Horváth M. Ferenc (szerk.): Vác The heart of the Danube Bend. A historical guide for residents and globetrotters (Vác, 2009)

Tartalom

50

VÁC IN THE ÁRPÁD ERA (895-1 301)

the Slavic language is indicated by the names of natural waters and places as well as the names of parts of the fields around towns and villages, a great many of which are of Slavonic origin even today.

The settlements in the areas of the Börzsöny and Cserhát Mountains often had Slavonic names in the Árpád era, like Verőce (meaning "water with lots of whirlpools" - originally the name of a brook after which the village was named); Szokolya (from Slavonic "sokol" meaning “hawk”) or Nógrád (meaning "new castle"). It must have taken centuries for the Hungarian language to supplant the original languages of the Slavs and the Avars. The deeds of the Árpád era often mention servants and noblemen of Slavonic names in the Danube Bend. Assimilation is shown by certain settlements whose names related to a

man bearing a Slavonic name, but in a characteristically Hungarian way. An example is Naszály, which means (a man with) a "big nose". A thousand years ago this man might have been a notable dweller or an owner, or even the founder of the village, which does not exist any more. The place was named using his name without the Slavonic suffix '-ov' or 'ovce! The village eventually gave its name to the hill above it. Another example is Vác, which is a short form or a nickname for the Slavonic name Vaclav (Vencel). The "godfather" might have lived in the first half of the 11th century in a mainly Hungarian-speaking environment, where other Slavonic names could have been used as well. However, there are quite a lot of place names all around Hungary whose origins are unknown. Some of these might be related to the Avars, who merged with the Hungarian population, but about whom we do not even know whether they belonged to the Turkish or Mongol or whichever family of languages. (Some experts hypothesise that most of the late Avars spoke Hungarian, so they met their relatives who arrived here with Árpád's people.)

It was Prince Géza (reigned 972-997) and his son St István (Stephen) I (Vajk by his pagan name, reigned 997-1038), founder of the state, who dispersed the tribes in order to suppress their chieftains' power. The fragments of each tribe were settled among alien tribes and peoples, and the new villages were often named after the settlers' original tribes. This was how the predecessor of today's Dunakeszi was named after the tribe called Keszi, Diósjenő after Jenő and Pócsmegyer after Megyer/Magyar, the latter becoming the name of the whole country. The state

ÁRPÁD AGE 895-1301

1075

1077

10-12 század

1209

The charter of Garamszentbenedek: the first

King Géza I is

Several minor

The register of the Abbey

chartered record of the town. The first resident of

buried in the

settlements within

of Garamszentbenedek:

Vác known by name: Nesku, the goldsmith

cathedral

the area of Vác

the goldsmiths ofVác