#NY016
1799
100 pp. In Latin and Hungarian. In original wrappers with printed ornament on sides, stripped with a string. Calligraphic cursive of late 18th century. The document was sealed and signed by a committee of nobles and jurors.
A historically interesting juridical manuscript compiled in the town of Aranyosmarót in the Kingdom of Hungary (now Zlaté Moravce in southwestern Slovakia). It represents a decision of a trial by the local noble court in a yearslong property dispute between two Hungarian-Slovak noblewomen: Anna Petrikovics and Krisztina Szádeczky. The lawsuit initially arose over the inheritance rights to a house or estate in the Sáros County (village of Nagy-Sáró), which Anna Petrikovics had taken possession of. In 1788, Krisztina Szadeczky sued her and won: the court ordered Anna to pay her 246 florins in compensation. The retrial was opened at the initiative of Anna Petrikovics due to the emergence of new documents.
The manuscript is of interest as an example of an aristocratic dispute arising from complex inheritance and family ties. Representatives of various noble families of the Kingdom of Hungary were involved in the case: the Szádeczky, Petrikovics, Miticzky, Pongracz, Ullman, Timon and others. Most of them can be identified in genealogical research and tables (for example, the parents of Anna Petricovics, Pal Petrikovics and Klara Miticzky, are shown in the genealogical tree Petrikovics család. | Nagy Iván: Magyarország családai | Reference Library; see more in Nagy Iván’s work Magyarország családai).
The manuscript is also interesting as an example of legal proceedings and early modern law, citing witness letters, contracts, parish records, and, above all, genealogical investigations as evidence. Anna Petrikovics lost the case precisely because she was unable to accurately prove her inheritance rights.
Overall, a rare and historically significant example of an aristocratic lawsuit from the Kingdom of Hungary.
