As visitações como fonte para o estudo da história económica das Ordens Militares: uma possível perspetiva sobre fiscalidade

Abstract

Since the Military Orders have constituted one of the most profitable fields of research, especially for the oldest studies on these institutions, there has been a clear need to deepen knowledge about other dimensions of their economic activity, including their management and financial organization. In this sense, some topics of study have emerged such as the implementation of accounting practices and their involvement in the taxation process in close relation with the crown. The royal effort to achieve the involvement the Military Orders in these practices is understandable, considering their administrative and economic structure, their extensive heritage, their experience, and their proximity to the crown. Visitations reports, although they are not accounting records or fiscal records, contain very interesting information that allow us to problematize these issues in a chronology that dates back to the 15th and 16th centuries.