284:
great man built him castles and held them against the king; they sorely burdened the unhappy people of the country with forced labour on the castles; and when the castles were built they filled them with devils and wicked men. By night and by day they seized those they believed to have any wealth, whether they were men or women; and in order to get their gold or silver, they put them into prison and tortured them with unspeakable tortures, for never were martyrs tortured as they were. They hung them up by the feet and smoked them with foul smoke. They strung them up by the thumbs, or by the head, and hung coats of mail on their feet. They tied knotted cords round their heads and twisted it until it entered the brain. They put them in dungeons wherein were adders and snakes and toads and so destroyed them. Many thousands they starved to death.
32:
185:
be built, how high the tolls should be, and the advantages/disadvantages. While this decision process was made no less complex by being informal, common factors included the local power structure (archbishops and nobles being the most likely recipients of a charter to collect tolls), space between toll stations (authorized toll stations seem to have been at least five kilometres apart), and ability to be defended from attack (some castles through which tolls were collected were tactically useful until the
89:
241:
The procedure pioneered by the Rhine League for dealing with robber barons – to besiege, capture and destroy their castles – survived long after the League self-destructed from political strife over the election of a new
Emperor and military reversals against unusually strong robber barons.
203:
Writers of the period referred to these practices as "unjust tolls," and not only did the robber barons thereby violate the prerogatives of the Holy Roman
Emperor, they also went outside of the society's behavioural norms, since merchants were bound both by law and religious custom to charge a "just
184:
The Holy Roman
Emperor and the various noblemen and archbishops who were authorised to levy tolls seem to have worked out an informal way of regulating this process. Among the decisions involved in managing the collection of tolls on the Rhine were how many toll stations to have, where they should
283:
When the traitors saw that
Stephen was a mild good humoured man who inflicted no punishment, then they committed all manner of horrible crimes. They had done him homage and sworn oaths of fealty to him, but not one of their oaths was kept. They were all forsworn and their oaths broken. For every
233:
Officially launched in 1254, the Rhine League wasted no time putting robber barons out of business by the simple expedient of taking and destroying their castles. In the next three years, four robber barons were targeted and between ten and twelve robber castles destroyed or inactivated.
237:
The Rhine League was not only successful in suppressing illicit collection of tolls and river robbery, they also took action against other state aggression. For example, they are documented as having intervened to rescue a victim of abduction by the Baron of
Rietberg.
229:
In response to this organized, military lawlessness, the "Rheinischer Bund," or Rhine League was formed by 100 Cities, and from several princes and prince-prelates (lords of the Church), all of whom held large stakes in the restoration of law and order to the Rhine.
152:
Medieval robber barons most often imposed high or unauthorized tolls on rivers or roads passing through their territory. Some robbed merchants, land travelers, and river traffic—seizing money, cargoes, even entire ships—or engaged in kidnapping for ransom.
300:
in his 2008 book. The tragedy of the anticommons is a type of coordination breakdown, in which a single resource has numerous rightsholders who prevent others from using it, frustrating what would be a socially desirable outcome.
174:
from the Holy Roman
Emperor) collected tolls from passing cargo ships to bolster their finances. Only the Holy Roman Emperor could authorise the collection of such tolls. Allowing the nobility and
200:) violated the structure under which tolls were collected on the Rhine either by charging higher tolls than the standard or by operating without authority from the Holy Roman Emperor altogether.
141:
Some robber barons violated the custom under which tolls were collected on the Rhine either by charging higher tolls than the standard or by operating without authority from the
166:
Tolls were collected from ships sailing on the River Rhine in Europe for one thousand years from around 800 AD to 1800 AD. During this time, various feudal lords (among them
220:(1250–1273), when there was no Emperor, the number of tolling stations exploded in the absence of imperial authority. In addition, robber barons began to earn their
178:
to collect tolls from the busy traffic on the Rhine seems to have been an attractive alternative to other means of taxation and funding of government functions.
189:
and levelled them). Tolls were standardized either in terms of an amount of silver coin allowed to be charged or an "in-kind" toll of cargo from the ship.
130:'s legal status, imposed high taxes and tolls out of keeping with the norm without authorization by some higher authority. Some resorted to actual
181:
Iron chains were often stretched across the river to prevent passage without paying the toll, and strategic towers were built to facilitate this.
273:". In the absence of strong central kingship, the nobility of England were a law unto themselves, as characterised in this excerpt from the
454:
250:
423:
392:
459:
75:
53:
46:
293:
253:, torching their castles and hanging them. While robber barony never entirely ceased, especially during the
327:
20:
297:
449:
310:
40:
266:
149:(1250–1273), the number of such tolling stations exploded in the absence of Imperial authority.
318:, the main villain is a vicious and ruthless earl who behaves as described in the quote above.
