Page 143 - Upland Families, Elites and Communities

A Dynasty of Mayors and a Member of Parliament

fice, in 1779 the mayor Jakob Černe was sentenced twice for infringements
against the manorial administration and in the next years he is mentioned
as ‘former mayor.’ Following an already known pattern, while in office and
immediately thereafter (1778–1780) his rating fell very low as far as the
number of godfatherhoods is concerned.
At this point, some conclusions may be drawn for the period between
the end of the seventeenth and the late eighteenth centuries. Within the
Tomaj village community, the role of a mayor by itself did not make a man a
popular godfather. At the same time, there was an evident increase in god-
fatherhoods of closely related family members in the periods when one of
them held the position of mayor. This suggests that the mayor’s aura of
prestige extended to the family, reflecting also the fact that obtaining the
position of mayor was closely linked to the high economic and social rank
of the family itself. Next there is the level of single personalities and ac-
tions of individuals. Moral and ethical infractions like having illegitimate
children, not paying alimonies and violence towards a brother and being
imprisoned, as in Andrej’s case, or overexploiting one’s social power as a
mayor in his appetite for land and money, as well as not paying dowries,
as in Ivan’s case, had both short-term and long-term consequences. For a
brief period, such deeds made all the male family members lose their ap-
peal as godfathers, but after a couple of years, family members returned to
the baptismal font. In the longer run, it was the very person responsible for
infractions who remained permanently neglected as a potential godfather.
Those who did not leave unpleasant records in the judicial documentation,
as Jakob and Jožef, seemingly enjoyed a better reputation, since they were
preferred as godfathers even at a later age and although acting as mayors.
There is one more trait that is revealed by combining the quantitative
and nominal analyses. Several among the above-mentioned Černe men
started appearing as godfathers at a rather young age, but mostly disap-
peared from the baptism records as soon as they reached the position of
mayor: this was the case of Marko the eldest, of Andrej, and of Ivan, too.
There may be different explanations. First, it is possible that being a may-
or enhanced the social distance, restricting the accessibility of mayors as
godfathers. Second, it might be that peoplepreferred thegodfathersto
be younger, thus securing a longer lasting social bond with the baptized
children and their parents. Last but not least, it could be a negative conse-
quence of enacting power and of decisions made by mayors while in office:
when put to the test of facts, the former prospective young men, attrac-
tive candidates as godfathers from an elite village family, might have dis-

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