Ciubotă, Viorel (szerk.): Satu Mare. Studii şi comunicări 15-16. (1998-1999)
Istorie
306 Marius Diaconescu On the History of the Maramuresh County during the Prince Gabriel Báthory (Abstract) The reign of the prince Gabriel Báthory is very disputed in historiography. The abuses, the violence and the immorality, which were characterizing his reign, are being compared with the beneficial reign of his successor, Gabriel Bethlen. The history of the Maramuresh county in his reign was marked of two important movements: both a military event and even a social one. Between 22nd of October and 10"1 of November 1611, an Austrian army tried to cross through Maramuresh County, aiming to reach the Northern Hungary. This army, together with the Walachian troops, fought against the prince in Transsylvania. But they were forced to withdraw after a couple of months, reaching first of all Moldavia. When they attempted to cross the County of Maramuresh, the Romanian noblemen were called to rise against them. After a two days battle, a part of Austrian army was capturated and the rest of it run to Moldavia. A lot of Austrian soldiers died in that battle. The Romanian noblemen preserved their loialty towards the prince. The other important movement was the social transformation in this time. The Romanian noblemen still prevailed, in respect of their number, in the feudal order from the region. The prince Gabriel Báthory ennobled a lot of people from the Hungarian inhabitants in the five royal boroughs (bppida) — at least 200 of them. The inhabitants were usually ennobled on behalf of an ‘armalist diploma ’ awarded to individual persons. There was still an exception. Using only one diploma, the prince awarded the nobility to 71 inhabitants from boroughs (we give the text of the record - from the T' of August 1612 - in the annexe). This was an unique example for the County of Maramuresh, but it is very often in the other parts of Transsylvania. For the first time, in this reign, an important lot of Hungarian new noblemen joined to the feudal order from the County of Maramuresh. The privilege obtained during the reign of this prince penetrated the mentallity of the inhabitants of the boroughs. After 25 years, for example, they threatened on the Transsylvanian prince, George Rákóczy the T', with the rebellion in case that he didn't recognize their immunity.
