Marturina

The marturina, or marten's fur, was a tax collected in the lands to the south of the Drava River in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary.

The coat-of-arms of Slavonia, depicting a marten

Origins

The name of the marturina indicates that it was originally an in-kind tax, collected in marten's fur.[1] Similar taxes—payable in the form of an animal's fur—also existed in other territories.[1] These taxes were typically paid by the Slavic inhabitants of the densely forested regions of Eastern Europe to the rulers of the neighboring nomadic peoples.[1] Historian Pál Engel proposes that the marturina was also "originally a special tax that the Slavs of Slavonia had to pay to their Hungarian overlord".[1] The tax was also collected in other territories to the south of the Drava (in Baranya, Požega and Valkó Counties).[2]

Collection

A document recorded in 1300 that those who were obliged to pay the marturina used to give one marten's fur to their lords in each year.[2] During or before the reign of Coloman the Learned, King of Hungary (r. 1095–1116), the marturina was converted into a money tax.[1][3] Initially, each mansio (or peasant household) was to pay 12 Freisach denars, but it was gradually raised during the 13th century before it was returned to its original rate around 1300.[3] Those who were to pay marturina were also obliged to pay another tax, known as pondus.[3] On the other hand, commoners paying the marturina were exempt of the chamber's profit (a tax collected in Hungary).[4]

From royal to seignorial tax

The marturina was initially a royal revenue, collected for the monarch, or for the duke who ruled Slavonia in the monarch's name.[3] However, when parcels of the royal domain were given away, the grantee typically also seized the right to collect the royal taxes in his new estate.[3] The marturina (and the pondus) collected in royal estates was attached to the honor of the Bans (or governors) of Slavonia in the 14th century.[3] Revenues from the marturina made up around 8,000 florins in 1427.[4]

References

Engel 2001, p. 34.
Weisz 2018, p. 263.
Weisz 2018, p. 264.
Engel 2001, p. 226.

Sources

Engel, Pál (2001). The Realm of St Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526. I.B. Tauris Publishers. ISBN 1-86064-061-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Weisz, Boglárka (2018). "Royal Revenues in the Árpádian Age". In Laszlovszky, József; Nagy, Balázs; Szabó, Péter; Vadas, András (eds.). The Economy of Medieval Hungary. BRILL. pp. 255–264. ISBN 978-90-04-31015-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)