Hegyi Géza | Transylvanian Museum Society, Cluj-Napoca, Romania (original) (raw)

Papers by Hegyi Géza

Hungarian Historical Review, 2024

The most important source of income for the medieval Latin Church, the tithes paid by lay people ... more The most important source of income for the medieval Latin Church, the tithes paid by lay people from their crops and livestock, was divided between several levels of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. The set of beneficiaries varied from one country or diocese to another, while the proportions essentially from one locality to another. In the Transylvanian diocese, the bishop (or the chapter) got the substantial part of the tithe (half to three quarters), while the archdeacon, as regional magistrate, uniformly received a quarter. Despite the canon law standards, in many cases only a fraction of the quarta remained to supply the parish priest. On the other hand, the parish priests from the deaneries of royal Saxons (i. e. German settlers) could usually keep the full tithe. The aim of my research is to reconstruct the share of tithe of the Transylvanian parish clergy by locality, to map it and to analyze the spatial inequalities thus revealed. Due to the unilateral source endowments, we have only a few direct data on this, so I calculated indirectly the size and proportion of the priestly share, based on the data of a list from 1589, which only gives the local rents of the bishops and the archdeacons' share of tithe. According to my results, the inhabitants of 1239 localities paid tithes in mid-sixteenth century Transylvania. For 457 settlements (mostly in the Székely Land) we do not know the share of the priest. In the known cases, the three most common distributions were when the local priest received no tithe (35%), a quarter of the tithe (36%) or the whole tithe (25%). The spatial distribution of the parishes with quarta was not uniform, but rather concentrated in some small areas due to various historical reasons. The level of priestly share correlated with secular and ecclesiastical privileges, the ethnicity of the population that paid the tithe, and the person of the landlord. These results can provide important aspects for the interpretation of sources based on priestly income, such as the papal tithe register of 1332-1336, fundamental to the history of medieval Transylvania.

Realități vechi - interpretări noi. Fenomene transculturale maghiaro-româno-germane în Bazinul Carpatic. Coord. Nagy Levente, Florin-Ionel Oprescu, Vincze Ferenc. Budapesta, 2023

The Hungarian and Romanian literature has for a while detected that in the eastern part of the me... more The Hungarian and Romanian literature has for a while detected that in the eastern part of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary certain types of taxes were associated exclusively with certain ethnic groups. This paper examines the validity of this thesis on the basis of a recently discovered source, the land register (urbarium) of the estates of the Transylvanian bishopric, which was compiled around 1552 and contains the feudal obligations for the settlements (i.e. 1 city, 4 market towns and 32 villages) belonging to the Alba Iulia/Gyulafehérvár and Gilău/Gyalu manors. The study of this correlation required a reconstruction of the ethnic structure of the region, too, based on certain, critically reviewed methods. According to this, the manor of Alba Iulia included 7 Hungarian, 1 Saxon (i.e. German), 1 mixed Saxon-Hungarian, 2 Hungarian-Romanian and 5 Romanian settlements, while the manor of Gilău included 11 Hungarian, 2 Hungarian-Saxon and 8 Romanian settlements (sometimes explicitly distinguished from each other by the source). Among the various annuities, the fiftieth of sheep (quinquagesima ovium), the pig tithe and the tax of kenezii were paid exclusively by Romanian communities, while the tithe of wine, grain, lamb and piglet, the levy called pasyth dyzno (i.e. pig on the grass) and – as a local peculiarity – the traditional land rent (census, terragium) were paid by the Hungarian and Saxon communities. On festive occasions, the Hungarians and Saxons typically gave the landlord a certain amount of wine and oats, while the Romanians gave leather and woolen products. Other gifts (chicken, bread) and the extraordinary dues (taxa extraordinaria), however, were not linked to ethnicity.

Régi tények - új értelmezések. Magyar-román-német transzkulturális jelenségek a Kárpát-medencében. Szerk. Nagy Levente - Florin Ionel Oprescu - Vincze Ferenc. Budapest, 2023

The Hungarian and Romanian literature has for a while detected that in the eastern part of the me... more The Hungarian and Romanian literature has for a while detected that in the eastern part of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary certain types of taxes were associated exclusively with certain ethnic groups. This paper examines the validity of this thesis on the basis of a recently discovered source, the land register (urbarium) of the estates of the Transylvanian bishopric, which was compiled around 1552 and contains the feudal obligations for the settlements (i.e. 1 city, 4 market towns and 32 villages) belonging to the Gyulafehérvár/Alba Iulia and Gyalu/Gilău manors. The study of this correlation required a reconstruction of the ethnic structure of the region, too, based on certain, critically reviewed methods. According to this, the manor of Gyulafehérvár included 7 Hungarian, 1 Saxon (i.e. German), 1 mixed Saxon-Hungarian, 2 Hungarian-Romanian and 5 Romanian settlements, while the manor of Gyalu included 11 Hungarian, 2 Hungarian-Saxon and 8 Romanian settlements (sometimes explicitly distinguished from each other by the source). Among the various annuities, the fiftieth of sheep (quinquagesima ovium), the pig tithe and the tax of kenezii were paid exclusively by Romanian communities, while the tithe of wine, grain, lamb and piglet, the levy called pasyth dyzno (i.e. pig on the grass) and – as a local peculiarity – the traditional land rent (census, terragium) were paid by the Hungarian and Saxon communities. On festive occasions, the Hungarians and Saxons typically gave the landlord a certain amount of wine and oats, while the Romanians gave leather and woolen products. Other gifts (chicken, bread) and the extraordinary dues (taxa extraordinaria), however, were not linked to ethnicity.

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2023

The administration of the tithe required the division of the dioceses into smaller territorial un... more The administration of the tithe required the division of the dioceses into smaller territorial units. These units varied considerably from diocese to diocese, first of all in terms of their names, but also partly in terms of their size and differentiation. The basic unit of tithing in the Transylvanian diocese, primarily in the territories subjected to the episcopal tithe, was the comitatus, which, despite the similarities in name and territory, cannot be identified with the secular counties, but rather with the archdeaconries (or deaneries). Smaller territorial units, such as districtus and (sub)cultellus/succutellus, are mainly found in the more dispersed areas from Fehér and Küküllő counties paying tithes to the chapter. In my study I have also tried to define the extent of these tithe districts.

