A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 43. (Nyíregyháza, 2001)

Régészet - Attila Ulrich: Domestic production and money income of the Tokaj estate in the 17th century

A tokaji uradalom majorsági gazdálkodása és pénzbevételei a XVII. században Domestic production and money income of the Tokaj estate in the 17

th century Domestic production, crop cultivation and animal husbandry on the estate were considerably limited. This was due to the relatively low labour capacity of the peasants and the size of the lands. While during the 16

th and 17

th centuries the estate included many allodial lands, from the second half of the 17

th century, concurrently with the social changes, their number gradually decreased. The consequent loss of peasant labour did not move the Rákóczi family to give up management of the estate, as in the second half of the 17

th century new allodial lands were allotted in Tarcal and Keresztúr to compensate the loss of the family's Rakamaz estate. As a result, the landowners were able to bring peasants from their other estates. But the above-mentioned social processes, the improving living standard of the majority of the peasants, the elimination of the landowners' right to force labour, and the high profitability of the viticulture and wine-production did not encourage them to maintain or extend lands that produced grains. The income from these holdings and the earnings from the tithe and the novenary were used to provide for the private household of the landowner, the workers who were paid in kind and the wage-workers who cultivated the vineyards. Progress in the management of the estate was experienced only in the early 18

th century, as is suggested by a document from 1706. Attila ULRICH Jósa András Museum Nyíregyháza H-4401 Pf. 57 e-mail: ulrich@jam.nyirbone.hu