The City and History 1/2025

THE CITY HISTORY 1 VOLUME 14 2025 MESTO A DEJINY THE CITY HISTORY ISSN 1339-0163 and THE CITY AND HISTORY The City and History [Mesto a dejiny] peer-reviewed scientific journal vol. 14, 2025, no.1 ISSN 1339-0163 Publication date: 10. 11. 2025 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivates 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) Editorial Board: Abdellah Abarkan (Karlskrona) Ľubomíra Kaminská (Košice) Alena Kubová-Gauché (Paris) Patrik Kunec (Banská Bystrica) Slávka Otčenášová (Brussels) Martin Pekár (Košice, Chief of the Board) Andrea Pokludová (Ostrava) María A. Castrillo Romón (Valladolid) Blanka Soukupová (Prague) Štefan Šutaj (Košice) Peter Švorc (Prešov) Max Welch Guerra (Weimar) Abstracting and indexing services: Web of Science (ESCI), Scopus, ERIH PLUS, Index Copernicus, EBSCO, CEJSH, CEEOL, MIAR, Bibliography, Humanities – Sozial und Kulturgeschichte (H-Soz-u-Kult) CONTENTS ARTICLES Beatrix F. Romhányi – Katalin Szende Cities, Towns and Market Towns in the Context of the Regional Disparities of the Kingdom of Hungary around 1500 .........................................................................................6 Miroslav Čovan Inscriptional Culture in Pentapolitana Cities in the Early Modern Period .............................................................33 Michal Franko The Role and Importance of Assessors in the Administration of Viticulture in the Little Carpathian Towns .......................................................48 Miloslav Szabó Anti-Modernism and Anti-Urbanism as Ideological Foundations of Urban Exhibitions of Slovak Culture and Art in the Nazi and Fascist “New Europe” ...........................65 HORIZONS Miroslav Kotrha The Siege of the Town and Castle of Trenčín by Army of John Katzianer in 1528 ..............................................84 REVIEWS, CHRONICLE .......................................................... 107 Articles Articles 6 Cities, Towns and Market Towns in the Context of the Regional Disparities of the Kingdom of Hungary around 1500* Beatrix F. Romhányi** – Katalin Szende*** vol. 14, 2025, no.1, pp.6–32 https://doi.org/10.33542/CAH2025-1-01 This paper examines the urban hierarchy of the late medieval Kingdom of Hungary, focusing on the distinctions and interactions between cities, towns and market towns around 1500. Based on acomprehensive database of historical–geographical research, the analysis reveals that economic functions, particularly trade and long-distance commerce, played adecisive role in the emergence of smaller urban centres, while the legal status of settlements (civitas, oppidum) only partially corresponded to their economic significance. The research highlights significant regional disparities: in some areas, such as the northeastern part of the kingdom, market towns served as dynamic reserves for urbanisation, whereas in the southwestern regions, they often remained stagnant. The findings also challenge previous assumptions by demonstrating that the distribution of smaller urban centres was shaped not only by economic potential but also by privileges granted centuries before, landownership patterns and external geopolitical pressures, including the Ottoman expansion. Additionally, the study identifies key methodological challenges, such as the integration of settlement networks and the role of rural communities in urban development. By reassessing the relationship between urban functions and spatial organisation, the article contributes to amore nuanced understanding of late medieval Central European urbanisation. Keywords: Kingdom of Hungary; Late Middle Ages; urban network; development profile. At the beginning of 2024, ateam of geographers and historians working on medieval and modern times launched aproject to investigate territorial inequalities in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary around 1500. While ambitious in scope, the project builds upon awell-established scholarly tradition. The database draws on over acentury of historical–geographical research and thematic data collection carried out by numerous scholars. Alongside the contributions of Dezső Csánki and György Györffy,1 the work * The study was developed as apart of the project OTKA K145924, PI: Beatrix F. Romhányi. ** Professor Beatrix F. Romhányi, PhD, DSc, habil.; Department of Medieval Studies, Institute of History, Faculty of Humanities, Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary, Budapest, Hungary; romhanyi. [email protected]; ORCID: 0000-0003-1121-2933. *** Professor Katalin Szende, PhD, dr. habil.; Department of Historical Studies, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary / Vienna, Austria; [email protected]; ORCID: 0000-0002-4352-2576. 1 CSÁNKI, Magyarország történeti földrajza; FEKETE NAGY, Trencsén megye; GYÖRFFY, Az Árpád-kori 1–4. 