Kisné Cseh Julianna (szerk.): Annales Tataienses IV. Arx – oppidum - civitas. A vártól a városig. Tata évszázadai. Tata Város Önkormányzata – Mecénás Közalapítvány, Tata, 2004.
Szatmári Sarolta: Tata a magyarországi érett középkor településhálózatában
Tata in the township network of the Late Middle Ages in Hungary Sarolta Szatmári The 50th anniversary of Tata's being declared a town again provides an opportunity for a fresh survey of the data of township history. The prehistoric, Roman and Avar sites discovered since the publication of the first monographs collectively attest to the fact that the region has long been suitable for human settlement. In the course of the excavation of the fortified castle in Tata (1964-72) my research on architecture required a thorough study of the medieval township. My essay was an attempt to summarise the results of contemporary archaeological research and the written data concerning the life of the township in 1000-1526. In short, the earliest detectable core of the township (and later, the town) was the Benedictine abbey; the medieval villages evolved around it. The further organizing power of the township was the manorial (and later, royal) fortified castle built in the 14 th century, which, being the centre of the property, launched and then determined the development of the town. Tata became a market-town between 1357 and 1387; for lack of a privilege letter, we are not in the position to define a more precise date. It is worth emphasizing that Tata township (its medieval names being Thota, Thata, Dotis, Totis) performed the function of a town as early as 600 years ago and that the title granted 50 years ago merely restored this status. Moreover, taking into consideration the results of subsequent studies on local history, we can also conclude that in the Middle Ages (until the end of the 15 th century) both parts of Tata (Otata and Újtata) performed actual town functions. The principal factor of the medieval settlement was water; settlements were established on the calc tuff platforms that rose above swamps and waters. Most probably, the centre of oldest settlement (Otata) was the present-day Kossuth Square while that of Ujtata was the present-day Harangláb (Clock-tower). Early monographs located the Benedictine abbey at 24 Fürdő Street (in the cellar of the building a reliquary cross, a corpus of Christ and Romanesque carvings were found); however, the research conducted by Sándor Petényi did not prove the assumption. The Medieval settlements (Otata and Ujtata, Saint Ivan's Hill) had parish churches. We are in the possession of information on the exact location of the Gothic church standing on Saint Ivan's Hill, on whose apse Jakab Fellner built the Calvary Chapel. The medieval fortified castle was built between the two settlements in the 2nd half of the 14 th century; as for its system, it is suggestive of Italian water castles. The medieval mills, being the most significant monuments of the trade of Tata, appear in the sources from the 12 th century on. A principal source of ours is the coloured map of the castle and the mills (4 March 1587) housed by the Hofkammerarchiv in Vienna. 43
