This book is the first comprehensive overview of how written administration was established in the royal towns of medieval Hungary. Using the conceptual framework of trust and authority, the volume sheds light on the growing complexity of urban society and the impact that the various uses of writing had on managing this society, both by the king and by the local magistrates. The present survey and analysis of a broad range of surviving sources reveals that trust in administrative literacy was built up gradually, through a series of decisive and chronologically distinct steps. These included the acquisition of an authentic seal; the appointment of a clerk or notary; setting up a writing office; drawing up town books; and, finally, establishing an archive from the assemblage of collected documents. Although the development of literacy in Hungarian towns has its own history, the questions posed by the study are not unlike those raised for other towns of medieval Europe. For instance, both the gradually increasing use of various vernaculars and the controversial role of writing in Jewish-Christian contacts can be meaningfully compared with similar processes elsewhere. The study of Central European towns can therefore be used both to broaden seemingly disparate research frameworks and to contribute to studies that take a more general approach to Europe and beyond.
Author(s): Katalin Szende
Series: Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy, 41
Publisher: Brepols
Year: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 436
City: Turnhout
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations xi
List of Figures and Tables xv
Introduction 1
On This Volume 1
Trust and Authority 5
Literate Mentalities 16
European Frameworks 20
1. Setting the Scene 25
Whose Literacy? Urban Development and Urban Society in Medieval Hungary 25
Pragmatic Approaches to Pragmatic Literacy 44
Sources and Scholarship 49
2 In the First-Person Plural: Civic Literacy and Communal Identity 61
Royal Charters and Urban Identity 62
The Beginnings of Civic Literacy 67
Civic Literacy and Places of Authentication 72
'Formulae' and Community 84
The Municipal Seal: The Matrix of Identity 87
Communal Concerns: The Contents of Early Municipal Documents 107
Conclusions: Trust in Charters 115
3. From Charters to Books and Back 121
The Institutionalisation of Writing Offices 121
Municipal Books as Instruments of Civic Governance 134
The Material of Town Books: The Use of Paper in Administration 140
The Contents of Municipal Books: Thematic Differentiation 148
Miscellaneous Books 149
Financial Registers 157
Court Books and Judicial Administration 164
Municipal Books for Property Administration 176
Town Books and Testamentary Practice 181
Outlook 1: The Beginnings of Pragmatic Literacy in Craft Guilds 185
Outlook 2: Town Chronicles and Municipal Literacy 189
Conclusions: Trust in Municipal Books 197
4. Language and Literacy 203
Language on the Research Agenda 203
Why Not Monolingual? 206
Areas of Urban Life Where Language Became an Issue 218
Administration and Justice 218
External Relations 223
Trade and Accounting 225
Pastoral Care and Preaching 229
Medieval Urban Language Use in the Light of Sociolinguistic Research 234
Conclusions: Trust in Language 244
5. 'in cartula scribere faciat' – The Uses of Writing between Christians and Jews 249
Legislation on Jews and Literacy – A Chronological Overview 250
Records of Urban Administration as Sources on Jewish-Christian Coexistence 259
Normative Legislation – Local Statutes 259
Administering Justice 262
Real Estate and Moneylending 266
Conclusions: Trust in Writing between Christians and Jews 279
6. From Charters to Archives 287
Variations on Archives 288
The Advent and Advantage of Civic Archives: Storage and Safekeeping 292
Binding Records: The Example of Sopron 306
Using Civic Archives 314
Conclusions: Trust in Archives 318
Final Conclusions 323
Appendices 335
Appendix 1: Gazetteer of Names of Towns in the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary Discussed in the Book 336
Appendix 2: Regnal Years of the Kings of Medieval Hungary 339
Appendix 3: Documents Issued by Civic Authorities in Hungary, (1244) 1255-1305 340
Appendix 4: Earliest Mentioning of Municipal Notaries (up to 1400) 352
Appendix 5: The Earliest Preserved Charters of Bishops’ Towns (Issued by the Municipality) 357
Appendix 6: Municipal Books Started before 1500 359
Bibliography 365
Index 407