7 of historians, 2 archaeologists 3 and art historians 4 has been instrumental in shaping the field. Particularly notable is the digitised map and database developed by Pál Engel, which serves as akey resource for the new database. 5 Methodologically, the project integrates insights and approaches from recent initiatives in data collection and processing across the medieval, early modern and modern periods. These interdisciplinary precedents provide valuable models for the current research.6 Background to Research on Urban Networks and Market Towns Of all previous studies addressing the definition of market towns and their place within the broader settlement hierarchy, investigations into the definition and role of market towns themselves are the most directly relevant to our study. The significant, though often contested, contribution of late medieval market towns to urbanisation has been acentral concern among the leading economic and social historians of the twentieth century, from Elemér Mályusz (1898–1989) to Erik Fügedi (1916–1992), Jenő Szűcs (1928–1988), Vera Bácskai (1930–2018) and András Kubinyi (1929–2007), to name only those now deceased.7 All agreed that understanding market towns is crucial to comprehending the development of the Carpathian Basin in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. Their core questions – namely, the factors determining the degree of urbanity and the discrepancies between the legal status and economic significance of settlements – had much in common. Ultimately, these inquiries, like the present project, aimed to resolve the fundamental question of whether the late Middle Ages (particularly the decades between 1470 and 1530) should be characterised as aperiod of decline, stagnation or development. Nevertheless, the starting points and conclusions adopted by these scholars differed sharply. Szűcs emphasised underdevelopment and the limited economic significance of crafts and blamed the proliferation of market towns for the late medieval stagnation of urbanisation. 8 Bácskai, by contrast, argued that market towns were aspecial reserve for urbanisation and social mobility in Hungary and other countries of East Central Europe. She also stressed that market-oriented production encompassed not only crafts but also agriculture, and that, in the case of Hungary, wine and livestock marketed mostly 2 ILA, Gömör; BAKÁCS, Hont; NÉMETH, Szabolcs; NÉMETH, Szatmár; NÓGRÁDY, Sáros. The concept of the books published by Zsigmond JAKÓ (Bihar) and Elemér MÁLYUSZ (Turóc) was slightly different. Thematical data collections, such as WEISZ, Markets and Staples, LAKATOS, Mezővárosi oklevelek, and F. ROMHÁNYI, Kolostorok és társaskáptalanok were also important sources of the database. 3 See, for example, the volumes of Magyarország Régészeti Topográfiája, as well as TARI, Pest megye; SZATMÁRI, Békés megye; K. NÉMETH, Tolna megye; M. ARADI, Somogy megye; BOTÁR, Havasok keblében; and ÉDER, Mezővárosi plébániatemplomok. 4 See, for example, the volumes published by the Teleki Foundation and edited by Tibor KOLLÁR, or more recently SZAKÁCS, Dunántúl; SZAKÁCS, Szepes és Sáros. 5 https://tti.abtk.hu/cikkek/egyeb-hirek/megujult-engel-pal-adatbazisa-a-kozepkori-magyarorszagdigitalis-atlasza (accessed: 15-01-2025). 6 Cf. MTA Momentum “Ten Generations” project, as well as the OTKA projects K132475, K132609, and K145924, funded by NKFIH. 7 Cf. LAKATOS, Mezővárosi oklevelek, 11–16; GULYÁS, Mezővárosi önkormányzat, 1–22; SZENDE, The Birth of oppida, 484–487; SZENDE–SZÍVÓS, Vera Bácskai; SZENDE, Kubinyi András, 24–26, GYÁNI–KLANICZAY– TRENCSÉNYI, Introduction, 2–3. 8 SZŰCS, Városok és kézművesség, 92–111; SZŰCS, Das Städtewesen; cf. KUBINYI, Akéső középkori városi fejlődés. 8 by the market towns, were of much greater value than any other commodity apart from mining products.9 Erik Fügedi introduced new perspectives by focusing on the role of landlords in shaping market-town development.10 It was ultimately András Kubinyi who, rather than focusing on asingle aspect, developed the most balanced analysis of the urban network to date by establishing acomplex set of indicators. Building on methods used in settlement geography, and particularly central place theory, he assessed the urban status of settlements through the lens of their central functions, moving beyond the one-sided legal distinctions codified in Werbőczy’sTripartitum, the summary of Hungary’scommon law compiled in 1517.11 Kubinyi’smost significant intellectual ally in this endeavour was the geographer Jenő Major (1922–1988), who, as early as his 1944 doctoral dissertation on Sopron 12 and in his 1964 overview of the hierarchical spatial organisation of the Hungarian urban network, incorporated abroad spectrum of development indicators. Major’sinnovation lay not only in compiling