No Taxation Without Negotiation

Abstract

The article aims at assessing the impact of extra taxes on the Swedish peasantry in the early 16th century in qualitative terms, as reflected in contemporary correspondence letters. While the total tax pressure without doubt rose in the period, the resilience of Swedish peasants was remarkably high. Despite harvest failures, they managed to endure the hardships, largely thanks to their diligent use of the instrument of negotiations over terms and levels of extra taxes and the delicacy with which the Crown exacted them. This can be seen as a reflection of adjustments within the framework of the prevalent medieval system, and an acceptance on both sides of the principle of mutuality.

Keywords:

• peasants
• taxes
• negotiations
• Middle Ages
• Sweden

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Jan Wallanders och Tom Hedelius stiftelse, Handelsbankens forskningsstiftelser [grant number P2012-0176] and by Stockholm University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Blickle and Catt, ‘Peasant Revolts’; Blickle, Deutsche Untertanen, 95. For Sweden, see Cederholm, De värjde sin rätt, 369.

2 See Blickle and Catt, ‘Peasant Revolts’; Bercé, Revolt and Revolution; Scott, Weapons of the Weak; Blickle, Die Revolutionen von 1525; Freedman, The Origins of Peasant Servitude; Freedman, Images of the Medieval Peasant; Blickle, Unruhen in der ständischen Gesellschaft; Österberg, Mentalities, 188–91.

3 Moore, Social Origins; Brunner, Land and Lordship.

4 Hatcher and Bailey, Modelling the Middle Ages; Kitsikopoulos ‘The Impact of the Black Death’.

5 Katajala, ‘Against Tithes’, 32–7; Myrdal, ‘Scandinavia’, 212–14.

6 Österberg, Mentalities, 168–75, 176–91; Österberg, ‘Folklig mentalitet’; Reinholdsson, Uppror eller resningar; Cederholm, De värjde sin rätt.

7 Dovring, De stående skatterna, 59–61; Myrdal, ‘Scandinavia’, 213–14, 228–9, 235–6; Retsö and Söderberg, ‘The Late Medieval Crisis Quantifed’.

8 Reinholdsson, Uppror eller resningar, 37–64; Cederholm, De värjde sin rätt, 69–70; Myrdal, ‘Scandinavia’, 228–9.

9 Tawney, Land and Labour in China, 77.

10 Österberg, Mentalities, 160–2; Söderberg, ‘Prices’; Retsö and Söderberg, ‘The Late Medieval Crisis Quantified’; Retsö, ‘Between Frugality and Prosperity’.

11 Retsö, ‘Sturearkivet’. See also Österberg, ‘Folklig mentalitet’, 86–7.

12 Lindkvkist and Ågren, Sveriges medeltid, 30.

13 See for example Retsö, Länsförvaltningen, 99f, 239, 274, 277.

14 Hadorph, Biärköa rätten, 56.

15 Holmbäck and Wessén, Magnus Erikssons landslag, 5.

16 BSH 4, no. 158. See also BSH 5, no. 243.

17 See, for example, RA Sturearkivet, no. 428; Sjödin, Historiska handlingar 39, no. 123. For a general overview of late medieval taxes in Sweden, see Lönnroth, Statsmakt; Dovring, De stående skatterna.

18 Dovring, De stående skatterna, 54–6, 62.

19 Retsö, Länsförvaltningen, 358–61.

20 Edvinsson et al., ‘Swedish Payment Systems’, 101–5; Hammarström, Finansförvaltning, 103–22, 170–88.

21 See Hammarström, Finansförvaltning, 67–9.

22 It seems that the Church sometimes had to contribute the difference between what was needed and what the peasants could afford. In April 1508, the commander of the besieging troops at Kalmar bluntly said that without the financial help from the Church, they ‘would have been Danes again’; BSH 5, no. 194.

23 BSH 5, nos 267, 390; Retsö, Länsförvaltningen, 191–2, 203–4.

24 RA Sturearkivet, no. 478; Edvinsson et al., ‘Swedish Payment Systems’, 112, 118.

25 BSH 5, nos 426, 427, 428. See also Cederholm, De värjde sin rätt, 66.

26 RA Sturearkivet, nos 795, 738. See further Dovring, De stående skatterna, 87–9.

27 BSH 5 nos 238, 212 and RA Sturearkivet no. 357. See also BSH 5 no. 378.

28 Gustavsson, Kungabrev, 43; BSH 5, no. 293.

29 Not surprisingly, St Birgitta, in her advice to the king of the realm in the mid-1300s, warned of this. Klemming, Heliga Birgittas uppenbarelser, 311–12.

