A Szilágyság és a Wesselényi család (14–17. század)
Sălaj (Szilágy) Region and the Wesselényi Family (14–17th centuries)
Contributor(s): Géza Hegyi (Editor), András W. Kovács (Editor)
Subject(s): History, Local History / Microhistory, Middle Ages, Modern Age, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century
Published by: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület
Keywords: Sălaj (Szilágy) Region; Wesselényi Family; Solnoc (Szolnok) county; Crasna (Kraszna) county; Ákos kindred; Borsa kindred; voivode Szász; Bertalan Drágfi; Drágfi family; Nógrád county;
Summary/Abstract: This volume contains the edited texts of the papers presented at the conference "Sălaj (Szilágy) Region and the Wesselényi Family in the 14–17th centuries" held between 7 and 8 September 2012 in Cluj (Kolozsvár). The essays deal with the estate system and the political and economic history of the medieval Sălaj (Szilágy) region (Middle Solnoc/Szolnok and Crasna/Kraszna counties), as well as with the history of the Wesselényi family archives and the early modern history of the Wesselényi family.
- Print-ISBN-13: 978-606-8178-64-6
- Page Count: 326
- Publication Year: 2012
- Language: Hungarian
Teljes kötet
Teljes kötet
(Entire book)
- Contributor(s):Géza Hegyi (Editor), András W. Kovács (Editor)
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Local History / Microhistory
- Page Range:1-326
- No. of Pages:326
Az ákosi monostor és az Ákos nemzetség
Az ákosi monostor és az Ákos nemzetség
(The Abbey and Kindred of Ákos)
- Author(s):Péter Levente Szőcs
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Local History / Microhistory
- Page Range:7-24
- No. of Pages:18
- Summary/Abstract:The settlement of Acâș (Ákos, Satu Mare/Szatmár County, Romania) has played a central role during the Middle Ages, being on the cross point of the main trade route which passed along the Crasna (Kraszna) River and turned here toward North, to the city of Satu Mare (Szatmár). From the medieval monastery of Ákos only the abbey church is preserved, transformed now into Calvinist church. The good state of the edifice confers a special role to it among the Romanesque monuments of medieval Hungary, offering the possibility of an exhaustive architectural analysis, though the scarcity of written documents makes the historical context less clear.The abbey-church is a triple-aisled basilica with one apse, and two western towers – with a gallery between them. It is built by brick, only several significant parts were realized of stone: the door-frames, the niches of the side altars and the headings of the pillars. The bricks used during the first construction phase can be observed all around the masonry of the church, even today, demonstrating the fact that it was built in a single phase. The eastern arrangement of the church is fairly well developed, being composed of a main apse, in front of which there is a rectangular space, connected to the side altars with two levels, and an annexed chapel on the northern side. The western complex has a special arrangement, too: the rooms of the two leveled gallery forms a common space, though they are opened toward the naves through arches. The closest similarity to the ground-plan arrangement of the Ákos abbey-church was detected by Sándor Tóth: a prolonged apse and rectangular side altars were built to the long naves during the third building-phase of the abbey-church of Csoltmonostor. The eastern arrangement of Ákos can be found with slight variations at Herina (Harina) and Boldva, while the earliest examples of similar western arrangement are from the middle of the twelfth century, being wide spread during the thirteenth century.The archaeological researches had a preventive character being limited by the partial renovations of the building. Inside of the church, the north-eastern side altar was researched, in order to verify the hypothesis of the eastern towers. The discovered foundations, however, can not be linked to any tower, being built in later phases; therefore, the presumption of the eastern towers must be rejected. There were identified several floors and the remnants of the staircase which led from the side altar to the main apse. On the exterior, at the north-eastern corner of the church, the foundations of a small side chapel with an apse were identified, built together, in a single phase, with the church. Moreover, around the abbey church a deep and rather wide ditch was identified, which surrounded the early monastic complex, being filled up during the late Middle Ages. Through the archaeological excavations 76 burials were identified, belonging to two chronological groups. Roughly one third of the graves can be dated on the basis of the discovered finds to the Middle Ages (13th to 15th centuries), while the others are more recent, dating from the 18th to 19th century. The earliest coin discovered dates from 1170-1200. The kindred of Ákos had seven branches during the Middle Ages, the earliest sources dating from the beginning of the 12th century, though the exact lineage of the early period can not be established. Written documents on the kindred’s history became more frequent starting with the thirteenth century, therefore, their estates and genealogy can be established only at that moment. It seems, that the estates of Middle Solnoc and Bihor (Bihar) Counties, were the oldest possessions of the kindred, forming a single block along the rivers of Kraszna, Ér and Berettyó. During this period, the kindred had three monasteries Ákosmonostor at the Crasna River, Pályi at the Berettyó River, and again Ákosmonostor, in the valley of Galga River in Pest County. The Ákosmonostora in Middle Szolnok County, at the Crasna River, seems to be earlier foundation than the others: the archaeological finds and the art historical analysis suggest that it was established during the last part of the 12th century. The later evolutions of the three monasteries were somewhat similar: none of the descendants of the patrons paid much interest in these ancestral establishments.In the case of Ákos in Middle Szolnok, in spite of the scarcity of historical sources, it can be assumed that the settlement was an early center of the Ákos kindred. The monastery established here, was probably the earliest one of the kindred, but it was inherited by descendants who gradually became impoverished. The monastery was lost by them, and then it was transformed to a parish church – thus guaranteeing its survival.
