taxation system (Transylvanian)

In the Transylvanian Principality the state tax of 99 denariuses voted by parliament (its name was subsidium, contributio, dika or discharge tax in Transylvania) was paid by the villein farms of landowner noblemen. In the 16th century only those villeins had to pay tax who owned draught animals. In 1543 the tax was 3 Forints, from 1552 it was 6 Forints, that is the price of a pair of draught oxen. Villein farms with certain possessions were converted into house-, gate-, or discharge-numbers (in accordance with a converting key), and they had to pay tax according to this. In 1578 new calculations were made, and only those had to pay tax who owned 4 draught oxen. After the 15-year war, however, they could not collect tax according to the old system. In 1608 parliament introduced a less sophisticated system of taxation, when they decided to count ten villeins to one house, no matter if they had draught animals or not. Each noble estate had to be surveyed separately. In the middle of the 16th century it became a general tradition that the 99-denarius tax was imposed twice a year. By the end of the century extraordinary taxes were quite general as well, for example, the "sultan's tax" of 50 denariuses, but taxes were imposed upon the construction of the bigger castles. In the 17th century they used the 1608 system, which did not consider the 'facultas', that is the 'talent' of the villein, in other words his financial situation.

Taxes imposed upon the Rumanian people was the sheep fiftieth (quinquagesima), which were collected by Transylvanian noblemen from their Rumanian villeins once a year, between Easter and Whitsun. This meant that villeins had to give 3 animals after every 50 sheep or goats, one adult animal, a one-year one and a little lamb or goat. By the second half of the 16th century product taxes were replaced by a money tax, but the basis of the tax was suntil the number of animals owned. The name of the tax did not change either. Usually the tax collector of the treasury collected it with the help of landlords or the magistrates of the castle district.

Transylvanian Saxons had had the privilege of paying one sum of money to the royal treasury, then to the treasury of the principality since the Middle Ages. This tax was the census paid for the royal land on St Martin's day (census Sancti Martini). The amount of money they paid was 8,500 forints in the middle of the 16th century. The first part of the subsidium was also paid in one amount to the treasury, which was 12,000-20,000 forints in this age. This sum was divided by the Saxons among themselves.

Székelys had to pay ox-tax, which was replaced by a money tax in the middle of the 16th century. György Fráter tried to introduce the new system, but the Székelys resisted the compulsion, citing their old privileges. In 1557 the Transylvanian parliament enacted a law which declared the fact that the decision accepted by two out of the three nations was binding upon the third one. The aim of this law was to force the Székelys to pay tax. By the end of the 16th century they also paid a tax of 6-10,000 forints to the treasury, which changed year by year and it remained the same in the 17th century.

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