Ivánc Summary
Ivánc
Summary
Summary
Ivánc is a settlement lying on a kind of plateau, between the Rába and Zala rivers on the Western edge of the Vasi-ridge. The history of the Lugos village close to it, the name of which has been preserved only in the name of a balk, is an integral part of its past. It, however, has been closely entwined with Hegyhátszentmárton and Viszák, the two adjacent villages, which administratively belong to Ivánc.
Its foundation falls at the time when the system of counties was organ-ised during the age of Saint Stephen. The vicinity of the Lugos stream belonged to the guard-area established on the Western edge of the then dwelling area of the Hungarians, and from an organisational point of view, it constituted a link between the Zala and the Rába.
During the age of Béla III., the uninhabited buffer strip beyond the area of the guards started to be populated. The Lugos valley lost its earlier func-tion in the border guard system at this time. The king donated the lands to the Gatal and Miskolc dynasties, his noble attendants. The Hungarian village, originally named Lak, was given the name of Ivánc (the village of János) probably by the Slavic (Slovak) settlers, who moved in during the time of Domokos, Slavonian ban (Bors, the bailiff’s father), the first owner of the village.
After the elimination of the power of the Kőszegi dynasty, as landgraves, following the battle at Szalafő (1319), a long period of peace, and prosperity followed for two centuries. The Ajakos dynasty, the medium-landowner noblemen, who were serving as soldiers became the new landowners. They moved the centre of their estates to Ivánc after a while, and they received the name of Ivánc as their title of nobility.
After the decades of uncertainty following the Mohács disaster, the vil-lage became a tax-payer to the Turks, who occupied a large part of Hun-gary. The Ivánczy dyansty lost their manor-houses and moved to the towns in the royal area, and to Surány. The mere existence of the village became questionable from this time, the people of Ivánc had to hide away from the Turkish soldiers at least three times, leaving the village all empty: in 1600, 1664 and 1658. The people of the village courageously took their share of the fight against the invaders. A few of them became foot-sol-diers in Csákányi’s troop, and the farmers toiling for the Turks in Kanizsa helped those in the Hungarian border fortresses with their spying activity.
Reformation spread quickly on the occupied territories. Ivánc was the most significant Calvinist congregation in the vicinity of the guards’ reformed block.
The male line of the dynasty owning Ivánc for centuries, and giving excellent men during its last three generations (Péter Ivánczy, sub-prefect of the county, Lukács Ivánczy, captain, János Ivánczy, grand provost in Győr), died out in 1650. Their estates were obtained by János Sigray, the captain of the castle of Stomfa in comitat Pozsony by way of a donation by the palatine of Hungary. Since that time, the names Ivánc and Sigray were closely linked until the middle of the XX century.
After the Turks in Kanizsa were expelled (1690), the serfs’ tax-paying and military burdens were increased unbearably. It can be understood that the people of Ivánc fought on the side of the Kuruts during the Rá-kóczi freedom fight, a few of whom we know by name. József Sigray, sub-prefect, the landlord of the village, supported the Hapsburgs, by this laying the foundations for the family to elevate in rank later. József Sigray obtained the title of baron in 1724, and his son, Károly, received the title of count in 1780.
The period from the Kuruts times until the revolution of 1848, was the time of consolidation but also stagnation in the life of the village. In 1714, József Sigray expelled the preacher of the reformed church, and reinstated the Catholic parish. Károly, his son had a new baroque palace built in Ivánc in 1745, and moved here with his family from Surány. At the same time, he also started to build his farm, taking land away from the serfs.
Although Maria Theresa’s Serfs Order (1767) saved the serf-farms from full devastation, but the rigid system that came into existence with this, blocked the way of changes. During the Napoleonic wars, the serfs did not accept the landlords’ regulation, which was detrimental for them. After 1813, the people of Ivánc tried to find a legal solution: György Korán from Ivánc, with the request letter of the village, was even received by the king in Vienna. The peasants’ solidarity never before or after was demonstrated as evidently as then. They collected money, paid for the lawyer, drafted requests, and even went to prison if it was necessary for their cause. They found real supporters in the always rebellious guards.
The people of Ivánc worked as national guards and fought as soldiers on the battle-field in the revolution of 1848–49 for the Hungarian indepen-dence. During the retaliation, the judge of the settlement was arrested and kept in remand. The Austrian oppressors of the revolution continued an investigation in the Lugos farm for years to find the imperial soldiers who had disappeared.
After the redistribution of property, which facilitated the practical imple-mentation of the abolishment of serfdom, the area of Ivánc was shared, “halved” by the Sigray-estate and the population of the village. Due to the economic dominance of the estate, the possibility of obtaining land for the population was nearly impossible.
By the turn of the century, the farm of the Sigray-estate was on an
up-trend, primarily due to selling the huge property of forests, and the favourable rent of the Tác-Pötölle estate. The series of constructions, start-ed by the extension of the palace in 1898, lasted until the thirties. These buildings are still dominating elements in the image of the village. The Sigray farm, however, which was considered as modern, could only give work to part of the impoverished peasants, who were pushed out of indi-vidual farming.
The peasants’ lands, due to the high increase of the population were fragmented, and the revolution of machines did not even effect the farms, they still used obsolete technologies.
The Russian occupation in 1945 was started by driving away the male civilian population, 118 in number. Although, only a small part of them got to the Soviet lagers from the camp in Jánosháza, this event left its deep mark in the memories of nearly all the families in Ivánc.
After the Communist turn, although part of the Sigray-property got exemption during the nationalisation due to Antal Sigray’ political mer-its, it was used in different ways, disappeared or turned into thin air. The palace soon received a new function as a social home, and this had a basic influence later in the life of the village. Today, every second person in Ivánc earns his living at this institute managed by the county.
The chronicle of the local events of the 1956 revolution deserves special attention because even during this short time, incredible energies were relieved in the followers of the revolution, and the village was an excel-lent model for spontaneous root-organisation, morality and communal connection. Therefore, after the retaliation, quite a lot of the people, and mainly the younger ones asked for an asylum in the West. József Szigeti, the parson went with them.
The social type modernisation in the sixties turned the peasants’ world, organised on the basis of traditions pursued for many centuries, upside down. In the period of the spectacular technical development, and the due ideology of the winner’s ecstasy, however, the village lost its earlier central position in the region. After several changes, Ivánc, at the thresh-old of the political change, was a village deprived of its role and faith.
After 1990, after a decade of re-established local government and quick changes in the infrastructure, the village regained its self-esteem, and this is the foundation on which it can again have hope for the future, in this year of the millennium.