A Borsa-tartomány igazgatásának kérdései
A Borsa-tartomány igazgatásának kérdései
(Questions Regarding the Administration of the Province of the Borsas.)
- Author(s):Attila Zsoldos
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Local History / Microhistory
- Page Range:25-44
- No. of Pages:20
- Summary/Abstract:The study analyzes a hitherto unexplored feature of the province of oligarchs Palatine Kopasz Borsa and his brother Beke (and their kinship), who controlled the largest part of Tiszántúl region in the decades around the turn of the 13th–14th century: the administration of their province. It is generally considered that the government of provinces based on oligarchic private power followed the particularities of two provinces founded by the rulers of the Kingdom of Hungary, Transylvania and Slavonia. By the mid-13th century, it had been a steady practice in Transylvania and Slavonia that the counts (comites) of the counties (comitates) were appointed by the voivode or the Ban ruling over the province, and the royal castles of the province were also headed by the voivode and the Ban. The same system could be observed in the oligarchic private provinces: the lord of the province appointed a vice-count – often called a count (“ispán”, comes) – among his familiares as the head of the counties under his rule, who in most cases demonstrably, and in other cases supposedly, was also a castellan of one of the lord’s castles. As usual in the time, the power of the count belonged to the oligarch, who however surprisingly rarely used these titles. The province of the Borsas was built on the same principle. At the same time, it was particularized by the fact of being the only oligarchic province in the age which was not under the indisputable rule of one single person but was jointly owned by the Borsas – the sons of count Tamás and their descendants. The study shows that the Borsas, similarly to the Kőszegis, the oligarchs of the western Dunántúl, shared their castles, except for those in Ugocea (Ugocsa) county, which was not an organic part of the province, and which were ruled as one of the brothers’, Beke’s own castles, who did not share them with the other Borsas. The province itself remained nonetheless under an integrated rule, although the sources at our disposal show signs of a serious conflict between Kopasz and Beke around 1307–1308. The family conflict, as it is clear in the light of later developments, led to no breakup, the Borsas seemed to have been able to overcome it, in contrast with the Kőszegis, whose enmity ended up in armed conflict. The province was ultimately disintegrated not by this conflict, but by the defeat by Charles I during the two revolts of the Borsas.
