Századok – 2020

2020 / 1. szám - A TÁRSADALMI MOBILITÁS KÉRDÉSEI MAGYARORSZÁGON - Mátyás-Rausch Petra: Társadalmi mobilitás az erdélyi kincstári igazgatásban (1571–1629)

24 TÁRSADALMI MOBILITÁS AZ ERDÉLYI KINCSTÁRI IGAZGATÁSBAN (1571–1629)

SOCIAL MOBILITY IN THE TRANSYLVANIAN FISCAL ADMINISTRATION (1571–1629)

by Petra Mátyás-Rausch

SUMMARY

The paper explores the career types and related opportunities of social elevation offered by service in the fiscal administration of Transylvania from the time of the accession of Prince István Báthory to the death of Gábor Bethlen. Using two case studies it demonstrates that the fiscal administration offered an ideal springboard for the ambitious petty nobility with more professional expertise than wealth, even if the channels of social elevation became considerably restricted during the reign of Gábor Bethlen. The cases analysed in the paper also prove the key role played in terms of both social advance and maintaining the new positions acquired by advantageous marriages contracted at the proper time, for none of the officials who figure in the paper could have accomplished their continuous social and professional climbing without the social network provided by their consorts. Interestingly, not all persons with a successful professional career proved able to secure similar success in the next generation, although their heirs were generally successful in preserving the social capital produced by the social rise.