Diaconescu, Marius (szerk.): Mediaevalia Transilvanica 1999 (3. évfolyam, 1-2. szám)
Mentalităţi
18 Mária Makó Lupescu the records of the register stated that the interrogation of the litigants was made on the king’s order,101 on the Oradean bishop's order,104 or on the judge's master.105 4. In some cases, after the interrogation of the parties and the witnesses, the judge or the litigants could assess the damage.106 5. When the judge could not established the accused's guilt or innocence following the “normal” legal procedure, either the accused or both litigant parties were sent to Oradea to get justice by the trial of hot iron.107 Unfortunately, the short records of the Oradean register did not preserve information CQnceming the reason for which they were sent to Oradea. Only in a few cases the motives for which the litigants were sent by the judge to Oradea were explicitly mentioned. In one of the cases the judge was not satisfied with the witnesses’ testimonies,108 and in one the litigants had to go to Oradea because they could not present enough proof to the local judge.109 6. The parties to the case were sent to Oradea at a fixed date for the trial by hot iron escorted by one or more bailiffs (pristaldus)."0 It seems that among the duties of the bailiff were not only the escortation, but also establishing the trialdate.111 As an official the bailiff was at the same time a delegate of the authorities 103 I counted 27 such cases. It is quite interesting to see how royal persons had been involved in the trial by hot iron. I give as example only the case from 1220 connected to a disputable piece of land: “Quos Demetrius Magister, praecepto regis discutiens, per pristaldum suum, Martinum de villa Edelen, direxit ad examen ferri candentis Varadinum...” Ibid., no. 268, p. 253. 104 I counted 1 such case: "... Joachin iudex ex praecepto Simonis, Waradiensis episcopi posuit eos [Domina Paulia, uxor Petrus et fratre suo, Custodia sacerdote] ad iudicium ferri candentis.” Ibid., no. 30, p. 165. 105 There were 5 such cases. For instance: “Quos Petur, curialis comes Dionysii, regiae Maiestatis camerarii, ex praecepto domini sui discutiens, misit Varadinum ad iudicium ferri candentis...” Ibid., no. 167, p. 214. 106 “Quorum causam [reginae hospites de provincia Noui Castri ... impetierunt villicos suos, ... de falsa villicatione] Ocyus Banus, ex praecepto et auctoritate regis discutiens, computando centum et decem marcas argenti in damno, et misit eos Varadinum ad examen ferri candentis...” Ibid., no. 259, pp. 249-50. 107 Bálint, Ünnepi kalendárium, voi. 2, 519 cp. Kandra, A vâradi regestrum, 25. 108 “Sed Mica, comes Bichoriensis, testibus productis non contentus, misit utramque partem Varadinum, ad examen ferri candentis...” Karácsonyi, and Borovszky, Regestrum Varadinense, no. 234, p. 241. 109 “Sed cum neutra pars sufficiens testimonium posset adducere, nominati iudices per pristaldum, nomine Albertum, ad examen ferri candentis miserunt Waradinum... “ Ibid., no. 343, p. 284. 110 For the fixed time when the litigants had to be present at Oradea, see: “Noverunt universi, quod Antonius de villa Zupur, cum esset citatus Waradinum ad candentis ferri iudicium, dato termino in septimana Dominus fortitudo, ... Antonius non venit, Heme vero, et Gyoma, adversarii eius, et pristaldus venerunt.” Ibid., no. 135, pp. 201-202 cp. Jakó, Codex diplomaticus, no. 75, pp. 143-44. In the majority of the cases it was stated that the parties were escorted to the trial by one or more bailiffs: “Qui [Vosos de villa Torsa] cum negaret, Vosos impetiit alium convillanum suum, Sumptam nomine, de fideiussione, qui cum et ipse negaret, Vingizlou comes de Zothmar, per Pristaldum nomine Chentu, misit Waradinum...” Karácsonyi, and Borovszky, Regestrum Varadinense, no. 91, p. 185. For this unique Hungarian “judicial-man”, see Eckhart, “Hiteles helyeink eredete,” 640-55. 111 Kandra supposed that the Oradean chapter was previously announced by the bailiffs letter about the forthcoming case. Kandra, A váradi regestrum, 25 cp. “Andreas itaque venit Varadinum in octavis omnium Sanctorum, in termino scilicet, quern pristaldus dixit...” Karácsonyi, and Borovszky, Regestrum Varadinense, no. 44, p. 170.
