Tolls and Toll Collectors in Medieval Denmark

Tolls and Toll Collectors in Medieval Denmark
JENS E. ÜLESEN
Toll is one of the oldest trade dues. Originally it was a duty imposed on a
person or a ship, but early on toll became a duty on goods, primarily based on
the quantity, occasionally on the value of the cargo. Toll was paid for the right
of passage or export while toll in the sense of customs on imports is not found
until a more recent period. Toll appeared whereever trade took place, and one
important part of the privileges sought by every medieval Danish town was the
exemption of her trading citizens from tolls.1
The right to collect tolls belonged to the feudal lord which in Denmark first
and foremost meant the king and thereby the central authorities, but collection
was handled locally for most of the medieval period. A special corps of toll
keepers who collected the toll and controlled the traders appears only in the
late Middle Ages. Originally no clear distinction was made between toll and
other dues, such as market dues. The Cadaster of King Valdemar ( compiled
1231) makes no references to tolls except when listing income from Ribe and
a few other major markets. The biggest of those was the Scania Fair where a
royal official, the ga!ldker, had supervised the collection of the tolls since the
12th century. The word „told“ was used also for other sources of royal income
and apparently the toll money was mixed with other monetary income of the
crown. The actual account was probably delivered orally for a greater part
of the Middle Ages, but eventually written receipts were issued to reeves and
other offleials who delivered the money. Proper accounting was probably not
established until after 1400 when paper became common in Denmark. We may
safely assume that paper scraps containing a list of receipts were succeeded
by regular account books and accounting procedures during the reigns of king
1 The history of Danish tolls and especially of toll collectors is a fairly new area of history.
Tolls have been treated in general surveys as, for example, in KHL, v. 18, col. 431 ff.,
Hvidtfeldt, p. 488-89 and W. Christensen, p. 633 ff., and in articles by Birck and Jexlev
(1982). In 1977 Da.-ruk Toldh.istorisk Selska.b was founded and in 1978 the periodical Zise,
To ldh.istorisk tidsskrift began appearing. In 1987, the first volume of Da.1ule Toldh.istorie was
published. The author is Dr. Mikael Ve nge who covers the period up to 1660. Although based
primarily on secondary sources, the work provides a good background for further research
into the topic.
60
Christopher of B avaria ( 1440-1448) and king Christian I ( 1448-1481), when
the central administration expanded.2
In the following some of the characteristic features of toll collection during
the fi.fteenth century will be dealt with. As the history of offi.cials in charge
of toll collection and accounts is a fairly new discipline, no complete picture
of the toll collectors, their social background, training and work duties can be
given as yet.3
The Danish cities of the high Middle Ages were small, so we may assume
that the royal reeve had no major diffi.culty in administering the tolls along with
bis other duties. In !arger towns he most likely had assistants and in towns
with heavy trade one of these may weil have become a regular toll collector. At
important trading centres such as the Scania Fair and at R􀂛dby, toll c.ollection
was the main duty of the reeve.4 During the reign of king Erik Menved ( 1282-
1319) the office as toll keeper had not yet appeared. When, in 1319, the citizens
of Copenhagen were exempted from „our new toll“ , the document refers only
to the royal bailiff in the city who must also have received all royal income from
the town s
During the reign of Valdemar Atterdag ( 1340-1375) the word „tolder“
(toll collector/keeper) makes its fi.rst appearance in documents issued by the
Hanseatic merchants who naturally took most notice of this aspect of the function
