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SPG

Joined: 29 Jul 2011
Replies: 33

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Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2025 11:42 pm Post subject: komornik, ekonom

I want to help figuring out when komornik simply means tenant and when it means bailiff. Is it a matter of, before time x, it meant A, and after time x, it means B? Or maybe there are other indicators?

Continuing somewhat from a previous thread:

https://forum.polishorigins.com/viewtopic.php?t=20220&highlight=

I am working on the ancestors of a different grandparent than in above thread. I've come across the same dilemma about the meaning of komornik. This time it is a poor noble ancestor (born around 1760) named Bartłomiej Jankowski. He, his first wife, and her first husband are all identified as szlachta (nobilis) early on. Later, when references to noble/peasant status are no longer used in vital records, he is identified as a komornik and later as an ekonom(ia). His daughters move around a lot, but always seem to live in villages having the same name as a manor where a wealthier noble landlord resided (proven by the wealthier noble's family vital records).

Bartłomiej's son-in-law Jakub, a peasant, is identified as a sołtys for a time. He is later identified as a farmhand (parobek) and at death, a shepherd. I get the sense that Bartłomiej was a poor noble, while his son-in-law came from a possibly well-off peasant family. Indeed, my great-great-grandfather was supposedly "brought money to his marriage" and used that money to help his bride retain land given to her by her first husband's mother. (I have the legal paperwork for this.) Jakub was a sołtys for a village owned by a much wealthier noble identified as a royal chamberlain (szamberlan). I'm guessing that in 1814 a sołtys was chosen by the landlord rather than elected by the villagers, but maybe not.

I understand that poor nobles sometimes became tenant farmers, so maybe komornik in the sense of tenant is applicable in Bartłomiej's case. Weirdly though, I do not find komornik often in the parish registers in Bartłomiej's area during this time. More often the people are identified as laborers wyrobnik there. In contrast, in parishes further away from him during the same period (1820s), I see plenty of people identified as komornik or gospodarz. Maybe this other area was relatively richer (that is, more people could afford to own or rent a farm) versus where Bartłomiej lived (that is, being a tenant farmer in his area was unusual because fewer people could afford to own or rent).

I imagine that if the definition of komornik is closer to bailiff in Bartłomiej's case, it meant that he was simply collecting rents (money and/or farm goods) on behalf of the wealthier noble landlord.

Any guidance is appreciated. Sorry if I'm a bit obtuse.

MikeP

Joined: 27 Apr 2020
Replies: 24
Location: Houston, Texas, USA
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Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2025 4:48 pm Post subject: kmornik, ekonom

Hi,

I checked Shea and Hoffman's "In Their Words - Volume 1: Polish" (PDF version 2018). On page 301, ekonom is an "estate steward or supervisor". On page 305, komornik is "a landless peasant who lived with a wealthier peasant; tenant farmer; also a term for a sheriff's officer (archaic)". I suspect that the use of komornik as a sheriff's officer preceded its use as a tenant farmer. Hope this info helps.

Mike

SPG

Joined: 29 Jul 2011
Replies: 33

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Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2025 5:33 pm Post subject: Re: kmornik, ekonom

MikeP wrote:

Thank you. This is at least the second instance I’ve had with a noble identified as a komornik. (Completely different family lines ans places.)

I also have Shea ans Hoffman’s books. I think you are correct that the sheriff definition is older. It just seems to me, a modern person, that a sheriff (used in the older sense of bailiff), is a government occupation rather than an occupation in service of a noble landlord. I could be completely wrong.

I included the tidbit about ekonom because it seems like an occupation that someone who was a bailiff and/or noble would have. They’d have the experience and/or education to do the necessary accounting than a peasant probably would not have.

Bartłomiej was definitely a noble according to multiple records. His first wife was seemingly better off. Her only child from her first marriage had local notable godparents (eg, the pastor of Włocławek, who trekked out to the country to be the first godfather).

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