So grzywna means a mark. Back then a mark is roughly equivalent to 352 grams or 12 ounces of silver, so I'm guessing it is a gold coin?
Actually I am not sure whether it was a coin at all. I saw a picture of "grzywna" that looked like an elongated silver ingot,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grzywna_(unit). It was basically a unit of mass, approximately half a pound. I saw it ranging from 189 grams (Chełmno, Kulm) to 280 grams (Moravian and Viennese), depending both on locality and time.
On the other hand, there is a nice article about early Polish coins, where they clearly state that:
The primary coins in Silesia since Boleslaw I were gold "grzywna" and silver "szkojec", "półszkojec" and "ćwierćszkojec" - where we can see, alongside a cross - a symbol of ruling religion, a swastika - a pagan symbol of good luck. (...) According to a habit of those times the names inscribed on coins were Latin, hence our "grzywna" was renamed "denar" or "floren" and the "szkojec" became "grosz". Since "grzywna" was originally gold it was also called "złoty". Grzywna contained 48 "szkojec".
As you see, here is a source of another numerical confusion.
Thanks for teaching me this:)
I am not going to take any credit for the factual data, because I know very little about the subject. I am only a facilitator. And a confused one sometimes. For example, as you will see below, I remain confused about "skojec" ("szkojec"), as two different sources give thwo different values for it: 1/24 vs. 1/3 of "grzywna". Someone must have made horrendous mistake, I think the error was in translation of "Najstarszy Zwód Prawa Polskiego."
So anyway if it means 50 marks, that is a very steep fine actually.
As you will see from the second part of my post, the fines were actually smaller than nominal and the judges were often quite lenient.
Punishment for rape[Polish text below uses the word "zniewolona", which directly translates into "enslaved", but it actually mean "raped", I think.]
Article 17
1. If anyone rapes the girl [with knightly status], or leads her away against her will, he pays the penalty of 50 "grzywna" to the judge, and to the noblewoman as much as the judge will award for her disgrace.
2. The court acts in the same way when someone commits a rape on a married noblewoman or lead her away against her will.
3. (...)
4. When a country girl or a peasant's wife goes to pickup apples or berries, or after other things in the woods or to the field, and if she becomes raped there, a fine for it is six "grzywna".
5. (...)
6. If someone's daughter goes to the field or in the woods for apples, or after other things, and if she is raped, a fine for it is "trzysta" (*), because she was not allowed to go there alone.
During this period, the normal punishments for most crimes, as prejudicial to the good of the individual, were only private ones. Public punishments were the exceptions. However, it is believed that during Middle Ages, the protection of women was increased, in the sense that they enjoyed the blessings of the "mir" (peace) concept, which introduced public punishment alongside the private one. In this case, it would be a personal "mir".
(*) trzysta = 300 in Polish. See explanation below
Explanations regarding penalties:Article 20
1. In the case of penalties that are listed above in "grzywna" (Mark), let it be known that the three penal "grzywna" count for one real "grzywna". When one pays a penalty of 6 "grzywna", it is actually 6 "szkojec".
[Apparently the wikipedia and this source have two different ideas about "skojec/szkojec". Here 1 "grzywna" = 3 "szkojec" ]
2. Let it be known that the name of penalty "trzysta" comes from here: formerly in Poland existed a habit of breaking salt into pieces, and one such piece was known as "krusza" (crumbling). Three hundred of those were called "trzysta". Even though salt is no longer in use as means of payment the penalty is still called "trzysta".
3. In this case, it was decided somewhere that one "szkojec" is given for "trzysta". Sometimes judges are so gracious that they take in the title of this fine four chicken or two, or even one.
4. If the fine is six "grzywna" a judge takes sometimes five or three "szkojec", or even one "łut".
5. If the fine is 70, 50 or 12 "grzywna" and because three penal "grzywna" are equal one real "grzywna", then the judge makes his own benevolent decision.
6. But let it be known that no judge or rarely any judge takes the total sum due as fine; he will be gracious if asked for it (leniency).
7. If the judge makes a favour, he requires the sum to be paid within fourteen nights. If one fails to make payment during that time, he will pay the fine of six "grzywna".
8. The procedure must follow this way because if one was granted reduction of the fine, one should be also
Interrupted transmission .... continuing
8. The procedure must follow this way because if one was granted reduction of the fine, one should be also given a grace regarding the deadline of the payment.
The issue of rape was handled differently in the Statues of Casimir the Great. In particular, the Article 125 say:
Article 125:
[quote]We set, that whoever grabbed, raped and deflowered a virgin without permission of her parents, of whatever status she was, his life will depend on grace of her and her friends (...)
The speculation here is that the offender could be even killed by her protectors, unless he made some sort of payment or married her.