Arte et ingenio. Tanulmányok Kovács András hetvenötödik születésnapjára. Szerk. Gálfi Emőke, Kovács Zsolt, P. Kovács Klára. Kolozsvár-Budapest, 2021

Kátó László (Ladislaus dictus Katho/Cato, *cca 1320 †1388) was a descendant of the Kátai de Zsarn... more Kátó László (Ladislaus dictus Katho/Cato, *cca 1320 †1388) was a descendant of the Kátai de Zsarnó/Žarnov (SK) family, which had its roots in the middle of the Hungarian Kingdom, in Pest County, but moved to Torna County (on the border between present-day Hungary and Slovakia, southwest of Košice), where they acquired a few villages through marriage, and became related with the illustrious clan of Tekes-sons. László’s nickname, perhaps given to him during his studies, must have been booth a reference to his family and his oratorical/legal skills. It is not known how he became archdeacon of Pata in the chapter of Eger (1348–1352), and then provost of the chapter of Bács/Bač (SB) (1352–1369). In the meantime, before 1362 he became chaplain of King Ludovic the Great, too, which tied him to the royal court for a decade. He served his king in government, judiciary and diplomatic tasks (e.g. in 1370 and in 1373 as an envoy to the papal court), although he received a doctorate in canon low only in 1370 (perhaps in the University of Pécs, founded in 1367). Thanks to his close court connections, he was transferred to the provostry of Dömös (1369–1372), then to that of the Transylvanian chapter (1372–1388), where he retired in his old age. His testament of 1387, which survives in a late copy and is published here for the first time, illustrates the material culture of the middle classes of the clergy, but also the emotional attachment of a medieval intellectual to his books. He died in the first half of 1388 in Gyulafehérvár/Alba Iulia (RO), where his tomb is still visible.

Határon innen és túl. Gazdaságtörténeti tanulmányok a magyar középkorról. Szerk. Kádas István, Weisz Boglárka. BTK TTI: Budapest, 2021

I present here the long durée development of some aspects of the institution of tithing in the me... more I present here the long durée development of some aspects of the institution of tithing in the medieval Transylvanian diocese.
In the first part, I trace the expansion and differentiation of the tithing holders: when, where and under what circumstances did other local ecclesiastical institutions (archdeacons, the abbot of Kolozsmonostor [Cluj-Mănăștur], the cathedral chapter and the parish priests, later the directors of the cathedral altars and the monasteries of the mendicant orders) also receive a certain proportion of the tithes, which were originally the exclusive income of the bishop?
The second part analyses the data on the tithe collectors. It can be observed that the administration of the episcopal tithe became more and more secular (from the mid-15th century it was no longer supervised by clerics but by the provisors of the episcopal domains). In contrast, the chapter’s collection of the tithe proved to be more conservative: even in the early 16th century, the unrented tithe was still collected by delegated canons.
The third part examines the evolution of some tithe-related revenues (priestly census paid by Saxon deaneries or tithe rents). In most cases, these show a high degree of stability over decades, as the interests of both parts demanded predictability. The exceptional doubling of the nominal value of the tithe in the archdeaconry of Küküllő between 1504 and 1563 can be explained with the inflation from 1521 onwards, while the further increase (1,5×) between 1563 and 1589 was due to structural changes.

Középkori művészet a Szamos mentén. Templomok a Mezőségtől Beszterce-Naszódig. Szerk. Kollár Tibor. Iskola Alapítvány Kiadó - Möller István Alapítvány: Kolozsvár-Budapest, 2021

The paper examines the 13th–15th century estate system of an area located in Transylvania, betwee... more The paper examines the 13th–15th century estate system of an area located in Transylvania, between the Someșul Mare (Nagy-Szamos) and the Someșul Mic (Kis-Szamos) rivers to the north and the Mureș (Maros) River to the south. More precisely, it discusses which settlement belonged to which family, what were the power relations between the landowners, how all this changed in time, and what reasons influenced these changes in property relations.

Latin nyelvű udvari kultúra Magyarországon a 15-18. században. Szerk. Békés Enikő, Kasza Péter, Kiss Farkas Gábor. (Convivia Neolatina Hungarica 4.) Lazi Könyvkiadó: Szeged, 2021

The paper focuses on the late years of Stephanus Taurinus, the Moravian humanist and writer, and ... more The paper focuses on the late years of Stephanus Taurinus, the Moravian humanist and writer, and his Transylvanian milieu. Previous scholarship was in agreement that Taurinus moved to Transylvania in 1517, becoming archdeacon of Kolozs (Cluj). This paper argues that Taurinus’ arrival in Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia) can be rather dated to the beginning of 1518. At that time, Ferenc Várdai, bishop of Transylvania, appointed him as his vicar and archdeacon of Hunyad (Hunedoara). The cathedral chapter of Gyulafehérvár in the first decades of the 16th century was known to previous scholarship mostly because of its humanist personalities. However, our prosopographical analysis regarding the canons of this chapter in 1519 has shown that the affinity for humanist values did not play a significant part in the allocation of prebends in this period. As in other chapters of Medieval Hungary, canonries could be acquired mostly through personal relationships, or by the virtue of royal or episcopal service.

Arhitectura religioasă medievală din Transilvania VI. Középkori egyházi építészet Erdélyben VI. Medieval ecclesiastical architecture in Transylvania VI. Editura Muzeului Sătmărean: Satu Mare / Szatmárnémeti, 2020

Deans – called vicearchidiaconus in Hungary (the term decanus being used only for the leaders of ... more Deans – called vicearchidiaconus in Hungary (the term decanus being used only for the leaders of the deaneries from the territory inhabited by privileged German settlers) – were theoretically the permanent substitutes of the archdeacons from the beginning of the 13th century, but their jurisdiction did not extend throughout the whole archdeaconry, as this one was usually made up of several deaneries. Deans were appointed from among the local priests, and had no official headquarters, as they usually set up court at their own parish on a specific day of the week. Many deaneries didn’t have a permanent name either. Their territories overlapped mostly with secular administrative units (counties, districts, seats, domains, etc.). Due to their status as lower judges the documents issued by deans were less preserved: for the period of 1301 to 1556 there are known only 36 of this kind of letters for the entire territory of the diocese of Transylvania. This is why the reconstruction of the number and approximate extension of the medieval deaneries of this region it is very difficult to do. I found, that at the end of the Mid-dle Ages, the 13 Transylvanian archdeaconries consisted of at least 22 to 27 vicearchidiaconatus and 16 to 20 decanatus. The number of parishes belonging to a deanery varied between 5 and 44 (the average was 22).

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2020

The Transylvanian Romanians, although they lived on the territory of the predominantly Catholic H... more The Transylvanian Romanians, although they lived on the territory of the predominantly Catholic Hungarian Kingdom, were the followers of the Orthodox rite, and therefore did not pay the tithe during the 13–14th centuries. However, the voivodes of Transylvania decreed in 1408 on the request of the diocesan, that the Romanian communities which had moved to “Christian lands” (terrae Christianorum, i.e. settlements formerly inhabited by Catholics) should pay the tithe, for getting a compensation for the lost incomes of the Church. In this study, I examine the implementation of this regulation, introducing into the discussion several new sources. In the first decades, there are no data indicating any attempt to put into practice the decree from 1408. Out of those 36 former Catholic parishes, which got a Romanian population between 1337 and 1461, only three can be found on the list of tithe-paying settlements from 1589. Due to the often repeated royal decrees regarding this matter, the idea of the tithe payable by the Romanians settled on terrae Christianorum really became part of the Transylvanian legislature at the end of the 15th century, when its implementation can be considered more successful, too. Out of the 23 parishes which got depopulated and then repopulated between 1461–1599, 15 kept on paying the tithe even with a Romanian population. This success, however, was confined mainly to the territory of Fehér (Alba) county because as a result of the Ottoman attacks this territory became the typical scene of population change in formerly Catholic villages, and because the Catholic Church could effectively assert its power and implement the decree here, in the neighborhood of the episcopal center, primarily on its own estates. In other regions alternative solutions were found (e.g. by redirecting the fiftieth, i.e. the traditional tax paid by Romanians, to the Church), however in many cases the landlord and his Romanian serfs found a way together to sabotage the collection of the tithe.

