Водные угодья в хозяйстве прусских условных землевладельцев в XIII—XIV веках

Abstract

Local conditional landholding, which bolstered the rule of the Teutonic Order in Prussia, involved the utilisation of land parcels with diverse landscape characteristics, spanning from well-cultivated arable lands to less fertile areas covered with woods and shrubs. To ensure the stable existence of households, the Prussians were granted rights to fish and build watermills on their plots, along with cultivating the land. These rights, explored in this study within the chronological framework of 1242—1370, were universally applicable. A total of 308 persons of different property status, duties and juridical status enjoyed these rights. Most of them, 213 individuals, were lieges obligated to serve in the military, pay taxes or do both. Another 95 persons were lokatoren required to organise settlements on the plots granted by the Order or the Church. The fishing right was regulated by permitting the use of tools (hooks, gigs, fishing rods, waders and nets, except the seine, termed collectively ‘small gears’), sometimes accompanied by leave to build a barrage across the river. The right to build a watermill applied to erecting a one- or two-wheeled structure, typically encompassed by a plot of land measuring 0.5 to 2 huffen and subject to taxation ranging from two to three marks.