A Historical and Archival Guide to Székesfehérvár (Székesfehérvár, 2003)

A SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF SZÉKESFEHÉRVÁR

Hungarian counties. They established the town's handicraft and guilds. The first were the stone-carver, stonemason, tobacco, bootmaker and cartwright guilds; bv the 1 740s all notable crafts had guilds. (Nearly 100 years later there were as many as 30 guilds.) It remained an important task further on for the magistracy to people the town. Applicants for civic rights were demanded to possess a civil property; craftsmen were expected to become a member of the guild. The arbitrary conduct of the Treasury administration and the distortions of the military commandant ended with the town dwellers' appeal to Leopold I in July 1688 for renewing the old franchise of the town. Their request was not fulfilled this time; they did not get back the right of keeping three-day annual fairs (Saint George, Whitsun, Saint Demetrius, Saint Michael). The fairs were continuously announced in spite of the fact that only the Charter of 1 703 provided the following days for the town: the Sunday before Easter (8 Februaiy- 14 March), Saint George day (24 April), Saint Ivan day (24 June), Saint Bartholomew (2 August). In addition to annual fairs there were weekly markets too, which were held on Wednesday and Saturday. The struggle for regaining the town's franchises resulted in partial success in I 693. Like other royal free boroughs Székesfehérvár strove to get villages in its agglomeration. Leopold I confirmed the Charter of 1541, in which Ferdinand assigns Csór, Kuti, Gyón and Isztimér domains belonging to Palota castle, to the dwellers of Fehérvár. He also confirmed the diploma of Ferdinand, which endows the town with properties around Vál, Velence, Vereb and Tabajd. From 1701 Székesfehérvár and other reacquired towns (Buda, Esztergom, Pest) raised a claim together to confirm their former franchises and reform their coats-of-arms. Their common espousal brought about its result; the town acquired its charter on 23 October 1703. The Diploma Leopoldinum provided several privileges for the town. Most important of them were the electoral right of the judge and the Council, exemption from duty and the right to keep the annual fairs mentioned above. The town obtained its present day coat-of-arms this time. The rights the Diploma granted did not come into force, partly because the events of the Rákóczi war of independence did not make