Turul, 2019

By editing the Transylvanian charters, the archontology of dignitaries, officers and members of t... more By editing the Transylvanian charters, the archontology of dignitaries, officers and members of the chapter should be the basic tool. Because until now it has not been existed, this article would like to fill this gap, for now just until the end of the 14th century. In the Transylvanian chapter, there were only two dignitaries beside the provost: the cantor and the custos. The lector’s officer did not exist in Transylvania although in the 1270s an attempt was made to introduce it. In this compilation after dignitaries are coming archdeacons, deans, schoolmasters and notaries by date, and at last by the simple canons are presented in alphabetical order according to their first name. The lower clergy of the chapter closes the line.

Hungarian Historical Review, 2018

The Romanians of Transylvania, who were followers predominantly of the Orthodox rite, did not pay... more The Romanians of Transylvania, who were followers predominantly of the Orthodox rite, did not pay tithe to the Western Church in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. However, according to the secondary literature, beginning in the fifteenth century, two groups of Transylvanian Romanians were obliged to pay this tax: those living on church properties and those who had moved to settlements formerly inhabited by Catholics (referred to as “terrae Christianorum”). This study deals with the issue of the first group, analyzing the only source that would support the thesis in question, namely a letter of King Sigismund of Luxembourg (which in some editions was dated to 1398 and in others to 1425 or 1426). Although the facts described in the document would correspond to realities from 1426, the contradictory dates, the confusing language, and the absence of the original (the earliest manuscript copies of the text are from the eighteenth century) arouse suspicions. Even if we accept it as authentic, the phrase “decima Volahorum,” which is used in the letter, cannot be interpreted as an ordinary tithe, but only as a royal tax. Neither the late medieval registers of revenues of the Alba Iulia chapter nor the urbaria of the estates of the Transylvanian bishopric offer any evidence in support the thesis according to which Romanians who lived on church properties paid the tithe.

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2018

According to the literature, the term plebanus referred in the 13–14th century Hungarian Kingdom ... more According to the literature, the term plebanus referred in the 13–14th century Hungarian Kingdom only to those Catholic priests who were at the head of parishes with a special status, while their unprivileged colleagues were named by other notions (rector ecclesie, sacerdos, presbiter). This local terminology differed from that found in Western Europe, where parish priests were uniformly called rectores ecclesie, while the unofficial term plebanus was used to denote other functions in the church hierarchy (in Italy a kind of dean, in German territories the vicar of a parish priest).

Our paper proposes to investigate this issue in the case of 14th century Transylvania. According to a comprehensive data collection, the notion plebanus was used (inconsistently) on the territory of the noble counties only in the case of some central settlements (Mintiu, Satu Mare, Tăşnad, Dej, Sic, Cluj, Gilău, Florești, Turda, Abrud, Alba Iulia, Deva, etc.), while in highly privileged Terra Saxonum (Königsboden) practically for all parish priests. The territorial distribution supports therefore the hypothesis that plebani were different from the simple parish priests.

However, this group of plebaniae was a non-homogeneous one, as its elements were characterized by a combination of privileges of different degrees. Some of them were removed from the jurisdiction of the diocesan bishop, being directly subordinated to the archbishop of Esztergom (Mintiu, the Deanery of Sibiu and Brasov), others were removed only from archdiaconal jurisdiction (Satu Mare, Cluj), or even less. The priests from the Terra Saxonum and from the Reghin area were entitled to the whole tithe (libera decima), while the other plebani received only the quarta. The communal right to choose the priest wasn’t general either. The higher the degree of these three kinds of privileges, the more consistent the denomination plebanus was.

At the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century the meaning of the term plebania gradually changed; it began to be applied to all Catholic parishes. This phenomenon spread rapidly (in several decades) from the western parts to the eastern periphery of the diocese.

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Korunk, 2018

The peasant revolt of 1437-1438 is one of the most researched moments of medieval Transylvania. T... more The peasant revolt of 1437-1438 is one of the most researched moments of medieval Transylvania. The present study modifies the current literature on the topic on three accounts. 1) The Nădaş parts, the segment of the Land of Călata which stretches along the river Nădaş, cannot be regarded as one of the centres of the revolt. The uprising barely extended to Alba and Turda counties and did not reach Târnava county at all. 2) The second battle between the peasants’ troops and the voivode’s army took place probably near Apatiu but surely not in the valley of the Someşul Mic river as stated by earlier literature. The mistaken data was based on a diploma assumed to have been issued by Transylvanian vice-voivode Lóránd Lépes Váraskeszi on September 30, 1437, which however has turned out to be one of the forgeries of count József Kemény (1795-1855). 3) The scene of the fraterna unio established on September 16, 1437, the market-town Cãpâlna, has been mistakenly identified as the settlement Căpâlna, nearby Dej, in Solnocul interior county. Based on further research into the settlement history of Transylvania, it can be stated that the Union was formed in what is today known as Căpâlna de Sus, in Târnava county.

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2017

Jakó Zsigmond és az Erdélyi okmánytár A szakmai köztudat Jakó Zsigmond (1916-2008 életművének egy... more Jakó Zsigmond és az Erdélyi okmánytár A szakmai köztudat Jakó Zsigmond (1916-2008 életművének egyik legfontosabb megvalósításaként tartja számon az Erdélyi okmánytár 1 kezdeményezését és első köteteinek elkészítését. Ő maga is a szívéhez legközel álló, őt rendszeresen foglalkoztató ügyek sorában nyilatkozott mindig az okmánytárról. Jóllehet a kiadvány első kötete akkor jelent meg, amikor a Professzor Úr a 80. életévét is betöltötte, ennek sorsa már több mint fél évszázaddal előbb összefonódott személyével.

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2017

According to the scholarly literature, the Romanians from Transylvania, followers predominantly o... more According to the scholarly literature, the Romanians from Transylvania, followers predominantly of the Orthodox rite, did not pay tithe to the Western Church in the 13th-14th centuries. However, it is considered that two groups of them – those living on church properties and those who had moved on settlements formerly inhabited by Catholics (terrae Christianorum) – were obliged to pay this tax starting from the 1400s. This study deals with the first legal regulation regarding the second group, analyzing a document dated to 22th March of 1408 (unpublished till now), that has been preserved both as a summary in a command letter of King Vladislaus II of Hungary from 1492 and as a transcription in a truncated privilege of the same king that can be dated to the same year. The document in question contains the verdict of the royal treasurer, Pipo of Ozora and of the two voivodes of Transylvania, Jacob Lack and John Tamási, taken on the general assembly in Turda at the request of bishop Stephen Upori of Transylvania, who complained that the schismatic Romanian people settled in terrae Christianorum had been refusing to pay tithe to the Catholic Church, supported by some nobles, too. The author analyzes the background of this conflict of interest and shows why its regulation remained valid only for the counties from Transylvania.