these indicators but also in examining the correlations between certain factors, for example, the relationship between city populations and the total area of shops in their territory.13 In this respect, the present project can be regarded as adirect intellectual heir to this tradition of analysing settlement networks using methods of human geography. Inspired by Major’swork, Kubinyi sought sources and methods to assess more objectively the development levels and centrality of settlements. His aim was to distinguish genuinely urbanised localities from the nearly 800 settlements recorded as market towns (oppida) in late medieval sources, and to draw the line between villages and (market) towns on the one hand, and between market towns and cities on the other. In his first study, published in 1971, he employed asingle indicator, the number of students enrolled at the universities of Vienna and Cracow between 1440 and 1514, to analyse historical Hungary in its entirety. Operating on the premise that the prominence of asettlement could be measured by the number of students it produced, he ranked and grouped the settlements listed in the university registers as the origin of the students and mapped the results. The findings validated the approach: communes ranked by student numbers corresponded closely to their hierarchical positions within the spatial network, with settlements at each level of the hierarchy distributed in aregular pattern (allowing for deviations according to the geographical conditions). 14 In his editorial review, Major commended Kubinyi’sachievement: “Iconsidered the most important accomplishment to be that András Kubinyi dared to raise the questions of Hungarian urban history which, following Christaller’stheory of functional urban development, 9 BÁCSKAI, Small towns; BÁCSKAI, Városok Magyarországon, 32–40. 10 FÜGEDI, Die Ausbreitung der städtischen Lebensform; FÜGEDI, Mezővárosaink kialakulása, cf. PETROVICS, The Medieval Market Town, 359–361. 11 BAK et al., The Customary Law. 12 The thesis was only published posthumously, in 1991: MAJOR, Sopron, 42. Note 58 proves that the author knew about the book Die zentralen Orte Süddeutschlands by Walter CHRISTALLER, published in 1933, which was probably recommended to him by Tibor Mendöl. See in detail SZENDE, Major Jenő. 13 MAJOR, Amagyar városhálózatról, 46–51. 14 KUBINYI, Aközépkori magyarországi városok, maps: 64, 66. 9 can be investigated historically, and he demonstrated that even our limited range of sources permit such investigations.”15 The First Quantitative Analysis of the Hungarian Urban Network: András Kubinyi’sScoring System Kubinyi’sfirst analysis provided the foundation for his scoring system developed from the late 1980s for acomprehensive assessment of the urban network of the Kingdom of Hungary, moving beyond asingle indicator of university attendance to incorporate ten distinct factors. The system represents atheoretically robust yet pragmatic approach, tailored to the specific context of Hungarian historical sources. Alongside university enrolment data and contemporary Latin terms of legal status, the ten indicators encompass administrative functions (manorial or seigneurial residence; judiciary centre and/or place of authentication; centre of financial administration), economic activity (number of craft or trade guilds; number of weekly markets and annual fairs), the presence of ecclesiastical institutions typical for towns (mendicant friaries and hospitals) and the settlement’sposition within the road network.16 The method, subsequently known as the “Kubinyi scoring system”, constituted amajor conceptual innovation. Its novelty lies in two elements. First, the framework does not treat individual criteria in isolation but integrates them into acomplementary system capturing multiple dimensions of centrality. Second, it provides acalculation method for combining qualitative and quantitative elements into asingle weighted score, following the magnitude categorisation procedures familiar in settlement geography.17 Each criterion was scored from 1 to 6, with the sum yielding asettlement’soverall centrality score. This allowed Kubinyi to reconstruct the functional hierarchy of the settlement network more reliably than any previous attempt, producing seven categories ranging from villages with limited central functions to first-order towns.18 The system was subsequently applied by his students and colleagues in numerous studies, for example, to find acorrelation between the rank of aplace and the late medieval extension of its parish churches.19 Bálint Lakatos examined 294 settlements in terms of municipal literacy and their level of development to identify patterns in the number and distribution of official documents issued by local authorities. 