A Hajdú-Bihar Megyei Levéltár évkönyve 19. 1992 (Debrecen, 1992)

Zoltai Lajos munkáiból - Zoltai Lajos: A szabad királyi városi rangra emelt Debrecen életének első esztendeiből. Egy névtelen Naplója 1696-1700-ról. Közli Radics Kálmán

LAJOS ZOLTAI: FROM THE EARLY YEARS OF DEBRECEN BROUGH TO THE STATUS OF FREE ROYAL CITY. AN ANONYMUS DIARY FROM 1696—1700

Published by Kálmán Radies

This document publication by Lajos Zoltai is the presentation of a fragmentary draft from the files of the City Council Archives of Debrecen. It is all the more noteworthy because it reports on the first years of Debrecen as a Free Royal City with the authenticity of an eye-witness. The author makes notes on subjects as wide-ranging as the politics and economy of the city, changes in the weather, arrival and sending of delegates, ravages by German soldiers, the life of the local Greek community, the ban on smoking, playing the violin and dancing or fires in the city. The diary starts with the description of a general meeting for re-election of officials, first attended by a Royal Commissioner in the person of György Kapronczai, a nobleman from Tokaj. Zoltai assumes the manuscript to be contamporaneous and semi-official and suspects it to have been written by István Lévai notary to the city. The diary ends on August 4th, 1700 while the present publication closes on 30th April, 1699.

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