- Central European University
Department of Medieval Studies
H-1051 Budapest
Nádor utca 9.
Hungary
Katalin Szende
Central European University, Medieval Studies, Faculty Member
- Medieval Studies, Material Culture Studies, Urban History, History of Literacy, Medieval Archaeology, Urban archaeology, and 17 moreEarly Medieval And Medieval Settlement (Archaeology), Settlement archaeology, Medieval Hungary, Central and Eastern Europe, Settlement Patterns, Central European history, Fortified Settlements (Archaeology), Medieval urban history, Medieval Economic and Social History, Environmental History, Early Modern History, Medieval Croatian History, Historical Geography, Medieval Cities and Urbanism, Early Modern Hungarian History, Late Medieval Bohemia and Central Europe, and Medieval Historyedit
- Katalin Szende is Professor of Medieval Studies at the Central European University, Budapest. Her research concentrat... moreKatalin Szende is Professor of Medieval Studies at the Central European University, Budapest. Her research concentrates on medieval towns in the Carpathian Basin and Central Europe, with particular regard to society, demography, literacy, everyday life, and topography. She is the author of Trust, Authority and the Written Word in the Royal Towns of Medieval Hungary (2018), board member of the International Commission for the History of Towns and founding member and acting president of the Medieval Central Europe Research Network (MECERN)edit
Summer University Course, CEU Budapest, 10-20 July 2022, including a 4-day field trip to Brno and Prague. See further details and apply until 28 February:... more
Summer University Course, CEU Budapest, 10-20 July 2022, including a 4-day field trip to Brno and Prague.
See further details and apply until 28 February: https://summeruniversity.ceu.edu/courses/urban-governance-and-civic-participation-words-and-stone-urbanism-central-europe-1200-1600
Key themes: History Art history Archaeology Political thought Medieval and Early Modern studies
See further details and apply until 28 February: https://summeruniversity.ceu.edu/courses/urban-governance-and-civic-participation-words-and-stone-urbanism-central-europe-1200-1600
Key themes: History Art history Archaeology Political thought Medieval and Early Modern studies
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The talks of renowned invited experts in this online lecture series will seek the origins of civic participation in political thought and explore its forms of expression in written and visual media from Late Antiquity to the seventeenth... more
The talks of renowned invited experts in this online lecture series will seek the origins of civic participation in political thought and explore its forms of expression in written and visual media from Late Antiquity to the seventeenth century. The lecture series is co-organized by the Democracy in History Workgroup of the CEU Democracy Institute, the Department of Medieval Studies at CEU, the Department of History of Art at Birkbeck, University of London, and the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Erfurt and is convened by Zoe Opacic (Birkbeck), Susanne Rau (Erfurt), and Katalin Szende (CEU DI).
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Series: Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy, vol. 41 This book is the first comprehensive overview of how written administration was established in the royal towns of medieval Hungary. Using the conceptual framework of trust and... more
Series: Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy, vol. 41
This book is the first comprehensive overview of how written administration was established in the royal towns of medieval Hungary. Using the conceptual framework of trust and authority, the volume sheds light on the growing complexity of urban society and the impact that the various uses of writing had on managing this society, both by the king and by the local magistrates. The present survey and analysis of a broad range of surviving sources reveals that trust in administrative literacy was built up gradually, through a series of decisive and chronologically distinct steps. These included the acquisition of an authentic seal; the appointment of a clerk or notary; setting up a writing office; drawing up town books; and, finally, establishing an archive from the assemblage of collected documents. Although the development of literacy in Hungarian towns has its own history, the questions posed by the study are not unlike those raised for other towns of medieval Europe. The study of Central European towns can therefore be used both to broaden seemingly disparate research frameworks and to contribute to studies that take a more general approach to Europe and beyond.
This book is the first comprehensive overview of how written administration was established in the royal towns of medieval Hungary. Using the conceptual framework of trust and authority, the volume sheds light on the growing complexity of urban society and the impact that the various uses of writing had on managing this society, both by the king and by the local magistrates. The present survey and analysis of a broad range of surviving sources reveals that trust in administrative literacy was built up gradually, through a series of decisive and chronologically distinct steps. These included the acquisition of an authentic seal; the appointment of a clerk or notary; setting up a writing office; drawing up town books; and, finally, establishing an archive from the assemblage of collected documents. Although the development of literacy in Hungarian towns has its own history, the questions posed by the study are not unlike those raised for other towns of medieval Europe. The study of Central European towns can therefore be used both to broaden seemingly disparate research frameworks and to contribute to studies that take a more general approach to Europe and beyond.
