Diaconescu, Marius (szerk.): Mediaevalia Transilvanica 1998 (2. évfolyam, 2. szám)
Stat
On the Political History of Transylvania in 1440-1443 193 chambers of salt, because Tallóci had been arrested by the queen16. The next day (10 April) László Jakes wrote to Matkó's agent at Dej, the Italian Papa, and informed him that the chambers would be confiscated during the week (in ista septimana camere de manibus vestris occupabuntur), and asked him to send all the salt that he had at Dej by water to Udvarhely, because it would be immediately seized if found anywhere else (ubicunque alias possunt invenire, eo facto auferrent)'1. Nevertheless, the camerarius should try to defend the chambers as long as possible, so runs the letter, in order to be able to recruite mercenaries (for the king), lest the enemy should have the possibility to do the same (for the queen) (magis autem cum salibus pretactis, si necesse fuerit, nos inveniamus exercitum et fortitudinem, alioquin nostri inimici habebunt forsan exinde fortitudinem). Although László Jakes did not state it explicitly who the enemy was, it is evident that it could be no one but the voivode himself, Dezső Losonci, who seems to have acted upon the queen's order. That is what explains the fact that László Jakes wanted the salt to be transported to Udvarhely, which is surely today's Someş-Odorhei (Szamosudvarhely), in the vicinity of László's castle of Hodod and, what is more important, outside the authority of the voivode of Transylvania18. That it was indeed so is attested by a charter of king Wladislaw himself, in which, almost a year later, he ordered the newly appointed voivodes of Transylvania, János Hunyadi and Miklós Újlaki, to make an inquiry about the damages that had been caused to the Italian camerarii of Dej by Dezső Losonci and his kinsmen19. From this charter we learn that some time before (pridem), when the former voivode was in the middle of his revolt against the king, he occupied the chamber of Dej and held it for some time, and used the salt for whatever purposes he wanted to. In view of this it is surprising to read the voivode's own letter, written on 19 June to Matkó Tallóci himself, from which an entirely different picture emerges. He informs Matkó that he (the voivode) defended the chambers of salt and Matkó’s familiares as best he could, and his efforts were so successful that no damage had so far been done to them20. But, unfortunately, so many people died because of the pestilence, that no salt could be cut, nor was it possible to transport 16 The letter of László Jakes to the Italian Papa, camerarius at Dej, Dl. 55.202. "...hestema die dominus frater Johannes episcopus Waradiensis nobis informare curavit, quomodo dominus Mathko banus, frater noster carissimus et dominus vester, per dominam nostram reginam esset captus et detentus; dominus siquidem episcopus petit nos, ut episcopatum suum et castra sua et cameras salium ad manus nostras accipiamus et teneamus..." 17 László Jakes was prudent enough to ask for a written voucher of the salt lest he should have problems in the future. 18 Udvarhely was in the possession of the Jakes family, cf. Dezső Csánki, Magyarország történeti földrajza a Hunyadiak korában, I-III, V, Budapest, 1890-1913,1, p. 592. 19 Bánffy (see note 11), I, pp. 639-640. 20 Dl. 55.213: "...in singulis factis camararum salium, et eciam familiarium vestrorum, eo melius valuimus, in defensione eorundem sed et in aliis factis vestre fraternitatis...laboravimus, et usque hec tempora tam camare salium, quam familiares vestre fraternitatis ab omnibus impetitoribus diese et pacifice permanserunt..."
