Egy Károlyi-kliens a 18. század elején

Absztrakt

The study examines local power structures and the roles of the patron–client relationship in early eighteenth-century East Hungary. The example used to gain insight into this relationship is the person of Gábor Erős, a ’mediator’ who operated on various different levels in his lifetime, fulfilling a kind of mediating role between the town of Szatmárnémeti, the state, and his patron Sándor Károlyi. Erős began his career at the curia regis in Szepes. He fought on Károlyi’s side in the Hungarian rebel (kuruc) militia and it was probably Károlyi who intervened to obtain pardon for him after the Treaty of Szatmár. This solidified the bond between them and Erős became tied to his patron by a complex network of gratitude and shared interest. Erős himself was an independent and wealthy nobleman. As a tax collector he held an important state position and was endowed with significant local power, thus his relationship with Károlyi was based on mutual benefits. Károlyi, the comes of Szatmár County and the biggest landholder of the region, built a powerful network of clients. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the undifferentiated character of the archaic world was manifest in the dominance of interpersonal connections. As he performed a variety of tasks for Károlyi, the case of Erős is a good example for this dominance. They were mutually dependent on one another and the ways of cooperation were diverse, but the emotional bond and loyalty was of primary importance in their relationship too.