Majorossy Judit: Egy történelmi gyilkosság margójára. Merániai Gertrúd emlékezete, 1213 - 2013. Tanulmánykötet - A Ferenczy Múzeum kiadványai, A. sorozat: Monográfiák 2. (Szentendre, 2014)
I. - Szabó Péter: A pilisi királyi erdő a középkorban
Péter Szabó: The Royal Forest of Pilis in the Middle Ages Conclusion In an administrative sense, Pilis in the Middle Ages was a Royal Forest (silva regalis), the Hungarian version of the western European forestum. In its early history, its specific features included hunting lodges and Forest-specific servant populations. In the thirteenth century, similarly to other private royal estates, Pilis was transformed into a county, but it kept its physical boundaries. As part of a deliberate process, the newly built castle of Visegrád took over the functions of the hunting lodges, which were in turn transformed into monasteries. In other words, the royal house completed the modernization of the region without losing control over it. This system functioned until general changes in the Late Middle Ages swept it away. Pilis became one of the regular ‘noble’ counties with certain anomalies that remind us of its origins as a Royal Forest. Due to lack of written sources and palaeoecological research, little is known thus far about the historical ecology of the Forest. The analysis of the settlement structure shows that the area around Pilis was settled early, and apart from the desertion of smaller settlements characteristic of the entire Kingdom, the settlement structure was stable until the Ottoman occupation in the sixteenth century, when the whole area was depopulated. The territory surrounded by settlements was most probably covered by woodland. Once there were Royal Forests all over Europe. With few exceptions, however, little remains nowadays of their former social and physical structure. A peculiarity of Pilis is that several elements that made up the Royal Forest are still there: the royal castle of Visegrád, the woodlands with the most important wild animals (red deer, roe deer and wild boar), and - although only in ruins - some of the monasteries. On the other hand, the settlement structure has been completely transformed. It is nonetheless important to appreciate the connection between the history of the Forest and the existence of the many rare plant species and associations that are now part of the Duna-Ipoly National Park. Elements of continuity in the special status of Pilis certainly contributed to the survival of this unique landscape right next to the most important centres of Hungary. 82
