Kenyeres István (szerk.): Urbs. Magyar Várostörténeti Évkönyv XVI. - Urbs 16. (Budapest, 2022)
Abstracts
470 Abstracts Attila Tózsa-Rigó Grapes, Wine, and the City Viticulture and Wine Sale in the Budget of 16th Century Pozsony, 1530-1610 Grape cultivation and wine production played an important role in the everyday life of people in the early modem period. This was not different in Pozsony, located in a wine region. In the early 1530s, the town obtained significant vineyards. The magistrate, now one of the largest vineyard owners, wanted to ensure the sale of the produced wine. To this end, a town statute was passed in 1532, under which on certain days of the year only the town was allowed to sell wine. To demonstrate the role of grapes and wine in the town’s economy, I analyse the relevant parts of the Pozsony town account books (AMB MmB Kammerbücher). I have recently discussed parts of the account books in several studies, and the importance of these resources has recently been highlighted in a volume of studies. In my paper I will analyse two parts of the Pozsony account books. Each year the expenditures include amounts for vineyards owned by the city. At the beginning of the period, only six vineyards are mentioned, whereas in the last third of the century, the source mentions nearly 25 vineyards or vineyard parts each year. The topographical identification of the different vineyard names will be carried out based on the results of one of my previous studies. The wages of the labourers employed in the urban vineyards are given in detail, from the vintners to the day labourers. This allows us to follow the different phases of the work at a given time of the year, as well as to obtain wage history data. Finally, the resource can also be used to show the vineyards’ equipment needs. The other part of the account books to be analysed is the wine duty (Weingelt), which shows the sale of wine produced in the vineyards of the town. These sections contain valuable information for research beyond the question of income alone. With the increase in the quantity of wine from the middle of the century onwards, they also show where the wine was stored and distributed. Through this information, we learn about the cellars managed by the city, as well as about the city’s wine trade in general. The planned timeframe of the research provides an opportunity for a long-term study. It is not only the growing importance of vineyards and wine that can be examined in this way. A further question arises as to whether the general cooling of the weather at the end of the century had an impact on the vine cultivation in Pozsony.
