Urbs - Magyar Várostörténeti Évkönyv 9. (Budapest, 2014)
Abstracts
Abstracts KATALIN GÖNCZI Urban Peace and Property Protection in the Legal System of the Medieval Buda One of the notional characteristics of the Western-type medieval city was the urban peace, which was to ensure the tranquillity of the citizen community, the commerce and the craft industry. The urban norms were separated in this sense as well from the legal structure of the surrounding territories. Rules of criminal nature appeared relatively early in the urban law. The urban peace is presented in a triple sense in the Buda Law Book created in the 15th century which is one of the most crucial sources of the Hungarian urban law, namely provisions relating to urban peace and protection of the restfulness of the markets and the homes can be found in it. In one part of the Law Book the author named the breach of the peace in form of particular facts. That let one to draw conclusions regarding the background knowledge of the author. The Buda Law Book is a significant legal basis from the aspect of legal transfer and the interaction between the Central and Eastern European urban law. The violation of the compurgatorial oath taken by compurgators and the breach of the peace of the homes which were established in the German Law, are legal categories in the Buda Law Book. According to the use of legal terminology probably the author was instructed in the law. The source of the German legal thoughts could be the Sächsisches Weichbildrecht, the legal guidelines created by the juries of Magdeburg for Boroszló in 1261 and Görlitz in 1304. Protection of the civilian property had a crucial role in Buda as well that is reflected by the relatively strict forms of punishment for the triple category of theft. Besides the theft, the determination of other crimes (for example the disposal of found objects, the counterfeiting of currency and goods) served the better the protection of the civilian property. With reference to the breach of the peace of the community (the Law Book classifies here the thief, the robber and the forger) the jury prosecuted on his own initiative. The detailed norms noted in the Buda Law Book overall aimed the pursuance of the public good, the bonum commune. Protection of the urban peace and the property in the norms of the law of Buda formed the first pillar of the legal historical term, Max Weber ’s occidental city model. URBS. MAGYAR VÁROSTÖRTÉNETI ÉVKÖNYV IX. 2014. 323-333. p.