of the royal reeves. In 1367 the Hanseatic towns complained that the royal
toll collectors would not receive toll in copper money and that they had begun
charging an unreasonable „told􀂛rtug.“ 6 In a Iist of Iot owners in Copenhagen
from ab out 1380 a „Haquinus Tollrere“ is mentioned as renter. 7 Throughout the
Middle Ages the cities sought and obtained exemptions for their citizens from
tolls all over the kingdom except for the Scania Fair. During the late Middle
Ages the royal authorities began to demand toll at the many seasonal markets
with herring fi.shery that appeared during that period. In the early sixteenth
century Danish citizens had to pay toll everywhere regardless of their medieval
privileges; and by the time of Christian II ( 15 13-1523) the duty to pay toll
whereever toll was demanded was imposed on all traders and merchants.8
2 Jexlev (1985) p. 21 f., Venge (1987) p. 15 ff., 32, 43.
3 See note 1 .
4 Venge (1987), p . 43.
5 DGK, III, p. 52.
6 Hanserecesse 1 : 1 , p. 370 .
7 DMR, 3 : 1 , p. 1 1 4 .
8 Enemark (1971) I, p. 202-03; HiZSrby (1980), p. 94-95; Jexlev (1982) p. 3 4 ff.
6 1
THE SCANIA FAIR
The staff at the Scania Fair was !arger than elsewhere in Denmark during
the fishing season (August 15 to October 9) when the catching and packing of
the herring and the trading activities filled the !arge market area with bustling
life all of which had to be supervised. The duties of the official and his assistants
were extensive but the collection of tolls remained the most important.
According to the rules of the market, the „Motbog“ from 1537, the merchants
themselves had to go to the toll collector when they had anything to declare
according to the regulations, unless the toll collectors agreed to other arrangements.
The regulations, referred to, were primarily those contained in the peace
agreement of Stralsund (1369-70) which listed all taxable goods and rates. The
Hanse merchants kept strictly to this agreement but apparently one could make
an agreement with the collector and obtain a lower rate. The official also had
authority over transportation. The waggoners and porters were not allowed
to take goods on shore without his permission. Thus, all unloading seems to
have taken place under the supervision of the toll collector and his people.
When a merchant arrived, he was not allowed to „break his bundle“ without
the permission of the collector. 9
The market peace at the Scania Fair was guaranteed by the Danish king
and expressed physically, first by the castle at Skan!21r, built areund 1200 and
in use until 1542, and then by Falsterbohus, a castle constructed around 1300
and abandoned in 1596.10 In return for guaranteeing peace at the market the
king demanded a series of dues from the fishery and the trade to be collected
by his reeve or castellan. During the late Middle Ages the toll collector, who
had his own toll booth at Falsterbo, was in charge of the economic interests
of the king. He collected the dues imposed on the fishery and trade and gave
a yearly account. However, only one account, that of 1494, is extant. The
toll collector that year was Markvard Skriver (Scribe), who a few years later is
mentioned as bailiff and toll keeper in Malm!!!, one of the major Danish towns.
He is a good representative of the toll keepers at the fair, of whom we have
some information. They were of bourgeois origin, made careers as secretaries
at the royal and courtly administration and were stationed at the Scania Fair
during the season.u
The war of Valdemar Atterdag with the Hanse, resulting in the Peace
of Stralsund in 1370, meant that the Scania Fair was under the lordship of
the Hanse for 17 years (1368-1385) which also marked the peak of the Fair’s
9 Venge (1987), p. 60 ff., 71 ff., 76 ff.
10 Dedenroth-Schou, p. 32.
1 1 Ibid., p. 33-34.
62
activities and importance. During the fifteenth century the Scania Fair lost its
central role and other fishery and trade fairs arose along the Sound and the
Limfjord in northern Jutland. Although Lübeck and other Hanseatic towns
stuck to the fair and showed up every year, the Scania Fair lost its character as
an international trade fair and became one of the many fishery fairs along the
Sound, although still one of the major fairs.12 The account of 1494 shows that
Danes and Germans paid different rates of toll on the herring and that about
30 percent of the total export customs were paid for goods other than herring.
