Századok – 2007

TANULMÁNYOK - Pál Judit: Karrier a „tudatlanság földén". Egy főúri kliens a 18. század közepén Kelet-Magyarországon VI/1407

EGY FŐÚRI KLIENS A 18. SZÁZAD KÖZEPÉN KELET-MAGYARORSZÁGON 1453 tehát semmi bizonyosat nem tudunk mondani. Katolikus vallása pedig — ami nagy előnyt jelentett patrónusa szemében — komoly hátrány volt a helyi elitbe való beépülés szempontjából. A társadalmi beágyazódás megszokott útja — nevezetesen a helyi elitbe való beházasodás — pedig előtte el volt zárva, hiszen már házas emberként érkezett Szatmárba, ráadásul felesége is idegen (egy budai német polgárleány) volt. Erdekei érvényesítése tehát elsősorban a patrónus-kliensi viszonyon keresztül történhetett. Ezt tetézte a tisztázatlan körülmények között bekövetkezett anyagi hiány, amely a család részleges romlását hozta magával. Ráadásul idővel patrónusával is elhidegült viszonya, ismét csak tisztázatlan körülmények miatt. Ennek ellenére fiai „megörökölték" a Károlyiházhoz való szorosabb kötődést, sőt Mihály fia révén igazából a családnak a vármegyei elitbe való beépülése is sikerrel járt. Ahhoz azonban jóval több esettanulmány szükséges, hogy eldönthessük, egy „kívülálló" számára milyen más alternatívák léteztek — ha léteztek — a megyei elitbe való bekerülésre. A CAREER ON THE „LAND OF IGNORANCE" The Client of an Aristocrat in Eastern Hungary in the Middle of the 18th Century by Judit Pál (Summary) The patron-client relation, a key element in the political culture of early modern Europe, has acordingly received increasing attention in the historiography of recent decades. In 18th-century Hungary two partly parallel and partly opposing tendencies were effective. One of them was the gradual emergence of centralised power and bureaucratic control mechanisms, and the other the coming to power and emancipation of the nobility. Yet the running of the state necessitated some sort of cooperation between the central power and the nobility. These tendencies also influenced the relationship between the aristocracy and the nobility. The transformation of the exercise of power gradually reshaped the socio-cultural institutions, among them the patron-client relationship, which lost the character of archaic familiaritas which it had assumed in the 17th century. The present study analyses one case of such patron-client relationship from the east-Hungarian county of Szatmár. The patrons, count Ferenc Károlyi and his son, Antal, were one of the richest and most influential aristocrats of the region, főispánok of Szatmár county. The Károlyis, just like their pears in other regions, were frequently absent from their official county. Yet it did not mean that their control was weakened. The solution they adopted was the exercise of power through clients of their own. The client examined here, József Zanathy, was a nobleman from Vas county, who began to serve Ferenc Károlyi as his secretary in 1745, probably at Pest. Thence he was moved to Szatmár county, first as tax collector and later as chief notaiy. He was one of the catholic clients of the Károlyi family, who were attracted to Szatmár in order to „break" the local Calvinist nobility. Thanks to his Catholic faith, Zanathy was given a new role in 1751: he was put at the head of the predominantly Calvinist free royal town, Szatmárnémeti (today Satu Mare in Romania). His relations with the old Calvinist urban elite were full of conflicts and finally led to open strife. In the late 1750s Zanathy was one of the confidential men of count Antal Károlyi. In these years his role was that of a general counsellor: he managed the equipment of Károlyi's brigade, administered his finances, possessions and purchases, and even gave advice concerning the division of familiy property. Whereas in the selection of clients religion played an important role, their attachment to the patron was confirmed by land mortgages. Besides the frequently emphasised fidelity, the clients offered multiple service according to their abilities. Their spheres of activity remained vaguely defined as late as the secnd half of the 18th century, but personal attachment always remained of prime importance. Although this personal element linked the client in general to the family of his