30 See e.g. RA Sturearkivet 1106, 1766; BSH 4: 227; FMU 6, nos 5282, 5297; Sjödin, Gamla papper, 157, 247, 419–20; Hansson, Örebro, 74.

31 RA Sturearkivet 738.

32 RA Sturearkivet 478.

33 BSH 5, nos 82, 113.

34 BSH 5, nos 114, 277.

35 BSH 5, no. 154.

36 RA Sturearkivet 795; Gustavsson, Kungabrev, 43.

37 BSH 5, no. 293.

38 RA Sturearkivet 874b.

39 BSH 5, no. 238.

40 RA Sturearkivet, no. 801.

41 RA Sturearkivet, no. 1093.

42 BSH 5, nos 117, 365.

43 RA Sturearkivet, nos 664, 48; Kröningssvärd, Diplomatarium Dalekarlicum, no. 219; BSH 5 no. 165.

44 RA Sturearkivet, no. 500; Kröningssvärd, Diplomatarium Dalekarlicum, 191. See Cederholm, De värjde sin rätt, 81–6, 204–28.

45 RA Sturearkivet, nos 294, 296. See Cederholm, De värjde sin rätt, 168–74.

46 See e.g. RA Sturearkivet, nos 597, 1184; Kröningssvärd, Diplomatarium Dalekarlicum, no. 187; BSH 5, nos 115, 310; Erslev, Repertorium diplomaticum, Bd 5, no. 9427. See also Hansson, Örebro, 79.

47 RA Sturearkivet, nos 242, 680; Herlitz, Privilegier, no. 243.

48 BSH 5, nos 10, 16, 33, 272, 291. See also BSH 5, nos 13, 25, 54, 55. For a Danish example, see Erslev, Repertorium diplomaticum (1934), no. 10998.

49 Retsö, ‘A Contribution’; Leijonhufvud et al., ‘Five Centuries’; Campbell, ‘Four Famines’.

50 BSH 4, no 232: RA Sturearkivet, nos 255, 637.

51 Wegener, ‘Forhandlinger’, 319–20.

52 FMU 6, no. 5324; RA Sturearkivet, nos 597, 573.

53 BSH 5, no. 212; RA Sturearkivet, no. 1063.

54 Sjödin, Gamla papper, 336; RA Sturearkivet, no. 1053.

55 FMU 6, nos 5329, 5341, 5347, 5354, 5368; BSH 5, no. 229; Sjödin, Gamla papper, 322, 344.

56 Sjödin, Gamla papper, 350.

57 FMU 8, no. 6696; RA Sturearkivet, no. 1467; BSH 5, nos 302, 304.

58 Herlitz, Privilegier, no. 245; Sjödin, Historiska handlingar, no. 143; FMU 7 no. 5881.

59 RA Sturearkivet, no. 1379; FMU 7, no. 5685.

60 Sjödin, Gamla papper (1937), 157.

61 RA Sturearkivet 801, 1150a, 1766; BSH 5, no. 293; FMU 6, no. 5041; FMU 7, no. 5385; Sjödin, Gamla papper, 237–8; Handl. rör. Skandinaviens hist. 24, 9–12. See also Bjarne Larsson, Stadgelagstiftning, 82–4.

62 See e.g. RA Sturearkivet, no. 1387.

63 FMU 6, no. 5285; FMU 7, no. 5694; Sjödin, Gamla papper, 157. See also Handl. rör. Skandinaviens hist. 20, 35–7; BSH 5 no. 36.

64 BSH 5, nos 261, 265, 352.

65 BSH 5, no. 66.

66 BSH 5, no. 277; Handl. rör. Skandinaviens hist. 24, 5–7.

67 BSH 5, nos 258, 259, 261. See further Cederholm, De värjde sin rätt, 92–5.

68 BSH 5 no. 364; Retsö, Länsförvaltningen, 137–9.

69 RA Sturearkivet, no. 795.

70 BSH 5, no. 124.

71 BSH 5, no. 116.

72 BSH 5, no. 237.

73 RA Sturearkivet 588a.

74 FMU 6, no. 5169.

75 RA Sturearkivet 588a.

76 RA Sturearkivet 874.

77 RA Sturearkivet, no. 237.

78 BSH 5, nos 267, 390; Retsö, Länsförvaltningen, 191–2, 203–4; RA Sturearkivet no. 478; Edvinsson et al., ‘Swedish Payment Systems’, 112, 118.

