Identification of estate units of the medieval land register

A case of the ecclesiastical “seigniory” in Lesce

Abstract

The author investigates the estate history of the ecclesiastical seigniory in Lesce and identifies individual estate units through a retrospective analysis of historical sources from the period between the 14th and 19th century. Of the twelve peasant hides (huba, Hufe) documented at the end of the 16th century, four belonged to the church of Lesce, two to the benefice, which provided the chaplain with regular income, and another two to the ecclesiastical seigniory in the narrow sense of the word. The central estate of the seigniory, which the church retained in its hands for the entire duration of the aforementioned period, encompassed six farms: one in Lesce, Breg ob Bistrici, Gorica and Smokuč, and two in Hlebce.