Certamen, 2017

According to the scholarly literature, the Romanians from Transylvania, followers predominantly o... more According to the scholarly literature, the Romanians from Transylvania, followers predominantly of the Orthodox rite, did not pay tithe to the Western Church in the 13th-14th centuries. However, it is considered that two groups of them – those living on church properties and those who had moved on settlements formerly inhabited by Catholics (terrae Christianorum) – were obliged to pay this tax starting from the 1400s. This study deals with the issue of the first group, analyzing the only source that would support the thesis in question, namely a partially dated letter of King Sigismund of Luxembourg (which in some editions was dated to 1398, in others to 1425 or 1426). Although the facts described in the document would correspond to realities from 1426, the contradictory date-formula, the confusing language, and the absence of the original (the earliest manuscripts of the text are from the 18th century) arouse suspicions. Even if we accept it as authentic, the phrase decima Volahorum cannot be interpreted as ordinary tithe, but only as a royal tax. Nor the late medieval registers of revenues of the Alba Iulia chapter, neither the urbaria of the estates of the Transylvanian bishopric support the thesis of the tithes paid by Romanians living on church properties.

Számontartatol. A gógánváraljai magyar közösség évszázadai. Szerk. Nagy Gábor lp. Tortoma: Barót, 2016

Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naţionale a României Számontartatol : a gógánváraljai magyar közössé... more Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naţionale a României Számontartatol : a gógánváraljai magyar közösség évszázadai / red.: Nagy Gábor. -Baraolt : Tortoma, 2016 ISBN 978-973-8995-40-6 I. Nagy, Gábor (red.) 908(498 Gorgan-Varolea)

Történelmi Szemle, 2014

The Jakcs family, which originated from the Szilágyság (Sălaj) region, had belonged to the narrow... more The Jakcs family, which originated from the Szilágyság (Sălaj) region, had belonged to the narrow
political élite of the Hungarian kingdom between 1382 and 1441. After the middle of the
15th century, however, they definitively dropped from the ranks of the barons. During
their presence in the court they had managed to build up a medium-sized landed wealth,
which in 1423 consisted of one castle (Hadad [Hodod, Romania]), some 50 to 60 estates
in perpetuity, and a further 30–35 by right of pledge. The majority lay around the ancient
property of Kusaly (Coșeiu, Romania), in the counties of Közép-Szolnok and Kraszna, and
the rest in that of Bereg.
This landed wealth was divided around 1425 between the two principal branches of
the family, that is, the descendants of György I (†1415/1416) on the one hand, and those
of István I († after 1418) on the other. As we have no comprehensive report about this
division, the act itself can only be reconstructed by working backwards from later material
after all the surviving charters of the family had been gathered, grouped and filtered. The
emerging picture shows that in the case of 28 estates owned in perpetuity and 4 in pledge
each settlement was divided by peasant plots, whereas the remaining ones were assigned
undivided (and in roughly equal numbers) to one or the other branch. (In the wake of Pál
Engel the former type is known as division by plots, while the latter as division by blocks.)
The case analyzed here nuances the model elaborated by Engel, according to which after
1360 division by plots became exclusively applied at the division of noble estates. It also
makes evident the existence of a third type, that of mixed division, which was obviously
a combination of the other two. Alongside that of the Jakcs, the division of the Bélteki in
1424 and that of the Dezsőfi de Losonc after 1405 offer examples of the mixed division.
Apparently this kind of estate division was only applied in a narrow region (along the river
Szamos/Someș), and even there perhaps only in the first half of the 15th century.
Which among the two elements constituting this type of division was applied depended
not on the time when the settlement in question was acquired, nor on the right by which it
was held; nor, indeed, can any relationship be observed, at least directly, with the population
numbers. On the other hand, a strong correlation exists with the ethnic-legal qualification
of any given settlement, which was then strictly taken into account; namely, it appears
that in all three cases listed above, the settlements of a dominantly Hungarian character
were always divided by plots, while the Romanian and Ruthenian ones were allotted to
either of the branches in blocks. The underlying reason may have been that the Hungarian
villages were more stable, in average three times more populous than the others, and the
Hungarian tenants roughly twice as profitable as the non-Hungarian villagers, and thus a
more differentiated approach was needed to make division equitable.

Hungarian Historical Review, 2024

The most important source of income for the medieval Latin Church, the tithes paid by lay people ... more The most important source of income for the medieval Latin Church, the tithes paid by lay people from their crops and livestock, was divided between several levels of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. The set of beneficiaries varied from one country or diocese to another, while the proportions essentially from one locality to another. In the Transylvanian diocese, the bishop (or the chapter) got the substantial part of the tithe (half to three quarters), while the archdeacon, as regional magistrate, uniformly received a quarter. Despite the canon law standards, in many cases only a fraction of the quarta remained to supply the parish priest. On the other hand, the parish priests from the deaneries of royal Saxons (i. e. German settlers) could usually keep the full tithe. The aim of my research is to reconstruct the share of tithe of the Transylvanian parish clergy by locality, to map it and to analyze the spatial inequalities thus revealed. Due to the unilateral source endowments, we have only a few direct data on this, so I calculated indirectly the size and proportion of the priestly share, based on the data of a list from 1589, which only gives the local rents of the bishops and the archdeacons' share of tithe. According to my results, the inhabitants of 1239 localities paid tithes in mid-sixteenth century Transylvania. For 457 settlements (mostly in the Székely Land) we do not know the share of the priest. In the known cases, the three most common distributions were when the local priest received no tithe (35%), a quarter of the tithe (36%) or the whole tithe (25%). The spatial distribution of the parishes with quarta was not uniform, but rather concentrated in some small areas due to various historical reasons. The level of priestly share correlated with secular and ecclesiastical privileges, the ethnicity of the population that paid the tithe, and the person of the landlord. These results can provide important aspects for the interpretation of sources based on priestly income, such as the papal tithe register of 1332-1336, fundamental to the history of medieval Transylvania.

