Botár István et al. (szerk.): A Csíki Székely Múzeum Évkönyve 9. (Csíkszereda, 2013)
Történelem - Tüdős S. Kinga: A székelyeknek írástudással-műveltséggel szerzett címeres levelei a 16–17. században
A SZÉKELYEKNEKÍRÁSTUDÁSSAL-MŰVELTSÉGGEL SZERZETT CÍMERES... ARMORIAL LETTERS AND NOBILITY DIPLOMAS OBTAINED BY SZEKLERS AS MEN OF CULTURE AND LITERACY IN THE 16-17™ CENTURY Abstract Szeklers played a representative role in the history of the Principality of Transylvania. The study of armorial letters and arms obtained by Szeklers as men of culture and literacy in the 16- 17th centuries represents a significant research theme of our national historiography. In previous centuries, literate men had the chance to integrate into nobility by becoming officials, useful persons to the aristocracy and the prince. The acquirement of the armorial parchment, as a sign of social ascent, had an extended importance after the split of Hungary (1540), during the period of the Principality of Transylvanian, especially if we take into account that the insitituion of hereditary aristocracy did not exist in those times. The history of the armorial letters given to Szeklers began with the governor's act of granting the title "My Lord" (Dominus in Latin) to ordinary people. Thereafter, the title could be transmitted from one generation to another by inheritance. According to this, the first letter dates from 1569, when the ruler proclaimed in the Balogh family's of Bădeni (Bágy) parchment that the grantee and his descendants should be respected as nobelmen forever. Only the governor had the right to grant or to finalise armorial letters for those who deserved it during the Principality of Transylvania. This could happen on the basis of a previous armorial letter, on the ruler's decision or on the recommendation of another person. The blazon approved by the ruler was painted on the solicitant’s parchment for a certain fee in the chancellery. The illustration of the blazon and its use was a mean of social communication, an accessorie of symbolic value for a certain category of arms in Medieval Times. Decorative features started to gain ground in addition to formal blazon symbols beginning with the 16th century. The parchment blazons told the story of their owner's merits like an illustrated Bible, giving the opportunity of visual interpretation to the illiterate ones. Armorial letters granted for outstanding professional and trade accomplishments (cook, gardener, bookbinder) were also given in the 16th, and especially in the 17th century, beside the arms obtained for military virtues. The arms belonging to the field of scholarship and culutre praise the merits of literate men working as chancellery scribes, princely notaries, ambassadors, auditors, chamberlains, principals or church officials, priests, preachers, teachers, namely of those men who achieved nobiliary social status due to their profession. Their blazons depict mostly priests and teachers holding in their hands specific utensils as pens, books, parchments. It must be noticed that none of them belonged to the aristocracy of the Szekler Seats. The majority ascended to noblemen status from cavalrymen. 263