Although the fishery and the trade activities must have been at considerably
lower levels than during the peak years, the accounts of 1494 demonstrate an
economic activity of some importance to late medieval Denmark13 and not
the least the many Danes, who fiocked to the fair every year to acquire some
income , the men to catch the herring, the women to clean and pack the herring
and serve beer and sex to the fishermen and merchants.14
THE SOUND TOLL
The Sound Toll was introduced around 1429 and was set at one noble per
ship. It had its origins in the toll regulations which from ancient times had been
imposed on ships through the Sound and on the special toll on ships imposed
by Erik of Pomerania ( 1412-1439). The introduction of the Sound Toll was
directly caused by the increased cargo capacity of the ships and the sinking
value of Scanian currency relative to the Lübeck currency which contributed
to the decline in royal income from the Scania Fair. The Sound Toll became
the most important source of income for the Danish state for more than 400
years 1 5
During the early years of the Sound Toll, collection was i n the hands of
Peder Oxe, bailiff at the castles of Krogen (Elsinore) and Helsingborg, on the
opposite side of the strait. He also supported Erik of Pomerania during the
latter’s fight with the Council of the Realm. After the deposition of the king,
Peder Oxe continued to hold the castle, collect the toll and gain an extra income
for hirnself and his men by confiscating ships and goods. In 1440, however, he
had to surrender the two castles and pay bornage to king Christopher and the
Council of the Realm.16
12 Ibid., p. 31 ff.; KHL v. 16, col. 68-77; H9!rby (1980), p. 102–ü5; Venge (1987) p. 55 ff.,
A. E. Christensen (1976), p. 103–Q5, Brandenborg, p. 155-60.
13 Dedenroth-Schou, p. 34-41.
14 Eriksson, p. 26-39, 78-81.
15 H9!rby (1966), p. 245-72; Olesen (1982) p. 19 ff.
16 Olesen (1980), p. 76 ff., 95 ff., 139 ff., 147 ff.
63
In 1439, the Council had promised Lübeck that the Hanse towns would be
exempted from the toll. This promise reappeared during the peace negotiations
in 1441 between the Dutch and the Hanse towns when the latter asked that
it b e kept. King Christopher and the council argued that only the Wendish
towns had been referred to, not the other Hanseatic towns. The Wendish towns
remained solidary with their fellow members of the Hanse and the outcome was
that the Hanseatic towns should be exempted temporarily. The payment of the
toll was not to be resumed until a second meeting which seems never to have
taken place. The Hanse remained exempt from the Sound Toll on their own
goods until the late 1440s. 17
In 1447 the city of Zwolle complained that the bailiff of Helsingborg charged
a noble regardless of the Hanseatic privilege.18 Zwolle probably referred to
the bailiff of Helsing(ISr (Elsinore) who became the most important person connected
with the Sound Toll just as Helsing(ISr, not Helsingborg, drew the major
benefits from the traffic in the Sound. During the reign of Christian I toll collection
was in the hands of a prominent citizen in Helsingf�Sr, the mayor Peder
Hansen, who in 1476 was enobled. His son, Hans Pedersen (Lilliefeld) , succeeded
his father in the offi.ce and was called „our gracious lord’s toll collector
in H elsingf�Sr“ during the years 1494-96.19
Christian I. showed an unflagging interest in the Sound Toll and its collection.
He sought to increase the rates for each ship and he introduced a custom
on Bay salt. His son, king Hans (1481-1513), imposed a duty on wine and copper
and complaints indicate that, Iike his father, he also sought to increase the
toll on each ship, which was 1 noble on Hanse ships and 3 or 4 nobles on other
ships. The income of king Hans from the Sound Toll reached 2-3000 nobles.
The new duties and raises in the old tolls no doubt increased the work Ioad of
the toll keeper and bis staff not the least because the exempted Wendish ships
had to be scrutinized.20
The toll collector in Helsingl also the special dues on certain kinds of goods which were imposed around
