Szőcs Péter Levente (szerk.): Ecsed. Ghid cultural şi istoric (Satu Mare, 2009)

Dismantling the castle, the long "freedom" lawsuit and the swamp draining

Dismantling the castle, the long “freedom” lawsuit and the

SWAMP DRAINING

After 1669 the fortress was in a continuous decline, the German garrison did not made any restoration.

The defeating of the rebellion of prince Thököly gave a good opportunity to the imperial army to dismantle the fortifications in 1701. The lordship of the Rákóczi family was only nominal, because the fortress garrison did not observed the privileges of the settlement. Due to this, the rebellion of prince Francis Rákóczi II was embraced with enthusiasm by the locals, the quickly refortified castle was taken from the Austrians with the help of Paul Melith, local noble of the neighborhood. The prince restored and fortified the castle in short time: the work began in December 1705 and it was completed in the early 1708. The inhabitants of Ecsed asked the prince to restore their old privilegies, and their request was fulfilled by the charter issued at Királyhelmecz, on the 18th of September 1708. The prince settled the amount of the annual fee, paid by the community to be 100 florins, and the inhabitants owed military service for the defense of the castle in wartime. The area of the settlement was donated to the town at the same time, an important addition to the old privileges. The charter was convenient in sense of privileges, but it called the inhabitants of Ecsed as serfs, therefore, it was neglected later even by the community. The new golden age did not last long: the Rákóczi rebellion

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Port bărbătesc din zona mlaştinii, sec. al XIX-lea Lápi ember viselete, 19. sz.

Traditional dress from the swamp area, 19th c.

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