Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 26/2. (2000)
Istorie
CONSIDERATU GENERALE ASUPRA ME$TE$UGURILOR 217 A SURVEY UPON HANDICRAFTS FROM SÄLAJ COUNTY (Summary) The history of Transylvanian handicrafts, as well as studying the life and activity of craftsmen, represents nowadays a favorite field of researches made by many historians. Mainly, the fact is due to the importance that handicraft activities had and still do. Regarded as the most important urban material goods producer, the handicraft represented, for centuries, not only the responsible of material goods in Transylvanian fairs and cities, not only the responsible of social and economical stability, but also the earner of social progress. Handicraft fields, the weight of these activities in economical life of people, the necessity of adding new characteristic studies in order to clear up the complex economical and social problems of the former historical periods and to associate new values to the elaborated studies - all of these explains resuming and continuing historical researches in the field. The inhabitants of Zaläu town have always been preocupated by agriculture, especially by cultivating grape-vine. Due to the fact that it represented „the entrance gate to Transylvania”, a place where the armies were always passing through, during Middle Ages always existed the thraten that the town would remain without inhabitants. To avoid this fact, towns people were given favors for developing own activities (handicrafts and winerry) and for marcendise sale in Transylvania. The researched documents can be found in Zaläu, in the funds of Narional Archieve Zaläu District and also Sälaj County History and Art Museum. The collectiona are made of a great number of documents and objects specific to Zaläu trade (e g. trade boxes). The documents found inside trade boxes cover Middle Ages historical period, Modern and Contemporary period which means that the archieve was carried by handicraft associacions, and later by contemporary handicraft cooperatives. Up to now, the documentary material has been little studied and published. The archievistic fund of trades numbers documents of sjoemakers, tanners, potters, thick cloth makers, buthcers, Beside all these documents, few financial and commercial Zaläu trade mechant's documents were placed in a different fund. Many conclusions can be drawn from the historiography of this problem, e.g.:- generally, Transylvanian Middle Ages society, especially economical but also social field, can be seen in forerunner’s trade goods;- the extinction of mediaeval and modern handicrafts, well developed in those times. Proofs were found in trade organization, the documentation regarding pepol record, as well as goods and activities record;- the emigration phenomenon wasn't neglected. Regarding 17th century activity, there were recorded only 4 persons named Cojocaru in the archieve documents. This allows the presumtiori that there existed preocupations linked to later processing beginning with 16 century. The 2nd half of the 18th century and the first half of 19th century represent
