A Veszprém Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei 24. (Veszprém, 2006)

Nagy István: Adatok az 1809-es francia dúlásokról a Gróf Esterházy Károly Kastély- és Tájmúzeum gyűjteményében

DATA ABOUT THE SACKING BY THE FRENCH IN 1809 FROM THE MANSION AND COUNTRY MUSEUM „GRÓF ESTERHÁZY KÁROLY" COLLECTION In the study, two documents (inventory numbers: 63.10.4.1 and 63.10.4.2) of the collection of the Károly Esterházy Mansion and Country Museum of Pápa are to be introduced. They were written in 1818 and give evidence of the revisionist account of the manor of Pápa-Ugod-Devecser. We can find important data in the documents about the devastation carried out by the French in 1809 in and around Pápa. The first document is an account written by Ádám Barcza, the exactor of the manor, to Ignác Bezerédy, the regent of the manors of Tata and Pápa. The account contains notes written by Bezerédy himself. The document itemizes all the damages the manor suffered due to the sacking by the French and which were not compensated until 1818. The document gives partial figures, too (although its primary aim was not this), however, it does not make a distinction between the banknote and the silver forint. This distinction is made possible only by the second document. The shown debts were the consequence of the French pillage and also the loans provided to Veszprém County. It comes up at one point that an officer from the manor (Schwartzfisher, a joiner) attempted to blame his shortage on the French pillage. In this case, unlawful appropriation was suspected, and Barcza ordered investigation into the case. The second document is the precise itemization of the debts. The items are the following: the debts of six pubs of Pápa and seven pubs of other villages, the accounts of two joiners (including the Schwartzfischer case), the debts of Veszprém County and some other debts not related to the pillage by the French. According to the document, in 1818, 17,565 forints and 40.5 denarius was the total amount of debts after the sacking by the French. On top ofthat, 221 forints and 55 denarius were still pending until the investigation into the Schwartzfischer case was over. Unfortunately, we have no more information about the outcome of the case. The study lists what burdens Pápa and its biggest proprietor of the town, the Esterházy manor, had to suffer under the French occupation. Most of the money was spent on provisioning the soldiers. In accordance with Napoleon's strategy, the theatre of the war was supposed to provide the soldiers with food. The French army did not hesitate to obey this order, thus demanded a huge amount of food and wine. We cannot disregard the fact that the French soldiers were also sacking the place. Although they were in Pápa in large numbers only for two days (June 11-12), they placed their field hospital there, so it was the responsibility of Pápa and the County to provide it with supplies and food. The injured French soldiers, who could be carried, left Pápa on June 22, but still a lot of soldiers remained in the town. Besides them, the town had to take care of the injured soldiers of the Emperor and the insurgent Hungarians. 208