Földes is a large village in Hajdú-Bihar County, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary.
Location It covers an area of and has a population of 3,960 people (2016). It is located next to the main road 42 between Püspökladány and Berettyóújfalu, 34 km southwest of Debrecen. The Eastern Main Channel is 5 km northeast from Földes. Directly neighboring settlements: Sáp (4 km south), Báránd (10 km southwest), Tetétlen (5 km west), Hajdúszovát (14 km northeast), Derecske (20 km east), Berettyóújfalu (16 km southeast). A bus service connects to Debrecen, Berettyóújfalu, Püspökladány, Kaba, Nagyrábé. The closest train station is located in Sáp.
History Early history
In 1938, traces of the first human settlement were found during archeological excavations in the Inacs Mound, next to the main road 42, at the western edge of Földes's boundary. It was a Neolithic site where the remains of their pit houses and burned walls of their wattle-and-daub were found with the tools of a copper-age man. Lajos Kiss and Béla KálmánKálmán Béla: A nevek világa (1989) 143. o. – Béla Kálmán: The world of names (1989) p. 143. Béla Kálmán wrote: "Földes got its name from its non-sandy and non-salty soil." That means: if its soil is not-sandy and non-salty then it is earthy. Earthy means "földes" in Hungarian. linguists declared, the village was named after its soil. György Módy historian said, that the name of the village origined from personal name and perhaps got it from its inhabitants dealing with farming.Földes téves személynévi eredete – False derivation of Földes's name from a personal name. Földes also had a tradition of its own name-origin, spreading by László Virágh a teacher from Földes.A hagyományfenntartó Virágh László tanító – László Virágh, a teacher maintaining tradition. László Virágh taught to the young schoolchildren in the late 1950s that people wandering in the marshy, reedy locations of Sárrét, (Sárrét = muddy meadow) they stopped at this place and told each other: "See, here the place is earthy!"
The first written mention of Földes – which was debated for a long timeFöldes története I. (2002) Módy György 22–23. o. – History of Földes I (2002) György Módy pp. 22–23. Out of old historians János Karácsonyi did not accept the name Heldus (mentioned in the Váradi Regestrum) as Földes's name. Gábor Herpay accepted his argument and did not link 1215 to Földes. Kabos Kandra accepted the name Heldus as Földes's name. Lajos Zoltai recommended the further consideration of the Heldus word. Today's historians: György Módy, Ilona K. Fábián and Péter Németh accept the Heldus word as the name of Földes. – was in the Váradi Regestrum in 1215: messenger Gyuro, the son of Moysa from Heldus (Földes) village (pristaldum nomine Gyuro, filium Moysa de villa Heldus), proceeded in an affair of peoples from Bajom and Rábé. From that time on, the name of Földes did not appear in written sources until 1342, but an interesting tradition (story) has survived from 1241 to 1242.The village was not devastated by the Tatars, as the inhabitants had surrounded it with the manure of the animals, then igniting it, Tatars avoided the village because of the smoke. Rogerius a canon of Várad wrote about this period, telling what devastation the Southern Tatar army had done under Kadan's leadership in Bihar County.
An entirely sure mentioning of FöldesHerpay Gábor: Földes község története (1936) 7. o. – Gábor Herpay: History of Földes Village (1936) p. 7. was on 31 May 1342, when in the report of the Eger chapter to Hungarian King Károly Róbert, András the son of Tamás from Földes, appears as a noble witness (Andreas filius Thomae de Feldes). Tamás and his son András were the first known members of the Földesi family. The members of this family were the landlords of Földes. They took their family name after the name of the village. From Földes, only the names of this family members can be found in the documents until the end of the 15th century. Not much later in the same year, in 1342, archdeacon Jakab from Földes and his brother Benedek were also mentioned. In 1399, Imre the son of Péter (calling to bald) from Földes, together with Tamás and János the sons of Mihály also from Földes, had mixed up with culprits, and were convicted for decapitation and loss of their wealth. They were at last convicted for proscription. Since they had been avare of their guilt they did not attend the county assembly.
