Urbs - Magyar Várostörténeti Évkönyv 12. (Budapest, 2017)
Recenziók
Abstracts Boglárka Weisz The privileges of the Lower Hungarian mining towns in the Age of Sigismund The “Lower Hungarian mining towns” that had received their charters earlier, developed into independent mining towns by the Age of Sigismund. Although they did not make Sigismund rewrite and confirm their earlier charters, they took advantage from them all the time: they protected their rights referring to the charters, moreover, they expanded their privileges. As regards the officials of the mining towns, several changes can be observed compared with the Anjou Era. Instead of the free election of judges and jurors, in Körmöcbánya the comes urburarum (urburaispán) appointed the town’s judge and jurors. The office of the comes or rector, who had been appointed to head the mining towns, gradually disappeared. The office of the urburarius also ceased and it was replaced by the urburaispán (comes urburarum). The mining towns continued to elect their own mine inspectors (scansor, Steiger), but under Louis I, the royal scansor appeared, who was called chief mine inspector (sumpmus scansor, oberster Steiger) under Sigismund. A new office-holder, the probator is also mentioned in the sources. He was elected by the town having a mint but he was paid by the chamber and the monarch appointed a chief probator (supremus probator), superior to the probators. In the age of Sigismund, the citizens of the towns, including the mining towns, collectively payed their taxes to the monarch, not individually. The towns paid census, profit of the chamber (lucrum camare) and new year’s gift to the king. The latter had to be given to the queen, the steward of the royal court, the master of the treasury and the master of the doorkeepers as well. When in 1424 the queen received the mining towns, together with their taxes, there were no changes in the imposition and collection of taxes but from that time onwards, instead of the king’s master of the treasury, the town citizens fell under the jurisdiction of the queen’s master of the treasury, so he could pass judgment on them. If someone did not want to accept the judgment of the queen’s master of the treasury, he could appeal to the queen and still had a possibility to appeal to the king as a following step. Unlike other towns, the mining towns rarely had the privilege to hold markets or exemption from tolls before the age of Sigismund. In the beginning the exemption from tolls applied to the food products and tools essential for mining. It was changed by the urban code of Sigismund, dated on 15 April 1405, which gave full exemption from tolls to the mining towns in the royal custom houses. Urbs. MAGYAR VÁROSTÖRTÉNETI ÉVKÖNYV X-XI. 2015-2016. 423—43 1. p.
