Kujbusné Mecsei Éva - Mykhailo Mishuk (szerk.): Bereg vármegye pecsétjei - A Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg Megyei Levéltár Kiadványai II. Közlemények 47. (Nyíregyháza, 2017)

The Seals of the County of Bereg

Before the 13th century Bereg, an area rich in forests and groves, located in the northeastern corner of the country, was not yet called a county. Instead, it was referred to as the hunting ground of “the holy Kings”.1 A royal prefect or ispán was the head of the hunting grounds, and he supervised the forest wardens. The prefect of Bereg is first mentioned in historic documents dated in the first half of the 13th century.2 The forests of Bereg were organized into a county after the Mongol invasion (1241 — 1242). The new county included the north-eastern parts of the entirely destroyed Borsova county, with the fortress of Borsova and its defenders. As early as 1247, the area is mentioned as “Comitatus de Bereg” in a charter issued to the village of Lompert.1 The centre of the county was the fortress of Bereg, later Munkács and, from the 14th century, Beregszász, which subsequently hosted the county assemblies.

The county, rich in smaller and larger rivers, was originally covered with forests, and its villages that had been located mostly in the plains, but also in the rolling hills and mountains, were destroyed during the Mongolian invasion. The settlements were repopulated in several phases. The more populous, more powerful settlements emerged in the valley of Latorca river, along the commercial and military routes crossing the Verecke Pass. Bereg, at that time a part of the Diocese of Eger, had a count, four sheriffs and 12 jurors as early as 12997 The prefects, who were sometimes national dignitaries, and often held the office in several counties simultaneously, usually did not live permanently in their respective counties. The actual works was performed by their deputy, the vice-prefect.

Literacy began to spread in the county in the 14th century, largely as the result of the jurisdiction of the vice-prefect and the sheriffs, a number of documents have survived.-1 In 1314 was the first mention about the incumbents. In 1313 King Charles Robert donated the lands of palatine Borsa Kopasz - who was found to be disloyal to the King - to Tamás, prefect of Bereg and Ugocsa counties. The documents of a law suit dated 1354

1 In accordance with the privileges of the Eger Diocese of 1271. In György Györffy: Az Árpád-kori Magyarország történeti földrajza. Budapest, 1963. (henceforth Györffy, 1963.) 522.

2 Tire charter of the monastery of Lelesz, dated in 1214, contains ’’the name of the comes oi Bereg county, formerly Borsova county”. In Géza Érszegi: A leleszi monostor alapítóleveléről (1214), in which the author refers to Frigyes Pesty’s: Az eltűnt régi vármegyék. Budapest, 1880. In Szabolcs-Szatmár-Beregi Levéltári Évkönyv, 16. Ed. Ágota Henzsel. Nyíregyháza, 2003. http://www.szabarchiv.hu/drupal/sites/default/files/15-30.pdf (accessed 2 March 2016); Zsolt Sebestyén: Bereg megye helységneveinek etimológiai szótára. Nyíregyháza, 2010. http://mek.oszk. hu/11600/11640/11640.pdf (accessed 2 March 2016)

3 Tivadar Lehoczky: Beregvármegye monographiája, I-III. Ungvár, 1881. (similar edition Budapest, 2011) I. kötet 123. (hereunder: Lehoczky, 1881.).

4 Györffy, 1963. 523.

5 The notaries issued charters of the arbitrations.

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