Abstract
The archbishopric Salzburg′s wealth was based on mining and the production of salt. Since the main energy source exploited therefore was timber, the preservation of the country′s forests guaranteed the supply with these resources. Already since the high middle ages an increasing shortage of timber made a sustainable management of resources inevitable, and as a consequence initiated a legal regulation of the forest economy. Salzburg′s first forest statute was enacted in 1524 by archbishop Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg. This statute not only contains valuable information on the economy of the forests, but its detailed technical and administrative provisions and orders also decisively influenced the country′s forest politics during three centuries. Finally, it is also an informative legal source for other territories.
© by Akademie Verlag, Berlin, Germany
