The Courtly Accounts of Prince Sigismund Jagiello (Late 15th to Early 16th Centuries) and Their Historical Context

Accounts are considered an outstanding source not only in the field of economic history. Accounting records are a notable source of information on everyday life and cultural and social history perceived in a broad sense. They also shed light on a wide range of topics connected with traditionally defined political history, with research into legal and administrative structures to the fore. Furthermore, from a factual point of view, the source appears to be objective — an honest scribe responsible for bookkeeping had no desire to improve (or worsen) the reality or celebrate his employer. He did not subordinate his daily work of recording incomes and expenditures to any literary ambitions (whether he had such ambitions or not) or ethical or any other assessment criteria, nor did he project his or other people’s world-view into the text. The result of his efforts did not serve as a moral appeal or give rise to claims or future rights as was the case with documents such as charters. Unfortunately, that is precisely why accounts represent a very rarely preserved source. Accounts were considered primarily to be a secondary record kept in order to keep current incomes and expenditures under control. Thus the utility value of the accumulated information they contained was, for practical purposes, time-limited. The accounting material soon became outdated and so also superfluous, which often resulted — whether intentionally or because of mere loss of interest — in its demise.