A Szilágyság birtokviszonyai a középkorban
A Szilágyság birtokviszonyai a középkorban
(The Estate System of Sălaj (Szilágy) Region in the Late Middle Ages)
- Author(s):Géza Hegyi
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Local History / Microhistory
- Page Range:45-134
- No. of Pages:90
- Summary/Abstract:The paper examines the estate system of two counties of late medieval Hungary, Middle Szolnok and Crasna (Kraszna), in the 13th–16th century. More precisely, it discusses which settlement belonged to which family, what the power relations were between the landowners, how all this changed in time, and what reasons influenced these changes in property relations.Chapter I discusses the genesis of the local society of landowners in the Arpadian age. Prior to the beginning of the 13th century a significant part of the territory was royal land around castles or manors (várföld, udvarnokföld, erdőispánság). The large number of petty nobility (about 40 families) which gathered around Tășnad (Tasnád) and the hilly region between the rivers Zalău (Zilah) and Sălaj (Szilágy) were probably partly the descendants of the earliest Hungarian settlers and partly the descendants of castle servants rising in the 13th century. The oldest families of the highest-ranking kindreds were the Csolts in Crasna county and the Ákos and Káta families in Szolnok county (11th and 12th century), but other smaller kindreds (Farkasagmánd, Napkormeszte, Virteka, Turul) also settled in the region.The formation of church estates happened in the decades around 1200 – these, just like the villages of the petty nobility, were permanent, hardly changing elements of the estate system of Sălaj region in the Middle Ages.The middle nobility, owning 2–6 villages, came into being in the second half of the 13th century, when certain branches of the above mentioned kindreds (e.g. Széplaki, Csaholyi), the local royal servants (servientes) (e.g. Dédácsi, Szarvadi, Horváti, Sarmasági, Adi, etc.) or the nobles coming from distant counties in the service of barons had their shares of pieces of disintegrating royal estates. The largest part of these were acquired by the powerful nobles of the surrounding counties, of whom the Borsas, by the possession of the castle of Valcău (Valkó), gained supremacy over the two counties, while their allies, the Lothárdfis de genere Gútkeled, owned the territories of the later estates of Cheud (Aranyos) and Chioar (Kővár). The power of the Borsas and Lothárdfis was broken by King Charles I in 1317, as a result of which more than half of the two counties’ territories and three of the four castles of the region (Cheud, Chioar, Valcău) became royal estates (Chapter 2). This huge estate however started to be distributed already in 1341, and by 1410 there were no more royal lands in Sălaj region. Those who benefited from this process of distribution were all members of the royal court (barons and knights of the court). They gave rise to the large landowner elite of Sălaj region in the secondhalf of the 14th century, which remained unaltered to the mid-16th century: one branch of the Bátori family acquired the castle and villages of Șimleu (Somlyó) by marriage (1351), the Romanian-origin Bélteki family (ancestors of the Drágfi and Balkfi families) received the estates of Chioar (1378) and Ardud (Erdőd) (1385) as donation, the Jakcs family of Coșeiu (Kusaly) rising from the one-village nobility received the villages of the abbey of Meseș (Meszes) (1361), the estate of Hodod (Hadad) (1383) and Cheud (1387), while the Csáki family the estates of Craidorolț (Daróc) (1387) and Marghita (Margitta) (1422), and the estate of Valcău ended up in the possession of the Bánfi of Losonc family (1402). Beginning with the early 15th century, after the source of royal land donation had run dry, and no significant family had become extinct in the period between 1420 and 1542, the estate mobility decreased (1341–1446: 62,5%; 1446–1549: 40,7%), estates became more fragmented, and were exchanged, bought, gained by marriages and pawned. At the beginning of the 15th century, most successful in this was the Jakcs family, who even managed to acquire for a period the southern strip (approx. 20 villages) of the Drágfi’s estate in Țara Codrului (Bükkalja). In 1446, they owned 22% of the estates in Sălaj region. At this time, the two counties were under the hegemony of the Jakcs, Bánfi and Csáki families, who also bore baron’s offices. In chapter four, we can see how the Jakcs and Bánfi families were pushed in the background amidst the confusions of the 1440s–1450s, then the place of the former is taken by the Drágfis in the second part of the 15th century, and the place of the latter by the Bátoris of Șimleu (Somlyó) at the beginning of the 16th century.The Drágfis managed to regain their lost estates (1460–1462), then they laid hands on about half of the estate of Cheud in three stages (1472, 1494, 1524), while acquiring several estates in the neighbourhood of Tășnad (1474, 1477, 1483, 1486, 1492).Members of the family were always counts of the two counties beginning with 1476. One branch of the Bátoris gained around 40% of the estate of Valcău between 1508−1523 by way of marriage, and then by exchanges and pawning. At the turn of the 15th–16th century, we can also witness the rise of some families of the petty nobility (Dobai, Kőrösi, Désházi) who gained their lands mostly in the service of the Drágfis.The study ends with the short analysis of tax inventories from 1549, which offer the most comprehensive image of the society of the region. The author examines not only the proportion of various types of estates (those of the church, the aristocracy or common nobility) and the internal stratification of the nobility, but – on the model of the researches of Pál Engel – he also treats questions such as the problem of the survival of the elite of the Arpadian age.
