Cło funtowe a działalność kancelarii Głównego Miasta Gdańska w XIV–XV w.

One of the most important forms of the financial activity of Hanseatic towns during the fourteenth-fifteenth century was the collection of the Pfundzoll (zulage, culaga), a tax based on commodities and ships sailing into and out of Hanseatic ports. The ensuing revenue was intended for financing a joint Hanseatic policy, especially the creation of a navy at the time of a war waged against Denmark, Sweden and pirates active in the North Sea and the Baltic (the so-called Vitalians, the Victual Brothers). The article presents changes in the legal status of the Pfundzoll, paid by the towns of Prussia, including the Main Town of Gdańsk, which due to its growing economic status became the most prominent Prussian centre for its collection. Originally, the Pfundzoll belonged to the competence of the convention of Hanseatic towns and was annually renewed. The analysis conducted in the article shows that from the 1390s the Pfundzoll changed its legal status and turned into a domestic tax, as witnessed by the fact that the Teutonic Order took over a part of the tax (one-third from 1403, and two-thirds from 1409) and then the whole sum. In 1443–1454, one-third of the Pfundzoll once again comprised the income of the Prussian towns. The process of collecting the tax and its actual assumption by the authorities of the Order called for the creation of special procedures and supervision over municipal and Order officials. The Teutonic Order officials who controlled the correctness of the assessment and the collection itself included the „pound” official and the Mündemeister. The second part of the article characterises the collection procedure and discusses assorted forms of chancery activity accompanying each stage of the administrative undertakings.