ECONOMY
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ECONOMY

Although Hungary was indefinitely divided into three parts after 1541, its economic unity continued to exist throughout the Turkish era. This economic stability was of mutual benefit to the occupying Turks and to those in control of royal Hungary. Due to this fact Hungary continued to be an integral part of the economic bloodstream of Europe. Hungarian raw materials and agricultural products were indispensable to Western Europe, and in return for such materials the country primarily exported textiles, iron goods and various luxury items. The cattle trade, which originated from the occupied territories (an approximate 200,000 animals per year) provided the meat supply for Northern-Italy, the southern German areas and for the imperial capital which qualified Hungary as the world's largest meat exporter. Its easily transportable wine was also exported to various parts of Europe. Besides the breeding of cattle, wine production and grain crop cultivation - which mainly took place on large estates for the local markets - trading was the most characteristic and most profitable branch in the Hungarian economy. This provided the opportunity for many people to become wealthy, or even to rise to the ranks of the nobility, while in Turkish occupied Hungary it was a chance for survival.

The significance of the large estates

The basis of political, military and economic power in Hungary under Turkish occupation was the large estate. The most significant big-land owners of the country (Batthyánys, Nádasdys, Esterházys, Zrínyis, Széchys, Thurzós, the Drughets of Hommonna, the Csákys) owned estates that extended across several counties over which the authorities of the state and the county could only exert their authority with the agreement of the landlord. The majority of big-land owners had acquired their lands throughout the Middle Ages, while another group won their lands in the 16-17th centuries through planned marriage policy and as payment for their services. With their estates, the landowners represented a strong economic power since besides grain crops and wine production they also got involved with cattle trading. In the kingdom, - which had been squeezed into a narrow strip - large estates were given an important role in border defence. Landowners' private soldiers and the king's border troops fought together against the Turkish attacks. As well as the splendid noble courts set up in castles functioning as administrative headquarters, they were also important cultural centres.

The opportunities for industrialisation and its limitations

In the 16-17th centuries the boom in agriculture and long-distance trading based on its products had significantly limited the possibilities of the already underdeveloped Hungarian industry. Cheap manufactured products that were pouring into the country in return for raw-materials and food products also discouraged the development of the handicraft industry. Mining too, failed to reach its previous level. Constant wars were only favourable to a minority of master craftsmen who joined the industry provisioning the army dealing with the manufacturing of arms and war supplies. Hungarian industry continued to be based on the guild system and it was only the gold and silversmith industry that managed to develop to a higher standard. The number of guilds had nevertheless significantly increased (especially those of tailors' processing cheap textiles from the West) as opposed to manufacturing production which only appeared in the most significant towns of Hungary (Pozsony, Sopron, Nagyszombat, Kassa) and - on a very basic level - in the iron and glass making industries. In the 17th century the first characteristic elements of a capitalist enterprise only appeared in the monopolised mining industry.

Peoples' tax burden in royal Hungary

While the nobility paid the country with their blood, subjects of royal Hungary were made to pay a wide range of taxes. A serf had to pay tax to his king as well as to his landlord and to the church. One part of their tax and the various services had to be paid in money, while the other part was paid in kind and labour. Military tax (dica) which was constantly voted for in order to defend against the Turks was paid by the serfs in money, and the mandatory free labour (gratuitus labor) was offered to be paid either in defensive military service in the fortresses or to be redeemed by money. Serfs owed their landlords not only the ninth (nona) quota on wheat and wine, and paid a ground rent (census) for the use of land, but they paid their lords in gifts and other dues as well. To the Church, serfs had to deliver a tenth quota of their crop (tithe, decima) but the county also taxed villains (household tax) in order to supply their own needs. In addition to this, from the second half of the 17th century the imperial regiments that were stationed in Hungary, further increased the burden on the serfs by making them pay other taxes (portion, forspont). Despite all the tax burdens some serfs still managed to enrich themselves.

Transylvania's economy in the 16th century

As a result of its geographical and economical isolation Transylvania could not join the thriving agriculture which developed under the impact of economic changes in Europe. The cultivation of grain crops and animal husbandry only covered local needs. In 1568 the Porte prohibited trading between Transylvania and Moldavia - Wallachia which further increased its economic isolation. The limited small, inner market had repercussions on town development, too. Transylvanian agricultural towns had little in common with the towns in the Lowlands of Hungary (the Alföld) in regard to either their populations or economic roles. The guild industry stagnated at the medieval level even though certain branches of industry became specialised. From among the Saxon towns only Nagyszeben managed to preserve its wealth. Kolozsvár, which gradually became a town with a Hungarian majority, was the only town that showed steady economic growth thanks to its right to control and block the passage of commodities to Hungary and Vienna - a right they had been granted by Queen Isabelle in 1558.

The treasury of the principality

In the organisation of independent Transylvania's state income György Fráter's activity as a treasurer (1542-1551) played an important role by the treasury management of the later principality. The most significant income was the regale income which primarily consisted of the profits from salt mining (Dés, Torda, Kolozs, Szék, Vízakna), precious metal mining (Abrudbánya, Offenbánya, Körösbánya, Zalatna, Nagybánya), and the exchange of gold as well as minting. Princes of Transylvania were usually the owners of the biggest lands, since in addition to their family estates they owned vast estates of the princely Exchequer. Fortress estates which consisted of numerous villages (Kovár, Huszt, Szamosújvár, Somlyó, Jenő, Várad, Lugos, Karánsebes, Déva, Gyulafehérvár) delivered a not insignificant income to the treasury. By the end of the century a strict thirtieth quota system was formed alongside the western boundaries of the principality where duties were also a great sources of income. Tax which was annually voted for by the Diet and had to be paid for by all three regions also added to the aforementioned. The treasury income by the middle of the 16th century is estimated to have been 100,000 forints, this figure being estimated at 300,000 under the Báthorys.

Gábor Bethlen's economic policy

The fact that Bethlen had managed to render the treasury's income independent from the estates was a major contributing factor to his establishment of a firm central power. The 60,000 forints annual tax, which was voted for by the estates, amounted only to 10 percent of the treasury's income, which was a total of 600-700,000 forints per year. Although Bethlen inherited an obsolete tax system from his predecessors, he respected the rights of the nobility and did not make any changes to the system. Similarly, he did not introduce the progressive taxation of towns either, which made him look for alternative forms of taxation. In Bethlen's well thought-out, pre-mercantile economic policy trade monopolies were given significant roles. Prince Bethlen not only traded Transylvanian salt, precious metals and mercury but also sold cattle, animal skins and wax abroad at a profit. In order to boost the mining industry he invited German miners to Transylvania. In 1615 he revised all property donations dated back to 1588 and took everything back he could into the property of the Exchequer. He placed restrictions on the collection of benefits originating from the exchange of gold and from minting. The boosting of the economy resulted in more money being introduced into circulation, which brought wealth to Transylvania and ensured the required financial background for the military campaigns of the Prince.

The economy of Transylvania at the end of the 17th century

In the crisis period between 1657 and 1664 Transylvania suffered major devastation. The principality lost towns, customs points and trading routes. Apafi arrested this financial decline with a firm hand: by introducing strict controls on the money exchange and by banning the export of precious metals. The princely monopoly on the trading of traditional mining products such as salt, copper, mercury and gold had brought significant rewards to the treasury. The cultivation of wheat and garden products took on a new momentum and sheep and cattle breeding continued. After a difficult start to the period, new forges, glass-houses and paper-mills indicated the beginning of the manufacturing industry. Many of these workshops operated on the territories of treasury domains. Traders originating from the Balkans but collectively referred to as Greeks re-vitalised the circulation of commodities and money, but quite a few Transylvanian aristocrats dealt with trading, too. The prince tried to fill the financial gaps of the state budget by raising taxes (taxes on manors were raised from 10 forints in 1664 to 50 forints in 1686). The last three decades of independent Transylvania were characterised by stable economic growth, industrialisation and wealth.

