The birth of oppida: small towns in Hungary in the Angevin period

Katalin Szende

doi:10.1017/s0963926821000298

Abstract

AbstractThis article revisits the origins of small towns in medieval Hungary from the perspective of their owners and seigneurs. The fourteenth-century development of small towns on the estates of private landowners resulted from the coincidence of several factors. Among these, the article considers the intersection of royal and private interests. The aristocrats’ concern to endow their estate centres with privileges or attract new settlers to their lands was dependent on royal approval; likewise, the right to hold annual fairs had to be granted by the kings, and one had to be a loyal retainer to be worthy of these grants. The royal model of supporting the mendicant orders, which were gaining ground in Hungary from the thirteenth century onwards, added a further dimension to the overlords’ development strategies. This shows that royal influence, directly or indirectly, had a major impact on the development of towns on private lands in the Angevin period (1301–87).

Highlights

The strong presence of market towns in the urban network of medieval Hungary had been noticed by historical scholarship as early as the late nineteenth century
The aristocrats’ concern to endow their estate centres with privileges or attract new settlers to their lands was dependent on royal approval; likewise, the right to hold annual fairs had to be granted by the kings, and one had to be a loyal retainer to be worthy of these grants
The earliest settlement that received a charter of privilege from a private landowner in medieval Hungary was Kőszeg, a small town closely attached to the residence of the landowning family, who took their name Kőszegi from the same site

Summary

Privileges concerning seigneurial towns

Awarding charters of privilege as a means of settling the status of towns and giving them prerogatives in legal, economic and ecclesiastic matters was a practice of Hungarian kings from the reign of King Emeric (1196–1204) onwards. The earliest settlement that received a charter of privilege from a private landowner in medieval Hungary was Kőszeg, a small town closely attached to the residence of the landowning family, who took their name Kőszegi from the same site (see Figure 1).. An important new phenomenon during Charles’ reign was the increased participation of private landlords in the conscious development of their settlements through granting privileges Such settlement charters were issued by the dozen throughout the fourteenth century by the king, ecclesiastic landowners such as bishops, abbots, priors, chapters (for instance that of the Szepes/Spiš chapter or the chapter of Zagreb32) and by members of aristocratic and noble families.. The road in this direction led through the fostering of trade

Seigneurial towns and annual fairs

Seigneurial towns and the patronage of mendicant orders

Findings

Conclusions