20 Beyond the overall scores, the relative weight of different indicators also yielded instructive insights. Arecent study took the settlements in Lakatos’ sample as abasis for analysing the relative importance of each centrality indicator. It added up the scores for each indicator for all the settlements within each developmental level to understand the dynamics of the development of market towns. Identifying the contribution of each indicator to the overall ranking of aplace revealed multi-stage processes of markettown growth. While the role of road junctions (8) was ubiquitous and therefore less 15 Budapesti Történeti Múzeum, Hagyatéki Gyűjtemény (BTM HGy), legacy of András Kubinyi, H 5193–2020. We are grateful to Dr. Katalin Éder for her help in accessing this collection. 16 KUBINYI, Városhálózat, esp.12–16; LAKATOS, Mezővárosi oklevelek, 195–200. 17 His model could be, e.g., MAJOR, Amagyar városhálózatról, 43–45. 18 András Kubinyi’sdeath prevented him from extending his investigation to the entire country; as aresult, alongside the northwestern region, both Transylvania and Slavonia were entirely omitted. 19 ÉDER, Mezővárosi plébániatemplomok. 20 LAKATOS, Mezővárosi oklevelek. 16 Comparing Maps 1a and 1b, the first thing that stands out is the seemingly unchanged spatial structure.25 Sparsely or densely populated areas remained largely unchanged between 1330 and 1500. Nevertheless, there were some significant changes. On the one hand, the number of urban and town-like settlements multiplied, with anetwork of market towns (oppida) covering the country fairly evenly by the end of the Middle Ages. However, there were small areas, such as the Malacky District, the northern part of Spiš (Szepes) County, the western part of Békés County, the upper Bega River and the region along the Hârtibaciu River in Transylvania, where alarge number of new parishes appeared, indicating the process of settlement in these regions. On the other hand, the southeastern part of the Zagreb diocese, i.e. the three counties of Lower Slavonia, was almost completely depopulated. The collapse of the parish system in this part of the kingdom was aconsequence of the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia (1464) and the repeated raids on the area in the following decades, the effects of which can also be seen in Pozsega County.26 Initial testing of the database has also shown that the fourth main category, the set of cultural and educational aspects, may highlight communes to agreater extent than is justified, precisely because of the relative abundance of data on these aspects, including continuous variables. Overall, it also appears that there is less diversity and fewer indicators causing prosperity than indicators reflecting prosperity. This is not surprising given the nature of the data that survives and is included in the data collection. Due to this feature of the database and the preponderance of data that can be specifically classified in the fourth main category, the values of the four categories have been converted (normalised) between 0 and 100. The methods of statistical evaluation that best suit the structure of the database are still to be chosen. For the first analyses the four main categories, which form the first component of the total score of the communes, have been considered with equal weight (the second component, the distance matrices variable, is an independent factor and cannot be directly included in this analysis). As Buda has the highest number of points in each of these categories (most of the functions in categories 1 and 2 and almost all of the highest levels are concentrated here – only the highest level of ecclesiastical administration is elsewhere, namely, the archbishopric of Esztergom – and there is also ahigh quantity of data in categories 3 and 4), each category represents one quarter in the diagram of the country’scapital. The method compares all the other communes with Buda, not only in terms of aggregate scores, which may be questionable, but also in terms of the ratio between the four components. In other words, the contribution of each category to acommune’sscore can be examined, which in turn may indicate economic and cultural differences. This aspect of the analysis, which to some extent follows the logic of the above-mentioned analysis of the relative importance of the Kubinyi scoring criteria, has been termed the “development profile”. Its purpose is to 25 Regarding regional differences around 1330, see F. ROMHÁNYI – SZILÁGYI – DEMETER, AMagyar Királyság regionális különbségei. 