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Medieval Buda in Context discusses the character and development of Buda and its surroundings between the thirteenth and the sixteenth centuries, particularly its role as a royal center and capital city of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary.... more
Medieval Buda in Context discusses the character and development of Buda and its surroundings between the thirteenth and the sixteenth centuries, particularly its role as a royal center and capital city of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. The twenty-one articles written by Hungarian and international scholars draw on a variety of primary sources: texts, both legal and literary; archaeological discoveries; architectural history; art history; and other studies of material culture. The essays also place Buda in the political, social, cultural and economic context of other contemporary central and eastern European cities. By bringing together the results of research undertaken in recent decades for an English-language readership, this volume offers new insights into urban history and the culture of Europe as a whole.
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Including 15 original chapters from an interdisciplinary team of contributors, this collection begins by posing the question: "What is East Central Europe?" with three specialists offering different interpretations and presenting new... more
Including 15 original chapters from an interdisciplinary team of contributors, this collection begins by posing the question: "What is East Central Europe?" with three specialists offering different interpretations and presenting new conclusions. The book is then grouped into five parts which examine political practice, religion, urban experience, and art and literature. The contributors question and explain the reasons for similarities and differences in governance and strategies for handling allies, enemies or subjects in particular ways. They point out themes and structures from town planning to religious orders that did not function according to political boundaries, and for which the inclusion of East Central European territories was systemic.
The volume offers a new interpretation of medieval East Central Europe, beyond its traditional limits in space and time and beyond the established conceptual schemes. It will be essential reading for students and scholars of medieval East Central Europe.
The volume offers a new interpretation of medieval East Central Europe, beyond its traditional limits in space and time and beyond the established conceptual schemes. It will be essential reading for students and scholars of medieval East Central Europe.
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The book provides an analysis of the last wills and related sources from three major towns of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. It discusses issues of legal history (laws and customs of inheritance), society, economy, demography and... more
The book provides an analysis of the last wills and related sources from three major towns of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. It discusses issues of legal history (laws and customs of inheritance), society, economy, demography and material culture (objects bequeathed in the last wills).
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"Die vorliegende Edition enthält den zweiten Teil des ältesten Protocollum Testamentorum aus Preßburg (Bratislava), dessen Original im Stadtarchiv Preßburg (Archív mesta Bratislavy) liegt und insgesamt 844 Eintragungen aus dem Zeitraum... more
"Die vorliegende Edition enthält den zweiten Teil des ältesten Protocollum Testamentorum aus Preßburg (Bratislava), dessen Original im Stadtarchiv Preßburg (Archív mesta Bratislavy) liegt und insgesamt 844 Eintragungen aus dem Zeitraum zwischen 1410 und 1529 umfasst. Bei den Einträgen, von welchen hier die restlichen 395 zwischen 1487 und 1529 präsentiert werden, handelt es sich fast ausschließlich um letztwillige Verfügungen.
Mit der Herausgabe des Protocollum kann dem Fachpublikum eine aufschlussreiche und für die mittelalterliche Geschichte des Karpatenbeckens seltene Quelle zugänglich gemacht werden, zumal Testamente in den letzten Jahren zunehmend in den Fokus des Forschungsinteresses ge¬raten sind. Die Edition ermöglicht eine Einordnung der Quelle in den internationalen Kontext. Im Vergleich mit anderen Bürgertestamenten aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum wird die Forschung hinkünftig in der Lage sein, Parallelen und Abweichungen sichtbar zu machen."
Mit der Herausgabe des Protocollum kann dem Fachpublikum eine aufschlussreiche und für die mittelalterliche Geschichte des Karpatenbeckens seltene Quelle zugänglich gemacht werden, zumal Testamente in den letzten Jahren zunehmend in den Fokus des Forschungsinteresses ge¬raten sind. Die Edition ermöglicht eine Einordnung der Quelle in den internationalen Kontext. Im Vergleich mit anderen Bürgertestamenten aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum wird die Forschung hinkünftig in der Lage sein, Parallelen und Abweichungen sichtbar zu machen."
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"Vorliegende Publikation enthält den ersten Teil des ältesten Protocollum Testamentorum aus Preßburg (Bratislava), dessen Original im Stadtarchiv Preßburg (Archív mesta Bratislavy) liegt und insgesamt 844 Eintragungen aus dem Zeitraum... more
"Vorliegende Publikation enthält den ersten Teil des ältesten Protocollum Testamentorum aus Preßburg (Bratislava), dessen Original im Stadtarchiv Preßburg (Archív mesta Bratislavy) liegt und insgesamt 844 Eintragungen aus dem Zeitraum zwischen 1410 und 1529 umfasst. Bei den Einträgen, von welchen hier die ersten 449 bis zum Jahr 1487 präsentiert werden, handelt es sich fast ausschließlich um letztwillige Verfügungen.
