A Herman Ottó Múzeum Évkönyve 46. (2007)

†Udvari István-Viga Gyula: Bars vármegye 18. századi jobbágy-parasztjainak életviszonyaihoz

and barely suitable for arable farming. The upper section was more suited to rafting and powered several water-mills along the southern part. There are few settlements along the river's upper reaches, while the Garam Basin was densely settled in the county's more southerly parts. Pasturing dominated the economy along the upper reaches, combined with a meadow economy and the winter stalling of the herds. Cattle were used as draught animals in that region and played a subordinate role in milk production compared to sheep. Although woodland pastures played a prominent role, pasturage was greatly restricted by the local landowners from the mid-18th century. The villages in the plainland differed markedly from the upland settlements of County Bars: the differing geographical conditions, the traditional lifeways, life strategies and sources of livelihood provided various options for attending markets and trading. Arable farming of the type practiced in the Great Hungarian Plain characterised the flat southern plainland, while the main settlement factors in the uplands were mining, an industry based on the processing of precious metals, and forestry, which supplied the former. The land surrounding the upland villages was little suited to cultivation and the region's inhabitants relied on the forest and various craft industries for their livelihood. Owing to the region's unfavourable conditions and weak carrying capacity, there evolved a unique upland economic and cultural model, which, however, was bound by many strands to the economic system of historic Hungary. The above activities formed traditional systems, which blended into the county's internal and, even more importantly, external network of contacts. In spite of all appearances to the contrary, the factors sustaining this model were not unchanging, resembling the lifeways of successive generations in this respect. The differing lifeways and their structures were not simply a reflection of different economic strategies, but also of varying life qualities, attitudes to and perceptions of the animate and inanimate realities of the world around them. This can in part be traced to the fact that the settlement history of various regions was influenced by the region's ethnic make-up: the settlements with a Vlach status, and the Hungarian and Slovak settlements of the 16th—

17th centuries lived in symbiosis with the German mining communities. Even though social and economic development gradually superseded minor elements of the traditional interaction between man and his environment, one characteristic feature remained, namely that the valleys' lower section was generally settled by Hungarians, while the upper one by Slovakians, whose way to the plainlands led along natural watercourses. Another noteworthy feature is that the northern boundary of plant cultivation cut across the Garam Valley, which again had a major impact on the subsistence and livelihood of the region's inhabitants. Wine cultivation, for example, was practiced up the Léva (Levice) area in County Bars, and maize cultivation, appearing during this period, did not spread to areas lying higher than 600-700 a.s.l. Wheat was not cultivated on the settlements along the upper reaches of the River Garam and rye too was grown to some extent in the Garamszentkereszt (Ziar nad Hronom) and Körmöcbánya (Kramnik) area only. Barley was the most common cultigen in the valleys opening toward the Little Hungarian Plain. Proceeding northward, the ratio of arable land decreased, as did harvest yields, in consequence of which there was a notable decline in the population density toward the north. This is reflected also in the region's contacts and seasonal work of the peoples living here, especially in wheat and wine growing regions, which are amply documented in the sources from the 16th— 17th century. These can be regarded not only as historical geographical and cultural ecologic phenomena, but also as a reflection of the complexity of cultural boundaries. The study offers an overview of the region's 18th century economy and its components. Separate sections are devoted to arable farming, stockbreeding, forestry, viticulture and winemaking and the role of mills, together with an overview of the exchange of various commodities, all set in a historical perspective. The study is concluded by a summary of the different sections and the two main conclusions. (1) The geographic diversity and the differing carrying capacity of various regions in the transitional zone of the westerly region of Upper Hungary led to diverse subsistence strategies among the peoples living there. The north to south river valleys were the major arteries of communication 291