Héjjas Pál - Horváth M. Ferenc: Régi képeslapok - Old postcards - Alte Ansichtskarten, 1896 - 1950 - Váci Történelmi Tár 2. (Vác, 2001)

Város a Duna partján - történeti áttekintés

as they shot at it, it jumped into the Danube. Géza had the church built where the deer appeared for them. These legendary details were added to the Chronicle later in the 12-13 centuries, but even so they can be regarded as an important source for the early history of Vác. The name of the town was first mentioned in the foundation letter of the Garamszentbenedek Abbey, founded by King Géza I, as a neighbouring area of the property donated to him. Among the owners of the Abbey we can find the bishopric of Vác which bore the name of Sacred Mary and later the Blessed Virgin Mary ("cum episcopalibus sancte Mariae Wacensis civitatis...). Also from this source we know about the name of the first burgher of Vác, Nesku, who was a goldsmith and lived next to the Naszály forest together with his brother. Regarding the Bishopric of Vác, we know that from among the 10 dioceses founded by King St Stephen Vác was the last one. Its building, its organization and the marking of its boundaries were completed only in Géza's time. The construction of the first Cathedral was also finalised by Géza, according to the Pictorial Chronicle and the Kézai Chronicle, the king, who reigned only for a short while and was buried here. The first Bishop of Vác whom we have genuine details about from 1103 was Marcellus. The chapter was first mentioned in writing in 1196 and we know about it as being an authentic place from 1227. Its operation extended not only to the surrounding counties, Hont, Nógrád and Pest, but also to Szolnok and Csongrád. The description of its seal is known from 1331. Maria with the child Jesus in her arms is presented on it. Henceforward Vác fulfils a more and more significant role, both as a secular but mostly a church center. It is obvious because King Emery held a diocesan council here in 1193 and in 1225 he opened a religious school. When Vác became a diocesan center it was put under the jurisdiction of the landowners of the church, the Bishop and the prebendary. Town life was directed by this structure until the middle of the 19 century. It developed with undiminished energy and it became an increasingly significant Episcopal center. The Cathedral forms the core of the Episcopal Castle, the Bishop's Palace and the Canons' houses. Hardly any remains are left from the first Cathedral, except a few sculptured column-heads with leafy patterns, and a few bits and pieces of ribbon ornamented and flowery patterned basins. The precinct outside the castle surrounded by trenches was north of it, between the Danube and today's Museum Street. The Market Square was here too crossed by Nagy (today the Budapest Main Road), the town's most significant thoroughfare. These little, winding streets turned into the Market Square and their loose structure around King Géza's Square is preserved until these days. This territory was named Hungarian town from the 14 century. Further away, perhaps in the place of today's Caroline Square was the Parish Church of St Margaret. The two and a half a century development has been interrupted by the Tartar invasion. The Royal Court has been aware for a long time of the Mongolian preparation against Hungary. But the attack could not be withheld. Even before the Mohi battle on 17 March 1241, on Palm Sunday (black Sunday for Vác), they massacred the people of Vác and those who fled here, and set fire to the Cathedral. To organize the rebuilding, King Béla IV summoned meetings in the country. In August 1255 the country representatives gathered in Vác, which belonged to Nógrád until the end of the Middle Ages, to organize the properties, which were left without proprietors in Nógrád, Hont and Gömör counties. Development of urban life couldn't be based on the decreased number of local and regional population. The Bishoplandowner invited south German settlers to the town during the decades following the Tartar invasion and traced out the site of their dwelling places along the Danube, north of the town, in today's March '15

th Square. This German settlement is first mentioned in written form in a document from 1319, but it is certain that Germans lived in the area before. One of the characters of the St Margaret legend from 1273, a German woman called Elza went back to "her homeland", Vác from Margaret's grave. During the town building activity the Episcopal center has been restored containing the most significant ecclesiastic buildings: the Cathedral, the Collegiate Church with the school belonging to it. The previously mentioned precinct outside the Castle, in the proximity of the mediaeval Episcopal palace, the later Hungarian township was extended too. North of this lies the German town established by German settlers after the Tartar invasion. Its Market Square is in the place of today's Main Square with St Michael's church as its southern border. Outside the German town, north of it in the place of today's penitentiary was the Holy Spirit Hospital which also operated as a poorhouse. The Bishop of Vác was the landowner of the German and Hungarian town, although the collegiate church had properties in the latter one too. The German guests, the "hospes" settling in brought along their homeland's more developed legal customs, on the other hand they received privileges on settlement, as exemption from taxation, right to mayor- and priest election, free judicial testamentary disposition, free sentencing right in their own law cases and market holding right. All these measures greatly contributed to the development of both towns. Probably both of them had unified laws eventually. Vác Hungarian town and Vác German town were ethnically segregated, had a common magistrate but their councils operated separately, independently from each other. Their signet was different too, but we only know for sure that they engraved St Michael, their church's guardian saint on the German seal. Perhaps the emblazonry on the mediaeval Hungarian signet was similar to the genuine local seal, that is Virgin Mary holding the child Jesus. There is only indirect proof, a drawing is available in the House-History of the Reformed Church, which was drawn based on a print of an engraved signet from 1610. Her figure can be seen on the coat of arms of the town. The town's economic importance grew in the 14-15 century, utilising its favourable geographical position. Although it couldn't rise to the level of the nearby nationally significant economic and political centers, such as Esztergom, Visegrád and Buda, part of the commercial roads leading to them crossed