86. szám // 2021. Mobilitás a rendi társadalomban
Tanulmányok
Megjelent: 2022.03.02.
Koloh Gábor
The Diverse Social Mobility of Protestant Clergymen and Teachers in Felsőbaranya Diocese in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century
Abstract
The study examines the life stories of 106 pastors and teachers based on autobio-graphies by individuals working in the Felsőbaranya Protestant Diocese (BaranyaCounty) for various lengths of time. Focusing on the career-shaping breakingpoints and the individuals’ responses to these, the analysis reveals that most ofthese people wished to graduate as clergymen; the teaching degree integratedinto their training was a primary goal only for the offspring of peasant parents.While families of clergymen aimed to safeguard their social status, for teachersand urbanites it was an opportunity for advancement in life. Since in many casesthis goal was not attained, it is justifiable to suggest that the relationship betweenclergymen and teachers was not without tension, which was further aggravatedby the increasing burdens associated with teaching. In the period under scrutinyhere, both pastors and teachers served far away from their birthplaces, whichmade both their integration into local communities and their influence on theirspiritual life very difficult. At the same time, this change explains why moralteachings and their long-suffering earthly representatives had such little effect ondeep-rooted and complex problems of local societies.