Századok – 2003

TANULMÁNYOK - Zsoldos Attila: Az özvegy és a szolgabírák 783

808 ZSOLDOS ATTILA of the nobility by setting up new courts. Consequently, the new institutions of provincial jurisdiction seem to have been intended as mere temporary devices, destined to help to solve the problems emerging from the king's minority. That they eventually became firmly rooted in the institutional framework of the kingdom was due to the fact that they unexpectedly suited the interests of all those concerned. The nobility welcomed the changes, because those appointed as szolgabírák obtained a post of authority and prestige, whereas the others could henceforth settle their suits within the county, without having to undertake a costly and sometimes hazardous journey to the royal court. As for the barons, already involved in the process of building their own spheres of authority, the new judicial institutions could appear equally favourable, for, by attracting the cases of the nobility living in their territories from the central courts to the local authorities, they increased as a matter of fact their possibilities of interference. Finally, the fact that the queen herself supported the new institutions seems to attest that she failed to recognise that they had originally been intended to thwart her own ambitions. In the county of Baranya, which was under the queen's government, the first szolgabíróság was established by Elisabeth in 1282. The case of Baranya illustrates perfectly the ambiguity characterising the relationship between the widow queen and the szolgabírák: the new institution was created against Elisabeth but nevertheless through her agency.