Mit der Herausgabe des Protocollum kann dem Fachpublikum eine aufschlussreiche und für die mittelalterliche Geschichte des Karpatenbeckens seltene Quelle zugänglich gemacht werden, zumal Testamente in den letzten Jahren zunehmend in den Fokus des Forschungsinteresses geraten sind. Die Edition ermöglicht eine Einordnung der Quelle in den internationalen Kontext. Im Vergleich mit anderen Bürgertestamenten aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum wird die Forschung hinkünftig in der Lage sein, Parallelen und Abweichungen sichtbar zu machen."
Mit der Herausgabe des Protocollum kann dem Fachpublikum eine aufschlussreiche und für die mittelalterliche Geschichte des Karpatenbeckens seltene Quelle zugänglich gemacht werden, zumal Testamente in den letzten Jahren zunehmend in den Fokus des Forschungsinteresses geraten sind. Die Edition ermöglicht eine Einordnung der Quelle in den internationalen Kontext. Im Vergleich mit anderen Bürgertestamenten aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum wird die Forschung hinkünftig in der Lage sein, Parallelen und Abweichungen sichtbar zu machen."
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This is an interview about the work of our dear colleague, Éva Askercz (1938-2022) as and art historian and curator at the Museum of Sopron and her contribution to art history and museology. She excelled both as a historian of applied art... more
This is an interview about the work of our dear colleague, Éva Askercz (1938-2022) as and art historian and curator at the Museum of Sopron and her contribution to art history and museology. She excelled both as a historian of applied art and interior decoration as well as the curator of the Storno-collection in Sopron and as the curator of the Hungarian Medal Biennales between 1977 and 2005.
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This paper discusses how the location of diocesan seats in the newly Christianized polities of East Central Europe were presented in the written evidence and performed on the ground, and how this conditioned the symbiosis of... more
This paper discusses how the location of diocesan seats in the newly
Christianized polities of East Central Europe were presented in the written
evidence and performed on the ground, and how this conditioned the symbiosis of ecclesiastical and secular power. The survey of the siting features and motifs behind site selection reveal a strong overweight of ducal or royal authority in choosing the locations of early cathedral cities. The ideal location was in strongholds where the ruling dynasty had already se led, recently conquered, or was just about to seize in the process of centralization Yet, the sovereigns’ scope of action was not unlimited but they had to share their power with that of the Church. This included adopting the concept of civitates as cathedral cities by the newly Christianized monarchies. The testimony of narrative sources further nuances the overall image. Compiled by clergymen loyal to both the ruling dynasty and to their own dioceses, the chronicles and saints’ lives present the foundation stories in a teleological perspective. Nevertheless, layers from the past not directly connected to the bishopric but to the pre-Christian import of the most significant sites (Prague, Gniezno and Kraków) also came to the fore. The ancient Indo-European motifs of ‘hunting for a location’ also appeared in connection with a few sites. It
was only when events of the eleventh century were narrated that politics of the authors’ own time determined the narratives.
Christianized polities of East Central Europe were presented in the written
evidence and performed on the ground, and how this conditioned the symbiosis of ecclesiastical and secular power. The survey of the siting features and motifs behind site selection reveal a strong overweight of ducal or royal authority in choosing the locations of early cathedral cities. The ideal location was in strongholds where the ruling dynasty had already se led, recently conquered, or was just about to seize in the process of centralization Yet, the sovereigns’ scope of action was not unlimited but they had to share their power with that of the Church. This included adopting the concept of civitates as cathedral cities by the newly Christianized monarchies. The testimony of narrative sources further nuances the overall image. Compiled by clergymen loyal to both the ruling dynasty and to their own dioceses, the chronicles and saints’ lives present the foundation stories in a teleological perspective. Nevertheless, layers from the past not directly connected to the bishopric but to the pre-Christian import of the most significant sites (Prague, Gniezno and Kraków) also came to the fore. The ancient Indo-European motifs of ‘hunting for a location’ also appeared in connection with a few sites. It
was only when events of the eleventh century were narrated that politics of the authors’ own time determined the narratives.
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HANS SALTZMAN, THE 1510 PLAGUE, AND THE QUARANTINE AT SIBIU. This article discusses two treatises of Hans Saltzman, a medical doctor of Styrian origin, who was employed as a town physician in Sibiu (Nagyszeben), a rich merchant town in... more
HANS SALTZMAN, THE 1510 PLAGUE, AND THE QUARANTINE AT SIBIU. This article discusses two treatises of Hans Saltzman, a medical doctor of Styrian origin, who was employed as a town physician in Sibiu (Nagyszeben), a rich merchant town in Transylvania. Saltzman earned his fame in Hungarian medical history as the one who first proposed the detention of persons coming from infected areas at the time the plague ravaged most of Hungary in 1510. We raise questions about what exact measures Saltzman proposed in his plague treatise printed in Latin in 1510 and in his second similar work published in German in 1521, and if it was likely or at least possible that a quarantine had been implemented in Sibiu in 1510. To critically examine these issues, we place them in the context of Saltzman’s life and studies, as well as the genre and tradition of plague treatises in late medieval Europe, and the various preventive and curative methods that they proposed. We also survey the institutional and personal measures that the municipal government of Sibiu could take to handle contagious diseases. We conclude that even if there is no direct proof that a quarantine was actually implemented in Sibiu, and the town may not have been able to set up the necessary infrastructure that had no precedent in landlocked Central Europe, one can observe a crucial move towards health becoming a public value and the first tentative steps towards a conscious public health policy.
