Einige Bemerkungen zur Wirtschaft Siebenbürgens am Ende des Fürstentums und am Anfang des Großfürstentums

Abstract

Transylvania between the Principality of Transylvania and the Grand Principality, as part of the Habsburg Empire suffered a series of economic experiences that led to a considerable extent to its economic as well as social and political decay and recovery. The small Principality on the edge of Central Europe has experienced appreciable changes in its status for two centuries, as well as in the economic perception of those who lived there and also of the other states. The 17th century was one marked both by rich periods from an economic point of view, but also by periods generating economic crisis, due to various natural cataclysms. It is a century of continuous balance between princely absolutism and the noble regime, between the enslavement process and the protection of free structures. Transylvania was hit by the economic crisis of the Habsburg Empire in the middle of the 18th century. The strategies to revitalize the Treasury through internal sources hit hard on the province's financial strength. The economic life of these 200 years is marked by the historic collapse of the guild system. The first who act to limit the monopoly of the guilds are the Princes of Transylvania. The forms of manufacturing production that appeared precisely in the important areas of the guild economy such as those of Sibiu or Braşov are also a significant, but insufficient factor, leading to the weakening of these corporations.