Nyakas Miklós: A hajdúvárosok országgyűlési képviseleti jogának elnyerése 1790-1791 / Hajdúsági Közlemények 17. (Hajdúböszörmény, 1992)

Tartalom

a protest against them. The claims of Jazygians-Cumanians, however were supported, as the two Heyduck deputes reported not without any partiality: „Under our cloak they could also get through". Leopold II - with considerable diplomacy - tried hard to make peace with Prussia, the strongest political supporter of the nobility's movement. In July 1790 it came about in Reichenbach after which the Hungarian Estates were obliged to withdraw gradually and that had its influence on the Heyducks' chances too. The Sovereign firmly stuck to Maria Teresia's diploma allowing just insignificant changes and rejected even the amendments moved by the Cancellary. In the previous diploma the Heyduck towns were included, but now they had to start all over again. On top of all that the question of religion was raised more sharply. The two Transdanubian districts and the Catholic Church objected to the claims of the Heyduck towns, because accepting them would strengthen the protestants' position. They even sent a delegation to pass judgement on their claims „so that our privileges were thoroughly shaken" - as die Heyducks remarked later. Jablonczai and Nánási Oláh compiled a new memorandum, in which they clarified the origin of the taxes imposed on the Heyduck towns, i.e. they proved that the nobiliary rights of the Heduck towns were legitimate independendy of this. What made the things worse was that Hungarian Treasury launched an attack against the endeavours of the Heyduck towns. When the headquarters in Kassa had ceased to exist, the Heyduck towns were submitted to the Treasury in Szepes. Act N 1715/95 was used for the attack. Its 3rd paragraph declared that the right of the Royal Treasury must be held intact. The two Heyduck deputes went to Vienna at once - and this was not the first time incidentally - to request an audience with the king before the Treasury's proposal could arrive there. They realised that once something is incorporated in law, it -„particularly in the present circumstances" - cannot be disregarded, thus it seemed impossible to invalidate the Act referred to above. Nevertheless, they made every effort to reach the cancellation of the Treasury's right to seek for their justice on their own right. The Treasury wanted to make the Heyduck towns independent of landowners with the help of the Viennese Hofkammer without asking the Hungarian government offices. They managed to get a more favourable formulation in the bill and namely that the phrase „obligations legally chargeable on them" should be involved. In the diploma-draft of the two Tisza districts it was included on 16th July, 1790 that the Jazygians-Cumanians and the Heyduck towns (accepted in the acts before the coronation) must be fortified in their privileges. The tune was called all along by the two Tisza districts, especially by Tiszántúl (i.e. east of the Tisza). Finally the Hungarian Estates sent up the Heyduck towns' and Jazygians-Cumanians' parliamentary representation right to the Sovereign with their support, and was granted by the king in his ordinance of September 21 st, 1790. The case was mentioned again at the Court Conference on December 24th, 1790 where the above mentioned grant was fortified. Eventually there were two acts dealing with the Heyduck towns. Act N

1790/29 ensured their rights for parliamentary representation and for voting. The 25th Act provided their frequendy mentioned freedoms and fortified them. In the case of the Heyduck towns, however, the Treasury kept the right to seek for their justice on their own right. All the other claims and wishes of the Heyduck towns - for lack of time - were remitted to the regnicolar deputation, the nine permanent committees set up by the Diet, but the inner conditions of the Heyduck Region were not regulated until 1848. Then the Heyduck towns ceased to be submitted to the Treasury and were placed under the supervision of the Council of Governor-General. If we compare the achieved results with the instructions of the Heyduck towns, we can state that under the given circumstances better results could not have been achieved. It was especially unreal to expect that all the inhabitants with plot should get full scale nobiliary legal status. This result, however, was decisive for the Heyduck towns because thus they managed to avoid being dependent from the Treasury, to preserve their peculiar Heyduck autonomy and to establish their parliamentary representation. The latter result was not indifferent to the country's good either in the sense that it widened the framework of feudal constitution and thus the Heyducks - without realizing it - were among the promoters of the process which eventually led to the Reform Period of Hungary. 96