26 DEMETER et al., Towards aNew Historical Geography. One of the key findings of the comparative analysis was that while the population of the Kingdom of Hungary grew dynamically by approximately 50% during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the population of Pozsega County appears to have remained largely unchanged between c. 1330 and 1500. At the same time, according to the accounts from 1494–1495, the county had the highest proportion of uncollected taxes in the entire kingdom. By the 1570s, this situation had shifted: the region’stax-paying capacity had become average, but its demographic composition had undergone significant transformation, with the Muslim population exceeding 50% in numerous settlements. 17 examine the extent to which factors have contributed to the centrality and development of each commune. At the elementary level of the network of parishes and settlements – that is, the individual settlements themselves – little can be said on the basis of the database, which must also be treated with caution. There is, however, one group – consisting of about 6 % of the communes, about 300 communes in total – which are well separated from the others, and even within this group there are clear dividing lines. These are the communes for which we have the highest number and the most varied types of data, and which can therefore be analysed in terms of their development profile. At the lower end of this group of communes, the dividing line is less sharp and can be distinguished precisely because not only is the number of indicators reduced but entire categories are absent, the first of which is most often the ecclesiastical and social function (the parish itself is in the first, administrative category, see above). So, the more than 500 market towns in the second group can be thought of as large villages with central functions, rather than (market) towns. These are very similar to the 750 or so villages in the top group of those settlements that have been categorized as villages from the outset. As described in the first part of this article, the study of towns and large market towns has along tradition in Hungarian historiography. In the current project, however, the definition of these settlements has changed somewhat. By including ahigh amount of data on villages in the database, and by including the spatial location of settlements as an important part of the data collection, situations have become visible where settlements that were previously treated as separate entities apparently formed afunctional commune. As their various indicators have been aggregated in this way, their position in the hierarchy of communes has also changed. The most important example of this is Buda itself, which in terms of legal status and ownership consisted of several separate parts, but functionally should be considered as asingle unit from Óbuda to Alhévíz. Furthermore, we have not even linked it to Pest on the other side of the Danube, although this could be justified.27 The cases of Poprad, Felka, Spišská Sobota (Szepesszombat) and Stráže in Spiš can also be mentioned here. All these settlements reached at least the level of market towns, but their parish churches are so close to each other that it was justified to merge them, just as they are today part of Poprad, and thus one larger town became visible instead of four very small ones. It also happens that asettlement in the immediate vicinity of atown does not appear by its scores as amarket town but as avillage because of adifferent landowner, but the two are closely linked both spatially and functionally, as in the case of Gyöngyös and Gyöngyöspüspöki. The latter had aremarkably high number of mills, which was not unrelated to the unusually large size of St Bartholomew’sChurch in Gyöngyös.28 Towns and Market Towns in the Database In what follows we will discuss some aspects of the database relating to towns and market towns, recognising that at this stage of the research we have fewer answers than questions. The logic of the questions follows the essential themes already debated by previous generations of researchers. Why did the number of market towns increase by leaps and bounds in the late Middle Ages? What was the role and importance of the settlements known as oppidum? How were they involved in the production and trade of 27 VÉGH, Buda-Pest 1300; VÉGH, Budapest születése (forthcoming). 28 VALTER, Agyöngyösi Szent Bertalan-templom, esp.95–96. 