Realități vechi - interpretări noi. Fenomene transculturale maghiaro-româno-germane în Bazinul Carpatic. Coord. Nagy Levente, Florin-Ionel Oprescu, Vincze Ferenc. Budapesta, 2023

The Hungarian and Romanian literature has for a while detected that in the eastern part of the me... more The Hungarian and Romanian literature has for a while detected that in the eastern part of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary certain types of taxes were associated exclusively with certain ethnic groups. This paper examines the validity of this thesis on the basis of a recently discovered source, the land register (urbarium) of the estates of the Transylvanian bishopric, which was compiled around 1552 and contains the feudal obligations for the settlements (i.e. 1 city, 4 market towns and 32 villages) belonging to the Alba Iulia/Gyulafehérvár and Gilău/Gyalu manors. The study of this correlation required a reconstruction of the ethnic structure of the region, too, based on certain, critically reviewed methods. According to this, the manor of Alba Iulia included 7 Hungarian, 1 Saxon (i.e. German), 1 mixed Saxon-Hungarian, 2 Hungarian-Romanian and 5 Romanian settlements, while the manor of Gilău included 11 Hungarian, 2 Hungarian-Saxon and 8 Romanian settlements (sometimes explicitly distinguished from each other by the source). Among the various annuities, the fiftieth of sheep (quinquagesima ovium), the pig tithe and the tax of kenezii were paid exclusively by Romanian communities, while the tithe of wine, grain, lamb and piglet, the levy called pasyth dyzno (i.e. pig on the grass) and – as a local peculiarity – the traditional land rent (census, terragium) were paid by the Hungarian and Saxon communities. On festive occasions, the Hungarians and Saxons typically gave the landlord a certain amount of wine and oats, while the Romanians gave leather and woolen products. Other gifts (chicken, bread) and the extraordinary dues (taxa extraordinaria), however, were not linked to ethnicity.

Régi tények - új értelmezések. Magyar-román-német transzkulturális jelenségek a Kárpát-medencében. Szerk. Nagy Levente - Florin Ionel Oprescu - Vincze Ferenc. Budapest, 2023

The Hungarian and Romanian literature has for a while detected that in the eastern part of the me... more The Hungarian and Romanian literature has for a while detected that in the eastern part of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary certain types of taxes were associated exclusively with certain ethnic groups. This paper examines the validity of this thesis on the basis of a recently discovered source, the land register (urbarium) of the estates of the Transylvanian bishopric, which was compiled around 1552 and contains the feudal obligations for the settlements (i.e. 1 city, 4 market towns and 32 villages) belonging to the Gyulafehérvár/Alba Iulia and Gyalu/Gilău manors. The study of this correlation required a reconstruction of the ethnic structure of the region, too, based on certain, critically reviewed methods. According to this, the manor of Gyulafehérvár included 7 Hungarian, 1 Saxon (i.e. German), 1 mixed Saxon-Hungarian, 2 Hungarian-Romanian and 5 Romanian settlements, while the manor of Gyalu included 11 Hungarian, 2 Hungarian-Saxon and 8 Romanian settlements (sometimes explicitly distinguished from each other by the source). Among the various annuities, the fiftieth of sheep (quinquagesima ovium), the pig tithe and the tax of kenezii were paid exclusively by Romanian communities, while the tithe of wine, grain, lamb and piglet, the levy called pasyth dyzno (i.e. pig on the grass) and – as a local peculiarity – the traditional land rent (census, terragium) were paid by the Hungarian and Saxon communities. On festive occasions, the Hungarians and Saxons typically gave the landlord a certain amount of wine and oats, while the Romanians gave leather and woolen products. Other gifts (chicken, bread) and the extraordinary dues (taxa extraordinaria), however, were not linked to ethnicity.

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2023

The administration of the tithe required the division of the dioceses into smaller territorial un... more The administration of the tithe required the division of the dioceses into smaller territorial units. These units varied considerably from diocese to diocese, first of all in terms of their names, but also partly in terms of their size and differentiation. The basic unit of tithing in the Transylvanian diocese, primarily in the territories subjected to the episcopal tithe, was the comitatus, which, despite the similarities in name and territory, cannot be identified with the secular counties, but rather with the archdeaconries (or deaneries). Smaller territorial units, such as districtus and (sub)cultellus/succutellus, are mainly found in the more dispersed areas from Fehér and Küküllő counties paying tithes to the chapter. In my study I have also tried to define the extent of these tithe districts.

Arte et ingenio. Tanulmányok Kovács András hetvenötödik születésnapjára. Szerk. Gálfi Emőke, Kovács Zsolt, P. Kovács Klára. Kolozsvár-Budapest, 2021

Kátó László (Ladislaus dictus Katho/Cato, *cca 1320 †1388) was a descendant of the Kátai de Zsarn... more Kátó László (Ladislaus dictus Katho/Cato, *cca 1320 †1388) was a descendant of the Kátai de Zsarnó/Žarnov (SK) family, which had its roots in the middle of the Hungarian Kingdom, in Pest County, but moved to Torna County (on the border between present-day Hungary and Slovakia, southwest of Košice), where they acquired a few villages through marriage, and became related with the illustrious clan of Tekes-sons. László’s nickname, perhaps given to him during his studies, must have been booth a reference to his family and his oratorical/legal skills. It is not known how he became archdeacon of Pata in the chapter of Eger (1348–1352), and then provost of the chapter of Bács/Bač (SB) (1352–1369). In the meantime, before 1362 he became chaplain of King Ludovic the Great, too, which tied him to the royal court for a decade. He served his king in government, judiciary and diplomatic tasks (e.g. in 1370 and in 1373 as an envoy to the papal court), although he received a doctorate in canon low only in 1370 (perhaps in the University of Pécs, founded in 1367). Thanks to his close court connections, he was transferred to the provostry of Dömös (1369–1372), then to that of the Transylvanian chapter (1372–1388), where he retired in his old age. His testament of 1387, which survives in a late copy and is published here for the first time, illustrates the material culture of the middle classes of the clergy, but also the emotional attachment of a medieval intellectual to his books. He died in the first half of 1388 in Gyulafehérvár/Alba Iulia (RO), where his tomb is still visible.

Határon innen és túl. Gazdaságtörténeti tanulmányok a magyar középkorról. Szerk. Kádas István, Weisz Boglárka. BTK TTI: Budapest, 2021

I present here the long durée development of some aspects of the institution of tithing in the me... more I present here the long durée development of some aspects of the institution of tithing in the medieval Transylvanian diocese.
In the first part, I trace the expansion and differentiation of the tithing holders: when, where and under what circumstances did other local ecclesiastical institutions (archdeacons, the abbot of Kolozsmonostor [Cluj-Mănăștur], the cathedral chapter and the parish priests, later the directors of the cathedral altars and the monasteries of the mendicant orders) also receive a certain proportion of the tithes, which were originally the exclusive income of the bishop?
The second part analyses the data on the tithe collectors. It can be observed that the administration of the episcopal tithe became more and more secular (from the mid-15th century it was no longer supervised by clerics but by the provisors of the episcopal domains). In contrast, the chapter’s collection of the tithe proved to be more conservative: even in the early 16th century, the unrented tithe was still collected by delegated canons.
The third part examines the evolution of some tithe-related revenues (priestly census paid by Saxon deaneries or tithe rents). In most cases, these show a high degree of stability over decades, as the interests of both parts demanded predictability. The exceptional doubling of the nominal value of the tithe in the archdeaconry of Küküllő between 1504 and 1563 can be explained with the inflation from 1521 onwards, while the further increase (1,5×) between 1563 and 1589 was due to structural changes.