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Der vorliegende Beitrag kombiniert die Ansätze der Erforschung materieller Kultur und die Geschichte der pragmatischen Schriftlichkeit, um die Relevanz der Materialität für die Etablie rung des Vertrauens in das Schreiben herauszustellen.... more
Der vorliegende Beitrag kombiniert die Ansätze der Erforschung materieller Kultur und die Geschichte der pragmatischen Schriftlichkeit, um die Relevanz der Materialität für die Etablie rung des Vertrauens in das Schreiben herauszustellen. Es stellt die maßgebende Rolle von Objekten, Materialien und Räumen in der Verwirklichung der mittelalterlichen „dokumentarischen Revolution“ in städtischen Kanzleien und Gesellschaften am Beispiel der königlichen Städte des mittelalterlichen Ungarns dar. Die Analyse der Entstehung der städtischen administrativen Schriftlichkeit hat ihren allmählichen Charakter gezeigt. Jeder Schritt stellte neue Herausforderungen und verlangte neue Formen der Glaubwürdigkeit auf institutioneller und materieller Ebene. Die Erwerbung und Aufbewahrung der städtischen Privilegien bedeutete die erste
konkrete Begegnung mit dem Schreiben auf Gemeindeebene. Danach, die Etablierung der Bedingungen für die örtliche Produktion ähnlicher Dokumente benötigte die Existenz eines Stadtsiegels als Symbols der
Gemeinde, und der vertrauten Person des Notars, zusammen mit der Beschaffung ausreichender Mengen an Schreibmaterialien und Geräte. Hinzu kam die Einführung von Papier, einer neuen Ressource, die die
materielle Voraussetzung für die Einrichtung von Städtebüchern, einem spezifi sch urbanen Genre für die Aufzeichnung von gemeinschaftlichen Angelegenheiten darstellte. Städtebücher als ein neues Format ohne
Siegel und die formalen Elemente von Urkunden verlangten Vertrauen auf einer höheren Ebene. Schließlich boten die Archive und ihre Einrichtungen neuartige Mittel zur Geheimhaltung und Aufbewahrung der städtischen
Dokumente. All dies lässt uns die Verfl echtung von Materialität und pragmatische Schriftlichkeit auf zwei Ebenen erkennen. Einerseits machte es die Entwicklung der städtischen pragmatischen Schriftlichkeit
notwendig, Schritt für Schritt neue Elemente der materiellen Kultur in den städtischen Kontext zu übernehmen. Andererseits spielte Materialität eine aktive und dynamische Rolle bei der Produktion des geschriebenen Wortes und trug zu dessen sozialer Einbettung und Akzeptanz wesentlich bei.
konkrete Begegnung mit dem Schreiben auf Gemeindeebene. Danach, die Etablierung der Bedingungen für die örtliche Produktion ähnlicher Dokumente benötigte die Existenz eines Stadtsiegels als Symbols der
Gemeinde, und der vertrauten Person des Notars, zusammen mit der Beschaffung ausreichender Mengen an Schreibmaterialien und Geräte. Hinzu kam die Einführung von Papier, einer neuen Ressource, die die
materielle Voraussetzung für die Einrichtung von Städtebüchern, einem spezifi sch urbanen Genre für die Aufzeichnung von gemeinschaftlichen Angelegenheiten darstellte. Städtebücher als ein neues Format ohne
Siegel und die formalen Elemente von Urkunden verlangten Vertrauen auf einer höheren Ebene. Schließlich boten die Archive und ihre Einrichtungen neuartige Mittel zur Geheimhaltung und Aufbewahrung der städtischen
Dokumente. All dies lässt uns die Verfl echtung von Materialität und pragmatische Schriftlichkeit auf zwei Ebenen erkennen. Einerseits machte es die Entwicklung der städtischen pragmatischen Schriftlichkeit
notwendig, Schritt für Schritt neue Elemente der materiellen Kultur in den städtischen Kontext zu übernehmen. Andererseits spielte Materialität eine aktive und dynamische Rolle bei der Produktion des geschriebenen Wortes und trug zu dessen sozialer Einbettung und Akzeptanz wesentlich bei.