1470. The royal authorities did not passively accept that items, considered
essentials for a royal household, passed the Sound. The toll thus became more
a kind of expropriation than a proper toll, a confiscation of goods which the
king needed. Salt, copper and wine was taken from passing ships. The oldest
Sound Toll account books from 1497, 1503 and 1528 show that, among other
17 Ibid., p. 174 ff., 189 ff., 363 ff.
18 Ha:n.$erecesse ll:3 nr. 288. See Olesen (1980) p. 363-64; Olesen (1982) p. 24.
19 Magazin til den Dan$1ce Adelstands Hütorie I, p. 3-5; Rep. II:4 nr. 7633; 8270.
20 W. Christensen, p. 655 ff., Olesen (1982) p. 24-28; Enemark (1971) I, p. 81.
64
things, hundreds of casks of Rhine wine were delivered to the Danish king. In
this fashion, the supplies of the royal winecellar were kept at suitable levels.21
Toll collection also meant that the collector in Helsing􀅞r came into contact
with seamen of many nations. The collectors became well-informed of the
political situation in Western Europe and the Baltic ports and by the end of
the fifteenth and throughout the sixteenth century the collector remained the
preferred observer of the Danish government.22 To his many duties was added
exchange of coins as it proved difficult to insist on payment in noble. The
collector had to accept other gold currencies as long as it was not debased. Undoubtedly,
the many shipmen, who anchored up in Elsinore to pay toll, caused
tense situations as the Sound Toll became more complex with special rates for
the goods. Unfortunate shipmen who did not have gold coins with which to
pay could exchange their currency for the obligatory „hard currency.“ In a case
from 1548, the collector informed the court that he provided Henricusnoble
and double ducats in exchange for whatever currency, the shipmen were able
to provide. Clearly these transactions demanded a high degree of honesty and
counting ability.
The case of 1548 arose because the toll collector was accused ofhaving fixed
the toll in noble but accepted payment in gulden at a lower exchange rate,
shortchanging the state by 15 to 20 percent. The collector, Peder Hansen,
had succeeded his father and grandfather in office in 1528. During the 20-
year tenure he had probably followed the principles for exchange, he had been
taught by his father. He had stuck to the old exchange rate of 2,5 gulden to a
noble although this was no Ionger a fair exchange. The shipmen were quick to
take advantage of this and preferred to pa.y in gulden, so towards the end of his
tenure, Peder Hansen obtained only a few nobles. The Danish government was,
however, as much to blame having preferred to avoid the issue of exchange rate
until after the peace at Speyer in 1544 and the final peace agreement with the
Emperor at the Diet of Augsburg in 1547-48. By beginning court procedures
against Peder Hansen the government signalled a new toll policy, especially
towards the N etherlands, by demanding toll payments in Rosenobles. Peder
Hansen, in fact a victim of foreign policy, was sentenced to loss of life and
property; but in M ay of 1549 he was pardoned in return for handing over his
manor to the king.23
2l W. Christensen, p. 670 ff. , 676 ff.
22 Venge (1987) p. 123 ff.
23 Friis, p. 166 ff., Enemark (1983B) p. 93 ff., Venge (1987) p. 116-19.
65
THE ÜXEN TOLL
The toll on oxen became a third important source of income for the king
during the fifteenth century and by the mid-sixteenth century it equalled the
Sound Toll. The rise in the export of oxen is connected to the changes in
European agriculture and demography caused by the crisis of the later Middle
Ages. During the fifteenth century, the oxen were the so-called grassoxen,
animals that had grazed in meadows and commons during the Summer and
were sold at markets in Ribe, Kolding and Assens in September and October. In
1475, the king ordered all trade i n oxen to take place at these three cities where
the toll on the export had to b e paid.24 The further route south passed the
castle of Gottorp in Schleswig where a final toll was extracted. Toll collectors
are mentioned in 1487 both at Gottorp and in the town of Husum on the West
Coast.25 Although the income from Gottorp was quite !arge, the collector there
did not play the important role in administration as did the collector of the
Sound Toll and those at Aalborg and Skagen (see below). Some account books
are extant , the earliest from 1484-85 and 149G-9 1 , and show that income and
expenditures of the court and staff at Gottorp were mixed with income and
connected expenses from the toll collection.26
The trade in oxen and horses at Ribe, Kolding and Assens is fairly weil
illuminated in the account books of Queen Christina (1461-1521). She received
the income from these fairs as her dower and her account books for the years
1495-1513 and 152G-21 are extant.27 They show that she received income not ·
only from the trade in oxen and horses but also from other trade but the former
was by far the largest. The queen’s chaplain also functioned as her bookkeeper
and accountant. He travelled to Ribe and Kolding and acted as toll collector
during the remainder of the year. Assens also had a temporary toll collector
with the mayor taking care of collection during the off-season. The queen paid
wages, including food, for the officials who collected the toll, as for example
„Peder Skriver who in the gate noted down what toll was collected“ and Per
Kneffs, who received 1 mark because he „stood in the gate and took care that
nothing left the town without toll payments.“ In Ribe, the queen also paid for
the rental of the toll booth.28 After the death of the queen, toll collection was
24 Enemark (1983A), p. 13 ff., DGK III, p. 106-Q8 (1475). See also ordinance of 1477 ibid. ,
p. 76-78.