Szász vajda utódainak felemelkedése és bukása. A család vázlatos története 1365–1424 között
Szász vajda utódainak felemelkedése és bukása. A család vázlatos története 1365–1424 között
(The Rise and Fall of the Descendants of Voivode Szász: The Schematic History of the Family between 1365–1424)
- Author(s):Norbert C. Tóth
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Local History / Microhistory
- Page Range:135-166
- No. of Pages:32
A bélteki Drágfiak és a királyi udvar kapcsolata a Hunyadiak korában
A bélteki Drágfiak és a királyi udvar kapcsolata
a Hunyadiak korában
(The family Drágfi of Beltiug (Béltek) and the Royal Court in the Hunyadys’ time (1424–1490))
- Author(s):Richárd Horváth
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Local History / Microhistory
- Page Range:167-212
- No. of Pages:46
- Summary/Abstract:The present paper discusses the history of the family Drágfi of Beltiug between 1424–1490, although within the frames of a non-traditional family history for two reasons. On one hand, the author did not consider his mission to systematically explore land tenure history data. On the other hand, the paper focuses mainly on the role played by two generations (rather by Bartholomew than by Nicholas Drágfi) in the royal court. Nicholas Drágfi had built up an excellent connection with the court since his youth. His kindred, the Jakcs of Kusaly and the Bátoris of Ecsed were counted among the barons of the country by that time, which evidently supported his ascend. Although he did not reach any baronial position, he was a respected castle-owner notability of the Szabolcs, Sătmar (Szatmár) and Bereg region. Thus he established his son, Bartholomew’s career. The son was King Matthias Corvinus’s confidential secretary from 1467. In accordance with his family traditions, his role was primarily of military nature. Besides this, however, his role in the political and governmental decisions was regular, together with others who got into the royal milieu at the same time as Bartholomew did (i.e. Stephen Bátori, Paul Kinizsi). Bartholomew Drágfi was first and foremost a soldier, on whose opinion the king relied. Despite that prior to 1490 he was the king’s right hand man, he was “only” a second-line baron. He reached the peak of his power only after the decease of his most important supporter, King Matthias.
Drágfi Bertalan politikai szerepe II. Ulászló király idején
Drágfi Bertalan politikai szerepe II. Ulászló király
idején
(Bertalan Drágfi’s Political Role in the Time of King Vladislas II)
- Author(s):Tibor Neumann
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Local History / Microhistory
- Page Range:213-236
- No. of Pages:23
- Summary/Abstract:The study presents the political activity of Bartholomew Drágfi between 1490 and 1501, the year of his death. Following the death of King Matthias, Drágfi joined the widow queen and the group of aristocrats around her, and took part in the defeat of Matthias’s illegitimate son, Prince John Corvinus, in the battle of Csontmező. Thanks to this, Vladislas II, elected King of Hungary (1490–1516), following his coronation in September appointed him Master of chamberlains (magister cubiculariorum), then later Ispán of Chamber (comes camararum) of Baia Mare (Nagybánya). The author presents the events that happened in the beginning of 1493, which led to the appointment of Drágfi and magister tavernicorum regalium Ladislaus Losonczi as Voivodes of Transylvania. Drágfi and Losonczi were voivodes together for one year and a half, but they only resided in their province in times of war. Soon serious conflicts started between the two voivodes and the groups formed around them, for which reason Vladislas II – who visited Transylvania for the first and last time – dismissed Losonczi in Sibiu (Nagyszeben) in September 1494. Drágfi, who was now alone Voivode of Transylvania, became the country’s most powerful politician and military baron until his dismissal in 1498. At the turn of 1494–1495, he was also in charge of the campaign against Duke Laurence Újlaki in the southern territories, and as voivode, he took part in several military actions, for example he was leader of the campaign initiated to help Moldova in 1497. The study presents the sources which led to Drágfi’s dismissal and resignation. The precise reason of this is as yet unknown, but Drágfi had serious disagreements with the estates of Transylvania as early as 1496. The author analyzes the period of double voivodate, Drágfi’s activity as a voivode, presents his marriages and his land acquisition strategy involved. Drágfi died on 26 October 1501, and it was because of his activity in the Jagellonian age that Vladislas II appointed Drágfi’s sons permanent barons in 1507, and both he and his son, Louis II, granted them several baronial and territorial offices.
