A Herman Ottó Múzeum évkönyve 50. (2011)
TÖRTÉNETTUDOMÁNY - MAROZSÁN Zsolt: Köves mesterségek a Hegyalján a 16-19. században
Köves mesterségek a Hegyalján a 16-19. században 323 Beyond the mineral stone, the most important building material was the wood, from which the forests of the county gave abundant store. The great proportion of the houses in the market towns, as well as the outbuildings of the stone castles, mansions, country-houses and churches, was made of wood. The building from stone had prospered by the almost continuous castle buildings in Sárospatak. The role of the stone-cutters increased by the buildings together with the demands of the products (lime, brick, and tile) of building industries. The master builders were rather invited from other countries, mainly from the towns of Upper Hungary. Studying the history of the building trades in Hegyalja is difficult because they created guilds relatively late, and the number of them was fewer than in the other branches of industry. The building from stone and the stone mining were everywhere in the Zemplén Mountains in the examined period. The masonry belonged to the rare and not populous crafts in the region. The earliest and frequent appearing of this craft was at the centre of estates and their working did not connect to the buildings of the market towns in the 16 t h century. From among the crafts of stone-shaping in Hegyalja, the mining was the most complete and determining trade considering the role of the regional economic life, the number of the craftsmen and the remaining documents of their organization. The mining guilds, which satisfied the local and national demands of the building and food industries, had remaining documents abundantly. These ones cover the whole examined period and we can reconstruct the history of this vanished branch of industry. By the middle of the 19 t h century, the demand on the millstone had started to change because of the appearing of the new, French-type stones. The forming of the edges on these stones was much easier and their lifetime was longer. The system also changed in 1872, as the free practising of industries was introduced. In 1884, the law determined the competence of the building works and the system of the apprentice training. The building industries were classified to the category where the qualifications and the license were required. However, there were workers without qualifications and licence in the small settlements of Hegyalja in the 20 t h century. They worked with lower prices and served the weaker layer of the population. The building industry could be suited for the requirements of developing capitalism and the demands of quantity with the new order. Industrial associations, private companies and small business replaced the guilds in the region of Hegyalja. Zsolt Marozsán
