Arhivski vjesnik, Vol. 63 No. 1, 2020.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.36506/av.63.7
The Members of the First Local Government of the Free and Royal City of Osijek in 1809
Eldina Lovaš
Danijel Jelaš
Sažetak
When the city of Osijek received the charter of privileges and became a free and royal city in 1809, a new stage in its historical and legal development began. Although the citizens’ request for the charter from the Emperor Francis I was probably mainly motivated by the presumed prospects of the economic development, as it arrived rather late, i.e. some four decades before the feudalism was abolished in the Habsburg lands, its effects were mostly of legal and administrational nature. This is probably why the few works that cover the topic of Osijek’s municipal history in the first half of the 19th century mainly deal with issues such as legal status of the Free and Royal City of Osijek and its citizens, the organisation of the local authority, etc. Although these historical aspects are indeed crucial to understanding the role of the local authority in the broad system of public (state) administration, as well as in the community, there are others that could complement our knowledge in that respect, such as the influence of different political, ideological, demographic and cultural factors. Among them are sociodemographic characteristics of the members of the city government. Besides an overview of the historical events prior to the election and appointment of the first government of the Free and Royal City of Osijek, the legal context and its organisation, as well as the very process of election, the authors analyse the sociodemographic characteristics of its highest-ranking members. The analysis included 57 officials and administration officers, i.e. 7 members of the City Council (Magistrate), 40 members of the Elected Commune (Assembly) with its President, and 9 other heads and deputies of the most important offices and services. Characteristics recorded in the registries of Osijek’s citizens that were in focus of the research were the nobility status, religion, profession and place of origin. Combining the results and the official criteria for the election of the local authority officials and officers, the authors suggest that the leading criteria were the education and former work experience in the public administration. This is, of course, related to the social standing of the individuals, because the elites traditionally had better education and better overall access to public positions. Consequently, the majority of nobles and intellectual workers among the citizens were elected or appointed to a position in the local authority. Two most represented groups (equal in numbers) were merchants and craftsmen, but if we look at the overall population of people with citizen status, there were three times more craftsmen than merchants, which means that the latter were, relatively speaking, more represented in the local administration, as their social status was generally better. The only two religious groups that could apply for Osijek’s citizenship were members of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox communities. The latter, as a minority, was a slightly underrepresented, but within the limits of the obligatory one quarter of the representatives in the Elected Commune. The place of origin had little or no influence on the election and appointment of members of the local authority, but it clearly portrays the City of Osijek as a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural community in which the citizens that came from other parts of the Habsburg Monarchy or even outside of it were well integrated.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
248564
URI
Datum izdavanja:
17.12.2020.
Posjeta: 959 *