  The distribution of wealth in the Hungarian medieval aristocratic society is
reported and studied. The number of serf families belonging to a noble is taken
as a measure of the corresponding wealth. Our results reveal the power-law
nature of this distribution function, confirming the validity of the Pareto law
for such a society. The obtained Pareto index $\alpha=0.92$ is however smaller
than the values currently reported in the literature. We argue that the value
close to 1, of the Pareto index is a consequence of the absence of a relevant
economic life in the targeted society, in agreement with the prediction of
existing wealth distribution models for the idealized case of independently
acting agents. Models developed to explain city populations may also be adapted
to justify our results.
