H. Kolba Judit szerk.: Historical Exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum Guide 2 - From the Foundation of the State until the Expulsion of the Ottomans - The history of Hungary in the 11th to 17th centuries (Budapest, 2005)

ROOM 7 - Transylvania and Royal Hungary (second half of the 16th century-17th century) (Judit H. Kolba)

districts were supervised by district administrators. The most comprehensive legal manual, Directio methodica... by János Kithonich, recalls the life of the counties. It was translated into Hungarian in 1647 by János Kászoni. The size of the lesser nobility kept increasing. Letters patent of nobility were given as rewards or could be bought. A relic of these is the letter patent granting arms to the Szapáry family, which established itself brilliantly in subsequent times. The letter was issued by Ferdinand II in 1620. The seals, established in the 16th century, as shown by the examples of Győr, Nógrád and Komárom, bore the coat of arms of the county. According to the seals of the royal free town of Lőcse (Levoca) and the mining town of Selmecbánya (Banská Stiavnica), civil communities acted similarly. LIFE IN THE ROYAL FREE BOROUGHS AND MINING TOWNS AND THEIR RELICS The royal free towns of Hungary (Buda, Pozsony [Bratislava], Kassa [Kosice], Nagyszombat [Trnava], Eperjes [Presov], Lőcse [Levoca]) conducted long-distance commerce and were centres of handicrafts. Their citizens, the majority were of German origin, were organically integrated into Hungarian commerce, some of them into the export of the cattle from the Great Plain. Through their viticulture they took part in wine exporting and also handled the importation of industrial articles. The mining towns of Upper Hungary specialized mainly in silver-, copper- and, to a lesser degree, in iron-ore mining, though their production had declined by the 17th century. The centre of minting was invariably Körmöcbánya (Kremnica), the copper of Besztercebánya (Banská Bystrica) was also quoted on Western markets. Objects connected with mining: the silver flask made in 1626 and the covered goblet from Selmecbánya (Banská Stiavnica) (1673) are decorated with scenes from the life of the miners. The six silver hammers in the form of knapping hammers, with German inscriptions and chased scenes from the activity of miners, may have been examination work. The 16th-century guild book of the Selmecbánya miners still exists. Relics of a characteristic custom of the period are the miners' coins: the employees of the mines received a part of their wages in copper coins which they could use for shopping in the shop of the mine-owner. The Besztercebánya (Banská Bystrica) master of the silver tankard, Mihály Allert, depicted Oriental merchants. Above the glass cabinet we have placed views of the towns: Besztercebánya (Banská Bystrica), as well as Pozsony (Bratislava) and Eperjes (Presov). THE ARCHITECTURE OF ROYAL HUNGARY IN THE 17TH CENTURY We display here some outstanding historic buildings from the Late Renaissance or Early Baroque period in Royal Hungary. Outstanding remains of the so-called friezed architecture are the country residence of the Thurzó family in Bethlenfalva (Beclean) and that of the Berthótys in Fries (Fricovce) from the 1620s, as well as the Thurzó house in Lőcse (Levoca). The campaniles close to the churches of Poprád (Poprad), Podolin (Podolinec) and Szinye (Svinia) were architectural masterpieces; the most interesting is the one from Késmárk (Kezmarok). The ceremonial hall with wall-paintings representing battle scenes in the Nádasdy castle at Sárvár and the Renaissance manor-house with an arcaded courtyard in Sopronkeresztur are early masterpieces of Hungarian Baroque architecture; the Esterházy palace at Kismarton and the Jesuit church at Kassa (1681), with its facade in the northern Italian style, are striking examples of the coexistence of Renaissance and Baroque art.