Zemans and Society
The zemans were somewhat more concentrated in the kingdom's northern counties (present-day Slovakia). It is estimated that about 4.6% households were zeman families in that region, although there were differences — some areas had fewer of them, some villages were inhabited predominantly by zemans. Some zemans eventually became farmers not necessarily wealthier than their neighbors, but their status of the king's free and privileged subjects contributed to the dynamics of the kingdom's societies and to the development of its cultures.
The practical implications of their privileged status began to disappear with the reforms of Joseph II that gradually gave more freedom to the rest of the population and curbed the nobility's privileges as the kingdom became more firmly integrated in the Habsburg monarchy. Among the Kingdom of Hungary's zemans with entries in Wikipedia were Anton Bernolák, Štefan Marko Daxner, Janko Jesenský, Adam František Kollár, Lajos Kossuth, Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, and Jonáš Záborský.
Read more about this topic: Zeman (nobleman)
Famous quotes containing the word society:
“It used to be said that, socially speaking, Philadelphia asked who a person is, New York how much is he worth, and Boston what does he know. Nationally it has now become generally recognized that Boston Society has long cared even more than Philadelphia about the first point and has refined the asking of who a person is to the point of demanding to know who he was. Philadelphia asks about a man’s parents; Boston wants to know about his grandparents.”
—Cleveland Amory (b. 1917)