A Szilágyság helye a középkori Magyar Királyság gazdasági életében
A Szilágyság helye a középkori Magyar Királyság
gazdasági életében
(Medieval Sălaj (Szilágy) in the Economic Life of the Kingdom of Hungary)
- Author(s):Boglárka Weisz
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Local History / Microhistory
- Page Range:237-254
- No. of Pages:18
- Summary/Abstract:The medieval territory of Sălaj (Szilágy) region was divided between two counties: Crasna (Kraszna) and Middle Szolnok. The examination of data on the economic administration of the territory can help to better understand the problem of whether these two counties belonged to Transylvania or the Hungarian Plain (Alföld). The primary organization which had no national authority, and held together a welldefined territory especially in matters of taxation, was the chamber. However, not all chambers in the Arpadian age had territorial authority, therefore the territories of the later counties of Middle Szolnok and Crasna belonged to no chamber, while the authority of the chamber of Sătmar county only extended to the customs places on their territories connected to salt transportation or trade. Following the transformation of the chamber system, in the 1320s the chamber of Sătmar had authority over a well delimited territory, extending over the two examined counties. In the 1370s, when the Ispánate of the Chamber’s profit (comitatus lucri camerae) was removed from the authority of the chambers, Middle Szolnok and Crasna fell under the Ispánate of the Chamber’s profit (kamarahaszna, comitatus lucri camerae) of Sătmar. This means that in terms of economic administration the territory of Sălaj belonged not to Transylvania, but to the Hungarian Plain.The region of Sălaj maintained its relations with its close or distant neighbours by way of trade. This was partly achieved through fairs in the territory, and partly by the activity of merchants living there. In the Middle Ages, weekly markets were held in the following settlements in Sălaj region: Cehu Silvaniei (Cseh, Mondays), Agrij (Egregy, Mondays), Ghirișa (Géres, Thursdays), Hodod (Hadad, Tuesdays), Carastelek (Kálóztelek, Thursdays), Camăr (Kémer, Wednesdays), Crasna (Kraszna, Fridays), Coșeiu (Kusaly, Wednesdays), Nușfalău (Nagyfalu, Tuesdays), Sălăjeni (Ököritó, Wednesdays), Șamșud (Sámson, Mondays), Santău (Szántó), Săuca (Sződemeter, Wednesday), Tășnad (Tasnád, Sundays), Someș-Uileac (Újlak, Thursdays), Zalău (Zilah, Saturdays); and annual markets in the settlements of: Cehu (11 June; 18 October), Camăr (Easter), Coșeiu (Ascension Thursday), Nușfalău (1 May; 29 September), Șamșud (12 March; 29 June; 4 October), Santău (16 October), Zalău (13 July). Apparently, the most important fairs which were attended by people from more distant counties as well were held in the village of Nușfalău in Crasna county, where merchants came even from Carei (Károly, Sătmar county) or Debrecen (Bihor county).In addition to trade, the economic importance of Sălaj was also marked by the fact that the salt-route leading to the settlement of Sălacea (Szalacs), a salt deposit already in the Arpadian age, crossed the territory; this route can be reconstructed partly by the salt customs places and partly by road denominations. The route of salt transportation on water led through Sălaj region on the river Someș (Szamos) to Jibou (Zsibó), where the salt was moved on carriages and taken along the Someș to the salt deposit of Sătmar.
A Wesselényi család nógrádi gyökerei
A Wesselényi család nógrádi gyökerei
(The Roots of the Wesselényi Family in the County of Nógrád)
- Author(s):Béla Pálmány
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Local History / Microhistory
- Page Range:255-268
- No. of Pages:13
- Summary/Abstract:The origin of the Wesselényi family – bearing the title of nobility “de Hadad” and “de Gyeke” and the rank of barony since 1582 – has been discussed by historians in the last two and a half centuries. This treatise recapitulates the different views on this question, reviews the research results of classical historians and publishes some unknown archival documents. The legendary of the family about the Czech ancestors (locality Wesseling in Bohemia) was accepted by the first Hungarian genealogists (László Mikola 1730, András Lehoczky 1796) but refuted by Iván Nagy, the founder of the scholarly genealogy in our country. Nagy was a native of Nógrád county, and he found documents in its archives, proving that members of the Wesselényi clan were possessors of estate Veselény in the 16th century. Also János Karácsonyi, the classic of heraldry contributed to the researches, when he found similarities between the coats of arms of the Wesselényi clan and that of Ladislaus Csese, a possessor in Dansa and Keresztúr (near to Veselény) in 1418 – and so he presumed kinship between their families, too. The author localizes the place name “Veselény” on the basis of the first maps of the former county of Nógrád (Antal Mocsáry 1826, Ignác Hátsek 1886). He also made a “discovery trip” to the locality, where he found 3 houses – the residents told the abode was called “Višilań”. In his former