Belényesy Károly: Pálos kolostorok az Abaúji-Hegyalján (Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén megye régészeti emlékei 3. Miskolc, 2004)

PAULINE FRIARIES IN THE ABAÚJ HEGYALJA REGION

in Abaúj County to the Pauline St Catherine monastery near the town ofGewnc (Gönc), despite their agreement, which declared that in case one of the parties would die, the other inherits the property." The chapter prohibited the Pauline monks to buy it, and forbade Peter Kékedi to mortgage it.

248 Still, this was not the end of the story. In 1502, a document reports that the given part of the mill had to be redeemed

249 from the monastery. In 1504, Vitályos, mentioned above, objected the Pauline monastery to be put in possession -among other properties- of the mill.

250 Another charter from 1504 explained the unclear details.

251 Since the monastery helped Andrew and Peter Alsókékedi with 300 Forints, they, "feeling honor towards the monastery of St Catherine" left the given mill and some other properties by will to the community in Göncruszka. Vitályos did not give up regaining his heritage, but the long legal process favored the Pauline in the end; Vitályos, who in the meantime occupied the mill, was condemned, and paid one hundred Forint as penalty to the Pauline community."

52 At last, in 1507, an out of court settlement closed the case.

253 There is another charter dating from the same year, according to which "about eight years ago the Pauline monks paid Peter Kékedi five golden Forints, half barrel of wine, and a horse for the mill on the river Theplycze in the estate of Keked, and promised him to redeem the mill"

254 This means that the monastery had given a deposit for the mill already in 1499. Therefore, they evaded the traditional heritage system, which doubtless proves the striking value of the mill built on the hot spring. In the course of the legal process the Paulines spent all in all four hundred and five Forints to acquire it! The significant amount of mills explains the lack of fishponds, since dammed millponds along the streams and rivers offered excellent opportunity for fishery. This combination of the two functions is not unique in Pauline economy, numerous parallels can be cited among the monasteries of the Upper Balaton Region, such as Salföld,

255 Nagyvázsony,

256 or Porva.

257 The Economic System It is apparent from the previous discussion that both the organization of the estates and the social 4S Bandi, 1985, 601 50. 249 Bandi, 1985,602 57. 250 Bandi, 1985,602 52. The earlier was dated on 18"

1 June, the later one on 7

th October. Bandi, 1985 602 53. 252 Thus they bought the right to collect the penalty. 253 Bandi, 1985, 603., 54 and 55. 604., 59. 605.. 61. 606., 62 and 63. 254 Bandi, 1985, 605., 60. 255 MRT 1., 135-136., 39/5. 256 MRT 2., 136-138., 33/8. 257 MRT 4., 199., 61/3. character of the donators were strictly bond to the features of the Pauline order. Documents related to the Pauline monasteries of the Abaúj region provide more detailed information concerning economy. As to start, let us take the organization of the estates. The incomes of the introduced monasteries show inequality. The ownership of vineyards, mills and related fisheries had obvious dominance, whereas there is hardly any data about arable fields. This attribute can be explained with the disproportionate written documentation of the properties providing the daily needs (subsistence) of the communities, and other profitable sources of income. Therefore, at this point it is worth separating them. Although written sources hardly mention properties maintaining goods for everyday subsistence, there are some data that emphasize their importance in the system of the monasteries' economy. The necessary products of everyday life-and also marketed commodities - were produced a far or short way off the monastery. Therefore, transportation was a fundamental factor in the existence of the communities, whose stability was also supported by the exemption from the toll of the products. In the case of the three monasteries, sources inform us about the non-observance of their rigts. In 1384, Paulines complain -among other things- that "the castellan and his officers in Regéc imposed duty on the goods for the daily needs of the Paulines, despite that they had never been obliged to pay toll after such goods".

259 In 1406, a royal charter issued upon the common request of the three Pauline monasteries reports that "the castellan of Regéc and his subcastellans imposed duty on the provisions, though they had never been obliged to pay it earlier.™ Similar complaints are known from 1411, relating the monasteries of Regéc and Göncruszka. Thus, written documents suggest that this supply system separated from the monastery. The management and centers of this background economy is supported by remarkable data. In the case of Regéc this economic center was located in Horváti,

261 in case of Gönc, near the monastery, in Ceches Puszta,

262 and the Göncruszka monastery had its grange in the village of Kezez

263 that was named in a suit "domus et curia ipsorum exponentium allodialis"?

M The closest parallel to these centers is from 1620, when the house of the Diósgyőr Pauline monastery, laying in the estate called St Peter, s Knapp, 1994; Guzsik, 1994; Romhányi, 2000. 9 Bandi, 1985, 671, 1. 0 Bandi, 1985,671., 2 and Bandi, 1985,586., 13. 1 DAP III. 309., 843. 2 Bandi, 1985, 594., 35 and Bandi, 1985, 593., 32. 3 DAPI. 173, 257. 4 Bandi 1985, 5935., 38.