Taxing of subjects in the occupied territories

Turkish income in Hungary was derived from two sources: from the agricultural production of serfs (raia) and from the taxation of products. Taxes from land cultivators can be divided into two groups: the so called "landowners'" and the state taxes. The "landowners'" tax consisted of a tenth quota of crops and live-stock (wheat, must, sheep, pigs, fish etc.) the various revenues (i.e. bride tax, various fines) and the so called "gate tax" and these belonged to those who were granted certain settlements as lands of merits (land pertaining to service) (or the treasurer was entitled to them if the settlement was the property of a sultan). The state tax in the 16th century more or less included the dzsizje and the occasional emergency military tax, which from the second half of the 17th century developed into regular annual taxes. At the beginning, several settlements paid an annual established tax (lump sum) but from the 1650s this form of tax payment was not enforced. Serfs were also responsible for supplying the wintering soldiers and carrying out maintenance work on the Turkish fortresses. Taxes and services were constantly increasing but with significant regional differences. The more protected agricultural towns, customs areas and larger villages were taxed by the treasury itself, which had willingly handed over the same task to its officers and soldiers in the territories along the borders.

Double taxation and the condominium

Even the dense chain of border fortresses which sealed the boundaries of royal Hungary and Transylvania could not prevent the authorities of the opposing side from collecting taxes from the serfs living in the enemy territory. Hungarian border fortress soldiers were particularly good at doing this, the result of which was that within a few decades they managed to restore the taxation system of the Hungarian nobility over almost the entire area of the occupied territories, and to a lesser extent that of the state and the Church. By the 17th century descendants of aristocrats who had escaped the occupation had more or less managed to regain their old properties, at the same time the surviving noble counties began to resume their activities. They not only taxed the villains of the occupied territories - but by prohibiting their turning to the Turkish authorities (this was called being "Turkish-like") they partially extended county jurisdiction and public administration over the serfs. This is called "double rule" (condominium) which played a huge role in maintaining an awareness of the Hungarian state unity. "In return" the Turks forced several Hungarian settlements to pay tax but they did not even try to interfere by either law or through their authority in peoples' everyday lives.

The development of agricultural towns in the occupied territories

Since the most profitable branch of the economy in the Turkish era was the rearing and trading of cattle, this encouraged the enrichment of those settlements that took part in this work. The peasantry of the "three occupied towns" (Nagykőrös, Cegléd, Kecskemét) and several others which later declined such as (Kálmáncsehi, Tolna, Ráckeve, Mezőtúr, and Simánd) pursued with cattle rearing on rented steppe land and began to trade with the West. Since the breeding and the driving of the animals took place in herds of several hundred cows, it meant that tens of thousands of peasants were involved in production and trade. Later this enriched peasantry of the agricultural towns and villages played an important role in the survival of the local governments of these Hungarian settlements - and this despite the Turkish occupation. The most enthusiastic entrepreneurs (i.e. the grand-grand father of Imre Thököly, Sebestyén) gradually left the occupied territory, and by gaining civil rights in some of the towns of royal Hungary (Nagyszombat, Kassa) they continued to organise the network of connections with the occupied areas.

Wine production and trading in the occupied territory

Hungary's best wine in the Middle Ages was produced in the Szerémség situated between the river Száva and the Danube. This wine which was also sought after outside the country was transported on the Danube and the Tisza river to major distribution centres (mainly to Pest). The role of this wine producing area - which began to decline after the 1521 and 1526 Turkish attacks and the fleeing of the inhabitants - was initially carried on by the Somogy and Baranya-Tolna regions. The long-distance distribution of the wines produced here was made possible by their high quality and the water transport available nearby. As early as the 17th century, wine was regularly transported to the large towns of the territory between the Danube and Tisza rivers (the citizenry of which in the meantime acquired a taste for the Alföld's red wine which was exported and distributed by Serbs). However, by the turn of the 16th - 17th century the Tokaj-Hegyalja region became the best quality wine producing region, where in the following decades the production of the special "Aszu" (dry) wine had began. By the end of the century these drinks became famous all over Europe. (In this region only the vineyards of Gyöngyös and Miskolc had come under Turkish rule.) Although the wines of Hegyalja were primarily consumed in the Felvidék (the Upper-Hungarian region) and in Poland, they were also sold in certain places within the occupied territory.

Hungarian, Muslim, Jewish and Greek merchants in the occupied areas

The most important products among Hungarian exports in the 16th century (cattle, animal skins etc.) were produced in the regions under Turkish rule. Since the first Habsburg-Turkish trading agreement was only signed in 1615 and Turkish subjects were not allowed to enter royal Hungary for a long time, - the distribution of products between the occupied areas and royal Hungary was mainly carried out by Hungarian merchants from the occupied territories. The Turkish subjects (Muslims, Jews, Balkan Slavs, Greeks and Dalmatians) were the first to get involved in domestic trade within the occupied areas. Later however, the so called "Turkish products" they dealt with (different textiles, woollen and cotton fabrics, padding material, soft linen, leather products, carpets and cushions) became more and more sought for outside the occupied areas, too. In the 17th century these articles were sold by "Greek" merchants (in reality Serb, Armenian, Greek, Dalmatian, Bulgarian, Albanian in other words: non-Muslim subjects of the Turks) who began to settle in the Transylvanian Principality and in some of the important centres of royal Hungary (in Győr, Komárom, Kassa and towns east of the river Tisza) in growing numbers from the 1620's. By utilising their privileges, these merchants slowly monopolised the mediator trading between the two realms.

In the period of Turkish occupation in Hungary, a section of the master craftsmen worked, paid rent and paid in kind as a villain of the region's landlord in the villages and agricultural towns. The most skilled craftsmen were grouped together in guilds. In the 15-16th centuries the number of guilds increased and the range of industrial branches expanded in the royal towns, Church centres, seigniorial agricultural towns and in the mining villages. In places which were occupied by the Turks and were under the Sultan's protection (i.e. Nagykőrös and Kecskemét) the continuation of the guild handcraftsmanship can be observed. Contemporary records provide evidence on a wide variety of master handicraftsmen occupation in the villages and agricultural towns, which often indicated the profession of people by their names. For example Péter Boots was a master boot maker, Ferenc Piper a Turkish pipe-maker, John Gun a gun-maker, John Turner a turner. As Péter Roussel captain general of Tokaj and Szendrő once wrote in his letter to the king in 1574 - in which he recommended a certain valiant called Tailor - Hungarians prefer to replace the first name of master craftsmen onto the name of their profession. According to the registration of the minutes from 1609 in Komárom, 16 butchers lived in the town at the time and all 16 were called Butcher.

CRAFTSMANSHIP

In the provisioning of towns and agricultural towns millers and butchers played the most important role. In Transdanubia and at the upper regions of Hungary, numerous rivers and streams including the Danube provided the opportunity for the building of water and, boat mills while in the area between the Danube and Tisza rivers grinding was carried out by horse gear dry mills and wind mills. The Old Hungarian language preserved a rich selection of words people used for mill. For example the "mill of hell" was only going around in showers and rain (in hellish weather). The "mill crying cloud" could only work when it rained. The "gurgler" was a mill built on a stream. At many places carver millers who every now and again carried out the maintenance work were also part of the manor houses and castles.