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The duality of ecclesiastic and secular power runs like a red thread through medieval European history. The fact that the primacy between these two definitive powers was contested, that they were 'unranked' or their order changed... more
The duality of ecclesiastic and secular power runs like a red thread through medieval European history. The fact that the primacy between these two definitive powers was contested, that they were 'unranked' or their order changed frequently according to the circumstances, determined the dynamics of the period from the fall of the western part of the Roman Empire until the Reformation and beyond. This relationship played out in the most concentrated form in the seats of ecclesiastic power, the cathedral cities,
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This article surveys the work carried out in the past two decades on the Hungarian Atlas of Historic Towns in a Central European context. With its more than 550 atlases published in nineteen European countries in the last fifty years, the... more
This article surveys the work carried out in the past two decades on the Hungarian Atlas of Historic Towns in a Central European context. With its more than 550 atlases published in nineteen European countries in the last fifty years, the European Atlas of Historic Towns is one of the most comprehensive collaborative projects in the field of humanities. The countries of East Central Europe could join the project only after the fall of the Iron Curtain, and Hungary published its first atlas as late as 2010. In four subsequent project phases, the Hungarian atlas team has been working on nineteen atlases of eighteen towns, out of which eight have been published so far. The editors follow the standards set by the International Commission for the History of Towns and have adopted best practices represented by the Austrian, Polish and Irish atlas series. In addition to describing the source basis and the main methodological concerns, the article highlights examples of comparative urban research for which the atlases offer an unparalleled potential. The article also advocates a more extensive use of this exceptional resource.
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This 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... more
This 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). Small towns on the research agenda: Vera Bácskai's contribution In order to understand Vera Bácskai's oeuvre as an urban historian, we should remember that she started out as a medievalist. She earned a degree in History at the University of Leningrad under the direction of Professor Alexandra D. Lublinskaya, with a strong orientation towards social and economic history, and with a thorough training in palaeography and the use of archival materials. She wrote her first major work, a dissertation for the so-called Candidate of Sciences degree, on the market towns of medieval Hungary, publishing it in 1965 in a deceptively modest-looking slim monograph, long before small towns attracted the serious attention of urban historians. 1 The medieval part of her lucid synthesis † Research leading to this article has been supported by the Central European University (Budapest and Vienna), and the 'Lendület' Medieval Hungarian Economic History Research Team (LP2021-3/2015) at the Research Centre for the Humanities, Budapest. At the time of editing the special section and revising the article the author held a fellowship in the DFG-funded Kollegforschungsgruppe 'Religion and Urbanity. Reciprocal Formations' (FOR 2779) at the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies of the University of Erfurt. 1 V. Bácskai, Magyar mezővárosok a XV. században (Budapest, 1965). The 'Candidate of Sciences' title was taken over from the Soviet academic system. Its requirements were comparable or somewhat higher than those of the Ph.D. and were not connected to enrolment in a specific university programme.
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This paper discusses the development stages of pragmatic literacy in the mining towns in medieval Hungary, with particular regard to the imagery used on their seals. It concludes that the early and fast development of local chanceries and... more
This paper discusses the development stages of pragmatic literacy in the mining towns in medieval Hungary, with particular regard to the imagery used on their seals. It concludes that the early and fast development of local chanceries and literacy served first and foremost the assertion of royal power and control; whereas urban autonomy
remained limited. The same idea is transmitted through the imagery of municipal seals that often bears reference to the towns' ultimate overlord.
remained limited. The same idea is transmitted through the imagery of municipal seals that often bears reference to the towns' ultimate overlord.
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This article offers an overview of András Kubinyi's (1929-2007) oeuvre as urban historian. Kubinyi was a historian of medieval Hungary and the founder of the first Department of Medieval Archaeology at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest.... more
This article offers an overview of András Kubinyi's (1929-2007) oeuvre as urban historian. Kubinyi was a historian of medieval Hungary and the founder of the first Department of Medieval Archaeology at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. His legacy in urban history includes the history of Buda, Pest and Óbuda (the predecessors of modern Budapest), and a self-devised quantitative method to measure the centrality of settlements in Hungary in the Late Middle Ages.
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This article offers an overview of research on urban history in Hungary between c. 2010 and 2020, with special regard to its contacts with Austrian scholarship. It discusses three topics in particular: Cities and royal and princely seats;... more
This article offers an overview of research on urban history in Hungary between c. 2010 and 2020, with special regard to its contacts with Austrian scholarship. It discusses three topics in particular: Cities and royal and princely seats; legal customs and pragmatic literacy, as well as the ecological and economic aspects of urban history.
