Petercsák Tivadar: Nemesi és paraszti közbirtokosságok Heves Megyében (XVIII-XX. század) - Studia Agriensia 23. (Eger, 2003)

NOBLE AND PEASANT JOINT TENANTRY IN HEVES COUNTY (18th-20th CENTURY)

unpartitioned common woodland and pastures, regulated pasturage, decided on what could graze and when, made sure that pasturage and woodland stock was looked after properly, and every year they oversaw the distribution of wood amongst the membership. Members of the joint tenantry were entitled to the right of domicile (Hung.: illetőség), woodland rights (Hung.: erdőjog) and grazing rights (Hung.: legelőjog) from the common woodland and pastures based on the amount of property they had. The number of animals they were entitled to graze on the pastures depended on what the owner contributed towards the growth of the common property (pastures, stables, bull) and what he took from the common coffers. The period following the Second World War saw the appearance of the family-sized plot within the new woodlands. With the selling of common woodland to individuals it was these new plots which determined the degree to which the landowners were entitled to woodland rights. During the course of the organisation of woodland and pasturage matters in Heves County it can be seen that woodland usage was dictated by the animal husbandry lobby. If a joint tenantry was faced with financial difficulties then the money required to overcome the problem tended to be raised partly by the sale of wood from the common woodland, and partly from the subscriptions paid for by the members which were calculated in proportion to their woodland and pasturage entitlements. The sale of woodland was frequently done to ensure that new pasturage would come into being as a result.

The employees at the joint tenantries, the shepherds and keepers were employed by the general assembly and the committee. The wages for the herdsmen (Hung.: gulyás) cattle drivers (Hung.: csordás) horse- herds (Hung.: csikós) swineherds (Hung.: kondás) which were made up of payment in kind did not amount to much, but the provision of meals was common as was the giving of a farm labourer’s dwelling (Hung.: cselédlakás).

In the interests of increasing the villages’ livestock it was the pasturage associations which looked after the bulls and the stallions. In acquiring, placing, feeding and paying for the usage of breeding animals the joint tenantry provided pairing possibilities for the farmers’ animals.

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