Eger kiváltságos mezőváros polgárai a 19. század elején
The Burghers of Eger, a Privileged Market Town, in the Early Nineteenth Century

Summary/Abstract: The study examines the circumstances of individuals who attained the rank of burghers in Eger, one of the significant market towns in the Hungarian Reform Era (1825–1848). As a result of the economic and social changes by the beginning of the nineteenth century even the population under the jurisdiction of feudal lords rather than cities began to assume a burgher identity. Based on this, although not lawfully, they adopted burgher rights modelled after those of free royal cities. In connection with the role of burghers in the life of Eger, the author also discusses the type of people attracted to Eger by the burgher rights between 1786 and 1848. The overview of the newly sworn-in burghers demonstrates the extent of the efforts to acquire burgher status undertaken by individuals of various trades and social standing in the estate system. This framework allows the thorough analysis of the dynamics of acquiring burgher status, its substance and meaning; as well as of the composition, origins and family ties of the burghers in the town.

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