Uus-Pärnu ja orduvõim 16. Sajanbdi i poolel
New-Pärnu and its sovereign in the first Half of the 16th Century

Summary/Abstract: The article looks at the relations of New-Pärnu with its sovereign - Livonian Branch of the Teutonic Order. The most characteristic feature of those relations was the great impact of the Order on the small town’s government as well as on the everyday life of citizens and even the town’s appearance. It is significant that a great deal of the political and economic elite of New-Pärnu was closely related to the Teutonic Order in Livonia. The Order exercised quite a strong control over the town and its government but such interference into the municipal autonomy also had a positive side. New-Pärnu received donations and loans from the Order to build up the town, which burnt down three times within 20 years. The study of the relationship between New-Pärnu and the Order reflects the changes that took place inside the Teutonic Order since the end of the 15th century. Gradually the bailiffs and other high officials of the Order tried to become rulers independent from the Grand Master. It is also noteworthy that by the early 16th century knights of the Teutonic Order in Livonia used to live more like citizens than members of a convent. They had wives and children, and households in the town. The result of these developments was that already by the early 16th century in the convents and castles of the Teutonic Order in Livonia not the knights but minor officials dominated. From the end of the 15th century a number of significant changes took place in European society. The development of monetary and market economy offered new challenges to the town government. More experiences of earlier bureaucratic management were needed for running the town, so the first lawyers found their way to the council of New-Pärnu in the first half of the 16th century. By that time a new group of ambitious persons had formed, who, thanks to their education and previous career in the Teutonic Order in Livonia were integrated into the economic and political nobility of New-Pärnu. A place in the town council was no more strictly determined only by one’s extraction or social standing. There arose a new kind of social mobility and social differentiation in Livonia, characteristic of the Early Modern period in Europe.

• Details
• Contents