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254 István M. Szijártó features mentioned above can be discerned elsewhere in the region, too — most of them, certainly, in the Polish-Lithuanian union, but Wolfgang Neugebauer states that the whole of East Central Europe, from Estland in the north to Hungary in the south, offers the best chances to study the estates in the second half of the eighteenth century, and he sees the renaissance of the estates occurring from the end of the eighteenth century, while Klaus Zernack speaks explicitly about an East Central European Libertaskultur.? It is, therefore, not surpising that the diet played a not negligeable part in the careers of the office-holding gentry in general and also in that of one ofthe Felsöbüki Nagy family in particular. Investigating the career of Päl Felsöbüki Nagy and the history of the diets held in 1751 and in 1764-1765, Chapter 5 by Janos Nagy (Parliamentary politics as a springboard? The career of Pal Felsöbüki Nagy (17041776)) concludes that parliamentary politics could be decisive insofar as it demonstrated the MP’s ability, actually, no matter whether with a loyal political stance or as a member of the opposition. An impressive performance in parliamentary debates could catapult the MP in question into a chair in one of the central offices or courts of justice of the country. The beneficial effect of praised accomplishments in the diet could be illustrated by the career of Pal Felsöbüki Nagy, who participated at the diet in 1751 and in 1764-1765. FAMILY MATTERS Chapters 6 and 7 are centred on the family. Taking his starting point as Max Weber’s concept of connubium, Tamas Szemethy demonstrates the role of marriage and affinal kin in the rise of families in the eighteenth century in his second chapter in the volume (Cherchez la femme! Marriage strategy in the Felsöbüki Nagy family). Affinal relatives seem to be no less important in social progress than consanguinal kin. Between 1711 and 1799, 91 Hungarians coming from 76 different lesser noble families were awarded aristocratic titles. Among their wives, 60 per cent came from the lesser nobility (and the rest from the aristocracy, be it old or new, Hungarian or foreign). If we examine the marriages of their children, this figure drops to 37 per cent. What ° Neugebauer 1994: 14, 21.
