1. ZA PEST ČEŠENJ -- MAŠČEVANJE ZA ZASEDBO PLUMBERKA. PRIMER MEDSTANOVSKE SOVRAŽNOSTI NA ŠTAJERSKEM V POZNEM 17. STOLETJU.
- Author
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OMAN, Žiga
- Subjects
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SOCIAL status , *THREATS of violence , *HOSTILITY , *NOBILITY (Social class) , *DEATH threats , *AUTUMN , *HORSE breeds , *VIOLENCE in the workplace - Abstract
In the Autumn of 1681, towards the close of the worst plague epidemic to hit early modern Lower Styria, a dispute between the Žalec market-town councillor Johann Christoph Pilpach and Ferdinand Baron Miglio from the nearby Plumberk manor erupted into violence. With the help of soldiers whom Pilpach acquired from the Counts of Strassoldo from Krško in Carniola, he raided Miglio's manor during his absence, threatening to serve him lead 'cherries' (bullets), for which the nobleman avenged himself by ransacking the market-burgher's house in Žalec. This paper analyses the rather unusual, active enmity between two socially unequal adversaries through traditional practices of conducting and settling disputes, which also enables a look at other social relations among this conflict's main actors. Due to very fragmentary sources, it is unknown what set it off, although Pilpach's ransacking of the manor suggests that it might have been due to Miglio's debts to the affluent market-burgher. Perhaps their dispute was connected to the one between the baron and the Fraziolis, the former administrators of his manor, or to a dispute the Fraziolis or Pilpachs might have had with the Žalec market-burgher family Galič (Galitsch), the new administrators of Plumberk. The ensuing violence is better documented. Pilpach's raid on Plumberk manor was co-organised by his son-in-law, Gregor Rozman, who sought help from the Strassoldos. While the exact nature of their relationship with the counts is obscure, it had to be close for an important noble family to lend its soldiers to two market-burghers. Maybe the Strassoldos' help was also related to disputes they themselves might have had with Miglio. Pilpach's social capital was quite possibly further predicated on the marriage of a lesser line of the Valvasor noble family to the Pilpachs from Žalec in early 1680. These connections most likely levelled the field once the market-burgher's dispute with the baron broke out into violence. Miglio's response in September 1681 essentially mirrored Pilpach's actions: ransacking his home under arms, threats with violence and death, stealing his horses, killing his poultry, etc. Maybe the equal response was completely by chance, but, conceivably, the expected reciprocity of violence in enmities also played a role. In the end, Miglio had to justify his actions in court as a measured response to an affront. The violence was exacerbated when Pilpach opted for a recourse to law, after failing to obtain satisfaction (restitution of honour and damages) from Miglio for the attack. Pilpach's attempt to serve a writ to the baron ended with Miglio almost cudgelling the messenger to death, rejecting the attempt as insolence. Despite going to court, the settlement of their dispute or at least the violence seems to have been extra-curial, as was common in enmities among the elite. Likewise, the only intervention by princely authorities seems to have been a demand that Miglio accept the writ, even though violent enmities or feuds broke the provincial (and Imperial) peace and, which was even more critical, attacks on the socially superior upset the social order. There were certainly no grave consequences for Pilpach, who is attested as the Žalec market-town judge in 1684. All of this suggests that the social differences between him and Miglio were formal rather than factual, underpinned by Pilpach's close connections to influential noble families and, probably, also by the fact that the Miglios' rise to nobility was rather recent. His 'equality' with the baron in their enmity probably also helped Pilpach to improve his social standing. Although it is unknown when exactly peace between the baron and Pilpach was made, the plague that decimated Žalec in 1683 seems as a plausible mitigating factor. In any case, in early 1684, Pilpach's wife Ursula Elisabeth and his former enemy Jakob Galič, Miglio's administrator of Plumberk, became godparents to a child of one of their market-town neighbours. This indicates that their enmity was over, most likely following or as part of the peace made between Pilpach and Miglio, since settlement generally included 'all the people' of the conflicting parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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