The Eighth Tribe, 1978 (5. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1978-02-01 / 2. szám
February, 1978 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page 11 JUSTICE In addition to being the chief administrator and the commander-inchief, the nádor was also the chief judicial officer of the realm. Only in the twelfth century was his office separated from that of the Court Justice (udvarbíró), and later Chief Justice (országbíró). But King Stephen did establish a judicial system that was manned by two royal judges (királybíró) per county, and by a series of village judges (villicus) who had both judicial and administrative powers. Moreover, there was also a permanent court in the royal court (curia), manned either by the king himself, or by the nádor representing the king. It also became customary to hold an annual “court day” (törvénynap) at the end of the summer in the royal capital of Székesfehérvár, when every person, irrespective of his rank and station in life, could personally take his case to the king. After St. Stephen’s death, his own name-day (Aug. 20) became the customary “court day” in Hungary. Outside the office of the nádor, none of the other major royal offices developed in St. Stephen’s time. Moreover, while King Stephen and his successors all had personal notaries, the Hungarian Royal Chancery did not take shape until the reign of Béla III (1172-96). (Hajnik, Bírósági szervezet, 1-84; Csizmadia, Jogtörténet, 55-87.) THE FREE MAGYARS ON CLAN TERRITORIES Although in St. Stephen’s time nearly two-thirds of Hungary’s land area was classified as patrimonial (“royal”) estates, most of the free Magyars still lived on their clan territories, and were not subject to the immediate administrative and judicial authority of the royal officials. These free Magyars had to be faithful to the king; in times of national danger, they had to fight for the country; but otherwise they constituted a separate entity in Hungary, completely distinct from the areas under royal control. While the concept of private ownership of land was in the process of evolving, this did not apply to the clan lands. The free disposition of private property applied only to those estates that had been granted by King Stephen, or that had been purchased by their owners. The granting or sale of clan territory was impossible without the approval of every single member of the clan. In case all members of a clan died, all clan lands reverted to the king and were made available for free disposition bv him. Later in the fourteenth century, the system of “entail” (ősiség — the principle of the inalienability of family lands) was extended to the estates of all the nobility. 86 and others undoubtedly as well) ; during the second movement, artistic keyboard achievements quite determinedly were conveyed with the fourth movement exhibiting free-flowing buoyancy yet an integral stream that reappeared throughout as a characteristic quality of recurrent stability. Ballade in G Minor, opus 23, by Chopin was depicted in an indepth dimension which astonishingly aided the musical selection by Mr. Watts’ accomplished touch. The Children’s Corner segment by Debussy-, was totally captivating — tantalizing in diversity, and appropriateness to the Holiday Season — from the first, entitled “Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum,” to the next, “Jimbo’s Lullaby,” then, “Serenade of the Doll”; followed by “The Snow is Dancing” (which, incidentally, was so delightfully balletic that it was nearly impossible not to visualize a scenario of fluttering snowflakes, even within an indoor setting incongruous to the seasonal elements without!); next, “The Little Shepherd” in its somewhat pensive context, was quite fittingly proferred just before the sixth and last of these musical concoctions, i.e., that of “Golliwogg’s Cakewalk,” which in all expectations couldn’t help but be full of verve right from its creator’s past time down to the present virtuosity of the concert artist. The focal climax of the evening proved to be Liszt’s Reminiscences de Don Juan, which Mr. Watts performed with such magnificent dexterity and transmuted intensity apropos at times to the qualitative role portrayal that, throughout the selection, there were felt to be moments of dominant ego-centeredness, meditative reflectiveness, meditative reflectiveness, and somewhat hopeful allusions toward assuagement (perhaps a hint can be gleaned of a lesson to be learned out of remorse for past actions ?) ! The superlative keyboard performance by Mr. Watts by way of the particularly masterful conveyance of the composer’s presumed perspective, brought about a standing ovation from the audience of approximately 3,000 for encore return for a most enjoyable closure. The recital left resonances of a subliminal magnitude in the minds and spirits of many music-loving devotees who together shared the meaningful experience of this particularly pleasant happening — somewhat symbolic of starting a new- year on harmonious tones! —M. Takacs Barboe
