ABSTRACT
Lippe paid taxes for the upkeep of the Reichskammergericht before its rulers and Estates began to use the facilities of the court to put their own cases. Equally this was the court that above all hunted Lippe for tax arrears, the Zieler, so called because they were fixed biannual assessments which paid for the operation of the court itself, and the Römermonate which paid for the federal war machine. In March 1508 Bernhard VII wrote to Maximilian's commanders in Cologne that he had paid his federal war taxes. The money had been levied from his towns and he demanded a stop to the threat of a case against him at the Kammergericht. He had no arrears and they must recognize this fact. Nevertheless a case was brought and decided against Bernhard, although he categorically refused to pay. The court was undermining federal authority by trying to enforce an unfair tax demand. 1