Administrative bodies of towns stipulated the obligations of millers in separate rules of law. In 1571 the town of Brasso decreed that a miller who does not own a mill cannot hire carpenters to build one but only millers who know about mill building. The mill supervisor who was appointed within a guild was obliged to check mills twice a year and fine those who did not comply with the stipulations. The number of bakers was insignificant during this period. It is certain, that bread baking took place on a self supply basis in the towns and villages as well as in noble houses. The bakers of Buda received their regulations in 1681. In the Middle Ages they mainly specialised in making gingerbread cakes and confectionery items. Their first appearance is primarily known to have been Western Hungary. The first independent Hungarian gingerbread making guild was founded in 1681. Gingerbread makers were regularly present at fairs and places of pilgrimage. They sold gingerbread cakes for direct consumption and as decorative objects too, made bragget and hydromel; sold casted and dipped candles which were made out of beeswax. Some of the carved shapes that were used for making gingerbread were made by the master craftsmen themselves. We have knowledge of excellent carvers from the 16th century who worked in Pest, Debrecen, in the towns of the upper Hungarian region and in the western region of Hungary.

Butchers and oil pressers

The majority of butchers' guilds were formed from the 15th century onwards in densely populated areas. To ensure the best possible provision of the people, butcher shop tenants and owners of the towns, manors and villages had to adhere to strict regulations. It was also stipulated that purchasing wax was the prerogative of soap makers, and the buying of leather of the local shoemakers' and tanners'. In the Lowlands of Hungary butchers themselves traded in live stock. Lard, bacon and suet which are the by-products of the processing of cattle, sheep and pigs became the raw material for soap and candle making. Soap making became well known around this time and soap was used for washing besides potash water, sodium carbonate and soapwort. The earliest soap making guilds were formed in the handicraft centre in the territory of the east side of the river Tisza. The first guild we know of was founded in Debrecen in 1598.

The earliest oil presser guild we know of was the one in Eperjes in 1517. Master craftsmen of towns who were granted civil rights were obliged to press good quality oil which had to contain half a bushel of hemp or flax seed of their own. The oil was always supposed to be pure. Oil barrels had to be provided with the masters' own mark, in other words it was forbidden to mix hemp oil with flax oil. The council also stipulated that hemp and flaxseeds could only be bought up by guilds. In this way oil pressers took on the role of sufficiently provisioning the towns. Pot ash and sulpetre making as well as the processing of native soda were never part of the guild system, these jobs were ruled by royal decrees. Since the sulpetre is a gunpowder component, sulpetre making serving military purposes. Potash (caustic soda) and native soda were mainly used for soap making and played an important role in the daily washing of the peasantry.

Metal processing

The village practice of iron making the work stages of which were mining, smelting, foundry processing and blacksmithing are known from Torocko and its surroundings. Torocko was one of the most significant iron processing centres of Transylvania. A large number of blacksmiths, locksmiths and gunsmiths were employed here who produced ploughshares, tools and various articles for personal use. Forge makers of county Gömör founded a guild in Jolsva in 1585 the regulations of which were issued by the castellan of Murány. On the products of forge makers, the different price fixing provides us with information which is highly conclusive as regards the tool stock used at the time. Numerous foundries were operating in Borsod, Abaúj, Nógrád, and Gömör counties. These products can be found listed in the price fixing of smiths'. (Besides the regular blacksmith works flat iron, bar iron, hoes, pickaxes, plough iron especially designed for the Lowlands of Hungary, skives, clod breakers, chains, axes, scythes, sickles and hammers were also present). In the production of iron household equipment master blacksmiths played an important role. In the 17th century particularly in the western baronial centres and agricultural towns, smiths, cartwrights and locksmiths often joined in one common guild.

From the inventories of certain estates such as the Rákóczi estate from the 17th century we get an idea of what kinds of tools were used in the workshops of blacksmiths and locksmiths'. The blacksmith and locksmith workshops of agricultural towns and villages dealt mainly with repair work (the adjustment of plough shares, repairs and iron work on carts, sharpening, horse shoeing, iron works on doors and windows) and made locks, spurs, shoe horses and bridle bits.

Master leather processing craftsmen

Tanners who were the master craftsmen of leather processing were famous far and wide in this era. The Hungarian style leather processing was even known in France. Harness makers also worked with leather. In the 15-16th centuries boot-makers were distinct from shoemakers. Turkish fashion which made its appearance and became increasingly popular in the 16th century resulted in the word boots being referred to as footwear worn by Hungarians. The masterpiece-rule of guilds in this era even stipulated how to make a "pair of hooked buckskin boots", "a fine pair of slippers", and a "pair of fine, graceful boots", all of which had to be made out of crimson, furthermore it stated how the master-to-be should "prepare and cut out" the crimson. Master craftsmen of towns made farm boots and those for gentlemen differently. The boots for the Gentry were made out of quality Spanish leather, while farm boots were pointed, pleated and their leg was decorated with a blue ribbon.

A joint shield-maker, horse-dealer and harness-maker venture was founded In Nagyszombat in 1568. In western Hungary German and Hungarian harness-makers became distinct in the 16th century. Hungarians were making tools for equipage and horse saddling while German master craftsmen produced the saddles. Besides the processing of sheep and goatskins, fur-traders worked with and processed the fur of various types of game. We only have knowledge about their guilds from the 15th century onwards. The majority of the fur was used for the clothing of the aristocrats, and later in the more wealthy town-wear (the making of gloves, padding for fur caps, the sewing of fur-coats and sheepskin waist coats). The largest and most decorated leather ware were the fur-coats, wide sheepskin-coats and sheepskin waist coats in both Transdanubia and the Lowlands of Hungary. Distinguishing between the noble and rustic ware was strictly adhered to, particularly in the Calvinist agricultural towns of the Lowlands. The reason why György Dékány, a milking shepherd was punished in 1698 by the Kecskemét council was that he had an unsuitably fancy sheepskin waist coat made for him which was taken off him by the council while the man himself was thrashed with a stick. The fur-dealer who made the coat was locked up in jail where he was made to unstitch all the finery off the sheepskin coat and to pay the price difference back to the shepherd between the fancy coat and what a simple one would have cost.

Cloth merchants, fur cap and button-makers

The different by-products of animal skin-processing e.g. horns and bones were utilised by other handicraftsmen such as cloth merchants, the makers of long embroided felt cloaks for Hungarian shepherds, fur caps and hat makers. In the different price fixing of the time we can come across tailors everywhere, who formed guilds from the early Middle Ages. Usually, Hungarian tailors visited the different national fairs, shift craftsmen made their products to order and to size, while market craftsmen produced the mass products. They were first mentioned in a principal order in 1627 which was applied for the whole of Transylvania. In 1675, article 17 of the regulations of Fülek prohibited bunglers from selling at fairs. Button maker craftsmen mainly satisfied Hungarian needs and braiding was adopted by other nationalities who also lived in these areas. The aristocratic and noblemen-ware created a new fashion throughout Europe. Hungarian clothing became so popular that in 1691 in Vienna a Hungarian button-making guild was founded. Braiders worked according to German requirements but belonged to joint guilds with Hungarian button makers. Eisenstadt guild regulations prescribed that Hungarians should produce masterpieces according to the Hungarian fashion, while Germans according to the German.

