Egyháztörténeti Szemle 15. (2014)
2014 / 3. szám - SUMMARIES IN ENGLISH - Molnár Sándor Károly: A History of the Song Hold the Fort in Hungary - Tóth Krisztina: Lessons of a Meeting of Hungarian Chapters in 1936
100 Egy háztörténeti Szemle XV/3 (2014) the investments for the chapters’ benefices from the assets of the chapters could be incorporated into the primary assets and whether they could be taken into account at the repayment owed to the primary assets. From these questions two things emerge. From the one hand, the chapters sought to develop their economies and to restore their profitability that had been weakened primarily by World War I, the Treaty of Trianon, the economical world crisis, the agrarian reform and the capital levy. From the other hand they could not realize it from other source but partially from the primary assets of their benefices that entailed the obligation of refund. In my study I give a comprehensive analysis about what led to this state, what was the opinion of the meeting and what was decided to reply by the Bench of Bishops to the minister of religion and public education. I point out that the Bench of Bishops and the chapters had basically the opposite view. According to the former if the beneficiaries took out loan from the primary assets they had to refund the sum as it had been the legal practice when the Hungarian Kingdom had had a king. In the background of their conviction there was the fact that if they granted a concession in this question concerning the supreme supervision over the Catholic church properties, it might affect the rights of the future king. At the same time, the representatives of the chapters were convinced that the way of practicing of supreme supervision over Catholic church properties had to align to the requirements of the as it was the only way to restore and maintain the profitability of their economies. Although their effort to change the legal practice remained without any result, the minutes and the summarizing letter of the chairman of the meeting that I publish along with my study are proofs of a unique assembly that contain many details about the economical state of the chapters, about the reasons of its formation and about how they tried to solve the situation in which they had got into due to historical and economical circumstances.
