Gyulai Éva: Szőlőbirtoklás Miskolcon a 16. században (Officina Musei 3. Miskolc, 1995)

Vineyard possession in Miskolc in the 16th century

Even in the second half of the 16th century, the volume of corn production remained considerable as it is shown in the lists of ninth parts paid in corn. About 30 per cent of the wine growers paid a ninth part in corn as well and, conversely, about 50 per cent of the total corn producers paid a ninth part in wine, too. Thus, most of the land owners paid a ninth part in wine since vineyards were allowed to be held even by those who did not have a unit of land in villeinage. Out of the ninth part payers the total percentage of those who paid also a tithe was 20 per cent approximately. The wines of Miskolc were obtained from the local villein citizens by the feudal legal authorities by levying various kinds of taxes. In addition to the ecclesiastical tithe and the tithe paid in kind to the landlord (i. e. in addition to the 20 per cent of the vintage) the local wine growing villein citizens paid in wine also to their local priest. The state taxes paid after the money received from the sale of wine were collected in Miskolc both for the Imperial Court of Vienna and the Turkish sultan since the town located on the border area of the foreign occupation. The king of the Habsburgs collected the so-called annual dica tax while the Turkish Empire demanded the government tax and the tax for landlords both in a high amount and in one sum since Miskolc belonged to the sultan's domain. The taxes to the Turks could be paid only by involving the noblemen - who normally enjoyed exemption from taxation - into sharing the burden by their giving wine to the community from their vintage as a substitute of their taxes in cash. Due to the high price and good demand for wines almost any stratum in the market towns dealt with wine trading. The well-to-do people had their vineyards cultivated by cotters, seasonal workers and servants while the poorer were obliged to do all the hard work themseves, the preparatory work, pruning, hoeing at three different times a year, layer, spreading the dung (if it was necessary), vintage and hilling up. Wine growers had the knowledge of making pure wine by treading out right at the vineyard, the squeezed wine made in wine press and the after-wine made by adding water to the marc. The landlords of the domain around the Diósgyőr castle knew how to make vermouth-like wines by using different kinds of spices and herbal leaves. It was the culmination of the wine cult to serve wine in holy cups. The Gothic enamelled cup - kept today in Herman Ottó Museum of Miskolc (Picture 15) - was used in the royal castle of Diósgyőr in the period from 1470 to 1480 when king Matthias was the landlord of Miskolc. It was in 1588 when the glass used for Lord's Supper ceremonies was donated to the Reformed Church of Miskolc by a nobleman. It is now in the possession of the Reformed Church of Avas (Picture 16). One of the most often used measure in Hungarian viniculture is the so-called cask of Gönc, the first mention of which was made in 1563 in the inventory record of the castle of Diósgyőr (Picture 17) and which was used, along with other cask measures, also in Miskolc. In Miskolc generally the butt of Kassa was used as wine measure especially in the second half of the 16th century. The price of the wine grown in Miskolc was difficult to determine since contemporary sources, records available do not give the measure of the cask, the volume of the cask the wine was kept in. At that time the price paid for one cask of wine grown in Miskolc was around 10 to 25 rhines forints. The need for reliable knowledge of wine measures was explained by wine trading reasons. The simplest, feudal way of selling wine was its selling in tavers and inns as a retail activity (educillatio in Latin) for periods separately determined every year both for the landlords and the villeins. In the domain around the castle of Diósgyőr it was also the spring and summer seasons that were chosen by the landlord as appropriate time to sell not only the wine received as ninth parts from the villeins but also the wine purchased and, sometimes, even wine confiscated by force since the villeins on the area were ordered to sell their excess volume of wine entirely to their landlord or landlady as