By royal force or communal will? Administrative literacy in mining towns in Hungary in the 13th-14th centuries
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This paper explores the potentials for research on mills from an urban historical viewpoint.It presents examples from four different towns in Hungary in order to draw conclusions concerning the “urbanity” of these establishments,... more
This paper explores the potentials for research on mills from an urban historical viewpoint.It presents examples from four different towns in Hungary in order to draw conclusions concerning the “urbanity” of these establishments, especially with respect to their impact on urban space. The choice of towns follows the work on the Hungarian Atlas of Historic Towns (a project aiming at giving a representative sample of different types of towns): Buda – the late medieval capital of the country;
Kecskemét – a market town on the Great Hungarian Plain; Sopron – a merchant town at the western border; and Sátoraljaújhely – a wine-growing small seigneurial town in the north-eastern hilly region. The time frame is determined by the availability of sources (historic maps, documents, or observation of still extant or excavated remains),
which range from the late thirteenth to the seventeenth/eighteenth century – in broad terms, the pre-industrial period.
Kecskemét – a market town on the Great Hungarian Plain; Sopron – a merchant town at the western border; and Sátoraljaújhely – a wine-growing small seigneurial town in the north-eastern hilly region. The time frame is determined by the availability of sources (historic maps, documents, or observation of still extant or excavated remains),
which range from the late thirteenth to the seventeenth/eighteenth century – in broad terms, the pre-industrial period.
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With well over 500 volumes of atlases published, the European enterprise of the Historic Towns Atlas (HTA) series has been the longest-running and most prolific enterprise within the field of urban history and historical geography, We... more
With well over 500 volumes of atlases published, the European enterprise of the Historic Towns Atlas (HTA) series has been the longest-running and most prolific enterprise within the field of urban history and historical geography, We intend to offer an overview of the work accomplished so far, with its strengths and eventual shortcomings
or gaps, by proposing a classification according to the main functional types of the towns handled by the atlases. To this end, we first reflect on typological analysis as a method and the conditions under which it may be used in the context of urban history in general, and the HTA series in particular.
or gaps, by proposing a classification according to the main functional types of the towns handled by the atlases. To this end, we first reflect on typological analysis as a method and the conditions under which it may be used in the context of urban history in general, and the HTA series in particular.
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full open access online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03044181.2019.1612195 The article discusses the strongly disputed and over-politicised presence of the Germans, the single most populous minority ethnic group in... more
full open access online:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03044181.2019.1612195
The article discusses the strongly disputed and over-politicised presence of the Germans, the single most populous minority ethnic group in medieval East-Central Europe, and their impact on their host societies, notably the kingdoms of Hungary, Poland and Bohemia, and the duchy of Silesia. It examines the routes and reasons for the arrival of the immigrant population, the topography of settlement and the activities pursued; and it discusses the legal background to the arrival of immigrants and their co-existence with the majority society. In most of East-Central Europe, the arrival of the German settlers led to the adaptation of ius Theutonicum, a framework created by sovereigns to accommodate the immunities and obligations of the newcomers. In Hungary, it never took root. Instead, settlers were accommodated legally by means of the liberties of hospites, until this stratum of external and internal migrants was absorbed into peasantry and bourgeoisie, respectively.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03044181.2019.1612195
The article discusses the strongly disputed and over-politicised presence of the Germans, the single most populous minority ethnic group in medieval East-Central Europe, and their impact on their host societies, notably the kingdoms of Hungary, Poland and Bohemia, and the duchy of Silesia. It examines the routes and reasons for the arrival of the immigrant population, the topography of settlement and the activities pursued; and it discusses the legal background to the arrival of immigrants and their co-existence with the majority society. In most of East-Central Europe, the arrival of the German settlers led to the adaptation of ius Theutonicum, a framework created by sovereigns to accommodate the immunities and obligations of the newcomers. In Hungary, it never took root. Instead, settlers were accommodated legally by means of the liberties of hospites, until this stratum of external and internal migrants was absorbed into peasantry and bourgeoisie, respectively.
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The article discusses the urban character of fish markets and provision of fish on the example of Sopron, in the comparative context of Buda and Pressburg/Pozsony/Bratislava in the late Middle Ages.
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in: Hatalom, adó, jog. Gazdaságtörténeti tanulmányok a magyar középkorról [Power, tax, law. Studies on the economic history of medieval Hungary], ed. Boglárka Weisz – István Kádas, Budapest: MTA BTK, 2017, pp. 231-261.
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In: Mesterségek és műhelyek a középkori és kora újkori Magyarországon. Tanulmányok Holl Imre emlékére / Crafts and Workshops in Hungary during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Studies in Memory of Imre Holl. Szerk. Benkő Elek,... more
In: Mesterségek és műhelyek a középkori és kora újkori Magyarországon. Tanulmányok Holl Imre emlékére / Crafts and Workshops in Hungary during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Studies in Memory of Imre Holl. Szerk. Benkő Elek, Kovács Gyöngyi, Orosz Krisztina. Budapest: Archaeolingua, 2017 [2018], pp. 485–506.
