Ujsť pred rokom 1720 z majetkov Koháryovcov?
Fleeing from the Nógrád County Estate of the Kohárys Before 1720?

Summary/Abstract: Because of frequent fleeings the community of County Nógrád (Novohrad) decided to take a census of serfs fleeing from the county. On the basis of the census of 1720 the literature on the topic contains the statement that the largest numbers were from the es¬tates of the archbishop of Esztergom, the bishop of Vác and István Koháry II. What could be the underlying reason? At the time of the census taking the Koháry family were the largest landowners of Nógrád County. And so the number of refugees considered high was also a consequence of the large area estate with larger number of farmers. The figures available prove differing tendencies of settling down and migration away. The intensity of settlings on the Koháry estate in question showed an increase until the start of the Rákóczi Freedom Fight, then a slight decrease. In contrary to this, after the Rákóczi Uprising migration away began to increase apace. So on the one hand, after 1711 the zest for settling here decreased, on the other hand, the number of migrants to other areas increased considerably. As a reason for fleeing from the Koháry estate theoretically the political one can be mentioned, since the greater part of the refugees left the Koháry estate after the Rákóczi Fight for Freedom. But it cannot be presumed because of the Koháry´s relationships with insurrectionists. However, a conflict may be probable between the different religions of the landowning family and the inhabitants of the estate, as the Roman Catholic Kohárys acted against the Protestants, while István Koháry II generously supported the Catholic Church. Economic facts cannot be neglected either. Whichever destination the runaways chose, in any case the search for more favorable financial opportunities could be the reason for migrating away. However, several runaways must have been disappointed because a part of them moved again to a new destination.

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