Agria 43. (Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2007)

Bitskey István: Pázmány Péter levelei két gömöri falu birtoklásáról

István Bitskey Péter Pázmány's letters concerning two Gömör Villages At the beginning of the modern era the possessory right of two villages in the historical county of Gömör, Sajópüspöki and Velkenye (Vlykna, Slovakia), became a bone of contention. Since the Middle Ages the two villages had been the property of the archbishop of Esztergom, before archbishop Antal Verancsics lent them to the Royal Chamber in 1571, in order that their incomes could go towards covering the costs of maintaining Putnok Castle. Although their return had been guaranteed by Emperor Maximilian and a royal charter, the transaction was not to take place for almost sixty years. Starting in 1628 archbishop Péter Pázmány sent numerous letters demanding the return of the two villages. Initially he addressed his letters to King Ferdinand II, before sending them to the president of the Royal Chamber. Apart from the right of ownership to the villages, Pázmány also demanded compensation for the six decades the property had been occupied. Eventually the return of the two villages was decreed by the king, although the compensation, which ran to the tune of twenty thousand thalers' worth of red copper, was never paid. In one of his letters Pázmány waives this demand in return for the free right of passage of archepiscopal livestock in crown lands. All this goes to show how determined the archbishop was in guaranteeing the return of the church properties, and that such activities were an integral part of the recatholicisation of the country and the reorganisation of the Catholic Church. The archbishop's letters also provide an insight into one of the lesser known episodes in the history of these two Gömör villages. 582