THE BASIC SECTORS OF ECONOMY - BREEDING LARGE ANIMALS AND CROP FARMING

Before the Conquest the livestock of the Hungarians amounted to an approxi­

mate 10 million. An area of 500,000 to 800,000 km2 was used by the migrating tribes for grazing the animals on the vast steppes. In the Carpathian Basin a total area of 200,000 to 220,000 km2 grassy plains and oak forests was at their disposal. The reduction of the grazing area was not a significant problem, as a part of the livestock perished through the Conquest and the grass in the Carpathian Basin was of much higher quality than what they had out in the steppes of the East. The capacity of the Carpathian Basin in terms of animal husbandry was higher than that of any other territory the ancestors of the Magyars had before. It was due to the abundant precipitation and the high density of water courses.

Animal husbandry on the plains was based upon the quality of fodder grown on the flood areas of rivers. The grazing lands of the intermittently inundated areas and those of the so called “Glaser Chambers,” free of flood, were used alternately, following the floods of the rivers. This method of grazing is called meadow transhumation (Gla­

ser, L. 1939, Szabadfalvi, J. 1984). Traditional nomadic migration was rendered unnec­

essary by the rich meadows of the plains and impossible by the high density of villages.

The distance between the two extreme points of the migration of shepherds shrunk sig­

nificantly, and it could not be more than two or three days’ journey. Archeological findings provide information on the composition of the livestock in the villages. In the age of the Árpáds, the proportion of domestic animals in the villages of Kardoskút and Tiszalök-Rázompuszta was the following: horses 24-27% , sheeps 8.5-16% and pigs 15- 21.5% (Fodor, I. 1996, Paládi-Kovács, A. 1993).

Animal husbandry was the dominant subsector of the diversified farming on the flood areas. The special agricultural activities on the flood areas appeared in the Ár- pádian age, flourished during the 14th and 15th centuries, and, despite the Turkish inva­

sion, continued to function until the mid-19th century (Andrásfalvi, B. 1973). The utili­

sation of the flood (fishing for various river and lake fish, hunting, fruit and vine grow­

ing) was based on the rational use of the natural resources.

Animal husbandry primarily satisfied domestic needs. In the 10th and 11th centuries (e. g. Debrecen, Pest, Pozsony, Sopron, Szeged, Székesfehérvár). Animal hus­

bandry was common all over the Carpathian Basin, but only became a dominant branch of economy in the plains and hill regions. Due to the agroecological differences of the various subregions within the 100,000 km2 of the Great Plain, livestock composition varied by microregion. In and along the flood plains of the rivers and the adjacent drier parts horse and cattle breeding was typical, whereas the alkali flats and sandy plains

were more suitable for sheep grazing. The swamps, moorlands on the margins of the plains and the oak forests were the specialised areas of pig keeping, as the animals were fed on mast.

Animal husbandry on the plains made use of the flood areas and the adjacent flood-free parts alternately. The complex farms of the extensive “Glaser Chambers”

(e. g. in Bácska, on the loess plateau of Békés-Csanád, and in the Nyírség area) were also involved in animal husbandry. These farms were, however, specialising in crop growing, and animal husbandry was of secondary importance. They bred animals for the burden and for consumption, not for sale. This complexity was also typical of the farms the 12th century (Bereg, Sáros, Torna, Ugocsa and Zólyom) were also involved in animal breeding, in addition to their special activities (hunting, protection of waters and for­

ests). They kept the animals in the clearings. Classic forms of mountain shepherding had started to take shape in Transylvania in the 13th century, before the Rumanian (Vlach) ethnic group settled down there. Rumanians appeared in increasing number in the Southern Carpathians after the 13th century, and they used the transhuming form o f high mountain shepherding. At the end of the Árpádian age, when the Carpathians had a higher population density, high mountain shepherding was part of the complex agricul­

ture of the valleys, which was spatially separate during the summer months (A. Paládi- Kovács 1994). The transhuming form of high mountain shepherding, especially the way the Vlachs (Rumanians) were doing it, only became widespread later, in the 14th and the whole country. Despite the expansion of farming, the cultivated areas remained iso­

lated spots until the end of the Árpádian age. Creating the cultural landscape is a major achievement of the Hungarians and of the other nations inhabiting the Carpathian Basin, although we do not still know all the details of the process.