Blue dyers and rope-makers

Blue dyeing originated from drapery dyeing practised in medieval towns and monasteries; and being a rare profession it did not have an independent guild in this century. The towns Lőcse, Eperjes, Késmárk and Igló used to have one common co-operative body (1608), the guild of which dealt with the dyeing of linen, broad-cloth and silk. In the 16-17th centuries, fur cap and hat-makers had a separate guild. The wearing of fur caps was part of the noble fashion in the 16-17th centuries. In the following centuries they became a popular item of clothing of the peasantry. Rope-makers at the time worked as villains or as handicraftsmen on landlords' properties or in the guilds of towns and agricultural towns. After the Saxon towns of Transylvania, several mining towns of the Upper-Hungarian region founded new guilds in the 16th century. The unfolding seigniorial domestic economy, mining, long-distance trading and navigation resulted in the increasing demand for economic rope-merchandise. The making of long and thick mining ropes and hawser particularly required expertise and high quality hemp. Guilds paid particular attention to buying up good quality hemp, which was purchased by the guild and distributed among its members. Their independent co-operative body only came into being at the beginning of the 17th century in Transdanubia, in 1628 in Győrsziget and in 1631 in Sopron.

House cutters, hoopers and joiners

Since in the 16-17th centuries almost everything was made out of wood in Hungary, professions that involved dealing with wood were flourishing at the time. By the 16th century carpenters, joiners, cartwrights, turners, wheelwrights and coopers formed their independent guilds. Hungarian fortresses, castles, country houses and manor buildings were made out of soil and wood. (Piles were driven into the ground next to each-other and were densely entwined by twigs and fixed by a several layer of glumous mud inside and out. (This was the mud-and-daub wall.) In such fortresses where the picket-fence was properly formed and the forts were well-tied and raftered while the nicely entwined walls were well-beaten, there was no need to be afraid of the enemy's cannon balls. The border girders of smoky peasant houses were hewn by the owners themselves, the crossbeam was carved in a similar way, and the walls were entwined by marsh with groves, while the roofs covered with reeds or straw. Millers who could carve made mills out of oak. Several reports were found which refer to barrel-maker cartwrights, coopers, bucket and cup-maker villains who performed cartwright activities both in villages and towns. Charters of property from the 17th century report that the landlord was given 500 wooden dishes and plates from his master craftsmen each year. In addition, all wooden dish and cupboard-makers, joiners and cartwrights were obliged to make two cupboards or corn-bins for their landlord.

The mementoes of the work of joiners in the agricultural towns and villages are best preserved in those 16-17th century churches, the beamed and wooden coffered, painted ceilings, carved pulpits and benches which had an outstanding effect on the people's decorative art. Joiner master craftsmen often passed on the profession from father to son. (Such a dynasty was the Umlings in Transylvania for instance). The ceiling of the church in Gogánváralja was built between 1503 and 1520, while that of the church of Tancsi constructed in 1676 is the work of János Illyés from Parajd.

Pottery, ceramics

Throughout the 16-17th century the number of guilds consisting of master craftsmen who worked with clay i.e. potters, stove-builders and glaziers was also increasing. Town potters who mainly worked with a foot wheel and later on changed their profile into making glazed pots worked separately from village potters who still mainly used the hand wheel. Glaze had already appeared before the Turkish occupation on the green and yellow stoves of palatials. (The making of stoves was not distinct from pottery work since stove tiles and the various pots were made in the same workshops). The green and yellow glazed pitchers and dishes were already used as early as the 15th century. Later on the larger wine pitchers and certain dishes of village communities', guilds' and reformed churches' were also glazed. The name of the customer, the list of names of the magistracy of guilds and often the pottery maker's name as well as the year of production was painted on this pottery. The earliest ones are known from the 17th century. During the Turkish occupation the glazed dish with various fancy-work appeared. The most common decorative motives were flowers, birds, stags, horses and the human figures they used

The colour-glazed, geometrically patterned so-called combed style was also considered to be a Turkish decorative motive. (The more elaborate work was prepared by a comb-type of tool) Dishes were not only used at the table, but they decorated the walls of kitchens and bedrooms. Dishes of the "schoolmaster's house" in Pásztó, which were hidden in 1551 provide a strong indication of the former popularity of glazed and decorated dishes. Mementoes of dish making from the era of the Turkish occupation mostly originate from around the central area of the river Tisza, in Miskolc, Debrecen (where a guild was established in 1570), in Mezőcsát and in Tiszafüred. (In the two towns mentioned last the style of ceramics from the Turkish occupation still exists). In Transylvania the Saxon and Transylvanian potters also formed guilds at an early stage. The Hungarian-language charter of the potters of Dés came into being between 1504 and 1532. In Kolozsvár the appearance of a potter guild can be traced to 1512. The most characteristic feature of the Transylvanian pottery was pot making. Pots and glazed water-cans were mainly cobalt blue.

The introduction of tin-glazed ceramics (faience) in Hungary is linked to the movements of the Habáns and their settlement in the country. The secret of making tin-glazed white pots was only known to the potters in Hungary. By granting them safe conduct and privileges, Gábor Bethlen settled the Habáns in Alvince, which is located near Gyulafehérvár in Transylvania (1621-1623). The economic records of Anna Bornemissza consort of the reigning prince listed all those "bogally dishes" which were delivered to them by new Christians as New Year presents in 1688: mugs, cups, white and blue pitchers, jugs, glasses and salt-pots. In Sárospatak, prince György Rákóczi I. settled the Habáns among whom were tile-making potters.

In noble courts in the 14-15th century stoves were built using high quality artistic glazed tiles. Throughout the 15th century stove building also appeared in the smaller rural and agricultural town workshops. Habáns who settled in Upper Northern Hungary, in Transylvania and in several parts of Transdanubia had a great influence on the works of potters of town guilds and villages. In the 16th century stove-furnaces appeared in the villages too and at the same time the stove-eye making village centres were also formed.

Turkish handcraftsmanship

When examining the appearance of Turkish-Ottoman handcraftsmanship in Hungary, we must take the differences among the central territory under Turkish rule, Transylvania and royal Hungary into consideration. In the last two mentioned areas particularly in the Transylvanian principal court but also among the noble families in the western part of the country, Turkish influence - often directly from Constantinople - dominated, and manifested itself in the spectacular use of Turkish luxury goods. The Turkish-Islamic fashion that was drifting towards Western Europe had also started to mainly effect these areas from the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century on. Due to the settling Turkish traders and handicraftsmen, new branches of industry were introduced which complied with and served the lifestyle of Muslims. Surviving objects and archaeological excavations have revealed that southern-Slavic people who arrived from the Balkans also had an influence on Hungarian culture which naturally contained elements of the Ottoman civilisation.

Turkish pottery

The arrival of the Turkish conquerors and the settling of groups of southern-Slav ethnic origin resulted in the appearance of new ceramics types which had hitherto been unknown in Hungary and had therefore been sharply distinct from the products of the former Hungarian ceramics. The new types of dishes indicate a different eating culture and habits. According to Turkish customs registries from the time, different objects which were intended to satisfy the needs of the Muslim inhabitants arrived in the country through established trading on a large scale. However, the large number of unfinished and faulty relics as well as the remains of a Turkish pottery furnace that were dug up on the Esztergom-Saint Thomas hill indicate that Turkish soldiers were also followed by master handicraftsmen, which means that some of the ceramics were made locally. The most typical products of Turkish pottery were the thickly glazed stemmed dishes and cups designed for liquid food, soups and vegetable dishes and were used by Turks who ate crouching down at tiny dining tables. The Turks also spread the use of jugs with handles and pouring spouts.

As well as the more simple objects that were designed for everyday use, luxury items of oriental origin such as the fine porcelain dishes and cups from distant China or the Chinese green glazed seladon-dishes also appeared in Hungary through the mediation of wealthier Turks. Products from the two outstanding centres of Turkish ceramics production: the Europe-wide famous and popular ceramics of Iznik and later the faience dishes of Kütahja also reached the occupied areas of the country. Corresponding to the Turkish tradition which valued Chinese porcelain more than the products of Iznik, Hungarian archaeological excavations have also revealed a larger number of Chinese porcelain cups than faience dishes from Iznik. The most beautiful products of the Iznik ceramics production - which were the multi-coloured glazed wall tiles, - were not used in Hungary by Turkish architects. However, Gábor Bethlen prince of Transylvania and later - following his predecessor's example -György Rákóczi I. did actually order wall tiles for the palaces of Sárospatak, Gyalu, Gyulafehérvár and Fogaras, even though they did not originate from Iznik but from Constantinople. Such pieces are preserved in the so called "bokályos house" of Sárospatak castle which is the room of the Red Tower decorated with Turkish wall tiles.

Turkish metal works

With few exceptions, Turkish tradesmen were the representatives of such basic branches of industry, which satisfied people's everyday needs. One of the rare exceptions was the silver and goldsmith trade, the craftsmen of which had already appeared in Hungary by the second half of the 16th century. Little has reached us of their work and what there is can mainly be found in the private collections of noblemen. These valuable metal objects were rarely buried in the ground unless they were hidden deliberately, which was the case for silver cups that have been excavated in large numbers.

One of the typical examples of new branches of industry that served the settling Turkish inhabitants was the brazier. The rich copper mines of Anatoly provided plenty of raw materials for the easily workable and transportable brass objects. However, works of Turkish braziers did not only reach the occupied areas through trading. There are several pieces of evidence to prove that such objects were also made locally. For instance we have knowledge of the fact that the Turkish coppersmiths settled in a separate street in the Buda castle which is the area of today's Trinity (Szentháromság) street.

Turkish carpets

Based on the techniques of carpet making we can distinguish between two fundamental types of Turkish carpets: the woven and knotted carpets. Mainly knotted carpets were imported to the Hungarian territories. There is ample evidence from the end of the 15th century verifying that Turkish carpets were brought on a large scale into Transylvania through trading, and in smaller quantities through direct purchase from Constantinople. Even almost up to the present day Turkish prayer mats remained in such large quantities in Transylvanian Protestant churches, that the type they preserved - which is the so called "double confessional" - is referred to as the "Transylvanian carpet" all over the world. The actual place of production of these carpets was the town of Usak in Western-Anatoly. Based on the legacy of Hungarian agricultural towns and estates it seems that people who lived in the occupied areas either never or hardly used Turkish carpets in their households. Naturally, Turks who settled in these territories did transport and use their own carpets. The woven kilims, the knotted halis and the prayer mats called szedzsade can all be traced to a Turkish origin.

Turkish textile industry and embroidery

Throughout the Turkish occupation and in fact prior to it, Turkish textiles flooded into the country. The Turkish laundry, the so-called bagazia linen and the most important basic material of peasant-ware the aba-felt became widely known across the divided country. Taking up the products of the Turkish textile industry did not result in any change in Hungarian dress, although certain articles were undoubtedly spread by Turkish influence. In women's fashion it was the kürdi, which was a sleeveless waistcoat, and in men's wear the dolman and the so-called salvar-trousers became popular. Although one of the most characteristic Turkish items of clothing - the caftan - was brought into Hungary on a large scale, it did not became part of Hungarian men's wear. This theory is supported by several references which mention the alteration and cutting up of caftans.

Turkish embroidery favoured all over Europe also became popular among the Hungarian nobility. From the end of the 16th century onwards, the number of pillowcases, sheets, and bodices that were decorated by Turkish embroidery increased in the trousseau of baronial and noble families' daughters. It was usually Turkish seamstresses who made these embroideries.

EDUCATION

Education in Hungary in the Renaissance and Baroque era took place within the traditional framework that was established in the Middle Ages and antiquity. Looking at this from a modern perspective, the progress appears to be rather slow. Schools were still operating within or under the supervision of the churches, and the learning of the Latin language played just as an important role in the 18th century as it did at the end of the medieval era. Such a thing as compulsory school attendance did not exist, and education did not exclusively imply attending a school. Private tutors who were employed by the baronial courts primarily educated the nobility. There was no significant demand for educating females, and for a long time young girls were only dealt with in the countryside manor houses of enthusiastic noble ladies. Here they did embroidery (often while listening to music), observed the clever tricks of housekeeping and sometimes learned to write.

The development of the education system was slow, yet it was a continuous and unstoppable process even though this only seemed to effect the seemingly insignificant details. These small moves were nevertheless steps towards the establishment of a more modern organisational framework of education.

In addition to village and town churches, the usual three-year elementary education was carried out in the so called lower grade schools at the beginning of the 16th century. Primary school students were taught basic religious studies while at the same time they were given the opportunity to become familiar with Latin and Hungarian reading and writing. Students who continued their education in the secondary grammar schools of town schools, studied the two subjects of the classical trivium for another four years one of which was Latin grammar including syntax, prosody and poetry, and the other was the examination of rhetoric in ancient texts. Education in most domestic schools had come to a halt here, students who wished to be engrossed in logic (dialectics in other words) and in Aristotle's philosophy, only had the opportunity for further study in the highest standard college-type of institutions for another three years. Every significant Church had established their own college education system. The most significant ones were the Calvinist colleges (in the towns of Debrecen, Sárospatak, Pápa, Nagyvárad, Gyulafehérvár, Marosvásárhely, and later Nagyenyed). The Catholic Church which revived after the Trentine Council tried to realise its college education in Jesuits colleges in accordance with a unified and modern syllabus the Ratio Studiorum (in Nagyszombat, and in Kolozsvár). Lutherans ran their excellent college in Eperjes while the Transylvanian Unitarian Church had its famous college in Kolozsvár.

Hungary did not have a university for a long time, therefore deserving and talented students were sent abroad by their parents and patrons. Hungarian students could only study theology, law and medical sciences at an academic level in the universities of Italy, Poland and Germany. At a later stage Holland and England, were also places where they could do their Phds. These facts should not lead us to conclude that natural sciences were entirely absent in Hungary. Hungarian humanists had excellent mathematical, astronomical, medical and medical-botanical knowledge at their disposal, and from the second half of the 16th century natural science literature was also produced in Hungarian. Both the Hoffhalter-printers of Debrecen and the Heltai-workshop in Kolozsvár used to publish popular maths textbooks (1577, 1591). The medical herbal book written by Péter Juhász Melius entitled Herbarium was republished several times throughout the 16th century, while János Vitus Balsaráti - a medical doctor - wrote a surgical work in Hungarian which unfortunately was later lost. A comprehensive medical work written by György Lencsés has survived in the form of a manuscript.

Following the failed attempts of medieval Hungarian kings, Transylvanian princes likewise tried to establish the right conditions for university education in Hungary. It was Zsigmond János who first tried to establish an Anty-trinity spirited university at the end of the 1560's in Gyulafehérvár, although his attempts never got past the planning stage. Later, István Báthory the prince of Transylvania and king of Poland established a successful Jesuit educational institution in Kolozsvár, which qualified its students for an academic theological occupation, but which later had to close down due to the pressure imposed by Protestant orders. Under the reign of Zsigmond Báthory the college was re-opened (1594), but soon after public anger against Jesuits swept away the institution for good. In 1603 it was levelled to the ground. The first university - which is still open today and the predecessor of Loránd Eötvös Scientific University - was founded in Nagyszombat by Péter Pázmány archbishop of Esztergom in 1635. This Jesuit educational institution could compete with other similar, medium standard universities of Central Europe. In the first few years the school did not have medical and law faculties, therefore the Pope did not acknowledge it as a university. Pázmány therefore re-established the institution with the approval of king Ferdinand II. At the beginning it ran five philosophical and seven theological departments. The law faculty was established in 1667 with four departments. The institution had its own printers - the predecessor of the University Publishers - who printed textbooks and teaching aid materials of ever increasing quality.

The curriculum

From the beginning of the 16th century schools as well as churches became avenues for religious conflict in Hungary, which was a country divided by the different denominations. Despite this, Protestant and Catholic schools were only different from each other in regard to their world concept and organisation, but in their school timetables and curriculum they were fundamentally the same. The difference between the new Catholic schools established by the Jesuits and those of the Protestant institutions was that the Jesuits ran separate lower grade school sections in the mother-tongue for those who did not wish to further their studies. The most important aim of education for both Protestant and Catholic schools was the ecclesiastical tuition, however, demand had also increased for educating secular intellectuals. From the end of the 16th century onwards there were also schools for nobles where mainly future field officers of border fortresses were educated. Public and general education, as well as the tuition of women was in its initial stage at the time, though from the middle of the 16th century mother-tongue education was widespread among the general public (town citizenry, traders, wealthier farmers) and women: who became the readers of the popular literary works which were published in ever greater numbers.

Hungary was no exception to feeling the effects of the great reforms of syllabuses in the Renaissance and Baroque era. The forging ahead of humanism all over Europe had laid a foundation of the trivium, which meant that the predominance of linguistic and literary achievement was favoured over the quadrivium on which medieval scholasticism placed the greater emphasis. This process created a favourable environment for those Hungarian schools where only subjects of the trivium were taught. School reform by the Humanists in the 16th century placed its emphasis on the attainment of the studia humanitatis and a quality education in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. At the Protestant secondary grammar schools in Sárospatak, Debrecen, Tolna, Kolozsvár and Marosvásárhely, the teaching of humanitarian subjects took place based on the popular textbooks of Wittenberg written by Philipp Melanchton. The humanist reform was also carried out in the Catholic school of Nagyszombat, which was revived by Miklós Oláh. This excellent prelate united the two schools of Nagyszombat, the one of the town and of the chapter, and raised the new institution to college level. He extended the basic section of the school which bestowed humanitarian qualifications with another section, where Latin and Greek philology was taught in a Catholic spirit: Miklós Oláh also collected and burnt the text-books written by the Protestant Philipp Melanchton.

Representatives of Puritanism initiated the second, highly significant domestic educational reform, which was a reform trend within Calvinism. After returning from England and Germany, János Dali Tolnai planned to implement radical changes in the education in Sárospatak. He was a Puritan reformer, who in opposition to Melanchthon's pedagogical theories - which at the time were decisive within the Orthodox Calvinist pedagogy - recommended the doctrines of a 16th century French philosopher and pedagogical thinker Petrus Ramus. Ramus applied a unified and practical logical way of thinking which was free from the stiff Aristotelian scholastic ideas, and instead focused on the cognition of reality. Hungarian Puritans placed the aforementioned practical logic at the centre of their tuition, which further provoked the indignation of their orthodox adversaries.

Teachers

The competence of tutors - at the time addressed as masters, rectors or ludimagisters - who taught in Hungarian schools in the 16-17th centuries varied greatly. The meagre education and poor Latin of pastors and teachers was often striking for foreign travellers who visited towns in the countryside. Both Protestant preachers and Catholic prelates constantly beset the rulers, baronial and town magistrates who ran the schools not to stop supporting education. The raising of the standard of Hungarian schools which was so strongly desired, actually depended on whether the schools could afford to invite Europe-wide famous foreign lecturers. Most colleges could thank their success to these highly educated tutors. There were many good Hungarian teachers, too: Gergely Molnár, Péter Károlyi, Balázs Fabricius Szikszai.

At the school of Nagyszombat, one of the greatest philologists of the era Nicasius Ellebodius taught the Greek language. Zsigmond János tried to invite Petrus Ramus himself to the foundation of the university of Gyulafehérvár. Teachers of the Unitarian College of Kolozsvár came out from among the followers of the radical Reformation who were prosecuted all over Europe. Not only did they influence the cultural life of Transylvania in religious matters but at the same time they made the modern literary and art trends popular. The fact that the Italian renaissance saw its second resurgence in 16-17th century Transylvania, was partly due to their work. Hungarian students in 1622 had the chance to meet one of the most famous German poets and authors of science literature Martin Opitz, who was invited to the Reformed College of Gyulafehérvár by Gábor Bethlen.

Scientific literature and textbooks written by famous German professors who fled to Gyulafehérvár to escape the devastation of the Thirty Years War such as Johann Heinrich Bisterfeld, Johann Heinrich Alsted and Ludwig Philipp Piscator, had a permanent influence on Hungarian cultural life. The Puritan reformers invited the most famous tutor of the era: Johannes Amos Comenius to Sárospatak, where he attempted to establish the "pansophistic school" something he had always dreamed about. Between 1650 and 1654 Comenius was a driving force behind the success of the college of Sárospatak, even though his way of reviving Hungarian and universal pedagogy was not only through creating a new curriculum but rather through the highly effective, humorous and clear textbooks which he wrote. The Orbis Pictus, which was one of his multi-language textbooks illustrated by figures, was written in Sárospatak. However, even Comenius was eclipsed by a new educational programme created by the greatest Hungarian tutor János Csere Apáczai. Apáczai attempted to compile all the knowledge available into a comprehensive system based on Cartesianism, which was the philosophy of Descartes. He tried to re-plant his principles and works he wrote throughout his visit to Western-Europe into the teaching practice in Hungary. His speech on the great need for schools and the reasons for the barbaric situation in Hungary - which he gave from the headmaster's chair in the newly built College of Kolozsvár in 1656 - was a brief summary of his educational ideas.

From the beginning of the 16th century, Hungarian book printers regarded the supplying of schools with textbooks as their responsibility. Honterus, Heltai and other printers of the 16th century published well-proven textbooks of good repute and their revised versions for local needs over and over again. Later, in the 17th century - under the influence of the famous pedagogical thinkers - the modern grammatical, poetical, rhetorical and logical works written by Hungarian authors were issued one after another. The rhetorical books of Pál Medgyesi, György Tóth Martonfalvi, Márton Tönkő Szilágyi or Mihály Buzinkai were written for both teachers and students of the domestic protestant schools: these works played a significant role in the development of a Hungarian literary way of thinking. Comenius and Apáczai were outstanding intellectuals, however, their work unfortunately did not characterise the standard of Hungarian pedagogy as a whole. Conservatism and views that rejected any kind of reform caused them and their followers much bitterness. As a result of this pressure, the development of education was a very slow and self-contradictory process.

EVERYDAY LIFE

The interpretation of the word: family fundamentally differed from the one of today, since in this era as well as several generations of parents and children of baronial and noble families it also included the immediate servants and other serving staff. Noble people including both women and men were hardly ever alone, since they were accompanied by servants at almost every turn. This made the forming of intimate friendships extremely difficult, not to mentioning when a man tried to court to a woman face to face. Nobles, wealthier citizens and in fact the richer peasants slept in the same bedroom with their servants, even when an intimate relationship took place between the married couples. But even ordinary peasants could not be alone, since a farm could not be run by one person, therefore several adult brothers lived in the same household "on one loaf" - as written in contemporaneous sources. This was only an advantage when the state direct tax was collected from the houses regardless of the number of tenants. In addition to family members often with complicated relationships to each other, cotters, servants and many other serving staff carried out the work in the manors.

Couples in this era were most often brought together according to decisions and agreements between their parents and other relatives. In baronial circles where marriages were based on the interests of wealth and societal position, love marriages rarely came into being. It was more common however, that married couples experienced true love with each other afterwards. At the beginning of the 17th century, György Thurzó wrote to his wife: "In vain did I seek a more beautiful maid than thyself amongst the maids of Pozsony, and this was so for only thou art the one for me". Noble men of the time who often fought in battles far from their families exchanged passionate letters with their wives, the most famous series of which is perhaps the correspondence between Tamás Nádasdy palatine and Orsolya Kanizsai from the second half of the 16th century. The exchange of rings was a common custom, and the ring had to be studded with a precious stone. Town citizens and peasants of agricultural towns and villages only exchanged handkerchiefs and fancy shawls at their engagement ceremonies, after which stepping back from the intention of marriage was considered to be shameful. It appears that from the early post-medieval period close relationships and emotional ties played an increasingly important role in marriages.

Standard of living in contemporaneous Hungary

The price revolution in the 16th century in Europe often resulted in price rises in grain crops and other foodstuffs. As a result of huge price increases, huge famines were triggered in the West, where the majority of people had to survive on less food of poorer quality. In considering the standard of living, we can pinpoint two fundamental differences: The price increases in Hungary were somewhat smaller than in Western Europe, and thanks to large scale domestic cattle rearing, meat consumption did not fall as drastically as in the West. Nor were the overall effects of famine in Hungary so devastating since the country still had a large number of independent self-producing farms, and even the town citizenry had small areas of cultivatable land and vineyards at their disposal. However, the serfs of Transylvania were a lot poorer, since the poorer quality of the soil of the hilly and mountainous landscape produced fewer crops. Serf households that had little reserves often experienced a crisis in times of war, bad harvests or natural catastrophes. According to one description, in the county of Hunyad in 1603 famine was so severe, that people ate the soles of sandals, the skin of saddles, tree barks, and bone meals, and roasted the bodies of those who died.

Luxury items

In the 17th century, town regulations against luxury increased in Hungary. Péter Bornemisza attacked the kind of luxury, which had spread amongst the nobility in the 16th century, who tried to imitate the clothing of the aristocracy. Later, even poor servant girls and other servants tried to imitate the fashion and manners of the wealthier town citizens which rather upset the distinguished ladies and gentlemen. In Sopron, Kassa and other larger towns serious decrees were brought into force which emphasised that everyone should wear clothes in accordance with their social ranks. These phenomena can mainly be explained by the fact that the value of goods were re-arranged in the 17th century and new prices made the purchase of various luxury items possible for a wider range of people. Such goods, the price of which had by this time become affordable for the different classes, were mainly the products of Western and Central European industries where people worked at a more advanced stage in the division of labour.

Eating habits

People in Hungary in the 16-17th centuries consumed a lot more meat than the inhabitants of Western Europe. This was primarily due to the large scale of cattle rearing. As well as beef, people ate mutton, pork, poultry and fish. The making of game dishes (rabbit, deer, stag) and small birds (quail, partridge, snipe, black grouse) flavoured by different sauces was also common. Meat was most often cooked or baked together with cabbage, since this was the most popular vegetable both for the nobility and the poorer classes. Cabbage, which was regarded as the queen of Hungarian gardens, was preserved for winter as an uncut vegetable, or grated and flavoured by dill, salt and horseradish. It was considered as a tasty and particularly healthy food. People of the era enjoyed the different kinds of fish too, sources most commonly refer to pike, isinglass-fish, rock-cod, sturgeon, horned pout, loach and eel - which were mainly consumed during Lent and served with a sauce including cabbage, white pepper, lemon and sour cream. Pork was a lot more expensive than the plentiful beef, which made even bacon a costly food. Pigs were kept everywhere around the manors, and even town people used to fatten one or two for their own consumption. Crabs and snails were also part of the diet.

There was less consumption of milk and dairy-products in Hungary than in other Western countries. Cheese was usually served after the five-six courses of feasts, together with other dishes prepared by curd-cheese and sour cream. Butter and cheese were usually home-made, since cows and sheep were kept everywhere. The consumption of dairy products was more common among ethnic Romanians in Transylvania and in the Upper Hungarian region, who particularly dealt with sheep rearing. The poor quality and disease-spreading effect of the waters was well-known at the time, prompting people to prefer to drink wine or beer which became popular under the influence of the German burghers.

Spices and fruit

The "spice craze" which swept across Europe in the 16-17th centuries reached Hungary, too. The most valuable and most popular spice was the pepper, which arrived in the country at the beginning of the 16th century via the Levantine route through Transylvania but later became obtainable through a roundabout way via Wallachia or Kassa, or from the West. Crocus and ginger grew domestically, but the equally popular clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and lemon found their way to Hungary from abroad. Vegetables for home consumption were cultivated in every small garden and manor, hence people were familiar with peas, beans, parsley, spinage, pumpkin, cucumber and even with cauliflower and asparagus. In 1588, in the garden of a famous nobleman of Transdanubia called Boldizsár Batthyány even potatoes were grown. A description of tobacco has also survived from 1577, and was included among the plants of a garden in Németújvár, which belonged to the Batthyánys. Even an account in Hungarian written by Miklós Oláh mentions Hungary's richness in fruit. The mostly widespread types of fruit were apple, pear, plum, cherry, apricot and peach. In baronial gardens it was a fashion to collect extraordinary fruit and ornamental trees as well as other exotic plants, this is how the first species of horse-chestnut, lilac and tulips were introduced into Hungary.

Clothing

The period of 16-17th century was the era when the typical |Hungarian fashion was formed. Men wore the dolman with varying sleeve-lengths, which was tight down to the waist and loosened from there. On the top of the dolman they wore a short fur-lined coat which was either the type gradually loosened from the shoulders or only loosened from the waist downwards. These items were decorated with embroideries, laces and fancy buttons and worn with shirts, tight fitting so called "Hungarian-style" trousers and hard legged boots or a pair of leather sandals. A fur-hat and a gown completed this outfit. Naturally, aristocratic men wore the type of clothes that were made of finer and more expensive material (velvet, scarlet, satin) and decorated with fur (pine martin, lynx, fox) as well as an overgarment which was either padded, or decorated with golden buttons. Shirts underneath them were embroidered with white silk, or the more valuable ones with golden or silver yarns.

The characteristic features of Hungarian women's wear had formed by the 16th century. These included the skirt, stays, bodice, apron, pelisse and gown. In the cases of both women and men the varying length wide sheepskin-coat was part of the overgarment. Distinguished ladies wore clothes made of quality, fine fabric as opposed to the woollen fabric the broadcloth, which was considered as peasant-ware. By the beginning of the 17th century, a wide variety of colours and types of textile were in fashion, the most valuable of which were the different types of silk, but the velvet and satin were also regarded as exclusive. On the cost of any of the dresses that were made out of the aforementioned material, a town house or smaller manor could have been bought. The value of the dresses were mostly indicated by their golden and silk embroidery, golden buttons and twines as well as expensive laces which were all part of the decoration. Different types of fur were also used either as decorations, or padding. In embroidery. Turkish patterns became fashionable (i.e. the use of the carnation-pattern), and most commonly lingerie was embroidered with white, and bodices with red or blue threads. In peasant clothing the broadcloth, and more simple linen and shirting were widespread, and naturally, even these clothing articles were richly decorated with embroidery.

Life near the boundaries: raiding, and ambushing

In earlier times, the two great powers lived in peace with each-other, therefore the army of the border areas were strictly prohibited from disrupting peace and harassing one-another's territories. However, this prohibition had little effect. The regular practise of not paying soldiers, their poor supply and the desire for fame forced the soldiers of both sides to provide for themselves by capturing people and animals and plundering properties. Battles immediately started after winter and only stopped in the period of so-called grazing (during spring-early summer), harvesting and heat waves. At the time, raiding was considered as fieldwork and troops setting off for raiding or ambushing were the combatants. The combatants always began their work at night, under the command of the combatant-leaders. Before them, guards and track reconnaissance made sure of the safety of the terrain and they were followed by rear guards led by lagmen. The area chosen for ambushing was the lurking place (usually by the side of roads), where the majority of the raiders - the brigades - moved into position. When the sentry gave the signal, they let out the booty (a maximum of 15-20 men on horseback), who led the enemy troops into the ambush and who were then attacked, captured and robbed. Each opposing side was well aware of the other's tricks (ambushing and re-ambushing, the use of disguises etc.) and often they even managed to spy on and learn of one-another s intentions which often meant that these adventures ended in tragedy.

Spying and intelligence work in the Turkish era

Accurate and timely information for the supreme command in Vienna and for Hungarian captain generals on the enemy's plans was a fundamental necessity in order to succeed against the Turks. To bring this into realisation, by the second half of the 16th century the Christian management of war organised a multi-level intelligence-work system. On the Sultan's plans, Habsburg-envoys (diplomatic spying) - who were stationed at the court of the Sultan - provided accounts on, who obtained information from the Serb, Bosnian, Hungarian or German officials of the Sultan, from interpreters with great influence, from the Sultan's Jewish doctors, from the diplomats of other states and from separately paid "secret agents or correspondents". News for the Hungarian border-fortress soldiers about the intentions of Turkish troops stationed on the borders were given by the Hungarian scriveners of pashas and beys, the magistrates and serfs of the occupied villages - who had free admission to Turkish houses near the borders when delivering taxes, - by Christian prisoners who were released to collect their ransom, captured Turkish soldiers the so called "tongues", and last but not least by Hungarian, Raguzan and Greek merchants. The Turks, - who apart from diplomatic spying did not establish permanent embassies - attempted to spy on their Christian enemy in a similar way.

Hostage-trading alongside the Turkish-Hungarian border

Contrary to public belief, the Turks who settled in Hungary never drove thousands of people out of the country. At the same time, in the 16-17th century a separate tradition was formed for the trading of hostages for ransom. In addition to the irregular soldier's pay, the income derived from such activities became an important source for the armies of both sides. Hostages captured in raids were divided by the Hungarian and Turkish border fortress soldiers at auctions, and were then bid for and sold. Following this procedure, hostages "made deals" about the ransom they had to pay with their owners throughout a lengthy period of bargaining which often culminated in a beating. Fellow hostages had to undertake to guarantee the return of those who were released to collect their ransom, which meant that they gave their ears, noses and teeth as warrants, or under duress money was offered by the wealthier agricultural towns under occupation. The collection of a ransom often took years throughout which hostages sometimes went as far as the German Empire on their begging journeys. At the same time, released hostages were protected by several unwritten laws (for example it was forbidden to beat them, and they had to be transported on carts) and their interests were represented by one of their more experienced fellow hostages. To authentify the various documents in connection with the collection of a ransom, hostages even had their own seal.

Turkish-Hungarian single combat

Apart from raids on the enemy's territory, soldiers of border fortresses who were facing each other often fought with one-another in single combats (duellum). Similarly to hostage trading for ransom, a new tradition was also formed in single combat. A more distinguished Christian or Turkish higher officer often called the opposition parties to carry out single combats. The initiating party usually announced the combat's cause, named its venue, time and method (by pike, broad-sword, sword, etc.), in fact, he often provoked the opponent by offensive words so that he could not refuse the single combat. Although the carrying out of tournaments was strictly prohibited in peacetime, in reality single combats were quite regular occurrences. After the opponents agreed on the combat, they issued a charter for each other in which they guaranteed not to set up traps. It also included the number of accompanying armed men and the circumstances of the execution of the single combat. After all this, the two opponents fought on the indicated date on a larger field in front of several hundred soldiers with the help of seconds. The best duellists (György Thury, László Gyulaffy or Bálint Magyar for example) occasionally fought with several Turkish opponents one after another.

Turkish houses and homes

Houses in towns occupied by the Turks soon underwent a strange conversion: windows of their lower floors were sealed up by planks. This was the protection of Muslim families from curious glances from the outside world. Conversion took place inside the houses too: larger rooms were divided into lots of small premises by partitions which not only allowed the families to live separately from each other, but within the families males and females had their own space. (that of the men's was called szelamli, and that the women harem). Those who moved into smaller houses left everything untouched. Simple soldiers, who had not been allotted space in the formerly Hungarian houses, built themselves primitive shelters out of hedgerow and clay. Inside Turkish houses there was hardly any furniture but plenty of textile. Their clothes were kept in large boxes or large bundles. They sat and slept on cushions, mattresses, carpets and homespun. Against cold, they used a metal dish with glowing embers. Their kitchenware consisted of simple clay and metal pots. Larger, fancy furniture, valuable weapons and horse equipment, expensive textiles, toiletries, significant food stocks but especially books were only present in the houses of wealthier Turks.

Turkish food, drinks, coffee and cafes

Turks very much favoured various vegetables stuffed with meat, herbs and other vegetables, and meat roasted on a stick or a grill (especially lamb), but soldiers - who formed the majority of the inhabitants - mostly ate fruit and cheap soups (the csorba) which were cooked commonly in large pots. Soldiers setting off for battles took dried and smoked meat, honey, small gnocchi and dried bread. In more peaceful times confectionery items made with honey were extremely popular, likewise sherbet which was diluted with fruit juices, must or the stingy fermented elder.

Coffee was "discovered" sometime in the middle of the 15th century in Jemen, and by the beginning of the 16th century, - together with the cafes established in the meantime- was widespread almost all over the Near East. In the Ottoman capital the first cafes opened by the middle of the century, and although their operation did not please the authorities, they soon began their conquest in the Balkans and Central Europe. A merchant called Behram first brought coffee beans to Hungary at the end of 1579 and from this point onwards the "black soup" was drunk here, too. While Hungarian society (within which the higher classes primarily) only got into the habit of drinking coffee after the occupation ended, Turks of all ranks liked coffee, and town people (except women) if they were given the chance, mostly preferred to spend their free time in cafes with a companion.