ZUM FUNKTIONIEREN DER ZEHNTVERWALTUNG DES DISTRIKTS BISTRITZ WÄHREND DER BETHLEN- UND DER RÁKÓCZY-ZEIT
The Tithe Administration in the District of Bistritz in the Times of Gabriel Bethlen and George Rákóczy I and II

Summary/Abstract: Although research is paying more and more attention to the early modern history of the town and district of Bistritz, the way in which the tithe due to the treasury was administered in the Principality of Transylvania, a region with special legal status, is considered to be an underresearched topic. Starting from the revision of the regulation regarding the tithe tax liability of the Saxon territories from 1612, the investigation of the activity of the chief tithe administrator (supremus decima arendator) Tamás Debreczeni revealed that in the first years of the Bethlen period there was a reorganization of the tithe administration in the district of Bistritz (Hungarian: Beszterce, Romanian Bistrița) partly based on previous practice. The system operated at the local level towards the end of this period by the tithe collectors responsible for tithe collection and administration more or less stabilized in the Rákóczy period, with increased involvement of the vice-tithe administrators. This article is intended to describe the process of collecting and administering the Saxon tithes due to the Transylvanian treasury, together with the activities of the chamber officials responsible for this, on the basis of the correspondence of the town and district of Bistritz, as a case study relating to the first half of the 17th century.

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