96:
57:
19:
This article is about the medieval practice. For the use of the term in the United States, see
380:
The
Gridlock Economy: How Too Much Ownership Wrecks Markets, Stops Innovation, and Costs Lives
275:
254:
249:
applied the lessons learned by the Rhine League to the destruction of the highway robbers at
175:
8:
363:
Klaus Graf, "Feindbild und
Vorbild: Bemerkungen zur stadtischen Wahrnehmung des Adels",
246:
205:
186:
142:
419:
415:
State and
Nobility in Early Modern Germany: The Knightly Feud in Franconia, 1440–1567
388:
217:
146:
145:
altogether. During the period in the history of the Holy Roman Empire known as the
100:
413:
193:
115:
222:
226:
by robbing ships of their cargoes, stealing entire ships, and even kidnapping.
443:
332:
384:
315:
270:
305:
216:
During the period in the history of the Holy Roman Empire known as the
167:
257:, the excesses of their heyday during the Interregnum never recurred.
123:
131:
378:
269:(1135–1154) was a long period of civil unrest commonly known as "
192:
The men who came to be known as robber barons or robber knights (
138:(robber knights), was coined by Friedrich Bottschalk in 1810.
88:
171:
127:
296:
refers to the original robber barons to illustrate his
345:
441:
245:When the Interregnum ended, the new king
76:Learn how and when to remove this message
288:
87:
39:This article includes a list of general
16:Feudal landowner who engaged in banditry
370:
442:
376:
411:
351:
134:. The German term for robber barons,
211:
161:
25:
99:(1311–1381) during his escape from
13:
412:Zmora, Hillay (13 November 2003).
45:it lacks sufficient corresponding
14:
471:
314:, taking place in England during
455:History of the Holy Roman Empire
126:landowner who, protected by his
30:
367:141 (1993), pp. 121–154, at 138
418:. Cambridge University Press.
357:
1:
328:Robber baron (industrialist)
21:Robber baron (industrialist)
7:
321:
10:
476:
405:
298:tragedy of the anticommons
260:
156:
18:
460:Stephen, King of England
377:Heller, Michael (2008).
338:
311:The Pillars of the Earth
267:King Stephen of England
60:more precise citations.
286:
197:
187:French invaded in 1689
122:) was an unscrupulous
119:
103:
97:Eppelein von Gailingen
289:Literature references
281:
276:Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
91:
308:'s historical novel
255:Hundred Years' War
247:Rudolf of Habsburg
143:Holy Roman Emperor
104:
425:978-0-521-52265-6
394:978-0-465-02916-7
218:Great Interregnum
212:Great Interregnum
204:price" for their
162:Early development
147:Great Interregnum
86:
85:
78:
467:
450:Medieval society
436:
434:
432:
399:
398:
374:
368:
361:
355:
349:
101:Nuremberg Castle
81:
74:
70:
67:
61:
56:this article by
47:inline citations
34:
33:
26:
475:
474:
470:
469:
468:
466:
465:
464:
440:
439:
430:
428:
426:
408:
403:
402:
395:
375:
371:
362:
358:
350:
346:
341:
324:
291:
263:
214:
164:
159:
82:
71:
65:
62:
52:Please help to
51:
35:
31:
24:
17:
12:
11:
5:
473:
463:
462:
457:
452:
438:
437:
424:
407:
404:
401:
400:
393:
369:
356:
343:
342:
340:
337:
336:
335:
330:
323:
320:
294:Michael Heller
290:
287:
262:
259:
213:
210:
163:
160:
158:
155:
84:
83:
38:
36:
29:
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
472:
461:
458:
456:
453:
451:
448:
447:
445:
427:
421:
417:
416:
410:
409:
396:
390:
386:
382:
381:
373:
366:
360:
353:
348:
344:
334:
331:
329:
326:
325:
319:
317:
313:
312:
307:
302:
299:
295:
285:
280:
278:
277:
272:
268:
265:The reign of
258:
256:
252:
248:
243:
239:
235:
231:
227:
225:
224:
219:
209:
207:
201:
199:
195:
190:
188:
182:
179:
177:
173:
169:
154:
150:
148:
144:
139:
137:
133:
129:
125:
121:
117:
113:
112:robber knight
109:
102:
98:
95:
90:
80:
77:
69:
66:February 2017
59:
55:
49:
48:
42:
37:
28:
27:
22:
431:18 September
429:. Retrieved
414:
379:
372:
364:
359:
354:, p. 3.
347:
333:Rent-seeking
309:
303:
292:
282:
274:
264:
244:
240:
236:
232:
228:
221:
215:
202:
191:
183:
180:
165:
151:
140:
135:
111:
108:robber baron
107:
105:
93:
72:
63:
44:
385:Basic Books
316:The Anarchy
271:The Anarchy
168:archbishops
58:introducing
444:Categories
352:Zmora 2003
306:Ken Follet
223:opprobrium
198:Raubritter
136:Raubritter
120:Raubritter
94:Raubritter
92:Legendary
41:references
170:who held
322:See also
132:banditry
406:Sources
261:England
251:Sooneck
157:Germany
54:improve
422:
391:
194:German
176:Church
124:feudal
116:German
43:, but
339:Notes
206:wares
172:fiefs
433:2015
420:ISBN
389:ISBN
128:fief
365:ZGO
304:In
110:or
446::
387:.
383:.
279::
208:.
196::
118::
106:A
435:.
397:.
114:(
79:)
73:(
68:)
64:(
50:.
23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
