A Herman Ottó Múzeum évkönyve 49. (2010)

Horváth Zita: Egy borsodi mezőváros, Sajószentpéter konfliktusai földesurával az úrbérrendezés idején

CONFLICT BETWEEN SAJÓSZENTPÉTER, A MARKET TOWN IN COUNTY BORSOD, AND ITS LANDOWNER OVER THE URBÁRIUM REGULATIONS Similarly to other market towns, Sajószentpéter enjoyed various privileges from the Middle Ages (independent election of judges, right to hold fairs, etc.). These privileges were respected by all the landowners. Thirty per cent of the town's population was made up of nobles, the rest of serfs and cotters. The town hardly had any conflicts with its landowners until the urbárium regulations, and neither were there significant internal conflicts or antagonisms within its society. The urbárium regulations transformed the earlier conditions: the landowner was intent on taking advantage of the rights provided by the regulations and curtailing the town's earlier privileges, leading to many decades of litigation between the two. The conflict with the landowner united the town's population, irrespective of creed and social standing. Most studies focus on the undoubtedly positive aspects of the urbárium regulations; here, 1 have shown the negative aspects and consequence of the regulations. Zita Horváth 282