Sources for the economic administration of subordinated officials of the Teutonic Order in Prussia.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jürgen Sarnowsky
• Subject Area: Medieval History
• Term: from 2012 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 226454098

This project renders accessible two late medieval account books of the Teutonic Knights, one of the two greater late medieval military orders. So far the books did not attract much attention because they have not yet been printed. The surviving materials for the administrative, legal, economic and social history of the Order's territories nearly completely represent the central level while the account books in case document the economic activities of the Order on the lower level. These are the records of the reeve (Pfleger) at Seehesten for the years 1448 to 1451 and of the reeve (Vogt) at Leipe in Prussia for the years 1452 -1453. These sources are of special value because of the rich information which allows approaches from the points of view of economic, social, legal, and administrative history.The critical edition of two of the Order's registers will thus offer an important contribution to open up the access to not so well known aspects of the activities of the Order's officials in Prussia. At the end of the project, the texts which have to be edited will be available in print as well as online.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants