Századok – 2017

2017 / 3. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Molnár Péter: A magyar jobbágyok eredete Kézai Simon szerint: az értelmezés lehetőségei és zsákutcái I. rész

A MAGYAR JOBBÁGYOK EREDETE KÉZAI SIMON SZERINT

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THE ORIGINS OF HUNGARIAN SERFDOM ACCORDING TO SIMON OF KÉZA: POSSIBILITIES AND DEAD ENDS OF INTERPRETATION

by Péter Molnár

SUMMARY

In his chronicle known as Gesta Hungarorum Simon of Kéza studies the emergence of the class of ’national’ serfs. It is discussed that people who, without good reason, disregarded the ‘edictum’ bearing a call to arms sent by the ‘communitas’ were executed, exiled or condemned to become servants. For a long time it was common in the Hungarian literature of the subject to seek the source of inspiration for Simon’s peculiar views in Roman law and in contemporary Northern Italian political practices (Imre Madzsar, Sándor Eckhardt, János Horváth). It was Jenő Szűcs, who in a long study published in 1973 reached the conclusion that the ideas set forth by the ‘loyal cleric’ of László IV had in fact originated from France. In my paper I try to recapitulate and evaluate the different interpretations of Simon’s text. In the first part I focus on Jenő Szűcs’s opinion and one of his three critics, József Gerics.