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

it so it had its share of profit. Other roads lead to the northern mining towns, the settlements of the Lowland, and to certain Austrian and south German towns. The familiar currency of that time was the mark of Vác. We can read about thirtieth duty at around this time, which, according to contemporaries was a "God-given wrong" because it was often exacted even from the privileged ones. Goods were transported first of all from the surrounding settlements for the Monday and Friday fairs, but merchants from Pest, Gyarmat and Szécsény turned up too. The concourses, annual fairs organized three times a year, on the name days of Matthias, Gál and Thomas were more important. The most important pieces of news were announced by drumbeats, they called the defendant to trial by acclamation on these fairs. After a triple acclamation the defendant who did not appear was condemned. The bishopric increased the economic significance of the town, making the lives of local people and of those who brought their goods to the fair much safer. The number of the inhabitants was around 1,100-1,200 people at the end of the 16 century, and the number of buildings was 250. The town dwellers, the Bishop's and the collegiate church's serfs lived on tillage and animal breeding. Natural potentials were favourable on the western slopes of the Naszály for viticulture and the wine of Naszály was well known. Mediaeval cellars are to be found underneath many houses. Apart from people of the land there were tradesmen, artisans and merchants in the town. There were goldsmiths, potters, butchers, boot makers, smiths, tanners, bakers, weavers, tailors, turners, millers, millwrights and wheelwrights. We know for certain that goldsmiths joined in guilds. By law all the town inhabitants were the Bishop's serfs, but even their own landowners regarded them as burghers. The town, which officially was a borough that is "oppidum", was called "civitas" the appropriate name due to privileged towns. This manifested itself in the administration of the official matters because the town could proceed in its own legal trials, it could independently arrange the cases regarding its own citizens and could take the Buda right, that is they were entitled to certain freedom as any other free royal town. In certain respect Vác was rather a town than a borough. In spite of all this, the civic development - as compared to free royal cities, where the independent burghers' class strengthened - Vác was restricted. Whereas the Episcopal presence meant safety at the beginning, it became an impediment of the free civic development. The Bishop could do a lot to promote the town's development, and a few of them, who were cultured and with a wide intellectual horizon gave an impulse to it. One of the most outstanding Bishops was Nicholas Báthori Miklós, who performed this role for a long time from 1474-1506. The town lived its golden age during this period. Báthori established a Renaissance Court, initiated huge constructions, and invited Italian artists to Vác. He had the Cathedral and the Episcopal Palace enlarged, rebuilt in Renaissance style, and exquisitely adorned. A number of our archaeological remains prove that many of the Italian masters from King Matthias' Court worked for him. He supported the arts, foreign scientists and artists visited him, he bought expensive artifacts. Galeotto Marzio, King Matthias' chronicler wrote with appreciation about Báthori's Renaissance court, about his favouritism for arts and sciences. The end of the Middle Ages surrounded the castle and both towns by a wall. The town turned towards the Danube with its back towards the Naszály, and closed itself off by a wall too. The starting point of the town wall was the still recognisable "Pointed" Corner Tower. In the place of the Cathedral there were houses forming a street and behind them there was a marshy area unsuitable for building. The boundary of the German and Hungarian towns was in line with today's Fürdő Street. The funnel shape of the Main Square has been preserved. The houses standing here signified the boundary of the town. At their end in the north there was the Vienna Gate, at the end of the Sáros (today's Széchenyi) Street the Hatvani Gate, and at the end of today's Eszterházy Street the Ferry Gate. There were three villages in the proximity: Naszály and Gyada at the foot of the Naszály hill and on its northern slope, and Csörög by the Gombás stream. In the 2

nd half of the 15 century there were two political events among the walls of the town walls but of national importance. King Matthias made an agreement with the Czech Jan Zizkra, the leader of Upper Northern Hungary belonging to the Habsburg party, in 1462. In the 1485 Parliament, where the King did not participate the diet members voted a 1 Forint war tax. After the Mohács defeat Turkish marauders appeared in 1526 beneath Vác who often fell victim to them or to the imperial troops. Vác had an important strategic position until 1552, being the northernmost border fortress of the territory under Turkish occupation, the Osmanli Realm. The occupied area was even more extended with the defeat of the fortresses in Nógrád county and so the strategic significance of Vác decreased. Because of the disposal of the area the summoning of the town became the scene of permanent battles. In 1544 the Turks durably occupied Vác only after holding Buda in 1541. The troops of Mehmed Jahjapasaoglu the pasha of Buda occupied the town in the spring of 1544 and it remained their possession for the next half-century. The Bishop and his court, the members of the collegiate church, the monks and the wealthy mostly German burghers fled the town preceding these events. The ecclesiastical treasures didn't go into the Turks' possession, they were rushed to Nógrád's castle for safekeeping. The Turks occupied the ecclesiastical buildings and the houses of the Hungarian town, whence the inhabitants moved to the deserted houses of the German town. The discernment between the Hungarian and German towns ceased. Apart from the Hungarian town, which the Mohammedans have taken full possession of, the German town was later seized as well. The Turkish occupation was followed by a relative calm of a few decades, but during the 15 years war between 15911606 the town had several masters. The castle was set alight several times by the battling parties, for fear that the enemy would not lay their hands on it. Following the peace agreement