Mineral rights, state appropriation of (755 words)
The Bergregal (royal mining prerogative) withdrew from landowners the right to the use of mineral wealth in the ground – initially of precious metals as well as salt and soon also copper and lead, and later to some extent black coal and other minerals – and granted it to the political sovereign, who thus was given a financial right to share its use as well as the right to loan it out in accordance with feudal law. The owner was entitled to compensation for this use of his ground for the coal and iron industry (Mining).
The Bergregal arose in the high Middle Ages and soon achieved validity in…
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Westermann, Angelika,
“Mineral rights, state appropriation of”, in:
Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012.
Consulted online on 22 September 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_017498>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20200128
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