Szilasi Ágota, H. (szerk.): Annales Musei Agriensis. Agria LII. (Eger, 2019)
Dudás Dorina - Tóth Zoltán: Pálosok gazdálkodása Heves megyében
Dorina Dudás - Zoltán Tóth AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES OF MEMBERS OF THE PAULINE ORDER IN HEVES COUNTY Veresmart (today Pálosvörösmart) is situated at the southern foot of the Mátra Hill and Almárvölgy lies on the northern side of the Bükk Hill, in the North Hungarian Mountains. Veresmart was founded by the nobility and was given to the Pauline Order by the three grandchildren of Csobánka, who belonged to the Aba kindred. Almárvölgy, on the other hand, was a religious order, the foundation of which was linked to Nicholas Dörögdi, Bishop of Eger. The history of the Pauline monasteries of Veresmart and Almárvölgy is similar to those occupied by the Ottoman Empire. The heyday of monasteries was during the 14th and 15th centuries, when they were granted considerable donations from church dignitaries and the nobility. Later, during the 16th century the presence of the Turks meant an increasing hindrance to the monasteries, so more and more monks decided to leave and move elsewhere. Some of them returned to Veresmart from time to time, but the Almárvölgy monastery remained abandoned and was doomed to destruction. The Pauline monks made the most of the favourable environment of the Mátra and Bükk hills, since the vineyards and the mills, as well as the townhouses, the latter independently of these environmental conditions, generated significant income for them. Human activities played an important part in shaping the landscape of this region, to which Pauline monks also contributed, although not exclusively. Millers created a mill-race on the Bene Stream, which provided a good standard of living for many. When making their fish pond, the Pauline monks couldn't have imagined that the pond, contributing to their self-sufficiency, would become the cemetery of the community that later resettled here. Monastic orders, primarily Pauline monks settling here can be associated with the Mátra Region and Eger in becoming key players in viticulture, although the inhabitants of older settlements were already familiar with winemaking. Fortunately the location of the Veresmart monastery has been known from documents of 18th century possessory actions and we also have various quality illustrations of the monastery itself albeit these should be subjected to some source criticism. From alandscape archaeology perspective, the area is suitable for research and traces of the activities of Pauline monks are identifiable even today. Almárvölgy on the other hand, was abandoned after the Ottoman occupation and its immediate surroundings were not repopulated. This makes the research of its landscape archaeology more difficult. Thanks to the archaeological investigations of the 1970s and 1980s, however, we have a lot of information about the monastery, which we do not have in the case ofVeresmart. 323