1400 at the end of July, Hungarian King Zsigmond appointed Péter the son of János from Földes, to a royal man for border control together with others. In the Autumn of 1400, Földes the village was mentioned for the first time in a diploma of Rábé family. One part of the family's estates was towards Földes (…a parte possessionis Feldes nominate). In 1405 Benedek magnus Nagy from Földes and Tamás Nagy and András Nagy were sub-prefects of Szatmár County. According to Kálmán Baán (genealogist, heraldist) this Benedek the magnus was the founder and eponym of the Földesi Nagy family. In 1407 Vince Földesi (Vincetius de Felwdessy) a royal man. He was the first member of the family whose family name was already evolved. In 1417 Benedek Földesi Nagy (Benedictus magnus de Feldes) was appointed to a palatine man. According to searches of József Csoma (historian, heraldist), in 1449 János Hunyadi donated bodily coat of arms for several members of the family. The Földesi family used the family name SzentmiklósiSzentmiklós later Mezőszentmiklós was a village within the border of today's Földes. The first written mention of it had been in 1311 and the final one was in 1688, when the village was finally depopulated. too, depending where the locations of their estates were. In 1459 Adorján Földesi (Adriani litterati) appeared in the suit of an estate who bore a name scrivener which supposes higher education. In 1465 some members of the Földesi Nagy committed murders against other noble men. King Mátyás those who had committed the murders convicted for beheading and loss of their wealth. He donated their assets to the families of Bajon, Sztári and Parlagi. In 1483 the Várad chapter for the command of King Mátyás, designated among others István FöldesiFöldes története I. (2002) Módy György 37. oldal. – History of Földes I (2002) György Módy p. 37. to a royal man. He had to cite into law with three times shoutings István Szakolyi, who had estates among other villages also in Hosszúmacs (today a part of Debrecen). The Bajons and Sztáris after they had got their domains did not stay in the village, procurators handled their lands from the families of Harangi and Simai. There was no peace between the Földes nobles and the procurators of the estates. In 1489 and 1510 they had still agreed, but in 1516 the Földes nobles attacked the country-seats of the families of Harangi and Simai in Félhalom in Békés County.
Because of these affairs at the beginning of the 16th century there were credible data about 30 Földes nobles who had one plot. On May 7, 1537, King János Szapolyai had issued a decree, confirmed with it the organized community of Földes nobles against Szabolcs County.Szapolyai János legfelsőbb bírói döntése 1537. V. 7. – Decision of King John Zápolya as a Supreme Justice. They punished one of their noble fellow for one florin on the basis of penalty (vinculum) because he had not paid his contribution to the Tokaj army. This diploma was good for them as proof in later times, in the protection of local authority over the noble privileges, against Szabolcs County and other powerful warlords. In 1549 they were included in two censuses.Földes története I. (2002) Bársony István 50 és 63. oldal. – History of Földes I (2002) István Bársony pp. 50–63. In one of the censuses, out of 128 nobles who had one plot in Szabolcs County, 36 lived in the village. According to the census of Pozsony Chamber, 26 (war)tax-payer noble men with one plot lived in the village. That's why the numbers of their houses were not written. They had paid 7 florins, remained debtors with 25 denari. Between 1552 and 1570, because of the wars against the castles had been launched by the Turks, the village got under Turkish rule. It was constantly menaced from Turkish-Tataric forays, destructions.Hungarian Queen Izabella promised to István Bajoni that with the death of István Esztári, he could get his legitimate legacy if Várad had come to her possession. Around 1566, the male-side of the Bajoni family also died out. In 1566, around November 19, the village was saved from a Turkish-Tartaric destruction. At that time from this countryside, thousands of people, including residents of Földes too, were dragged away to Szolnok into captivity. After the Treaty of Speyer (1570), which followed the Treaty of Adrianople (1568), the village returned to the jurisdiction of Szabolcs County. In 1572, the name of Földes appeared in a Turkish Treasury poll tax list (defter). The tax book listed 39 houses and taxpayers' names without mentioning the church.Velics Antal: Magyarországi török kincstári defterek I. 1543–1635, Feldes 216–17. o. – Antal Velics: Defters (poll tax lists) of the Turkish Treasury I. 1543–1635, Feldes pp. 216–217.Kelenik József: a törökök „…igényt támasztottak olyan falvak, mezővárosok, városok adójára is, amelyekben legfeljebb fogolyként fordult meg török katona." – József Kelenik: the Turks "…demanded taxes from villages and towns where Turkish soldiers turned up only as prisoners." From 1571 the records of the county contained a series of small and large trials of the nobles of Földes and Sáp until 1582. In 1582 Földes came under Turkish rule, Turkish administration was introduced, but it only existed between 1582 and 1584. In 1583 Transylvanian Prince Zsigmond Báthory"March 6, 1583 Prince István Báthory activated a triple counsel, for the duration of Transylvanian Voivode Zsigmond Báthory's childhood, in the persons of Sándor Kendy, Farkas Kovacsóczy and László Sombori, for the governance of Transylvania." Magyarország Történeti Kronológiája II. kötet 1526–1548 (1983) (összkiadás), (kötetszám). – Historical Chronology of Hungary II. volume donated destroyed estates in the borders of Földes and Szentmiklós, to János Paksy in a princely donation letter.Herpay Gábor: Földes község története (1936) 244. o. – Gábor Herpay: History of Földes Village (1936) p. 244.
1600 until the Revolution