Verwaltung per Brief. Die Korrespondenz des Utrechter Landkomturs mit seinen Angestellten, 1753‒1845

Abstract

Administration by mail: The correspondence of the Utrecht land commander with his staff, 1753‒1845

The correspondence between the land commanders of the Teutonic Order’s Bailiwick of Utrecht and their staff, the stewards and clerks, provides a detailed insight into the institution’s functioning between 1753 and 1845. The Bailiwick was administered from the Teutonic House in Utrecht by a resident steward who mostly communicated with his superior in writing, as the latter lived at a considerable distance and came to Utrecht at most once a year. A relationship of trust was essential for the proper functioning of this arrangement. In the first decades after the start of a reorganisation in 1753, this was certainly the case, but the lack of this relationship of trust led to major problems later on.

The analysis of the correspondence paints a picture of the management of dispersed large estates in the pre-industrial era, before major advancements in both transportation and communication. The case study is also important for the knowledge of the Military Orders after the Reformation and during the Age of Revolution, when these institutions were seriously threatened. Additionally, the Bailiwick of Utrecht did not escape abolition by Napoleon, but this was reversed in 1815. The increasingly hostile correspondence between the land commander and the steward about the liquidation procedures in 1812‒1813 provides insight into the survival mechanism of the Bailiwick of Utrecht. The research presented in this article is part of a larger study of the Bailiwick of Utrecht between 1640 and the middle of the twentieth century.