25 Ibid. I, p. 82.
26 Enemark (1971) I, p. 25, 84. Enemark’s work is the basic exa.mination and ana.lysis of
late medieva.l toll accounts.
27 Edition: DCH. Detailed discussion in Enemark (1971) passim.
28 DCH, p. 30, 35, 165, 173, 260, 266, 295, 331, 386, 418.
66
left to the local collector who delivered the income twice yearly to the central
administration. 29
After 1500, the so-called stableoxen, oxen that had spent the winter in the
stables and were sold at fairs in the Spring, came to dominate the export. The
books of queen Christina show that a considerable amount of these oxen were
sold at fairs in Ribe and Kolding in late March and by the 1520s the Fall fairs
had dwindled to almost nothing. In an ordinance of 1521 king Christian II
defined the Spring fair at Ribe in March as the „proper time for the market“ .
Gradually, the fair at Wedel on the Elbe succeeded the fairs at Ribe and Kolding
and the Danish state lost the income from the fairs but made up for it by
collecting toll along the rou te to Wedel. 30
THE EXCISE
The tolls demanded at the Sound concerned only those engaged in longdistance
trade, the tolls extr?-cted at the fi.shery and oxen fairs involved a
considerably !arger group of the Danish pojmlation but were seasonal phenomena.
The late medieval excise, in contrast, touched the entire population as it
was a duty placed on beer, favourite beverage of the Danish people. At first it
was imposed on imported beer but from the early sixteenth century on, locally
brewed beer was also subject to the excise. From being a temporary measure
for raising money, this duty became a permanent fixture not the least because
part of the income from the excise went to the urban magistrates and thus
helped augment municipal coffers a1 The sources concerning the method of collecting
are scattered and the excise has not yet received the scholary treatment,
it deserves.
TüLL COLLECTORS DURING THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
The word „tolder“ appears rarely in documents before 1400 but this changed
in the course of the century when the office had become so common that
the coronation charter of king Hans of 1483 states that toll collectors had to
be native men.32 This was during the period of the Calmar Union ( 1397-1521)
and the Swedes and Norwegians wanted to protect themselves against overly
eager Danish toll and tax collectors. During the reign of Erik of Pomerania
royal bailiffs, assisted by other royal oficials, seem to have been in charge of toll
29 Enemark (1971) I, p. 43, 57, 73 ff.
30 Enemark (1983A), p. 28-3 1 , 39 ff.
31 KHL v. 6, col. 122.
32 Aab, p. 52.
67
collection and of supervising that rules for trade were followed. One can also
find references in documents to urban magistrates, such as mayors, councillors
and town reeves, serving as toll collectors.33 From the time of Christopher of
Bavaria specific toll collectors, „toldere“ , are mentioned in towns of Ribe, Aalborg,
Drag!l)r and Malm!�!, all major trade centres. In documents from 1441/42,
1444, 1445, 1446 and 1447 issued by the royal chancellery the word „tolder“
appears, referring to a royal official.34 The development accelerated during the
second half of the fifteenth century when toll collectors are found in all major
towns of the kingdom. The reasons for the proliferation of sources can be found
not only in the increased number of extant documents but also in the growing
interest, showed by royal authorities in the income generated by the markets
and fairs which provided fertile ground for a multitude of dues and customs.
The office of toll collector became attractive to the male members of the urban
patriciate and several cases of wealthy collectors who later became mayors of
their towns are known.35
The number of toll collectors, supplemented with a toll scribe, „toldskriver“,
36 also increased at major toll centres, such as Drag!l)r (Fall fishery
fair near Copenhagen) and Assens (oxen trade) ,37 while Aalborg and Skagen
(fishery fairs) in Northern Jutland emerged during the fifteenth century as
two important trade and income generating centres with the tax collector as a
central figure.