Középkori művészet a Szamos mentén. Templomok a Mezőségtől Beszterce-Naszódig. Szerk. Kollár Tibor. Iskola Alapítvány Kiadó - Möller István Alapítvány: Kolozsvár-Budapest, 2021

The paper examines the 13th–15th century estate system of an area located in Transylvania, betwee... more The paper examines the 13th–15th century estate system of an area located in Transylvania, between the Someșul Mare (Nagy-Szamos) and the Someșul Mic (Kis-Szamos) rivers to the north and the Mureș (Maros) River to the south. More precisely, it discusses which settlement belonged to which family, what were the power relations between the landowners, how all this changed in time, and what reasons influenced these changes in property relations.

Latin nyelvű udvari kultúra Magyarországon a 15-18. században. Szerk. Békés Enikő, Kasza Péter, Kiss Farkas Gábor. (Convivia Neolatina Hungarica 4.) Lazi Könyvkiadó: Szeged, 2021

The paper focuses on the late years of Stephanus Taurinus, the Moravian humanist and writer, and ... more The paper focuses on the late years of Stephanus Taurinus, the Moravian humanist and writer, and his Transylvanian milieu. Previous scholarship was in agreement that Taurinus moved to Transylvania in 1517, becoming archdeacon of Kolozs (Cluj). This paper argues that Taurinus’ arrival in Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia) can be rather dated to the beginning of 1518. At that time, Ferenc Várdai, bishop of Transylvania, appointed him as his vicar and archdeacon of Hunyad (Hunedoara). The cathedral chapter of Gyulafehérvár in the first decades of the 16th century was known to previous scholarship mostly because of its humanist personalities. However, our prosopographical analysis regarding the canons of this chapter in 1519 has shown that the affinity for humanist values did not play a significant part in the allocation of prebends in this period. As in other chapters of Medieval Hungary, canonries could be acquired mostly through personal relationships, or by the virtue of royal or episcopal service.

Arhitectura religioasă medievală din Transilvania VI. Középkori egyházi építészet Erdélyben VI. Medieval ecclesiastical architecture in Transylvania VI. Editura Muzeului Sătmărean: Satu Mare / Szatmárnémeti, 2020

Deans – called vicearchidiaconus in Hungary (the term decanus being used only for the leaders of ... more Deans – called vicearchidiaconus in Hungary (the term decanus being used only for the leaders of the deaneries from the territory inhabited by privileged German settlers) – were theoretically the permanent substitutes of the archdeacons from the beginning of the 13th century, but their jurisdiction did not extend throughout the whole archdeaconry, as this one was usually made up of several deaneries. Deans were appointed from among the local priests, and had no official headquarters, as they usually set up court at their own parish on a specific day of the week. Many deaneries didn’t have a permanent name either. Their territories overlapped mostly with secular administrative units (counties, districts, seats, domains, etc.). Due to their status as lower judges the documents issued by deans were less preserved: for the period of 1301 to 1556 there are known only 36 of this kind of letters for the entire territory of the diocese of Transylvania. This is why the reconstruction of the number and approximate extension of the medieval deaneries of this region it is very difficult to do. I found, that at the end of the Mid-dle Ages, the 13 Transylvanian archdeaconries consisted of at least 22 to 27 vicearchidiaconatus and 16 to 20 decanatus. The number of parishes belonging to a deanery varied between 5 and 44 (the average was 22).

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2020

The Transylvanian Romanians, although they lived on the territory of the predominantly Catholic H... more The Transylvanian Romanians, although they lived on the territory of the predominantly Catholic Hungarian Kingdom, were the followers of the Orthodox rite, and therefore did not pay the tithe during the 13–14th centuries. However, the voivodes of Transylvania decreed in 1408 on the request of the diocesan, that the Romanian communities which had moved to “Christian lands” (terrae Christianorum, i.e. settlements formerly inhabited by Catholics) should pay the tithe, for getting a compensation for the lost incomes of the Church. In this study, I examine the implementation of this regulation, introducing into the discussion several new sources. In the first decades, there are no data indicating any attempt to put into practice the decree from 1408. Out of those 36 former Catholic parishes, which got a Romanian population between 1337 and 1461, only three can be found on the list of tithe-paying settlements from 1589. Due to the often repeated royal decrees regarding this matter, the idea of the tithe payable by the Romanians settled on terrae Christianorum really became part of the Transylvanian legislature at the end of the 15th century, when its implementation can be considered more successful, too. Out of the 23 parishes which got depopulated and then repopulated between 1461–1599, 15 kept on paying the tithe even with a Romanian population. This success, however, was confined mainly to the territory of Fehér (Alba) county because as a result of the Ottoman attacks this territory became the typical scene of population change in formerly Catholic villages, and because the Catholic Church could effectively assert its power and implement the decree here, in the neighborhood of the episcopal center, primarily on its own estates. In other regions alternative solutions were found (e.g. by redirecting the fiftieth, i.e. the traditional tax paid by Romanians, to the Church), however in many cases the landlord and his Romanian serfs found a way together to sabotage the collection of the tithe.

Turul, 2019

By editing the Transylvanian charters, the archontology of dignitaries, officers and members of t... more By editing the Transylvanian charters, the archontology of dignitaries, officers and members of the chapter should be the basic tool. Because until now it has not been existed, this article would like to fill this gap, for now just until the end of the 14th century. In the Transylvanian chapter, there were only two dignitaries beside the provost: the cantor and the custos. The lector’s officer did not exist in Transylvania although in the 1270s an attempt was made to introduce it. In this compilation after dignitaries are coming archdeacons, deans, schoolmasters and notaries by date, and at last by the simple canons are presented in alphabetical order according to their first name. The lower clergy of the chapter closes the line.

Hungarian Historical Review, 2018

The Romanians of Transylvania, who were followers predominantly of the Orthodox rite, did not pay... more The Romanians of Transylvania, who were followers predominantly of the Orthodox rite, did not pay tithe to the Western Church in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. However, according to the secondary literature, beginning in the fifteenth century, two groups of Transylvanian Romanians were obliged to pay this tax: those living on church properties and those who had moved to settlements formerly inhabited by Catholics (referred to as “terrae Christianorum”). This study deals with the issue of the first group, analyzing the only source that would support the thesis in question, namely a letter of King Sigismund of Luxembourg (which in some editions was dated to 1398 and in others to 1425 or 1426). Although the facts described in the document would correspond to realities from 1426, the contradictory dates, the confusing language, and the absence of the original (the earliest manuscript copies of the text are from the eighteenth century) arouse suspicions. Even if we accept it as authentic, the phrase “decima Volahorum,” which is used in the letter, cannot be interpreted as an ordinary tithe, but only as a royal tax. Neither the late medieval registers of revenues of the Alba Iulia chapter nor the urbaria of the estates of the Transylvanian bishopric offer any evidence in support the thesis according to which Romanians who lived on church properties paid the tithe.

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2018

According to the literature, the term plebanus referred in the 13–14th century Hungarian Kingdom ... more According to the literature, the term plebanus referred in the 13–14th century Hungarian Kingdom only to those Catholic priests who were at the head of parishes with a special status, while their unprivileged colleagues were named by other notions (rector ecclesie, sacerdos, presbiter). This local terminology differed from that found in Western Europe, where parish priests were uniformly called rectores ecclesie, while the unofficial term plebanus was used to denote other functions in the church hierarchy (in Italy a kind of dean, in German territories the vicar of a parish priest).

