G. Merva Mária: Írók és múzsák Gödöllőn (Gödöllő, 2013)

WRITERS AND MUSES IN GÖDÖLLŐ (Summary in English)

WRITERS AND MUSES IN GÖDÖLLŐ The history of Gödöllő was written by her landowners in power. The pelican, feeding her nestlings with her own blood, in the coat-of-arms of Gödöllő symbolises the town's potential for regeneration and renewal. Her past has two great phases of development. First, the baroque thriving in the 18th century, which is marked by the name of Antal Grassalkovich, and then the five decades between the Compromise of 1867 and the end of World War I. Gödöllő is excellently situated in beautiful surroundings about 30 kilometres east of the capital. The historical manuscripts in existence first mention the name of the settlement in 1349. From a deed of that time we know that King Louis the Great bestowed Gödöllő upon one of his court knights, Péter Pohárus. In 1492 the settlement had a towered church built of stone, however, during the Turkish occupation of the country it was destroyed completely. In the middle of the 17th century Gödöllő was populated by a Protestant community. The first resident landowner, Ferenc Hamvay, had a mansion built in the centre of the village in the 1660s. In spite of the fact that Gödöllő was situated along an important trade-route and for this reason was granted special tax exemptions, the manuscripts of the time describe it as a backward settlement consisting only of small houses. Its development began with the help of Antal Grassalkovich, a wealthy baroque nobleman. Antal Grassalkovich was a descendant of an impoverished family of lesser nobility who raised himself by his ability and unconditional loyalty to aristocracy and acquired large private property. From the beginning he had wanted to create a contiguous estate. He chose Gödöllő, which was near the capital, as the centre of his estate. It was here that he had his splendid baroque palace built, which was visited by Maria Theresa, too, in 1751. Grassalkovich also developed the village. He settled German and Slovakian Catholic craftsmen in Gödöllő. This was partly necessary because of the great construction work, but he also wanted to romanize the population. In 1763 Grassalkovich obtained of title of country township for Gödöllő with the right of holding markets. 331