MATERIAL SITUATION, DAILY ROUTINE AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF MARAMOROSH PEASANTRY IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 17TH CENTURY

Abstract

In this article, the author tries to comprehensively consider the history of the peasantry from the eastern part of modern Transcarpathia. Particular attention is paid to the general characteristics of the organization of a rural society of the Maramorosh County of the first half of the 17th century. This period was characterized by significant migration within the Carpathian region, which led to the emergence of new settlements in the Upper Potyssia and changes in cultural and domestic nature. According to the author, the main driver of these processes was the minor and middle gentry of North-East Hungary, which encouraged the resettlement of peasants to their lands with the help of certain privileges. The article substantiates the idea that the daily routine of the Maramorosh peasantry and occupations were closely connected with the payment of tribute to their own master. That is why the primary sources on the early modern Maramorosh County peasant history are tax descriptions (urbariums), where much information about the property status, social system, and basic occupations of the people of that period can be found. The author emphasizes that in addition to small and medium-sized nobles, another large landowner in the Maramorosh region were the owners of the Khust dominion. The article highlights the difference between the payment of tribute, forms of management, and some other features of the peasants of the highland and lowland parts of the Maramorosh County. The author writes that based on the analysis of the inventory of the possessions of the nobleman Zhigmond Lipchei (Lipcsei Zsigmond) in 1646 and the decrees of Count Miklosh Esterhazy (Esterházi Miklós) in 1613, we can identify terminological nuances of the documents of this period. The author uses in the publication written sources from the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century, for certain clarifications and explanations, acts, and North-Eastern Hungary and other territories charters. The author of the publication concludes the interdependence between the financial situation of the Maramorosh peasants and their mobility.