Town hall finances in the Middle Ages

Abstract

Town hall finances in the Middle Ages

(Summary)

The “town hall’s” expenses were an almost standard item in the late medieval accounts of towns influenced by German culture. This item could usually be associated with the general costs for maintaining the institutions, related to the council’s exercising power in the town, and included also direct expenditure on the town hall building and on the activities conducted therein. Current costs related to the maintenance of the building comprised mainly heating, repairs and the construction of heating devices, as well as various minor repairs. Less important costs were related to supplementing the equipment in the rooms, mainly with items related to official activities, archiving, and entertainment functions (vessels used for the banquets). Most of the costs incurred in respect of the work of officials were related to providing the chancellery with paper. Usually, a junior official, called a servant or porter, was responsible for the office building; however, this was only a fraction of his responsibilities. Dividing the office activities among various rooms, sometimes separate buildings, makes defining the scope of the term “town hall”, as well as determining the budget, difficult, particularly with regard to the specific purpose cash system which dominated in municipal accounting and covered the revenues and expenses of particular administrative departments and municipal tribunals. Revenues directly related to the town hall building included those generated by council monopolies for selling imported beer and heavy wines in the town hall cellars. Dividing the commercial and official functions among other rooms depended mainly on local circumstances, and it seems that this was typical of the early phase of a town hall’s operations.