The Geleitrecht in the Holy Roman Empire was the escorting of travellers or goods guaranteed by the right holder within a specified territory or on specific routes.
Operation
The right of escort was, in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, before the emergence of modernstatehood with its monopoly on violence, a means of ensuring legal certainty for travellers. An escort was guaranteed by the holder of the right in return for the payment of an escort fee. It was thus a popular source of income for the territorial lords. They were able to use their original military prowess and "sell" it for highly prized, hard cash, in an economy that, in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern period, was overwhelmingly based on barter and natural produce. The boundaries between the regions of the individual escort lords were marked by escort crosses or stones. To begin with, traders were accompanied by mounted escorts or teams; later, the escort lord made out letters of authority that travellers could purchase. In such letters the road owner committed himself to damages if the tradesman suffered losses as a result of robbery; i.e. provided a sort of security insurance. Tradesmen were obliged to use certain paths or routes. This duty did not apply, however, for all goods nor to other travellers.
Forms
The following types of escort right may be distinguished:
The Schutzgeleit was the escorting of travellers, especially merchants, in order to prevent robbery. This was also called a Zollgeleit or "toll escort".
Ehrengeleit was an escort that to honour or provide support to very important people and was rather more ceremonial in nature.
Freies Geleit was the safe conduct of people against whom legal or military action would normally be taken, but who were being protected for particular reasons.
Prozessgeleit protected all participants on their way to or from a trial.
Heeresgeleit was intended to protect foreign troops as they marched through a region.
Marktgeleit is a special form, because there was a general protection for all those travelling to and from markets, without which in practice they would always need to be guarded by the presence of troops or payment of a toll.
Numerous individual and special forms that people, who were threatened with arrest or fines, employed to try to keep their freedom to trade.
Whilst escorts were generally provided for people, they could also be used to protect certain goods, e.g. for the transport of the German Imperial Regalia from their repository in Nuremberg to the coronation site of Aachen, later: Frankfurt am Main, and back.
Literature
Weig, Gebhard..Das ius conducendi der Bischöfe zu Würzburg. Eine Studie zur Rechtsstruktur, politischen Funktion und Organisation des Geleitsrechtes im Hochstift Würzburg während des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts, Diss. phil. Würzburg.