TOLL COLLECTORS IN AALBORG AND SKAGEN
The Spring herring fishery at the Limfjord near Aalborg had made the
latter a favourite town of the Hanse merchants who bought herring and agricultural
products. The most well known of the toll collectors in Aalborg was
Hans Bartholomreussen, also called Hans Tolder.38 He was the municipal reeve
in Odense in 1508 and became a toll collector in Aalborg before 1513, by 1518
33 W . Christensen, p . 651, Mackeprang, p. 240.
34 Bronnen tot de Gesckiedenis van den Oostzeeh.andtl, ed. H. A. Poelma.n (The Hague,
1917) I, nr. 1569 (1441/42); DMR 1 : 1 , p. 4, 26 (1447); W. Christensen, p. 643-44; Olesen
(1980) p. 193 ff., DGK m, p. 232 (1445), IV I p. 69-70 (1446, see also p. 71-72), 273-74
(1444).
35 Olesen (1980), p. 248 ff.
36 DK, p. 364 (1547).
37 DGK III, p. 105-06, 480-81 ; IV, p. 273-74; Rep. II:3, nr. 5942; Ladewig Petersen, p. 224.
38 About Hans Telder see Hassing, Sti!Svring-Nielsen, Venge (1972) p. 30-46, and Dansk
Biografislc Lebikon, 3rd ed. by S. Cedergreen Bech a. o. (Copenhagen, 1979-84), vol. 1 ,
p . 481.
68
he was a mayor and around 1520 he was appointed castellan of Aalborghus,
without resigning the two other posts. Christian II endowed him with several
special privileges and it seems clear that Hans Tolder was a clever and loyal
official, who eagerly protected the interests of the crown, a fact that he hirnself
stressed in his letters to the king.
The extant accounts show that he was indeed very good at keeping and
rendering accurate accounts. An account from 1518 shows that he had to collect
toll on goods such as grain, fiour, herring, eel and other fish, pelts, furs, tallow,
meat, oxen, horses and salt as well as excise on beer and special dues on „oars
and coffers“ , that is dues collected from retail dealers.39
Hans Tolder eagerly sought so squeeze the maximum toll from the merchants,
especially the Hanse, and the maximum taxes and services from peasants
working the royal demesme. He also managed to pay out the local bishops,
who had received „len“ (administrative fiefs) as security for loans to the king,
and he sought to gain control of other „len“ that were administered by the
great abbeys of the area, none of which made him a popular man among the
local population. The increasing emnity between the Council of the Realm and
the king owed no doubt quite a bit to the activities of Hans Tolder who met a
violent end. In August of 1522 he was killed by the citizens of Aalborg.
„Our toll collector at Skagen“ is first mentioned in a Ietter of comrnission,
issued by the king in 149040 and several toll collectors from the early sixteenth
century on are known.41 In 1514, a toll booth is mentioned which must have
been the office, not the dwelling of the collector who lived in the so-called
„Toldergaard.“ Although Skagen was a small town, the office as toll collector
there remained of greater importance well into the seventeenth century than
those in the other small towns. One reason was the many shipwrecks that
occurred in this part of the country, another was the fishery on which a fishery
toll had to be paid to the crown. The castellan at Aalborghus was ultimately in
eh arge of these incomes as well as of the general administration of the area, but
because of the distance between Aalborg and Skagen, the toll collector at the
latter place was charged with carrying out both the fiscal and the judicial duties
of the castellan. To this was in 1561 added the care of the lighthouse, erected
in 1560. In addition to these duties, the toll collector also bought fish for the
royal household and shipped them to Aalborg where his colleague supplied the
salt for further treatment, as is seen from a document from 1552 which shows
one of the fnany duties of the Iate-rnedieval and early modern toll collector.
39 Enernark (1971) I, p. 49 ff.
40 Miss. I, p. 93.
41 For a generat discussion see Klitgaard (1925) and (1928) and V. Christensen.
69
The toll rates, which had reached new heights during the reign of Christian
II ( 1513-1523) and the tense situation in Europe required a large army and
ensuing expenses. Toll booths were placed at all fishery and trade fairs to
prevent the increasing smuggling. The staff was also greatly expanded and the
wages rose, partly as result of the confiscation of estates and privileges of the
bishops and the abbeys. The establishment of a network of toll booths and a
group of royal officials to man them enabled the crown to count income from
tolls, small as weil as !arge, as an important part of royal finances.42 The toll
collectors became an important element in the monarchy’s steady search for
income, a search that build on the foundations laid during the Middle Ages.
