Page 136 - Upland Families, Elites and Communities

Aleksander Panjek and Miha Zobec

ed by religious motives, the additional noble cases undoubtedly reveal how
peasants perceived it as valuable and distinguishing to obtain elite godfa-
thers for their new-borns. Based on this observation, it appears very likely
that not only members of the rural elite, but also of the peasant elite were
attractive as possible godfathers. The lack of reliable information about the
landed wealth of peasant families until the early nineteenth century (Fran-
ciscean cadastre) limits the identifiable members of the peasant elite to
the ones holding official positions, such as mayors and vice mayors as well
as the administrators of the assets of local churches and confraternities,
mainly consisting in land and credits, (slo. ključarji, literally key-holders,
it. camerari, lat. sindici). Unfortunately, the clergymen registering baptisms
did not consistently record these positions next to the name of the godfa-
thers, providing this information only exceptionally. Nevertheless, on the
basis of such unsystematic and scattered mentions, it is quite apparent
that mayors acted as godfathers for children from families to which they
did not belong, which makes it possible to conclude that mayors were al-
so among the desired godparents. This may be confirmed by the fact that
sometimes godmothers were also mentioned as the mayor’s wife, meaning
their husband’s role made them desirable godparents, too. The functions of
deputy mayor and church administrator are mentioned as well, testifying
to the correctness of the hypothesis. During the nineteenth century, only
Mihael Černe isrecorded asmayor in a few caseswhen acting asgodfather
at baptism, whilethe casesofgodfathersrecordedaswell-offpeasants(edi-
tus, possidens) are relatively numerous, meaning that landed wealth indeed
was a factor of attraction in the field of godparenthood.
While in general most of the godparents originated from the same vil-
lage as the baptized child’s parents, godfathers coming from other villages
of the Tomaj parish or from more distant places are recorded, too. Their
frequency seems to fluctuate in time, with phases when such cases are
common and others when they are rather rare and villages seem to be
more closed in a social sense. From 1625 the geographical area of prove-
nience of the godfathers was narrow; it widened after 1650, then narrowed
once more, expanding again around and after 1710. In the 1730s, godfa-
thers from the same village as the parents again prevail. At this stage of
research, the reasons for these fluctuations may not yet be commented
on, but should probably be sought in demographic and economic changes.
After 1740, the area expanded again to other villages of the parish and
to other parishes, while Tomaj seems to be an exception to a certain de-
gree, since local godfathers tend to prevail. In almost all cases when god-

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