Special attention should be devoted to two factors attributed in the spreading of farming: one is the expertise brought by the Hungarians from the East. The expertise includes the tools, such as the plough, spade, hoe, and short scythe. The other factor is the system of inter-ethnic relations, the intensive exchange of know-how and

experi-ence. In the process of following the European model of agriculture the sample farms of the cloisters, the German and Walloon settlers and perhaps the observations of the ma­

rauding warriors of the Hungarian tribes in the West before 955 played significant role.

As a result of the medieval agricultural revolution (at the end of the 12th century) the simple pasture-ploughland or ploughland-forest alternating system was replaced by a two-course and three-course rotation system. Another important innovation in the 12th and 13th centuries was the appearance of the turn-plough. This large plough, pulled by 6- 10 steers, was suitable for breaking up virgin lands for regular cultivation. Further de­

velopment of ploughing was made possible by the increasing use of animal power and the improved harnesses. The types of plough used in the Árpádian age served the exten­

sive development of agriculture, whereas the tools of smaller household farms were the spade and hoe, made of wood and equipped with an iron plate to increase their durabil­

ity. Grass was cut with sickles or short scythes. Longer scythes, similar to the ones used today, were only introduced at the end of the Árpádian age, first used in the cultivation places south of the 9,5 °C isotherm line, in the foreland of mountains, on hills and also in the plains. The vineyards on Somló Mountain are regarded as the oldest ones in Hun­

gary, dating back to the 11th century. The centre of the vine-growing region of the Somló Mountain was Apácavásárhely (today Somlóvásárhely). In the 11th and 13th centuries the Balaton Highlands, the Mór Valley, the Szekszárd Hills, the surrounding of Pécs, the

vating and processing methods and thus significantly developed the area (Bodrogolaszi, Olaszliszka and Tállya). Constructing the first irrigation canal in Hungary is also attrib­

uted to the Walloons. It was used for irrigating the gardens of Olaszliszka in the 13th century. (Ihrig, D. 1973).

As a result of recent archeological and ethnographic research, “the medieval vine growing culture of the Great Plain grew out of the vineyards of the flood areas of the rivers” (Égető, M. 1993). Vine trained on live wood, a typical way of growing vine

in the flood areas in the Árpádian age, is regarded “as a transitory phase between a food gathering way of life and real agricultural production” (Égető, M. 1993).

Similar features characterised fruit growing in the flood areas of rivers. The primeval orchards of the Upper Tisza Valley, Szamos, Danube, Dráva and those of the Olt and Maros in Transsylvania supplied the villages of the neighbourhood with fruit, for which people did not have to work much.

The structure and geographical distribution of agricultural activities that emerged during the Árpádian age - animal husbandry in the flood plains, crop growing in the flood-free areas - had stabilized over the centuries that followed. Until the major landscape transforming works of the 19th century (regulation of the rivers and draining of swamps) ‘‘the real centre o f agricultural works was the meadow o f the plains and not the ploughland” (Orosz, I. 1994). Towards the end of the age of the Árpáds the system

mestic needs, whereas the extraction o f salt and precious metals worked also fo r export from the I2'h century. Mining, as far as the value produced is concerned, was one of the most important branches of economy of medieval Hungary, although its significance did not exceed that of agriculture. In the 11th and 13th centuries, and also in the later times of the Middle Ages, Hungary was one of the leading countries in mining of the world.

Hungary had been the world’s first precious metal and copper mining country, before the American continent was discovered (Zsámboki, I. 1982).