Melega Miklós (szerk.): Remembering St Martin in his birth place (Szombathely, 2016)

T

he village of Szentmárton lies along the left bank of the brook Gyöngyös. in the eastern parts of present-day Szombathely, where the eastern eemetery of the ancient town was located and which was in constant use for some 2,000 years until 1962, even if with a reduced area The village had been established on the northern side of the free area framed by the junction of two roads leading from Szombathely to the Sast - the road to Zanat and the old Bálványkő road At the end of the 13th century there is an indirect mentioning of the place in the deeds, but the name of the village first appears in the documents in 1509.'

Built around the church, the village was hit by disasters during the Middle Ages. and part of it was probably destroyed and rebuilt under the name of Újfalu' (New Village) in the 16th century.- In the Diocese census of 1570 the owner of the village is named as partly the bishop

of Győr and partly the local parish priest.3 During the middle Ages both Szentmárton and the town of Szombathely had its own parish.4 However, as the latter ceased to exist in the mid-16th century, so from a church administration point of view the village ended up in a rather special situation: Szombathelye cemetery lied within its territory and its only parish next to it.

The situation changed fundamentally in 1638, when Bishop of Győr Draskovich György - against protests from the people of Szombathely - settled the Dominican monks here, handing over the building and the estates of the parish to the Order.

Thanks to its favourable geographical location the village started to grow; a number of craftsmen and merchants started their business here, while transportation provided threat opportunities for the locals to earn some extra income. Snjoying nationwide popularity at the time, Sngel l. L's soap and candle factory operated here in the late 1800s.5

As the town was extending to the surrounding areas and because Szentmárton and Szombathely was closely linked both economically and demographically it was only natural that the village officially became part of Szombathely in 1885.

Literature and notes

1 Kiss Gábor - Tóth Sndre - Záőorhipi Czigány Balázs: Savaria-Szombathely története. A város alapításától 1526-icf Szerb. Sím Pál. Szombathely, 199S. 64. p. (Szombathely története; 1.) 210. p.- https://arehivcs.hun^aricana.hu/ hu/urbarium/hu_mnl_ol_el56_a_ fascl!9_no006 (Retrieved on' 7th October 2016)

3 magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Vas megyei Levéltára (hereinafter: ITINL, VatTlL) Helytörténeti cédulakatalógus (hereinafter: He) Szentmárton. 5. p. (ITINL Die. Vas II. köt. 6 158. 24. f.)

' Tóth Sndre - Zágorhioi Cziűány Balázs: Források Savaria-Szombathely történetéhez. A római kortól 1526-ic(. Szombathely. Л994. 68. p. (Acta Sava- riensia: 9.)

0 FtlNL ValTlL He Szentmárton.

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