Life – a user's manual Part II - Boksidan

State revenues
In the Middle Ages, the State (i.e. the king), mainly had the following types of income:
Goods produced in his own farms 9 .
Taxes 10 .
Selling currency 11 .
Duties (see the chapter about customs).
Sale of goods that come in the form of tax.
Sales of goods produced in his farms.
Sale of state farms.
Taking back land previously given away.
Leasing the right to tax the people in a certain area 12 .
9.
During the early Middle Ages the king's main source of income was the land he owned (royal estates). In 1560, for
example, 28.5% of Sweden's agricultural land was owned by the King (Eli F. Heckscher, Svensk ekonomisk
historia, Bonnier, Stockholm, 1935). The nobles held 21.4% and ordinary peasants owned the remaining 50.1%.
For logistical reasons the king distributed his people over the different estates so that they, on the spot, could
consume his income.
10.
11.
12.
Originally, the king's land were about his only income. Taxes were not. However, everybody had the duty to
defend the country and provide som services to the king. Such service was the obligation to host the king and his
entourage when they were traveling.
During the 1200s the country's army transformed from only consisting un-professionals doing their duty to also
consist of professional fighters, who were rewarded (see defense) and fortifications (castles) were also required. It
costed the king a lot of money and the problem was solved by the former defense duty was converted to the
requirement to pay taxes (apart from those who were exempt because they could set up armored warriors on
horseback, I.e. Nobility).
The tax was different depending on whether the taxpayer was a farmer or living in a town. Unfairly enough, town
taxes were low, for example, the tax for a small town like Östhammar did not exceeded what four peasant
homesteads paid. And some cities, such as Stockholm and Kalmar was periodically even exempt.
According to the accounts the king recieved in 1573 in 276 655.5 daler in taxes. 354.5 of these flowed into the form
of cash while the rest came in the form of, among other things: butter, 32 412 daler, wooden planks 1 217.625
daler, days worked (i.e. work for the state) 17 715.5 daler, leather goods 1 846 daler, and copper 15 828.250 daler.
The largest of all forms of payment were rye and barley (26.6% of all taxes), followed by butter (11.7%) and horses
(11.0%).
The king had a monopoly on producing coins. Normally the coins were stamped with as high as the value of the
silver they contained, but sometimes the king lowered the silver content without changing the coins stamped
values.
The king could lease out right to collect taxes to someone else. In 1530/31, for example, others had the right to
collect taxes (Eli F. Heckscher, Svensk ekonomisk historia,, Bonnier, Stockholm, 1935) in the cities, Nykoping,
Örebro, Västervik, Ulvila and Viborg, and districts, Öland, South/East/West Vedbo, Konga, Kinnevalds, Sevede,
Anbyrde and Möre, as well as large parts of Finland since the counties Viborg, Savonlinna and Porvoo were leased
out.
91