Notes on the Administrative Regulations in Eighteenth-Century Transylvania

The paper explores the role of administrative ordinances as both a source of law and a method of governance in 18th-century Transylvania. The study is based on printed regulations from the 18th century, focusing on their impact on the governance of Habsburg Transylvania. During the age of principality (mid-16th to late 17th century), laws adopted by the Diet were issued in the form of decrees bearing the seal of the prince. Upon taking control over Transylvania at the end of the 17th century, the Habsburgs recognized all previous legal arrangements but began to issue decrees with an unprecedented frequency and relied on them to bypass the Diet and impose their absolutist policies. The paper discusses the interesting situation where ordinances formally invoked and reiterated older legislation, whereas, in fact, they significantly amended it to suit the objectives of the Absolutist rule. For example, a regulation issued in 1772 regarding the wastage of ancestral property pretended to reiterate provisions of the Decretum Tripartitum from 1517. However, a close examination revealed that the regulation significantly departed from the Decretum Tripartitum and altered its provisions. The paper also suggests alternative ways of exploring administrative regulations.