Abstract
Drawing upon unpublished financial accounts, this article sheds new light on how an ecclesiastical institution in southern Germany navigated the tense military and political environment of the Holy Roman Empire during the Hussite wars. The accounts of Ellwangen Abbey offer a compelling window into how its community dealt with a series of military, economic and diplomatic challenges – from raising extraordinary war taxes and hosting the visiting emperor-elect, to equipping its own military contingent – encouraging a reassessment of the burdens borne by ecclesiastical foundations during the Hussite era and offering new perspectives on how holy war impacted on daily life in smaller communities in Central Europe.
Highlights
I n the Benedictine abbey of Ellwangen in Swabia outfitted a small company of men and artillery for war
Drawing upon unpublished financial accounts, this article sheds new light on how an ecclesiastical institution in the empire reacted during a time of war to the unexpected demands on its resources, finances and information-gathering abilities
Ellwangen’s accounts record the fortification of one of their estates and the equipping of a military contingent, but offer a compelling window into how the abbey dealt with the series of economic, diplomatic and logistical issues sparked by the heretical movement – from raising extraordinary war taxes and hosting the visiting emperor-elect, to sourcing copies of Hussite leaflets in circulation
Summary
I n the Benedictine abbey of Ellwangen in Swabia outfitted a small company of men and artillery for war. It will assess the abbey’s military expenditure in the early s – including its dispatch of a military contingent in summer as part of the fifth Hussite crusade – before offering a general analysis of the expenses forced upon the abbey in maintaining communications and exchanging sensitive information in the tense environment of the south-eastern Holy Roman
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