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[Sub nostro vexillo regali. Military duties in chaters issued to towns and hospites in medieval Hungary], in: Hadi és más nevezetes történetek. Tanulmányok Veszprémy László tiszteletére [Military and other famous stories. Studies in honor... more
[Sub nostro vexillo regali. Military duties in chaters issued to towns and hospites in medieval Hungary], in: Hadi és más nevezetes történetek. Tanulmányok Veszprémy László tiszteletére [Military and other famous stories. Studies in honor of László Veszprémy], szerk. Kincses Katalin Mária. Budapest: HM Hadtörténeti Intézet és Múzeum, 2018, 542-551.
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[Studies in Honor of András Kubinyi]
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in: Pénz, posztó, piac. Gazdaságtörténeti tanulmányok a magyar középkorról [Cash, cloth, commerce. Studies on the economic history of medieval Hungary], ed. Weisz Boglárka. Budapest, 2016, pp. 285-339
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In: Städte im lateinischen Westen und im griechischen Osten zwischen Spätantike und Früher Neuzeit. Topographie – Recht – Religion. Hg. Elisabeth Gruber, Mihailo Popović, Martin Scheutz, Herwig Weigl. Wien: Böhlau, 2016, pp. 97-121.
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The study discusses three distinct, although partly chronologically overlapping stages of the medieval Jewish presence in Hungary and demonstrates that in different periods the Jewish population played distinctly different roles. The... more
The study discusses three distinct, although partly chronologically overlapping stages of the medieval Jewish presence in Hungary and demonstrates that in different periods the Jewish population played distinctly different roles. The roles were defined by the Crown's demands to which different persons or families from different layers of Jewish society responded.
If you wish to receive a copy of the article for personal study, please send a request to szendek@ceu.edu
If you wish to receive a copy of the article for personal study, please send a request to szendek@ceu.edu
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The aim of this brief account is to examine how the roles of Krakow and Buda as nodal points changed over time; and how and why these two cities became connected to each other and also to broader trade networks of medieval Europe.
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Hungarian version of the article, maps by András Vadas, with complete bibliography of the volume. English version of the volume in preparation.
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Research Interests: Urban History, Medieval urban history, History of Hungary, Medieval Literacy, Medieval Jewish History, and 4 moreMedieval Hungary, Medieval Economic and Social History, Research Medieval Judaism and Jewish Christian relations in Late Antiquity and Medieval age., and History of Bratislava (Pressburg/Pozsony)
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. In: Nagyvárad és Bihar a korai középkorban. (Tanulmányok Biharország történetéről 1.) Szerk. Zsoldos Attila. Nagyvárad: Varadinum Kulturális Alapítvány, 2014. 101–128.
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Review of the volume Biographies of a Reformation. Religious Change and
Confessional Coexistence in Upper Lusatia, c. 1520–1635
Confessional Coexistence in Upper Lusatia, c. 1520–1635
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Review of the volume "Ich, Helene Kottannerin. Die Kammerfrau,
die Ungarns Krone stahl" translated and commented by Julia Burkhardt and Christina Lutter, with and emphasis on the connections to Sopron and Karl (Károly) Mollay (1913-1997)
die Ungarns Krone stahl" translated and commented by Julia Burkhardt and Christina Lutter, with and emphasis on the connections to Sopron and Karl (Károly) Mollay (1913-1997)
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Kolozsvári ispotály-számadások I.A Szentlélek ispotály számadáskönyvei 1601–1650. A számadások szövegét közzéteszi Márton Tünde és Mihály Ágnes; a kötetet szerkesztette és a mutatókat készítette Flóra Ágnes; a bevezetőt írta Rüsz-Fogarasi... more
Kolozsvári ispotály-számadások I.A Szentlélek ispotály számadáskönyvei 1601–1650. A számadások szövegét közzéteszi Márton Tünde és Mihály Ágnes; a kötetet szerkesztette és a mutatókat
készítette Flóra Ágnes; a bevezetőt írta Rüsz-Fogarasi Enikő. Transylvania Emlékeiért Tudományos Egyesület, Budapest, 2006. 304 old.
készítette Flóra Ágnes; a bevezetőt írta Rüsz-Fogarasi Enikő. Transylvania Emlékeiért Tudományos Egyesület, Budapest, 2006. 304 old.
