Absztrakt

Permanent, central drinking establishments with significant turnover and taverns located outside populated areas were recurrent subjects of criminal cases brought before the Békés County Court. In the first half of the nineteenth century, pubs in Békés County were the scene of swearing, prostitution, fighting, and murder, and pimps also often sold the stolen goods in these facilities. In some cases, the subject of the lawsuit was the illegally established small tavern itself. The tavern was also a place where servants and maids were hired, which could lead to rivalry between residents of different parts of the town. Soldiers on leave, returning from their faraway places of service were inevitable participants in the brawls.Among suspects or witnesses in criminal trials we find innkeepers, along with their family and staff, locals who visit the tavern, prostitutes, and travellers: market artisans, merchants, travelling journeymen, relocating soldiers, recruiting officers, and, of course, the most mobile group in society, always on the move, the shepherds. Whoever committed a crime did so in front of the tavern’s broad public.Occasionally we find the amount of alcohol consumed in the tavern and its role in the commission of the crime mentioned in the court records, as an aspect that could be taken into account when determining the punishment. If intoxication was taken into account, it tended to be considered a mitigating factor in Békés County, rather than an aggravating circumstance.