A Herman Ottó Múzeum Évkönyve 46. (2007)

Pozsgai Péter: A földbirtoklás változásai és a kisnemesség Torna megyében (15-19. század)

THE LESSER NOBILITY OF COUNTY TORNA The study focuses on the lesser nobility of County Torna and its distinctive traits. The longitudinal analysis, aimed at clarifying the origins of various layers of the lesser nobility, is based on documents in the State District Archives of Kassa and the National Archives, as well as other select sources. A more detailed analysis is possible from 1427, following the lucrum camerae (chamber's profit or tax) conscriptions and an overview is possible until the detailed register of the nobles was assembled in the mid-19th century. In addition to a description of the main centres of the curialis and the arinalis nobles in County Torna and an overview of the the overall number and proportion of the nobility in the villages of County Torna and the market-town of Torna, the study alsó seeks an answer to why the proportion of the lesser nobility was higher on certain settlements. The households and the occupational structure of the lesser nobility in the early 19th century is illustrated through a case study of 21 villages in the Alsó járás district based on a unique group of sources, which enabled the distinction of various layers within the society of the lesser nobility and a better understanding of their lifeways. One part of the lesser nobility in County Torna was descended from the "ancestral", donaűonalis landed nobility (which possessed land that was not part of the emerging dominiums) through collateral inheritance and the division of their land, while another can be derived from the armalis nobles of peasant origin, who acquired charters of nobility in growing numbers from the 17th century onwards. The three major dominiums (Szádvár, Torna, Krasznahorka) had estates in the county's Felső járás district and their influence is reflected in the differences between the ownership patterns of the lesser nobility in the region. The 17th century sources indicate a significant proportion of lesser and curialis nobles on the settlements, which did not come under the administration of the dominiums, reflecting a continuity in ownership. In contrast, the middle and lesser nobility had possessions in the Alsó járás district, where more settlements managed to retain their independence in the face of the efforts of the major landowners to incorporate these areas intő their domínium. In the post-medieval period, a stronger armalis nobility emerged on settlements, where the ownership of the lesser and curialis nobility was continuous. This can undoubtedly be explained by the fact that the villages, whose originál owners managed to retain their independence against the Torna domínium and, to a lesser extent, the Szádvár domínium, offered various courses for social rise than the settlements which had been incorporated intő one of the dominiums from the very beginning. By the 18th century, the lesser nobility was dominated by armalis nobles. The overall number of the middle and lesser nobility of County Torna in the laté 18th century could be reconstructed from the census taken under the Emperor Joseph II and various other sources. In 1787, the proportion of the nobility in the entire population was 7.5 per cent in the Felső járás district and 11.6 per cent in the Alsó járás district. The conseription of the nobles in the earlier 19th century confirmed the census figures and reflected the significant proportion of the lesser nobility in County Torna. The nominal analysis of the noble families of the Alsó járás district revealed that the family and occupational structure of the curialis and armalis lesser nobility resembled that of the peasantry in 1813. The overwhelming majority of the lesser nobility (84 per cent) was engaged in arable farming, most with a living standard differing little from that of the landed peasantry, while the lowermost layer lived no better than the average landless serf. At the same time, a little over one-quarter (28 per cent) of the nobles could be drawn under taxation in the early 19th century. Péter Pozsgai 195