18 goods, and how did the income they generated affect the well-being of the settlements and their owners? What was the legal, economic and geographical relationship between the market towns and the larger towns, and where were they located in the hierarchy of settlements and the network of settlements in the country? An attempt has been made to answer these questions by ranking the settlements with parishes in the country. The logic of the ranking differs from the one developed on the basis of András Kubinyi’sanalysis, in that this time we consider not only the settlements with one of the predefined central functions, which are meaningful from their point of view, but all the settlements in the country, and the ranking and development is given by anumerical indicator calculated from the aggregation of all the data. In the absence of data on population and income, the level of development can only be determined using indirect data, based on the grouping and weighting of the data, which may be subject to change and refinement during the course of the research. The categories of communes presented below have been defined by drawing thresholds within the ranking. In addition to ranking and categorisation, an important tool for analysis is visualisation on maps and the observation and explanation of patterns that emerge from them. Spatial distribution maps have been produced by category and by region to show differences within and between regions. The sign of the communes on the maps has been mapped against the development profile of each commune to observe the relative proportion of central functions. The communes of around the year 1500 have been divided into seven categories, four of which are urban (Town 1 [V1], Town 2 [V2], Market Town 1 [M1], Market Town 2 [M2]) and three are rural (F1, F2, F3 – not discussed here). On the basis of the current calculation and weighting method – which, as mentioned above, is subject to some changes – Buda, as the capital of the country, has 420 points, followed by Oradea (Várad) and Esztergom with scores above 200. For the other communes, the differences are much smaller, but the boundaries of the first three categories are relatively easy to define. Cities in the first category have ascore of at least 80, those in the second category have ascore between 54 and 79 and those in the third category, i.e. the larger market towns, have ascore of at least 36. On the basis of the indicators used in the database, communes sometimes fall into categories that are quite different from their legal status, or the term given to them in the deeds, from afunctional point of view. This discrepancy is perhaps less important for settlements designated as towns than for villages, some of which have reached the M1 level (Table 2). 19 Denomination Category Town Market town Village Total V1 30 10 040 V2 12 42 054 M1 7192 21 220 M2 4311 218 533 F1 0159 551 710 F2 0106 2,728 2,834 F3 0 6 609 615 Total 53 826 4,127 5,006 Table 2: Classification of the communes in the database according to categories of functionality and wealth indicators or according to status or denomination From the overview map (Map 1b), it is immediately apparent that the different settlement categories are found in different distributions and densities over the Carpathian Basin. Within this overall trend, the distribution of central locations shows strong regional differences, not only within each category but also in the combination of categories. An interpretation of these differences can also shed light on the spatial organisation, interdependence or competition of cities, town and market towns. Accordingly, some preliminary observations on the communes in the three main categories are highlighted below. For each category, the distribution within the country, the density, and the development profile of the communes belonging to the category are the three main aspects of the analysis. The category of the most important cities (V1) includes 40 communes according to the current classification (Table 3, Map 2). In addition to the free royal cities and diocesan seats, asmall number of them were in the hands of other secular or ecclesiastical landlords. Debrecen was owned successively by the Hunyadis, John Corvin and the Szapolyai family; Gyöngyös by the Rozgonyis, then the Bátoris, followed by the Drágfis; Lipova (Lippa) belonged to John Corvin; Spišské Podhradie (Szepesvár) and Satu Mare (Szatmár) – the latter together with Németi – was the property of the Szapolyai family. Čazma was the property of the Bishop of Zagreb; Vasvár belonged to the Chapter of Vasvár. Furthermore, this group included two royal salt mines, Turda (Torda) and Dej (Dés). The density of the distribution of towns in this category is low, given the limited number of towns assigned to this category, and relatively low in terms of spatial distribution as well, with asignificant cluster in the area of the medium regni and two small clusters in the northeast and in Transylvania, respectively, while the areas of the Danube–Tisza basin, eastern Slavonia, and the counties of Pozsega, Valkó, and Szerém are empty. 