Marturina


The marturina, or marten's fur, was a tax collected in the lands to the south of the Drava River in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary.

Origins

The name of the marturina indicates that it was originally an in-kind tax, collected in marten's fur. Similar taxespayable in the form of an animal's furalso existed in other territories. These taxes were typically paid by the Slavic inhabitants of the densely forested regions of Eastern Europe to the rulers of the neighboring nomadic peoples. Historian Pál Engel proposes that the marturina was also "originally a special tax that the Slavs of Slavonia had to pay to their Hungarian overlord". The tax was also collected in other territories to the south of the Drava.

Collection

A document recorded in 1300 that those who were obliged to pay the marturina used to give one marten's fur to their lords in each year. During or before the reign of Coloman the Learned, King of Hungary, the marturina was converted into a money tax. Initially, each mansio was to pay 12 Freisach denars, but it was gradually raised during the 13th century before it was returned to its original rate around 1300. Those who were to pay marturina were also obliged to pay another tax, known as pondus. On the other hand, commoners paying the marturina were exempt of the chamber's profit.

From royal to seignorial tax

The marturina was initially a royal revenue, collected for the monarch, or for the duke who ruled Slavonia in the monarch's name. However, when parcels of the royal domain were given away, the grantee typically also seized the right to collect the royal taxes in his new estate. The marturina collected in royal estates was attached to the honor of the Bans of Slavonia in the 14th century. Revenues from the marturina made up around 8,000 florins in 1427.