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transl.: Tapolcai László, a szöveget és a jegyzeteket gondozta: Weisz Boglárka. Budapest, 2016. MTA BTK Történettudományi Intézet. 320 p
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HANS SALTZMAN, THE 1510 PLAGUE, AND THE QUARANTINE AT SIBIU. This article discusses two treatises of Hans Saltzman, a medical doctor of Styrian origin, who was employed as a town physician in Sibiu (Nagyszeben), a rich merchant town in... more
HANS SALTZMAN, THE 1510 PLAGUE, AND THE QUARANTINE AT SIBIU. This article discusses two treatises of Hans Saltzman, a medical doctor of Styrian origin, who was employed as a town physician in Sibiu (Nagyszeben), a rich merchant town in Transylvania. Saltzman earned his fame in Hungarian medical history as the one who first proposed the detention of persons coming from infected areas at the time the plague ravaged most of Hungary in 1510. We raise questions about what exact measures Saltzman proposed in his plague treatise printed in Latin in 1510 and in his second similar work published in German in 1521, and if it was likely or at least possible that a quarantine had been implemented in Sibiu in 1510. To critically examine these issues, we place them in the context of Saltzman’s life and studies, as well as the genre and tradition of plague treatises in late medieval Europe, and the various preventive and curative methods that they proposed. We also survey the institutional and personal measures that the municipal government of Sibiu could take to handle contagious diseases. We conclude that even if there is no direct proof that a quarantine was actually implemented in Sibiu, and the town may not have been able to set up the necessary infrastructure that had no precedent in landlocked Central Europe, one can observe a crucial move towards health becoming a public value and the first tentative steps towards a conscious public health policy.
Research Interests: Urban History, Medieval urban history, Central European history, History of Public Health, History of Plague, and 10 moreHistory of Central and Southeastern Europe, Early Modern Hungarian History, Social History of Medicine, Medieval Hungary, East-Central European History, Medical History, History of Medicine in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, Quarantine, History of Epidemics, and History of Transylvania
This special section pays tribute to Professor Vera Bácskai (1930–2018), an outstanding Hungarian urban historian, one of the founders and former presidents of the European Association for Urban History. Vera Bácskai was an influential... more
This special section pays tribute to Professor Vera Bácskai (1930–2018), an outstanding Hungarian urban historian, one of the founders and former presidents of the European Association for Urban History. Vera Bácskai was an influential personality whose work and personal impact inspired generations of younger scholars. She played an instrumental role in the institutionalization of modern social and urban history in her homeland, while she also had a great share in creating the international networks and organizations that define the framework for European urban history to this day. The introductory article reflects on her life, career and impact, and it offers a thematic introduction into the articles of the special section.
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This article surveys the work carried out in the past two decades on the Hungarian Atlas of Historic Towns in a Central European context. With its more than 550 atlases published in nineteen European countries in the last fifty years, the... more
This article surveys the work carried out in the past two decades on the Hungarian Atlas of Historic Towns in a Central European context. With its more than 550 atlases published in nineteen European countries in the last fifty years, the European Atlas of Historic Towns is one of the most comprehensive collaborative projects in the field of humanities. The countries of East Central Europe could join the project only after the fall of the Iron Curtain, and Hungary published its first atlas as late as 2010. In four subsequent project phases, the Hungarian atlas team has been working on nineteen atlases of eighteen towns, out of which eight have been published so far. The editors follow the standards set by the International Commission for the History of Towns and have adopted best practices represented by the Austrian, Polish and Irish atlas series. In addition to describing the source basis and the main methodological concerns, the article highlights examples of comparative urban research for which the atlases offer an unparalleled potential. The article also advocates a more extensive use of this exceptional resource.
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A Tudományos Iskola eredetileg kitűzött céljait sikerült megvalósítanunk. A Kubinyi András vezetésével indult modern módszertannal dolgozó középkori gazdaságtörténeti kutatásoknak közös platformot biztosítottunk, és egy egységes szemlélet... more
A Tudományos Iskola eredetileg kitűzött céljait sikerült megvalósítanunk. A Kubinyi András vezetésével indult modern módszertannal dolgozó középkori gazdaságtörténeti kutatásoknak közös platformot biztosítottunk, és egy egységes szemlélet alapján összefogtuk az eddig külön szálakon futó kutatómunkát. A Tudományos Iskola keretén belül három konferenciát rendeztünk és a különálló cikkeken túl kiadtunk három önálló kötetet. A Tudományos Iskola eredményeit összefoglaló tanulmánykötet (Gazdaság és gazdálkodás a középkori Magyarországon: gazdaságtörténet, anyagi kultúra, régészet. Budapest, Martin Opitz Kiadó) megjelentetésével a középkori magyar gazdaságtörténet első modern feldolgozását hoztuk létre, amely reményeink szerint ? kézikönyvszerű használhatósága miatt is ? évtizedekre a területen folyó munka alapját fogja képezni. | All major goals of the Scientific School have been achieved. We created a common platform for the modern medieval economic historical research that had been init...