Drăgan, Ioan (szerk.): Mediaevalia Transilvanica 2003-2004 (7-8. évfolyam, 1-2. szám)
Ioan Drăgan: Dispariţia cnezului proprietar a mijlocul scolului al XV-lea
Dispariţia cnezului proprietar 115 David Prodan: “Marea masă a românilor cade în iobăgie, în aşa măsură încât român, cu timpul, în limbajul comun devine aproape sinonim cu iobag”23. Aşadar, putem aprecia că la mijlocul secolului al XV-lea s-a încheiat practic existenţa cnezatului ca proprietate liberă şi a acelei clase feudale româneşti legate de ea. Continuatoarea acesteia, nobilimea românească, coexistentă cu cnezimea liberă încă din secolul precedent şi derivând din aceasta, deşi va purta multă vreme pecetea acestei origini, este în esenţă, conform caracterizării lui Iorga, o "formă străină", a cărei evoluţie merge în direcţia asimilării depline cu nobilimea regatului. începând cu domnia lui Matia Corvin elita românească, deturnată definitiv de la evoluţia sa firească, se prezintă sub două forme esenţiale: nobilimea românească şi cnezii dependenţi, cu diferitele lor variante. The Extinction of the ‘Cnezi’ as Landowners in the Middle of the 15,h Century (Abstract) A new synthesis is made of the transformation of the traditional 'cnezi' - the ruling class in medieval Romanian society in Transylvania and Hungary. Sketching the evolution of this class from the beginning, a closer look is focused on the period between 1366 and 1458. During this period the traditional Romanian landowning elite was divided into two distinctive social and juridical categories: the nobles (nobiles kenezii or nobiles Valachij and the 'cnezi ’ (kenezii/ Romanian society perceived the latter category “as the other nobles" ("ad instar ceterorum nobilium/ with the ‘cnezi’ owning domains (keneziatusj and servants, being members of the congregations and judicial seats, and participating personally in military campaigns. The official viewpoint, however, was different. The cnezi owning lands without royal confirmation were considered non-nobles (ignobiles/ therefore they were not tried as nobles and they were obliged to pay tolls and responsible for certain obligations. Gradually, the traditional ’cnezi’ succeeded in obtaining the acknowledgement of their nobility by performing services to the sovereign and, therefore, they were able to save their liberty. This situation occurred more often in the territories where they existed in a great number: the counties of Maramureş, Hunedoara, and the region of Banat. In Banat, in the privileged districts, the confirmation of the nobility of the local elite was made through the well-known charter of 1457. Those who were previously 23 D. Prodan, Supplex Libellus Valachorum, Bucureşti, 1984, p. 103.
