Monok Summary
Monok
Summary
Summary
Monok lies in the area of the Szerencs-hills, on the Western border of the historic Zemplén county. It is one of the most beautiful settlements of the area according to guide-books. What made it known in the whole country was that Lajos Kossuth, one of the greatest figures of our history in the XIX century was born here on September 19, 1802.
The settlement is rich in tourist attractions. The house where Kossuth was born is now furnished as a musem, and hosts about twenty-thousand visitors every year. A collection of souvenirs to commemorate Lajos Kossuth has been gathered since 1948 in the domanial officers’ home built around 1780. The exhibition may be visited all the year round.
The Monaky manor-house, known as the small palace, is a monument of Hungarian Renaissance architecture. Another monument of the village is the Andrássy-palace built around 1750, which hosts a primary school now. The frescos of its ceremonial hall, and its chapel came down in the history of arts. The chapel is also the scene of different concerts.
The bricklayers of Monok deservedly became famous in historic times. The ornamentation of their houses built from natural-stone on the basis of individual plans is very special. In the middle of the XX century, three hundred people pursued this trade, building dozens of houses in Monok, and in the settlements near to and far away from it.
Monok is more than seven hundred years old: it was established after the Mongolian invasion, under king Béla IV. Its name was first mentioned by written sources in 1273. Its first owners were the members of the Monaky family. With the spreading of the Reformed faith, the people of Monok were also converted to the faith of the reformists. The Reformed majority of the settlement stayed until the first third of the XVIII century. After the Turkish invasions, and multiple reconstructions of the village, when the old manor-house was devastated, the Renaissance small palace was built as the new home of the Monaky family around 1570. The members of the rich Monaky family played a role in the feudal independence fights of the XVII century, but they had a successful military carrier under the Hapsburgs as well. After the extinction of the male line of the family (1643), the village and the sizable Monoki domain covering the surrounding settlements were inherited through the female line by the Andrássy and the Thököly families.
In the XVIII century, the Andrássy family, obtaining parts of the estate pulled the latifundium together under their central control. During the battles of the Rákóczi freedom fight, the inhabitants of the village participated as soldiers, officers, and the members of the Andrássy family also contributed as chief officers and generals.
The XVIII century ensured the peaceful development of the village. Monok with a similarly sized population consisted of serfs and cottars. They mostly earned their living from land cultivation and animal husbandry. The services to be rendered to the landlord were regulated by the serf-order by queen Maria Theresa. The profitable farm activity made it possible for the Andrássy family to build a new manor-house in the village around 1750, following the fashion of the time. This became the centre of the Monok line of the family until 1913 when the male line died out. The Roman Catholic and Reformed churches of the village were built with some support from the landlord at the end of the century. Catholic people were in majority in the second half of the XVIII century.
The owners of Monok played a dominant role in the county- and national-level political life in the XIX century. György Andrássy, similarly to Count István Széchenyi supported the foundation of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences with a significant amount of money. He was also involved with the construction of the Chain Bridge as the friend of the reformist count. His feelings for modernisation were demonstrated by his innovations introduced on the estate in Monok: he had a water-mill, a forge, and a brick factory built, and established the Monok-Krasznahorka precinct property with a dual centre.
The village, which was mostly populated by smallholder serfs, preserved the results of the bourgeois transformation in its memory as a merit attributed to Lajos Kossuth, its famous son. The abolition of serfdom, and the creation of private land ownership were the achievements of 1848. The people of Monok also took arms to protect these rights when recruited by Kossuth in the freedom fight. The Kossuth cult flourishing until today emerged as a result of the combination of the social transformation and the name of Kossuth.
The people of the village preserve the Catholic faith of their ancestors with a similar adherence. The chapel and the stations built on the Calvary Hill at the beginning of the XX century, reflect this very visibly. Monok helps many to strengthen their faith. The village is a famous place of pilgrimage. Many people go to Monok on the third Sunday of September, which is the holiday of the apotheosis of the Holy Cross. This church holiday has not lost its significance until today.
This unbroken faith helped the inhabitants bear the hardships of the XX century. They could pray amidst suffering during the two world wars, they could beg for comfort in their mourning, and could thank God when the land was distributed among them. The world changed around them quickly amidst happiness and sadness, and the village, untouched for centuries, changed. The nationalisation and co-operative movements, and the larger and larger-scale industrial employment moved many out of their habitual environment: whole generations had to break with the land, and had to change for a different job or living-place in the sixties.
Over the last ten years the world has changed a lot again. Both the people of Monok, and the leaders of the settlement can feel that challenges can only be answered with new plans. The preservation of the natural resources, the development of water tourism, the planned student camps, the traditional trades, and the cultural and tourism-related utilisation of monuments already indicate the aims of the village for the XXI century.
