Bács-Kiskun megye múltjából 19. (Kecskemét, 2004)
SUMMARY
ATTILA SZABÓ Oppidum- (market town-) like autonomy in Pest-Pilis-Solt County In Pest-Pilis-Solt County the number of market towns incrased to more than the double (from 11 to 24) over the period starting with the kuruc wars (wars led by Imre Thököly and than Ferenc Rákóczi around at the turn of the 17 th century) up to the outbreak of the bourgeois revolution. Inhabitants of market towns - suffering savaging atrocities from time to time - stayed under the authority of landlords and noble comitat, hoewer, they payed their taxes collectively and each town got the right of holding markets. Guilds appeared in these settlements at first and secondary schools were set up as well. None of them was able to reach the rank of the free royal borough even if Kecskemét, Nagykőrös and Vác were striving for obtaining it. In parts of Hungary under Turkish rule self goverment was getting stronger in spite of the fact that the emigrant administration of the comitat was gradually trying to expend the control over the oppidums from the middle of the 17 th century. The comitat wanted to get back the right of the local administration and jurisdiction, with the exception of the right of free judge election. Not long after the Szatmár Peace Treaty this right was also restricted by the administration of the nobility determining 3-4 (by chance 5) nominees. Residents of the town markets had to elect their own superior administrators among them. In the group of market towns there was a settlement on the highest standard of freedom, called Nagykőrös. It suceded in preserving the autonomy of the right of free judge election throughout the whole period. On the contrary to other market towns in Nagykőrös, not an external council but an internal one determined the nominees for the authority of jurisdiction. Besides the right of free judge election, the right of creating statutes and the practice of it as well meant the standard of the autonomy of an oppidum. Besides Nagykőrös, Kecskemét managed to obtain this right by buying off the feudal burdens. Market towns were administrated by a council in general which had a staff of 12. In it members were elected for the rest of their lives. From the end of the 18 th century the rights of these internal councils were restricted by an external, so-called staff of 60 extending in authority to the circle of talking local politics. External councils could make decissions first of all in affairs dealing with the whole community, such as judge election, budget of the local authority, assessment of taxes, economics. The importance of these councils could be seen after the bourgeois revolution and legal transition in 1848, when the authotity of administration and jurisdiction were separated and general assemblies were established, becoming legal successor of external councils and the right of jurisdiction was restricited to the competence of internal councils.
