases to 73%. The total amount collected by the Bishopric of Transylvania between 1332 and 1337, calculated in Buda silver marks, stood at 1,831.5 marks (the equivalent of roughly 450 kilograms of silver) and represented 19.5% of the total amount collected in the Kingdom of Hungary (9,385 marks = 2.3 tons of silver). However, of the 9,385 marks, one third went to King Charles Robert of Anjou, namely, 3,130 Buda marks (758 kilograms of silver), while the other two thirds were sent to the Apostolic Chamber in Avignon (1,536 kg, or 1.53 tons of silver).

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