Individual Ransom as a Tool for Liberation of a Prisoner of War in Late Medieval Western Europe (11th–14th Centuries)

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/0208-6050.114.03

Keywords:

Middle Ages, history of warfare, prisoners of war, ransom

Abstract

An important factor in the view of the phenomenon of captivity in the Middle Ages was its mercantilisation. Prisoner of war had an important economic dimension, linked to the extraction of profits from ransoms. Ransom for captives was an important part of the income from warfare in the Middle Ages and was at the same time the most important tool in regaining freedom after a longer or a shorter captivity.

Ransom, i.e. the financial equivalent for keeping a captive alive and returning him or her to freedom, was regulated (at a basic legal level) from above and the practice of using it became significantly stabilised in the Middle Ages. Institutionalisation also applied to legal and administrative actions.

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Author Biography

Andrzej Niewiński, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II / John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin

Dr hab. Andrzej Niewiński, prof. KUL – historyk, pracownik Katedry Historii Starożytnej, Bizantyńskiej i Średniowiecznej na Wydziale Nauk Humanistycznych Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego Jana Pawła II.

Zainteresowania naukowe: historia wojskowości do XVI w.

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Published

2023-10-19

How to Cite

Niewiński, A. (2023). Individual Ransom as a Tool for Liberation of a Prisoner of War in Late Medieval Western Europe (11th–14th Centuries). Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Historica, (114), 27–55. https://doi.org/10.18778/0208-6050.114.03