A Hajdú-Bihar Megyei Levéltár évkönyve 2. 1975 (Debrecen, 1975)
Levéltári fórum - Béres András: A Hortobágy fejlődéstörténetének vázlata és levéltári forrásai
és eredmények vázolása mellett sikerült ráirányítani a figyelmet, akkor úgy hiszem, egy picikét ismét sikerült előbbre lépni még akkor is, ha a rendelkezésre álló időben nem volt alkalmam a sok irányban szerteágazó problémára minden tekintetben kitérni. Outlines and Sources on the History ot Hortobágy by András Béres The Hortobágy, or as they earlier called it „Nagyhortobágy", is a steppe on the Great Hungarian Plain, the most spacious, unbroken piece of land, where one of the most typical Hungarian ancient professions, the stock-breeder shepherding has still been preserved, with many of its old features, habits almost to our days. The „Nagyhortobágy" denoted the pastures to the west of Debrecen, some 110 000 acres in all. There were a number of village with or without church in the area in the 13th-14th centuries, but were all destroyed by Tartans and Turks. The endless plain eventually became a Debrecen domain, to be utilized as grounds for outdoor stockbreeding. The shepherds gradually formed their colonies, and lived a particular life, which can still be observed in fragments. Civilization of the waste began in the 2nd half of 17th century, when they built the post-station beside the Mata bridge and the tavern in 1699, then replaced the old wooden- bridge with the famous nine spanned stone-bridge in 1833. At the same time the town utilized the plaughable fields, established a central grange which in the beginning of 19the century moved to Mata, thus giving prominence to the tavern and its surroundings. Owing to regulatings rivers ceased to flood this territory and this changed the scenery together with the first railway-line opened in 1891, offering new economical possibilities, urging development. Shearing sheepfolds were built, and to promote sheepbreeding they set up the „Organization of Debrecen Sheepbreeders". At the turn of the century, they established a plant for bulls, created a basic stud, divided the pasture among different stocks. Great care was taken to protect hygiene, to prevent epidemics, first of all the foot and mouth disease. Mention should be made of the water-mill, which went on grinding for over a hundred years. An outstanding feature of development was embodied in the creation of a fishpond, where not only jack-salmon and carp, but sheat-fish and pike are kept as well. The water basins and sprinkling facilities or farms brought about fundamental changes after the liberation, and stock-breeding made a great step forward with farming as well. Research has discovered many details on the history, ethnography, nature of the Hortobágy. Mr. Lajos Zoltai and Mr. István Ecsedi did a pioneering work in this field, followed by valuable efforts on part of the Department of Ethnography Debrecen University, but a thorough exploration of the region, with the help of sources in archives is still waiting to be done. This is what the author of the present article tried to promote by publishing the most importand funds to draw the attention of research workers on the topic, because the already available information can become meaningful and historically true only by exploring the ethnic features as well. This is the only way to an all-round exploration and description of the Hortobágy. Схематический одзор и источники истории развития Хортобади Андращ Верещ Хортобадь, или «Большая Хортобадьская степь» на Равнине, как раньше назвали её, является самой обширной, теряющейся в бесконечности равниной Венгрии, таким пастбищем, на котором почти до наших дней сохранилось одно из самых характерных, первобытных занятий венгерского народа — животноводческое пастушество, а также сохранились его многочисленные, относительно первобытные черты, старинные обычаи, формы. Большая Хортобадь — это собирательное название западных крайних степей города Дебрецен, используемых для пастьбы. Территория Хортобадьской степи простирается больше чем на сто тысяч гектаров. В 13—14 веках на территории степи можно было найти не одну населённую деревню как с церковью так и без неё. Каждая из этих деревень стала жертвой татарских и турецких нашествий. Опустошённую, бесконечную территорию, после длительных 146
