A Historical and Archival Guide to Székesfehérvár (Székesfehérvár, 2003)

A SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF SZÉKESFEHÉRVÁR

well-attended national assemblies took place outside of the walls in the outskirts of the town, in Andrásgyep and in the Föveny. The sources tell little of the town's everyday life, but the public events evolved thriving industry and trade. In the Middle Ages the best known unit of measurement was the "pondus Abensis". The archives of the Johannite convent, in fact the only medieval archives of Fehérvár in existence, have data about the measurements. The annual fairs of Fehérvár are also famous; Székesfehérvár was an important stop for the cattle trade aiming at Italy and Venice in the 15

th century. The main parts of the town were the following: the castle was called Castrum (fortress) at the time, the northern suburb is mentioned as Civitas Exterior, the western suburb as Nova Civitas, the southern suburbs as Nova Villa. The Ingovány quarter was situated to the north of Nova Civitas. The Latin quarter was to the north of the castle in the Buda suburb. The Italian and Walloon settlers, craftsmen and merchants were living here since the time of Stephen III. Their large-scale immigration to the town was in the period between 1147 and 11 72. (Their 13

th century legal status is indicated by the fact that they had their own seal). We know some street names from the time of King Matthias of Hunyad: Szent Péter (Saint Peter) street was mentioned in 1439 in the castle, and Szent Bertalan (Saint Bartholomew) street in 1479. The first street name of the Sziget was Zsemlyesütő (Semlysythewtca) (Rollbaker) from 1484. Tradition says that Fehérvár was granted its first charter by King Saint Stephen. According to this Béla IV confirmed the town franchise, but it is more likely to be gained from a succeeding monarch, probably from Stephen III. We do not know the town's first charter, however, some of its elements survived in transcripts. (Legal history accounts this franchise as the 'Fehérvár' laws.) The town residents elected the Chief Constable, the 12 members of the council, which administered justice over the inhabitants. Residents of Fehérvár were provided with exemption from duty all over the country. The privilege originating from Stephen I served as model for centuries for most of the towns. The Tatar invasion left few castles and fortresses in Transdanubia that did not fall prey to the conquerors. Although the invasion reached Fehérvár the thawing swamps prevented the Tatar's pénétra-