Nagy_Janos_A_varosok_es_az adókerdes

Based on the correspondence between the representatives and the council of the free royal city of Pest during the 1764–65 National Assembly, presently kept in the Budapest City Archives, the study examines the municipalities’ perceptions of tax disputes, their stance concerning tax hikes and reforms changing from rejection to support, as well as the channels they sought to assert their interests within the National Assembly and the government apparatus. Not unlike municipalities as a whole, the representatives of Pest could not substantially participate in the clashes between the government and the real movers and shakers of political life, namely the magnates and the county representatives. In comparison to previous diets, where the cities took a clear pro-government position, significant changes can be observed in 1764–65. Due to their own unfavorable financial situation and the reform plans propagated by Vienna, municipalities temporarily aligned themselves with the opposition in the matter of tax increases and the reform of nobiliary military duty (exercitus insurrectio), and mollified their staunch opposition against the government’s proposals only gradually. Nevertheless, the government’s distrust towards the cities remained palpable throughout the National Assembly, and the court never publicly supported any of their demands in opposition of the counties’ interests. The representative of Pest was limited to presenting their grievances to committees appointed to determine taxable estates, whereby they privately lobbied for their city’s support with various dignitaries outside the public sessions.