20 Category V1 (n=40) Buda Above 200 points: Oradea, Esztergom Above 100 points: Fehérvár, Cluj, Zagreb, Sibiu, Pécs, Pressburg, Szeged, Košice, Pest, Braşov, Eger, Kremnica, Sopron, Győr, Veszprém, Baia Mare, Satu Mare, Bistriţa, Debrecen Above 80 points: Dej, Čazma, Turda, Vasvár, Prešov, Banská Štiavnica, Sighişoara, Kežmarok, Trnava, Levoča, Bardejov, Târgu Mureș, Mediaş, Alba Iulia, Lipova, Banská Bistrica, Gyöngyös, Spišské Podhradie Category V2 (n=54) Aiud, Bač, Berehove, Caransebeş, Carei, Cegléd, Cenad, Deva, Eisenstadt, Futog, Gyula, Haţeg, Hlohovec, Hunedoara, Ilok, Jasov, Kalocsa, Kecskemét, Kisvárda, Koprivnica, Körmend, Kőszeg, Križevci, Krupina, Miskolc, Moslavina, Mosonmagyaróvár, Nitra, Pannonhalma, Pápa, Poprad, Požega, Šahy, Sárospatak, Sátoraljaújhely, Sebeş, Sighetu Marmaţiei, Somogyvár, Spišská Nová Ves, Štitnik, Szikszó, Szombathely, Tata, Teiuş, Timişoara, Tolna, Trenčín, Uzhhorod, Vác, Varaždin, Vinţu de Jos, Virovitica, Žiar nad Hronom, Zvolen Table 3: Firstand second-order towns at the current state of research Nevertheless, the distribution is more even than the picture painted by previous research, mainly due to the above-mentioned privately owned towns, whose owners belonged to the most important magnate families in the country and, with the exception of Gyöngyös, the owners of these towns seem to have been explicitly court-centred. In terms of spatial distribution, the need for astopover and distribution centre was reflected in the case of Debrecen, Gyöngyös, Lipova and Vasvár, for example. In the development profile of the main cities, all four central function groups described above are present, but in different proportions. Contrary to the overall picture of the category which shows amarked presence of administrative, ecclesiastic, and social as well as cultural indicators, the share of the economy is two thirds or more in the above-mentioned landowners’ towns, while in several diocesan seats (Esztergom, Veszprém, Cenad/Csanád) economic factors are of minor importance and administrative and cultural factors play an significant role. The category of smaller or second-order towns (V2) comprises 54 settlements (Table 3, Map 3) whose distribution covers the entire territory of the country, including the areas between the Danube and the Tisza (Cegléd, Kalocsa, Kecskemét, Futog/Futak) where the top category (V1) was lacking, and present-day Eastern Slavonia (Požega/ Pozsegavár, Ilok/Újlak). However, this category is absent in the area of the medium regni and there were only six second-order towns in Transylvania (Aiud/Enyed, Deva/ Déva, Hunedoara/Hunyad, Haţeg/Hátszeg, Vinţu de Jos/Alvinc, and Sebeş/Szászsebes), suggesting that categories V1 and V2 were complementary. The distribution of the towns in this category was adapted to the main trade routes and included amining town belonging to private landowners (Jasov/Jászó) and asalt mine in the northeastern region in the hands of the queen at the end of the fifteenth century (Sighetu Marmaţiei/ Sziget).29 29 GULYÁS, Városi fejlődés. 21 Map 2: Development profiles of first-order towns (V1) around 1500 22 Map 3: Development profiles of second-order towns (V2) around 1500 23 In most towns within this category, economic functions predominate, typically accounting for around 50% or more (e.g., Gyula, Hunedoara, Kecskemét, Körmend), with some towns exhibiting even higher proportions (e.g., Cegléd, Carei/Károly, Futog). The case of Gyula is noteworthy, as the town – usually referred to as an oppidum – experienced remarkable growth in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, during which period the domain was owned in succession by John Corvin and George of Brandenburg. This development may have elevated Gyula to the status of afirstorder town around 1500. 30 However, certain towns display distinct profiles, such as the majority of ecclesiastical centres in this category (e.g. Kalocsa and Cenad/Csanád), where administration was the primary component of development, or Ilok, where religious and social functions, particularly its role as akingdom-wide pilgrimage site, served as the main drivers of prosperity. The development profiles of second-order towns that had received privileges in the thirteenth century is particularly noteworthy. In the cases of Berehove/Beregszász and Sárospatak, awell-developed network of ecclesiastical institutions emerged. Meanwhile, in Poprad and Spišská Nová Ves/Igló, proximity to the University of Cracow reinforced their cultural and educational roles, while in Varaždin/Varasd students pursued higher education in Vienna, Cracow and Italy alike. The privately owned towns within this category were distributed among multiple noble families; however, only the most influential magnates (in addition to those previously mentioned, such as the Pálóci, Erdődi, Újlaki, Várdai and Ernuszt families) possessed towns of significant importance. The only exception was the Károlyi family, who owned Carei/Nagykároly, atown positioned at the lower end of this category. The classification of major market towns (M1) follows adifferent logic compared to category V2 (see Map 4). According to the current category boundaries, there are 220such towns – more