Horváth Attila – Bánkuti Imre – H. Tóth Elvira szerk.: Cumania 3. Historia (Bács-Kiskun Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei, Kecskemét, 1975)

Bánkuti I.: Egy görög kereskedő tevékenysége Kecskeméten és a Dél-Alföldön

IMRE BÁNKÚTI A GREEK MERCHANTS ACTIVITY IN KECSKEMET AND IN THE SOUTHERN PARTOFTHE HUNGARIAN PLAIN The 19 documents published in this study are significant in two points of view. These manuscripts show us new data for the economic history of the war of independence led by Ferenc Rákóczi II.

—first of all for its financial history, as they point out the sources the state of insurrection could get ready money from. These were: trade with Balkan merchants and some capital coming from agricultural commodity production gathered by landowners. Beside these the published documents contain several new data concerning the life of Sándor Karácsony. Karácsony was a Greek merchant from Macedonia, he lived in Hungary from 1705, and he transported cloth on a large scale to the Hungarian army for a big sum of copper. Later — from 1708 he rented the royal tax of all commercial income in Kecskemét and in some other towns of the Hungarian Plain. In this financial action he cooperated with Ferenc Lónyai who was a well-to-do nobleman and chief organizer of the weapon- and- clothing supply in the Hungarian army. But at last in connection with the renting of the tax they got into a serious conflict and this led to the fact that at Bodrogkeresztur on 25th August, 1711 an armed attendant of the Greek merchant killed Lónyai. Both Lónyai's and Karácsony's personality is proper to explain from a new point the role and activity of landowners and Greek people coming from Turkey during the war of independence. We can say that landowners had an important part in the war of independence not only on the military fields and in the administration, but in different economic positions (acquirer of war-equipments, military supply, or as directors of financial operations) — or even with economic undertakings (renting of the royal commercial tax and the salpetreworkshops). And as regards the connection between the Balkan (or Greek) capital and the war of independence — about this question we have had quite a little knowl edge up to now. The author inclines to remedy this lack by publication of several new data. The life and activity of Sándor Karácsony proves that the role of Greek people in this field was far more significant the Hungarian historiography has ever thought. The same statement is true for the quantity and the structural constitution of the Hungarian-Turkish commercial turnover. In order to enlarge our knowledge we have to get acquanited with the list of different taxes collected from merchants travelling on the highway between Szeged and Kecskemét from 21st June up to 7th October in 1710. In this short period 124 names were put on the list, and this shows that Kecskemét took place on one of the important rontes of the Hungarian-Turkish trade. The list also contains the constitution of the imported products. Turkish merchants brought in special industrial articles (leather, cloth, other articles of wearing), fruits and spices. At the same time some Hungarian merchants of Kecskemét and Ráckeve exported oxen and other beef catties — but this activity was only the memory of the commerce in the Hungarian Plain's market towns — as it had been so flourishing earlier. At last we have to mention that the published documents contain quite many data concerning the history of trade in Kecskemét and the southern part of the Plain — and they refer also to the number of Greek people settled down in the periferic towns. By all these the author's study completes the econo- mic history of an important period (the war of independence from 1703 to 1711) and an important territory — namely the Hungarian Plain. 100