The Ruling Class

2. ECONOMY, SOCIETY, AND CULTURE OF THE NEW STATE

Society and Culture

Society and Political Power

Prior to 1526, Transylvania was governed by feudal estates in a system marked by legal and operational complexity. Three groups, the nobility, the Saxons, and the Székelys, had a roughly equal share of political power, which they exercised in greater or lesser harmony with the voivode, the representative of central authority.

In the decades of Transylvania's transition to independence, there occurred significant changes in the balance of political power. Due to its internal decomposition and fruitless rebellions, Székely society found itself gradually excluded from the political process, and its leaders became assimilated to the nobility. The more or less overt, pro-Habsburg bias of Saxon towns induced a degree of political passivity. The office of voivode was abolished.

No new social forces appeared to fill the gap left by these changes. The development of market towns that had been attached to Transylvania soon ground to a halt, and in the one exception, Debrecen, the peasant-citizens were largely excluded from political participation. The nobility, having stabilized its economic position, was left without political rivals. Thus when Transylvania became independent, it retained an archaic feudal system. The new state was founded on the somewhat deceptive notion of a feudal order of 'three nations'; in practice, political power lay in the hands of the nobility and their counterparts from the Partium.

{1-723.} As noted, the estates that generated the greatest economic and social power were located in the Partium, and thus the members of the ruling class who lived in the region east of the Tisza and the Szamos valley came to play a leading role in the construction of the new state. György Fráter's power was underpinned by the estates of the Várad bishopric. Towards the end of the 16th century, the Somlyó branch of the Báthori family became master of much of the Partium, and it contributed most of the leading statesmen of the era, including the ruling prince.

At its inception, the new state of Transylvania showed a number of typically medieval features. Its constituent elements, political, social, and feudal, enjoyed a high degree of autonomy. Thus in the protracted contest for power between György Fráter and Queen Isabella, several of these elements played an active role: the aristocracy, the pro-Habsburg Saxon Universitas, and the Székelys, the latter being potential supporters of the recurring challenges to John Sigismund.

The proliferation of Protestant sects reflected the multipolar character of Transylvanian society. The common pattern in other European countries was that either the Roman Catholic or one of the Protestant churches would eventually prevail to become the state-sanctioned religion, excluding all others. By contrast, in Transylvania, legislation enacted from the mid-1540s onwards tended to grant equal rights to the rival churches and sects. As late as 1545, the diet passed bills in defence of priests and monks and against religious reform, but only in the most general terms. By 1548, the Torda diet contented itself with prohibiting further active efforts at conversion by Catholics and Lutherans alike. This law was subsequently reaffirmed on more than one occasion, guaranteeing that Catholics and Lutherans, later joined by Calvinists and Unitarians, could coexist in comparative peace and equality, free from any threat of official reprisals.

{1-724.} Each denomination was backed by some important social element. Although the Roman Catholic Church lost its state subsidy (and with it, its old organizational structure) in 1556, the most powerful landowners in the region east of the Tisza, the Báthori family from Somlyó, remained in the fold, as did many of the Székelys in Transylvania proper. The Saxon 'nation' rallied to Lutheranism, and so did, for a time, much of the Hungarian nobility, including such leading figures as Orbán Batthyány and members of the Kendi, Perényi, Csáky, Drágffy, and Barcsai families. The Calvinist Church also got its initial backing from a powerful aristocrat, Péter Petrovics; over time, many peasant-citizens of the market towns of the region east of the Tisza converted to Calvinism, as did an even larger proportion of the Hungarian nobility. A later arrival, Unitarianism, drew its most stalwart adherents from the Hungarian urban middle classes in Transylvania.

The circumstances that led burghers and peasant-citizens to rally to Protestantism have already been noted. It is less obvious why the feudal ruling class, so comfortable with the established Church, should have felt drawn to a new faith that had close links to urban culture. At least in Transylvania, the motive was not likely to have been any expectation of material gain arising from the expropriation of Church property, for most of that — including Kolozsmonostor and the episcopal domains of Gyulafehérvár and Várad — reverted to the crown. Only in the Upper Tisza region did some landowners, such as the Perényi family, profit from the expropriation.