79 Retsö, Länsförvaltningen, 408. See also Cederholm, De värjde sin rätt, 66.

80 RA Sturearkivet, nos 744, 585; Hildebrand, ‘Bidrag’, 397–9; BSH 5, nos 146, 237; FMU 6, nos 5285, 5347.

81 See for example RA Sturearkivet, nos 588a, 252. See also RA Sturearkivet, no. 380.

82 RA Sturearkivet 252.

83 BSH 5, no. 364.

84 RA Sturearkivet, no. 252; BSH 5, nos 113, 124, 132, 159, 241, 289, 370. See further Reinholdsson, Uppror eller resningar, 99–102; Retsö, ‘Med hand och mun’.

85 RA Sturearkivet, no. 251; Sjödin, Gamla papper, 407–8, 157, 419–20; Wegener, ‘Forhandlinger’, 319–20; FMU 6, no. 5285; FMU 7, no. 5694; BSH 5, no. 177.

86 BSH 5, nos 95, 177.

87 See e.g. RA Sturearkivet, no. 316; BSH 5, nos 219, 220, 258.

88 RA Sturearkivet, nos 633, 515, 357, 453, 1008, 1106; FMU 6, no. 5169; BSH 5, nos 178, 237, 365, 370; Hansson, Örebro, 74.

89 BSH 5, no. 280.

90 See e.g. RA Sturearkivet, nos 553, 860; Sjödin, Gamla papper, 250, 328; BSH 5, nos 122, 275, 277, 474; FMU 7, no. 5470.

91 BSH 5, nos 122, 314.

92 Cederholm, De värjde sin rätt, 89–91; RA Sturearkivet, no. 585b.

93 BSH 5, no. 280.

94 FMU 6, no. 5285; RA Sturearkivet, no.29. See also RA Sturearkivet, no. 251.

95 BSH 5, nos 82, 265, 267, 370, 390, 474. See also BSH 5, no. 170.

96 BSH 5, nos 343, 349.

97 BSH 5, nos 124, 164, 173.

98 See Cederholm, De värjde sin rätt, 80–1, 89–91;BSH 5, nos 158, 378.

99 BSH 5, nos 154, 312.

100 BSH 5, no. 370; Wegener, ‘Forhandlinger’, 362–3; RA Sturearkivet, no. 464b. See further Kokkonen, ‘Border Peace Agreements’.

101 Retsö and Söderberg, ‘The Late Medieval Crisis Quantified’.

102 See e.g. Kröningssvärd, Diplomatarium Dalekarlicum, no. 219; BSH 5, no. 474.

103 RA Sturearkivet, nos 588a, 585; BSH 5, no. 261.

104 BSH 5, no. 277. The same sort of charismatic influence is mentioned for Ydre, Tveta, and Vista over Norra Vedbo, the northern part of Öland over the southern part, and Dalecarlia and Kopparberget over Noraskog and Lindesberg; BSH 5, nos 275, 265.

105 BSH 5, no. 116. See also FMU 6, no. 5242.

106 BSH 5, nos 199, 131.

107 RA Sturearkivet, no. 588a.

108 Moore, Social Origins, 479.

109 Hildebrand, ‘Bidrag’, 397–9.

110 See e.g. BSH 5, nos 90, 154, 146, 199, 209; RA Sturearkivet, no. 726; Sjödin, Gamla papper, 350.

111 RA Sturearkivet, nos 29, 716, 1589; BSH 5, no. 470; FMU 6, no. 5184. See also BSH 5, no. 289.

112 Österberg, Mentalities, 176–91; Blickle and Catt, ‘Peasant Revolts’, 235–6.

113 See Larsson, Det medeltida Värend, 243; Söderberg, ‘Prices’; Retsö and Söderberg, ‘The Late Medieval Crisis Quantifed’; Ylikangas, Klubbekriget.

114 Nordquist, A Struggle for the Realm, 160–1.

115 Cf. Schulze, ‘Europäische und deutsche Bauernrevolten’.

116 Myrdal, ‘Scandinavia’, 236. See also Scott, ‘Review: Peasant Revolts’; Blickle and Catt, ‘Peasant Revolts’, 234.

117 Ladurie, The French Peasantry; Blickle, Unruhen in der ständischen Gesellschaft; Tierney, Foundations; Korpiola, ‘Not Without the Consent’.

118 Brunner, Land and Lordship; Moore, Social Origins, 471; Blickle and Catt, ‘Peasant Revolts’, 233.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Jan Wallanders och Tom Hedelius stiftelse; Handelsbankens forskningsstiftelser; [P2012-0176]; Stockholm University.