42 Venge (1987) p. 187-89. For a shift in the governrnental toll-policy in the 1550s, see
Enemark (1971) p. 131, 213.
70
S ources:
Aab = Aarsberetninger fra Geheimearkivet, II (1856-60). P. 1-150 reprinted
in a separate edition as Samling af danske Kongers HaandftZstninger og
andre Eignende Acter. Copenhagen, 1856-58; repr. Selskabet for Udgivelse af
Kilder til Dansk Historie, 1974.
DCH = Dronning Christines Hofholdningsregnskaber. Ed. for Det kongelige
danske Selskab for F redrelandets Historie og Sprog by William Christensen.
Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1904.
DGK = Danmarks gamle k􀃓bstadlovgivning. Ed. Erik Kroman. 5 vols.
Copenhagen : Rosenkilde og Bagger, 1951-61.
DK = Danske Kancelliregistranter 1535-1550. Ed. Kr. Erslev and W. Mollerup.
Copenhagen: Selskabet for Udgivelse af Kilder til Dansk Historie, 1881-
82.
DMR = Danmarks Middelalderlige Regnskaber. Edited for Selskabet for
Udgivelse af Kilder til Dansk Historie. Copenhagen, 1944-
1. rrekke, 1 . bind: Hof- og Centralstyre. Ed. by Georg Galster. 1944-1953.
3. rrekke, 1. bind: Roskildekirkens j ordeb9)ger og regnskaber. Ed. by C. A. Christensen.
1956.
Mis. = Mtssiver fra Kongerne Christiern l.s og Hans’s Tid. Ed. William
Christensen. 2 vols. Copenhagen, Selskabet for U dgivelse af Kilder til Dansk
Historie, 1912-14.
Rep. = Repertorium Diplomaticum Regni Danici medi�Zvalis. 2 . ser.
Ed. William Christensen. Copenhagen: Selskabet for U dgivelse af Kilder til
Dansk Historie, 1928-39.
Dictionary:
KHL = K u.ltu.rhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder, fra vikingetid
til reformationstid. 21 vols. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde og Bagger, 1956-78.
Repr. 1980-82.
Bibliography:
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73
MEDIUM AEVUM QUOTIDIANUM
NEWSLETTER 15
QUOTIDIAN UM
SEPTENTRIONALE
ASPECTS OF DAILY LIFE IN MEDIEVAL DENMARK
Edited by
GRETHE JACOBSEN
and
JENS CHR. V. JOHANSEN
KREMS 1988
Herausgeber: Mediwn Aevum Quotid.ianwn. Gesellschaft zur Erforschung der materiellen
Kultur des Mittelalters. Kömermarkt 13, A-3500 Krems, Österreich. – Für den Inhalt verantwortlich
zeichnen die Autoren, ohne deren ausdrückliche Zustimmung jeglicher Nachdruck,
auch in Auszügen, nicht gestattet ist. – Druck: HTU-Wirtschaftsbetrieb Ges. m. b. H.,
Wiedner Haupstraße 8-10, A-1050 Wien.
2
Inhaltsverzeichnis/ C ontents
Introduction 4
N anna Damsholt:
The Legencis of Danish Saints as Sources to Daily Life 7
Brian Patrick McGuire:
D aily Life in Danish Medieval Monasteries 14
Ebbe Nyborg:
Kirchliche Kunst und mittelalterliche Wirklichkeit 23
M arianne Jobansen – Ingrid Nielsen:
The Danish Medieval Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Jens E. Olesen:
In der Kanzlei des Königs.
Die Kanzlei im mittelalterlichen Dänemark 43
Jens E. Olesen:
Tolls and Toll Collectors in Medieval Denmark 60
Bj!llrn Poulsen:
Possibilites et limitations du paysan danois
dans le bas moyen age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Helle Reinholdt – Bodil M!llller Knudsen:
„Women’s Rosegarden“ and „Women’s Herbgarden“ :
Two Symposia on the Sexuality of Medieval Warnen 84
Biographies of the authors 87
Berichte – Besprechungen – Mitteilungen 92
3
Introduction
The articles in this issue all deal with current research on life in medieval Denmark.
