Fatuska János – Fülöp Éva Mária – ifj. Gyuszi László (szerk.): Annales Tataienses II. A mezőváros, mint uradalmi központ. Mecénás Közalapítvány. Tata, 2001.

Papp Klára: Mezővárosok a 18. századi bihari magánbirtokon

The market-towns of the private property in Bihar in the 18th century Klára Papp The first part of the essay studies the society of twelve market-towns of the private property in Bihar. The frame of society is examined firstly by studying the changes of the differentiation that had taken place in the serf population. This change has been traced upon by making use of the census documents in the domain from the end of the 17th century to the 1790s. The study clearly shows that the rise in the population of the market-towns meant that the number of people, having rights for moving freely from one place to an other, had risen. The stratification of the serfs was determined by the degree of the number of work animals that belonged to the serfs. Unlike the predominant number of small holders having two oxen in the villages, it was specific especially for the market-towns in Sárrét district that there were smallholders having two or four oxen in equal proportion. In the same district the smallholders, having six oxen, belonged to a separate class, their number was especially high in Berekböszörmény and Komádi (8 or 10% of the population). The number of plots, which had been reported on in the socage list of the market-towns in Bihar, had remarkably been altered according to the regulations and land-surveying that had happened in the county. The essay studies the craftsmen and tradesmen of the market-town society by exploiting the notes of the census, the files of the tradesmen belonging to the Turkish Empire and the documents of the estate. The study shows that the craftsmen and the vineyard owners had risen the number of the villeins. The position of the lower nobles living in market-towns has been shown by the documents, which had been taken during the survey of the nobility in the county, by assessment of taxes and by the documents of the nobility's self-organising system. The second part of the essay studies the economic role of the market-towns and the main tendencies of the population's farming. The characteristics and the components of the agricultural activity have been fundamentally shown here. It goes thoroughly into the characteristics of the craftsmen and into the economic and crucial importance of the certain market-towns. The market relations and the decisions in connection with the trade have been analysed as well. The third part of the essay studies the administration of the market-towns and the relations between the settlements and the estates. The local nobility's self-organising process, their collaboration with the estates and the local authority, and the characteristics of its conflicts have also been given a place in the study. 177