The Elefánthy

In an exploration of the life and customs of the Hungarian nobility, this book compares historical reality and legal literature on the example of one noble family--the Elefánthy kindred from northern Hungary (present-day Slovakia). The author begins by outlining the customary law regarding noble status, inheritance and marriage, as summarized in the famous code of Stephen Werbőczy (1514). He then compares these norms with the documentary evidence and establishes the fact that the legal literature differs in regard to social mobility and kindred solidarity.

With this frame of reference in mind, the fate of the Elefánthy family is traced through several generations, enabling the author to make some general statistical statements on inheritance, the rise and fall of various branches, marriage strategies, and the "survival skills" of the kindred. In his summary, the author outlines some of the major avenues for further research, including the peculiar Hungarian form of retainership (familiaritas), and the relationships between noble families and between the nobility and local communities.

Erik Fügedi (1916-1992) was among the first Hungarian historians to apply research methods similar to those used by the Annales school of French historiography. He published extensively on medieval urbanization, patterns of inheritance in noble families, family structure, aristocracy, and fifteenth-century Hungarian prelates.

Frank Schaer is freelance translator.

Damir Karbic is department head and research coordinator at the Department of Historical Research of the Institute of Historical and Social Sciences, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Between 2001 and 2009 he taught medieval history and study of history at the Centre for Croatian Studies of the University of Zagreb.