Though comprehensive within their respective fields, they represent only
a part of the multi-faceted research currently being undertaken in Denmark, in
spite of the adverse work and job situation of many younger scholars. Due to
a very short deadline for articles, many scholars were unable to comply with
our request for a contribution but expressed interest in participating in international
communication of current research. We hope to bring more articles
on research on medieval Danish life at a later date.
In Denmark, no particular stress is laid on the topic: medieval daily life .
Yet, the by now established social and economic history as well as the renewed
interest in political history, has made historians focus on daily life and on its
material as well as mental aspects. The articles by N anna Damsholt and Brian
Patrick McGuire concern the religion and the Church of medieval Denmark
and their fusion with secular life.
With the development of the discipline of medieval archaeology, our understanding
of the material aspects as well as the physical frames for medieval life
has been greatly expanded. In contrast to the finite number of written documents,
the quantity of archaeological sources keeps increasing, adding valuable
information to our knowledge of medieval society. The challenge to historians
and archaeologists has been to combine and interpret written, artistic and material
sources as Ebbe Nyborg discusses in his article while Marianne Johansen
and Ingrid Nielsen present a project combining achaeology and written sources.
All three authors are historians as well as archaeologists. In this connection, one
might mention the periodical hikuin (published by Forlaget Hikuin, Moesgä.rd,
DK-8270 H95jberg, Denmark) which began in 1974 and appears at irregular
intervals, the latest volume being number 14 (1988). The periodical brings
articles on medieval archaeology primarily in Danish but also in Swedish and
Norwegian with resumes in English. Special issues have been devoted to church
archaeology, urban archaeology, coins and pottery. We should also like to mention
the research tool Nordic Archaeological Abstract (NAA) which indexes all
articles on medieval archaeology (see p. 95).
4
c.n
\
\ C?
\
\
Katlegat \
!:‘
‚
\
\
The Bellic See …,,…-;:;:, Bor􀀡!
— _J
50 km
The Julland peninsular and the Danish islands. The borders of the core of the Medieval kingdom are mark ed with dotted
lines and the modern boundaries with broken lines. The areas in present-day Sweden were the medicval province of Skäne
(Scania), Hailand and Blekinge.
Ingrid Nielsen has also produced the map, accompanying the introduction,
which shows the medieval as weil as the present boundaries of Denmark. As
she and Marianne Jobansen point out in their article, the latter boundary also
determines the boundaries of much archaeological and historical research. In
part to make up for this, meetings have been held between Danish and Swedish
historians and archaeologists (the latter primarily from Skane) dealing with
aspects of the town-country relationship. The publications of these meetings
are mentioned in the article by Bj􀞹rn Poulsen.
The article by Jens E. Oiesen on tolls and toll collection deals with a topic,
hitherto seen as part of political or financial history; but this was, in fact, of
great importance to the common people, especially the many men and women
engaged in trade or commerce whether on international, inter-regional or lo­
cal Ievel. Similarly, his other article, describing the development of the royal
chancellery, rerninds us that bureaucracy and bureaucrats, whether viewed negatively
or positively by contemporaries, are neither modern phenomena nor
ones, appearing during Absolutism.
Bj􀅞rn Poulsen’s article makes us aware that medieval people did not live
and produce in isolation but were integrated into the European economy,
though the extent of involvement and the awareness of international connections
would vary according to time and place. Poulsen also stresses that town
and country, so often seen as mutually exclusive, were both part of the daily
life of many medieval women and men.
The contribution by Helle Reinholdt and Bodil M􀅞ller Knudsen points to
the gender aspect, so often overlooked in traditional history which has concerned
itself mainly with the action of men. We have chosen not to have an
article on “ Women and Daily Life“ which would make women merely one ingredient
in the daily life of men but have urged the authors to include the
gender aspects, making the reader aware that history, whether of daily life or
of extraordinary events, is made by women as weil as men.
September 1988 Grethe Jacobsen, Jens Christian V. Jobansen
6