treatise (Restructuration of the Nobility of the county of Nógrád [1542–1848]) the author analysed some of the first state conscriptions of subsidium unius floreni (1542, 1548), where he found some members of the Wesselényi family. Now he made a thorough search and identificates their names and estates (a number of country houses): Nicolaus Wesseleny (possessor in Keresztúr/Nové Hony, Perenna and Kurtány) and the widows of Martin and Peter Wiseleni (possessors in Keresztúr respectively in Kurtány). Other known members of the family: Iohannes filius Stephani de Wyselen homo regius (1414), Stephanus filius Loranth de Wyselen (1449, 1461), Ladislaus de Wyselen (1461, 1469) solicitors, Petrus de Wysseleny (1517, 1526) castellan of Fülek/Fil’akovo, Susanna Wesseleny (1600 – married to George Sóry), the only daugther of Michael.The members of the Wesselényi clan played an active role in the struggle for power between the adherents of the Habsburg king, Ferdinand I respectively that of the Transylvanian reigning princes and Francis Bebek of Pelsőcz. The consequence was that Miklós (1504–1584) was declared a rebel and disobidient by Act 24:1556 of King Ferdinand I, and his estates in the counties Nógrád and Gömör were confiscated. At the same time – as a great jurist and influential politician of the Transylvanian Princedom – Nicholas was the great estate acquirer of the family, while Francis (1540–1594) the son of his brother Farkas (1502–1584) was made a baron in 1582. By that time the Wesselényi family had lost their estates in the county of Nógrád and became an influential aristocratic clan of Transylvania.
A hadadi Wesselényi család erdélyi birtokai a fejedelemség korában
A hadadi Wesselényi család erdélyi birtokai a
fejedelemség korában
(The Transylvanian Estates of the Wesselényi Family of Hodod (Hadad) in the Time of the Principality)
- Author(s):Anikó Szász
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Local History / Microhistory
- Page Range:269-294
- No. of Pages:25
- Summary/Abstract: The Wesselényis were one of the aristocratic families which had large estates both in Transylvania and the Kingdom of Hungary, and therefore exerted significant political influence in both countries. The Hodod (Hadad) branch of the family was founded by Ferenc Wesselényi, councillor and treasurer of István Báthory, Prince of Transylvania and King of Poland, who grounded the authority of the Hodod branch and its emergence as a member of Transylvanian aristocracy by his successful career and estate acquisitions. The king rewarded his services not only by granting him the rank of baron (1582), but also by several estate donations in Poland and Transylvania. The descendants of Ferenc Wesselényi made no more significant estate acquisitions in Transylvania, the basis of their fortune was the estate of Hodod gained by the founder in 1584. The family had estates in other regions as well, but their number only grew significantly once they inherited the estates of the Lónyai family. Other members of the family also had the office of count (comes) of Middle Szolnok county, which means that due to their ancient estates they counted as the most respectable family of the county throughout several generations. Their prestigious place in the aristocracy is also proved by the fact that at the beginning of this period they had important offices in the government of the Principality, and were related by marriage to several Transylvanian aristocratic families.
A Wesselényi család iratöröksége és az Erdélyi Nemzeti Múzeum Levéltára
A Wesselényi család iratöröksége és az Erdélyi Nemzeti Múzeum Levéltára
(The Archives of the Wesselényi Family and the Transylvanian National Museum Archives)
- Author(s):Tamás Fejér
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Local History / Microhistory
- Page Range:295-316
- No. of Pages:21
- Summary/Abstract:The paper analyzes the history of the archival documents of the Wesselényi family preserved in the Archives of the Transylvanian National Museum, an institution that used to function in the framework of the Transylvanian Museum Society. The Wesselényi family originally came from Nógrád county, and settled in Transylvania in the mid-16th century. The majority of the archival material containing some twenty-five thousand documents (of which three hundred medieval charters) – very rich in Transylvanian context – was preserved by the Jibou (Zsibó) branch of the family, and placed in the custody of the Transylvanian Museum Society in 1896 by Baron Miklós Wesselényi (1845–1916), count (comes) of Sălaj county. The remains of the almost completely destroyed archives of the Hodod (Hadad) and Dragu (Drág) branches, and the documents preserved in the family’s house in Cluj (Kolozsvár) were deposited in the archive of the Museum Society in the second part of the 1940s. The Wesselényi family also had a minor amount of documents in the archives of the Reformed (Calvinist) College of Cluj, which the institution handed over to the Museum Society in 1944–45. The mentioned archives are now found in the collections of the National Archives of Cluj and the University Library of Cluj.
