Horváth M. Ferenc (szerk.): Vác The heart of the Danube Bend. A historical guide for residents and globetrotters (Vác, 2009)
Tartalom
THE 19TH CENTURY - THE CENTURY OF GREAT CHANGES 145 FROM SERF TO A FREE PEASANT One of the indirect results of the Revolution of 1848/49 was that Emperor Francis Joseph I issued a letters patent on landlords' inventory of income and payments to be made by the peasants. As a result, matters such as the ownership of lands used by the landlords and the former serfs, issues regarding the cultivation of land, socage, feudal privileges and compensation to be paid to landlords could be settled. Map of the confines of Vác, 1860s Seal of the Vine-growing Community of Vác Modern wheeled plough, 1860 "Vintage in Vác" by Ágost Canzi, 1859 (Hungarian National Gallery) In Bishop's Vác 1338, while in Chapter's Vác 11 and a half serfs' plots were registered, which means that only 10% of the population was involved in the land re-allocation. The greater part of the population was landless, and most of the people who did not pursue some industry or trade earned their living as day-labourers. The former landowners and serfs made the socage agreement in November 1867, and following the land re-allocation in 1870 the former serfs and cotters were free to Seal of the Episcopal Domain Horse fair, 1881 possess and use their own lands, pastures and forests. It was only the redemption of some minor royal leases and the tithes of vineyards that took long decades to arrange, and the dispute between the ex-landlords and serfs was settled only in 1912. Besides peasant-owned farms some agricultural enterprises were established and, apart from the smallholders and the medium landowners (for instance the Huber and the Marx families), the bishopric and the chapter also joined in the wine trade. FROMTHE GUILDS TO FACTORY INDUSTRY In the 19th century there were only five guilds that had gained statutory privileges; others functioned illegally, that is without having renewed these privileges. In the first third of the 19th century about 20% of the population earned their living as handicraftsmen. The apprentices were not only obliged to travel both at home and abroad in order to learn their trade, but also to produce a masterpiece. Arany érmet nyert.