It is more likely that most of the nobility was driven by spiritual motives, by a certain crisis of conscience. (After all, even among high-ranking Catholic clergymen there were many who converted to Protestantism, including Mihály Csáky, vicar of the Transylvanian diocese until 1545, as well as three canons who became noted religious reformers, Kálmáncsehi, Sebestyén Károlyi Boldi, and Péter Kolozsvári.) The tragic collapse of the Hungarian {1-725.} feudal state induced doubts about traditional values. By focusing on the sins and errors of the past, the Reformation offered an explanation of that collapse, helping the new generation to distance itself from the values of its predecessors.

This not wholly predictable shift in attitudes was facilitated by the Renaissance, for, by the turn of the 16th century, humanistic ideology had already shaken some of the Hungarian nobility out of their traditional way of thinking. This cultural renewal, with its philological thrust and its cult of Antiquity, nourished a spirit of individualism. It first struck root among lawyers and jurists, people who had an essential function in the world of the nobility. Werbőczy, the author of the Tripartitum, was influenced by these ideas, and he had a great impact on the following generation. His intellectual approach was systematic, and he readily resorted to the imagery of antique mythology. Although this venerable legal scholar never abandoned Catholicism, his successors felt less bound by the old faith.

As time went on, power shifts in Transylvanian society progressively curtailed the influence of the feudal estates. Although, as noted, the process led to a reinvigoration of the old ruling class, the real winner was the central government. Considering the difficult beginnings, King John's modest means, and György Fráter's protracted struggles, this outcome begs explanation. Hungary, mortally wounded at Mohács, bequeathed a hard fate to the new state of Transylvania. Caught between two great powers, the country disposed of fewer resources than onetime Hungary, and it could survive only by making sacrifices and pursuing astute diplomacy.

On the eve of Mohács, the Hungarian Kingdom encompassed close to four million people. At the end of the 16th century, the Principality of Transylvania (including the Partium) counted slightly over one million inhabitants.

{1-726.}

Furthermore, Transylvania's princes drew less revenue from mining than Hungary's kings had earlier. Their only significant sources were the gold mines of the Erzgebirge (Érchegység) and the salt mines in the Máramaros, at Dés, Torda, Vizakna, and in the Székelyföld. Long-distance trade declined, not least because the main customs posts were now located near Pozsony, and thus Transylvania was deprived of its profitable market in the west.

If, in these circumstances, the central government nevertheless managed to consolidate its power, it was largely thanks to the crown properties assembled by György Fráter and preserved, indeed, expanded by his successors. The domains of Gyulafehérvár, Déva, Várad, Gyalu, Fogaras, Kővár, Görgény, Kolozsmonostor, Szamosújvár, Jenő, Lugos, and Karánsebes always belonged to the exchequer, and so did, in various periods, many others, notably those of Székelytámad, Székelybánja, Zalatna, Huszt, and Törcsvár.

Although these vast domains and the other, smaller ones did not bring great revenues to the state, they nevertheless outweighed those of any potential rival for power. They encompassed some seven hundred villages, which meant that 15–20 percent of the country was directly under the administration of the princely government. This proportion only increased when the greatest aristocratic family, that of Stephen Báthori, acceded to power. The crown properties went a long way to help Transylvania's rulers stabilize {1-727.} state finances. By rough estimation, the royal treasurer could count on the following revenues in the third quarter of the 16th century:

24,000 households in the Transylvanian counties The Saxons' St. Martin's day tax The Saxons' special taxes Town taxes The Székelys' dica 17,000 households in the Partium Salt mines (Máramaros and Transylvania) Customs duties Gold exchange Tithe rents

60,000 8,500 25,000 15,000 20,000 40,000 30,000 15,000 5,000 15,000

forints