Balogh Béla, Oszóczki Kálmán: Bányászat és pénzverés a Gutin alatt - Nagybánya és környékének bányászata, ércfeldolgozása és pénzverése 1700 előtt (Közlemények a magyarországi ásványi nyersanyagok történetéből 12., Miskolc – Rudabánya, 2001)
ÖSSZEFOGLALÁSOK ANGOL, ROMÁN, SZLOVÁK NYELVEN
MINING AND MINTING BENEATH THE GUTIN RANGE MINING, TREATMENT OF ORES AND MINTING IN AND AROUND NAGYBÁNYA BEFORE 1700 The exploitation of the area rich in mineral resources in the south-western mountain ranges of the Avas, Gutin and Cibles was begun by people living in the area before the common era, i.e. in the Bronze Age. The propagation of mining for ores played a major role in the establishment of the towns beneath the Gutin range at the end of the 13 th century and in their subsequent development. The increased production of silver, and primarily of gold, in the surroundings of the two royal free boroughs, Asszonypataka-Rivulus Dominarum (later Nagybánya-Neustadt and then Baia Mare) and Középhegy-Mons Médius (later Felsöbánya-Mittelberg, and then Baia Sprie), provided an important contribution to the success of the financial and economic reforms introduced by Charles I. The franchises granted by the Anjou rulers in 1327, 1329, 1347 and 1376 gave a great impetus to the development of mining and contributed to the rapid development and growth of the towns. The transfer of the organ of the financial administration (treasury) from Szatmár to Asszonypataka also resulted in the establishment of the mint there, which was operational as early as in 1411 according to the records. It is also known that gold guldens and denars were minted here in the second half of the 14 th century. The level of development of mining and minting placed the Hungarian kingdom in the age of the Hunyadis in the forefront of gold producers and exporters in Europe: approximately 32% of the gold production of the kingdom came from the treasury in Nagybánya. At that time the production and processing of the ores in the Nagybánya basin employed the means, equipment and technology known in the rest of Europe. However, there came a serious decline at the end of the 15 lh century. It was a consequence of the war conditions that developed at the time. In the course of the wars the supporters of the Hapsburgs on the one hand, and those of King János I (Zápolya) and then those of his son, János Zsigmond, princ of Transylvania, repeatedly destroyed the equipment in the mines, the ore-crushers, the furnaces and the mint. The decline could also have been caused by the technical deficiencies. The exploitation of the better lodes had been performed close to the surface up to the death of King Matthias. Later, however, the dewatering of the mines posed a serious problem as the technology of the period did not make exploitation or production from greater depths possible. After 1583 there came again some upswing. From that year on, the mint and the mines of the treasury were leased by Felician Herberstein, and then by his sons, who, however, ruthlessly exploited both the mint and the mines. The Herberstein family was succeeded by the Lisibon family in the early 17 th century. In 1620, Gábor Bethlen, prince of Transylvania, leased the mines of the treasury and the mint to the magistracy of the city of Nagybánya. In addition to minting, the city of Nagybánya made great efforts to increase ore production and to open new mines. The city spent large sums on increasing mining production, but the amounts invested did not produce the results expected. Thus the city was forced to terminate the contract of lease. From that time on, the production of ores came into the hands of the prince of Transylvania and of the various leaseholders. In the middle of the 17 th century, the mines around Nagybánya stopped production and only the mint was operational. It was used by the private mine owners and the mines belonging to the city of Felsőbánya to exchange their precious metals. In 1689 the majority of the mines belonging to Felsőbánya became the property of the treasury in Kassa, which, in the centuries to come, introduced a number of measures resulting in a growth of production in the area of Gutin. The issues related to the processing of ores (crushers, furnaces, separation and refining of gold) as well as minting, social and welfare issues are treated by the authors in separate chapters. The appendices include two mine inventories, a record of the precious metals exchanged in the mint of Nagybánya as well as a payroll from the first half of the 17 th century, which have not been published previously. The authors worked for decades for the archives in Nagybánya (Baia Mare) and publish their unique findings collected through the processing of original material in the public records office.
