Article ID: CBB475648587

Fear and Abundance: Reshaping of Royal Forests in Sixteenth-Century Poland and Lithuania (October 2017)

unapi

This article analyzes new restrictive forest legislation announced by King Sigismund Augustus (d. 1572) in Poland and Lithuania. In the sixteenth century, eastern Europe remained the most densely forested region on the continent; Poland and Lithuania, however, were blessed not only with resources but also with an unusual combination of plains, forests, rivers, and seaports that facilitated the development of large-scale forest industries. Drawing on a combination of royal documents, domain surveys, correspondence, customs registers, and contemporary literature, I argue that the significant resources available to the king allowed him to think of the forest economy and long-distance trade in its products as the backbone of state finances. I recognize changes in the forest regime as part of the greater state reforms redefining the relationship of the king’s subjects to his domain, as well as a strategic move designed to increase treasury income to finance the military during the Livonian War (1558–83). I also argue that changes in the forest regime were established because of the abundance of resources, unlike in many contemporary European states that introduced prohibitive laws as a result of wood shortage fears.

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Authors & Contributors
Eklund, Hillary
Silvi, Cesare
De Moor, Tine
Matthew Paskins
Andrew Doll
Crifasi, Robert R.
Concepts
Natural resources
Natural resource management
Forests and forestry
Science and religion
Agriculture
Conservation of natural resources
Time Periods
17th century
19th century
18th century
16th century
20th century, early
20th century
Places
Lithuania
Poland
United States
Vilnius (Lithuania or Poland)
England
Washington (state, U.S.)
Institutions
United States. Geological Survey
UNESCO
United Nations
Vilna Uniwersytet (Vilnius University)
United States. National Park Service
United States. Forest Service
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