Our paper proposes to investigate this issue in the case of 14th century Transylvania. According to a comprehensive data collection, the notion plebanus was used (inconsistently) on the territory of the noble counties only in the case of some central settlements (Mintiu, Satu Mare, Tăşnad, Dej, Sic, Cluj, Gilău, Florești, Turda, Abrud, Alba Iulia, Deva, etc.), while in highly privileged Terra Saxonum (Königsboden) practically for all parish priests. The territorial distribution supports therefore the hypothesis that plebani were different from the simple parish priests.

However, this group of plebaniae was a non-homogeneous one, as its elements were characterized by a combination of privileges of different degrees. Some of them were removed from the jurisdiction of the diocesan bishop, being directly subordinated to the archbishop of Esztergom (Mintiu, the Deanery of Sibiu and Brasov), others were removed only from archdiaconal jurisdiction (Satu Mare, Cluj), or even less. The priests from the Terra Saxonum and from the Reghin area were entitled to the whole tithe (libera decima), while the other plebani received only the quarta. The communal right to choose the priest wasn’t general either. The higher the degree of these three kinds of privileges, the more consistent the denomination plebanus was.

At the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century the meaning of the term plebania gradually changed; it began to be applied to all Catholic parishes. This phenomenon spread rapidly (in several decades) from the western parts to the eastern periphery of the diocese.

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Korunk, 2018

The peasant revolt of 1437-1438 is one of the most researched moments of medieval Transylvania. T... more The peasant revolt of 1437-1438 is one of the most researched moments of medieval Transylvania. The present study modifies the current literature on the topic on three accounts. 1) The Nădaş parts, the segment of the Land of Călata which stretches along the river Nădaş, cannot be regarded as one of the centres of the revolt. The uprising barely extended to Alba and Turda counties and did not reach Târnava county at all. 2) The second battle between the peasants’ troops and the voivode’s army took place probably near Apatiu but surely not in the valley of the Someşul Mic river as stated by earlier literature. The mistaken data was based on a diploma assumed to have been issued by Transylvanian vice-voivode Lóránd Lépes Váraskeszi on September 30, 1437, which however has turned out to be one of the forgeries of count József Kemény (1795-1855). 3) The scene of the fraterna unio established on September 16, 1437, the market-town Cãpâlna, has been mistakenly identified as the settlement Căpâlna, nearby Dej, in Solnocul interior county. Based on further research into the settlement history of Transylvania, it can be stated that the Union was formed in what is today known as Căpâlna de Sus, in Târnava county.

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2017

Jakó Zsigmond és az Erdélyi okmánytár A szakmai köztudat Jakó Zsigmond (1916-2008 életművének egy... more Jakó Zsigmond és az Erdélyi okmánytár A szakmai köztudat Jakó Zsigmond (1916-2008 életművének egyik legfontosabb megvalósításaként tartja számon az Erdélyi okmánytár 1 kezdeményezését és első köteteinek elkészítését. Ő maga is a szívéhez legközel álló, őt rendszeresen foglalkoztató ügyek sorában nyilatkozott mindig az okmánytárról. Jóllehet a kiadvány első kötete akkor jelent meg, amikor a Professzor Úr a 80. életévét is betöltötte, ennek sorsa már több mint fél évszázaddal előbb összefonódott személyével.

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2017

According to the scholarly literature, the Romanians from Transylvania, followers predominantly o... more According to the scholarly literature, the Romanians from Transylvania, followers predominantly of the Orthodox rite, did not pay tithe to the Western Church in the 13th-14th centuries. However, it is considered that two groups of them – those living on church properties and those who had moved on settlements formerly inhabited by Catholics (terrae Christianorum) – were obliged to pay this tax starting from the 1400s. This study deals with the first legal regulation regarding the second group, analyzing a document dated to 22th March of 1408 (unpublished till now), that has been preserved both as a summary in a command letter of King Vladislaus II of Hungary from 1492 and as a transcription in a truncated privilege of the same king that can be dated to the same year. The document in question contains the verdict of the royal treasurer, Pipo of Ozora and of the two voivodes of Transylvania, Jacob Lack and John Tamási, taken on the general assembly in Turda at the request of bishop Stephen Upori of Transylvania, who complained that the schismatic Romanian people settled in terrae Christianorum had been refusing to pay tithe to the Catholic Church, supported by some nobles, too. The author analyzes the background of this conflict of interest and shows why its regulation remained valid only for the counties from Transylvania.

Certamen, 2017

According to the scholarly literature, the Romanians from Transylvania, followers predominantly o... more According to the scholarly literature, the Romanians from Transylvania, followers predominantly of the Orthodox rite, did not pay tithe to the Western Church in the 13th-14th centuries. However, it is considered that two groups of them – those living on church properties and those who had moved on settlements formerly inhabited by Catholics (terrae Christianorum) – were obliged to pay this tax starting from the 1400s. This study deals with the issue of the first group, analyzing the only source that would support the thesis in question, namely a partially dated letter of King Sigismund of Luxembourg (which in some editions was dated to 1398, in others to 1425 or 1426). Although the facts described in the document would correspond to realities from 1426, the contradictory date-formula, the confusing language, and the absence of the original (the earliest manuscripts of the text are from the 18th century) arouse suspicions. Even if we accept it as authentic, the phrase decima Volahorum cannot be interpreted as ordinary tithe, but only as a royal tax. Nor the late medieval registers of revenues of the Alba Iulia chapter, neither the urbaria of the estates of the Transylvanian bishopric support the thesis of the tithes paid by Romanians living on church properties.

Számontartatol. A gógánváraljai magyar közösség évszázadai. Szerk. Nagy Gábor lp. Tortoma: Barót, 2016

Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naţionale a României Számontartatol : a gógánváraljai magyar közössé... more Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naţionale a României Számontartatol : a gógánváraljai magyar közösség évszázadai / red.: Nagy Gábor. -Baraolt : Tortoma, 2016 ISBN 978-973-8995-40-6 I. Nagy, Gábor (red.) 908(498 Gorgan-Varolea)

