Urbs - Magyar várostörténeti évkönyv 1. (Budapest, 2006)

Abstracts

to call these Transylvanian towns free towns. Several types of the market-towns existed and developed further in the early modem Transylvania. These settlements arc most frequently called oppidum nostrum, oppidum liberum, which gives a ground to call them free or privileged market-towns. Naturally, it allows further differentiation that in the sources oppida were also distinct according to their national status and their place in the hierarchy of the orders: e.g. oppidum Siculicale, oppidum Saxonicale, moreover, a new settlement type, the oppidum hajdonicale occurs from the beginning of the seventeenth century on. In the case of villages we can also find privileged settlements, these are called libera possessio, or libera villa in the sources, the name free or privileged village could therefore be used for them too. The villages usually got certain privileges in accordance with their individual status. Finally, it can be pointed out that concerning the history of Transylvanian towns in the time of principality there are - for the time being - more questions than answers. The exposure of a great number of new sources would be necessary to clarify certain fundamental definitions as well. The author made only an attempt for this in her survey. ISTVÁN KENYERES The Struggle of Pest and Buda until the Attainment of the Privileges of 1703 On the 23 October 2003 Budapest reached an outstanding anniversary: 300 years ago on this day Leopold I, the king of Hungary and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1657-1705) signed the privileges that confirmed the rights of Buda and Pest as free royal towns. However, the partner towns obtained the Diploma Leopoldinum of 1703 after more than one and a half decades of persistent struggle. Buda and Pest, the most distinguished towns in medieval Hungary, belonged to the elite of the free royal towns, the tavernical towns. As so called neoacquistica (from the Turkish occupation newly liberated) territories they did not get returned under the administration of the country automatically. The two towns were subordinated to the Buda Chamber Inspectorate established in 1686. The Inspectorate belonged to the Viennese Court Chamber and it was renamed Buda Chamber Administration in 1690. The repopulated towns tried almost from the beginning to regain their medieval privileged status. After the first unsuccessful attempts, Buda tried to acquire its former rights with the help of the charter found in 1692. The document was issued by János I. (of Szapolya), king of Hungary (1526-1540) and dated in 1540. It contained several privileges. Pest tried to reach the same aim by presenting a law book based on free royal legal status in 1697. Both attempts failed, primarily because at the beginning of the wars of reconquest against the Turks (1683-84) the Viennese court had already decided not to acknowledge any old