Történelmi Szemle, 2014

The Jakcs family, which originated from the Szilágyság (Sălaj) region, had belonged to the narrow... more The Jakcs family, which originated from the Szilágyság (Sălaj) region, had belonged to the narrow
political élite of the Hungarian kingdom between 1382 and 1441. After the middle of the
15th century, however, they definitively dropped from the ranks of the barons. During
their presence in the court they had managed to build up a medium-sized landed wealth,
which in 1423 consisted of one castle (Hadad [Hodod, Romania]), some 50 to 60 estates
in perpetuity, and a further 30–35 by right of pledge. The majority lay around the ancient
property of Kusaly (Coșeiu, Romania), in the counties of Közép-Szolnok and Kraszna, and
the rest in that of Bereg.
This landed wealth was divided around 1425 between the two principal branches of
the family, that is, the descendants of György I (†1415/1416) on the one hand, and those
of István I († after 1418) on the other. As we have no comprehensive report about this
division, the act itself can only be reconstructed by working backwards from later material
after all the surviving charters of the family had been gathered, grouped and filtered. The
emerging picture shows that in the case of 28 estates owned in perpetuity and 4 in pledge
each settlement was divided by peasant plots, whereas the remaining ones were assigned
undivided (and in roughly equal numbers) to one or the other branch. (In the wake of Pál
Engel the former type is known as division by plots, while the latter as division by blocks.)
The case analyzed here nuances the model elaborated by Engel, according to which after
1360 division by plots became exclusively applied at the division of noble estates. It also
makes evident the existence of a third type, that of mixed division, which was obviously
a combination of the other two. Alongside that of the Jakcs, the division of the Bélteki in
1424 and that of the Dezsőfi de Losonc after 1405 offer examples of the mixed division.
Apparently this kind of estate division was only applied in a narrow region (along the river
Szamos/Someș), and even there perhaps only in the first half of the 15th century.
Which among the two elements constituting this type of division was applied depended
not on the time when the settlement in question was acquired, nor on the right by which it
was held; nor, indeed, can any relationship be observed, at least directly, with the population
numbers. On the other hand, a strong correlation exists with the ethnic-legal qualification
of any given settlement, which was then strictly taken into account; namely, it appears
that in all three cases listed above, the settlements of a dominantly Hungarian character
were always divided by plots, while the Romanian and Ruthenian ones were allotted to
either of the branches in blocks. The underlying reason may have been that the Hungarian
villages were more stable, in average three times more populous than the others, and the
Hungarian tenants roughly twice as profitable as the non-Hungarian villagers, and thus a
more differentiated approach was needed to make division equitable.

A Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Országos Levéltárának Kiadványai II. Forráskiadványok 60., 2021

A Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Országos Levéltárának Kiadványai II. Forráskiadványok 53., 2014

A Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Országos Levéltárának Kiadványai II. Forráskiadványok 47., 2008

Charta Studiorum, 2004

Cover, editors and authors, content of the Charta Studiorum, a journal of the free students from ... more Cover, editors and authors, content of the Charta Studiorum, a journal of the free students from History Department at Babes-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca), in 2003-2005. The intention of the editors was to support the really passionate students, in publishing their articles, because the Department could not assure such a platform for the interested students, and also to create a common place for both Romanian and Hungarian students and PhD students.
The authorities have not supported us in obtaining ISSN, and that's why this journal hasn't such a number. At some moment the representative of one Publishing House from Cluj, with which the Department cooperated, told me - "I don't give ISSN for such a thing"!

As you can see the journal was really independent and there were no different "honorific committees", "honorific editors" etc. from Department's staff.
I will try to put on-line all the 3 edited issues and the 4th one which remained in pdf...

Also I would like to thank all the persons, who at that moment supported this journal and who also believed in what the editors of the journal believed. The journal succedeed not because of the will of the editors, but because of the real support of the students.

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2024

Review of: Tringli István: Hatalmaskodások a középkori Magyarországon. Bp. 2022. (Magyar Történel... more Review of: Tringli István: Hatalmaskodások a középkori Magyarországon. Bp. 2022. (Magyar Történelmi Emlékek. Értekezések)

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2022

Review of: Gálfi Emőke: Gyulafehérvár és uradalma a 16. század második felében, Kolozsvár, 2021. ... more Review of: Gálfi Emőke: Gyulafehérvár és uradalma a 16. század második felében, Kolozsvár, 2021. (Erdélyi Tudományos Füzetek 295.)

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2022

Review of: C. Tóth Norbert: A Magyar Királyság nádora. A nádori és helytartói intézmény története... more Review of: C. Tóth Norbert: A Magyar Királyság nádora. A nádori és helytartói intézmény története (1342-1562). Bp. 2020. (Századok Könyvek)

Erdélyi Évszázadok. A Kolozsvári Magyar Történeti Intézet Évkönyve, 2021

Review of: Peregrináció és erudíció. Tanulmányok Tonk Sándor tiszteletére. Szerk. Bogdándi Zsolt ... more Review of: Peregrináció és erudíció. Tanulmányok Tonk Sándor tiszteletére. Szerk. Bogdándi Zsolt - Lupescu Makó Mária. Kolozsvár 2020.

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2019

Review of: Regesta Supplicationum 1522-1523. A VI. Adorján pápa uralkodása alatt elfogadott magya... more Review of: Regesta Supplicationum 1522-1523. A VI. Adorján pápa uralkodása alatt elfogadott magyar vonatkozású kérvények. Feltárta, közreadja és a kísérőtanulmányt írta Lakatos Bálint. Bp.-Róma 2018. (Collectanea Vaticana Hungariae, cl. I, vol. 16.)

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2019

Review of: Sófalvi András: Hadakozás és önvédelem a középkori és fejedelemség kori Udvarhelyszéke... more Review of: Sófalvi András: Hadakozás és önvédelem a középkori és fejedelemség kori Udvarhelyszéken. Kolozsvár, 2017.

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2015

Review of: Gulyás László Szabolcs: Városfejlődés a középkori Máramarosban. Kolozsvár 2014. (Erdél... more Review of: Gulyás László Szabolcs: Városfejlődés a középkori Máramarosban. Kolozsvár 2014. (Erdélyi Tudományos Füzetek 280.)

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2010

Review of: Tudor Sălăgean: Un voievod al Transilvaniei: Ladislau Kán 1294–1315. Cluj-Napoca 2007.

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2008

Review of: Zsoldos Attila: Családi ügy. IV. Béla és István ifjabb király viszálya az 1260-as évek... more Review of: Zsoldos Attila: Családi ügy. IV. Béla és István ifjabb király viszálya az 1260-as években. Bp. 2006. (História Könyvtár, Monográfiák. )

Református Szemle, 2008

Review of: Erdélyi Gabriella: Egy kolostorper története. Hatalom, vallás és mindennapok a középko... more Review of: Erdélyi Gabriella: Egy kolostorper története. Hatalom, vallás és mindennapok a középkor és az újkor határán. Budapest, 2005. (Társadalom-és művelődéstörténeti tanulmányok 38.)

Erdélyi Múzeum, 2008

Review of: A Wass család cegei levéltára. Valentiny Antal oklevélkivonatait felhasználva bevezető... more Review of: A Wass család cegei levéltára. Valentiny Antal oklevélkivonatait felhasználva bevezető tanulmányokkal és jegyzetekkel közzéteszi W. Kovács András. Kolozsvár 2006. (Az Erdélyi Nemzeti Múzeum Levéltára 3.)

Démystifier l'Europe centrale. Bohême, Hongrie et Pologne du VIIe au XVIe siècle. Sous la direction de Marie-Madeleine de Cevins, avec la collaboration de Enikő Csukovits, d'Olivier Marin, de Martin Nejedlý et Przemysław Wiszewski. Passés Composés: Paris, 2021