than twice the combined number of V1 and V2 towns. However, their distribution is uneven across the kingdom, with notable gaps and concentrations. Alack of such towns is observed in the medium regni region, likely due to the dominance of V1 centres, which fulfilled all central functions; only Visegrád, 31 having lost its former prominence, has been relegated to this group. Similarly, the Duna-Tisza interfluve is largely devoid of major market towns except along the Danube, where they cluster primarily around crossing points. This form of urbanisation did not reach as far as the Székely Land. By contrast, Slavonia saw an influx of major market towns, primarily as manorial centres. Aparticularly high concentration is found in western Transdanubia, along the 30–40 km wide commercial corridor of the former Amber Road,32 as well as in the region surrounding Lake Balaton. 30 BÁCSKAI, Gyula gazdasága, 25–28. The hypothesis, however, requires verification, although both the town’sinstitutional complexity and its estimated population appear to support it. 31 VÉGH, Visegrád város. 32 F. ROMHÁNYI, Kolostorhálózat, területfejlesztés, régiók. 24 Map 4: Development profiles of major market towns (M1) around 1500 25 Economic functions play an even greater role in the development profiles of the significant market towns. Exceptions to this trend include settlements with historical privileges (e.g. Hust/Huszt) and towns whose proximity to Vienna or Kraków enhanced their cultural value (e.g. Bazin, Sabinov/Kisszeben and Gönc). The dominant landowners remained aristocratic families (e.g. Corvin, Szapolyai and Bátori), though the proportion of ecclesiastical landlords (e.g. provostships and, in some cases, abbeys) increased. Further down the category scale, afew smaller noble families (e.g. Tibai, Szobi, Kapi and Haraszti) also appear among the landowners. While 7% of villages and about 11% of communes were under royal ownership, the proportion was significantly higher among towns (42%) and major market towns (approximately 15%), including those held by the queen. The category of major market towns primarily served as abase for great landowning families, while for some lesser noble families, it functioned as ameans of social advancement (see Table 4). These towns were primarily used to facilitate the sale of agricultural produce from estates and to integrate this produce into commercial networks. Acombined analysis of the V2 and M1 categories at the regional level yields significant insights (see Maps 5a and b). Settlement (%) Commune (%) Town (V1, V2) (%) Market town (M1) (%) King 6.9 11.1 42.6 15.0 Church 12.4 14.9 23.4 15.0 Magnate 13.7 16.8 27.7 41.4 Noble 65.7 56.0 1.1 26.4 Foreign landlord*1.3 1.2 5.1 2.4 Number of entries 14,956 5,006 94 220 * Including rulers of Austria, Moldavia, Poland and Serbia, as well as some Austrian lords and Heiligenkreuz Abbey. Table 4: Share of each category of landlords in the stock of towns and villages (legal denominations in accordance with Pál Engel’sdatabase) 32 SZENDE, Katalin. Kubinyi András, a várostörténész [András Kubinyi, the researcher of urban history]. In: Urbs. Magyar Várostörténeti Évkönyv, 2008, vol. 3, pp. 15–38. SZENDE, Katalin. The Birth of oppida: Small Towns in Hungary in the Angevin Period. In: Urban History, 2022, vol. 49, pp. 484–501. SZENDE, Katalin. Major Jenő, a településtörténész [Jenő Major, the researcher of settlement history]. In: Soproni Szemle, 2025, vol. 79, pp. 150–167. SZENDE, Katalin. Small towns in late medieval Hungary: levels and factors of urbanity. In: CLARK, Peter (ed.). Small Towns and Cities in World History: From the Middle Ages to the Present. Turnhout: Brepols (forthcoming). SZENDE, Katalin – SZÍVÓS, Erika. Vera Bácskai and Urban History: Life, Work, and Impact. In: Urban History, 2022, vol. 49, pp. 476–483. SZŰCS, Jenő. Városok és kézművesség a XV. századi Magyarországon [Towns and crafts in 15th-century Hungary]. Budapest: Művelt Nép Kiadó, 1955. SZŰCS, Jenő. Das Städtewesen in Ungarn im XV–XVII. Jahrhundert. In: SZÉKELY, György – FÜGEDI, Erik (eds). La Renaissance et la Réformation en Pologne et en Hongrie, 1450–1650. Budapest : Akadémiai Kiadó, 1963, pp. 97–164. TARI, Edit. Pest megye középkori templomai [Medieval churches in Pest County]. Szentendre: Pest Megyei Múzeumok Igazgatósága, 2000. VALTER, Ilona. A gyöngyösi Szent Bertalan-templom építéstörténete a város történetében [The building history of the Saint Bartholomew Church of Gyöngyös in the context of the history of the town]. In: BARDOLY, István – HARIS Andrea (eds). Détshy Mihály nyolcvanadik születésnapjára. Tanulmányok. Budapest: Kulturális Örökségvédelmi Hivatal, 2002, pp. 89–104. VÉGH, András. Visegrád város kárhozatos szabadságairól [The cursed privileges of the city of Visegrád]. In: F. ROMHÁNYI, Beatrix – GRYNAEUS, András – MAGYAR, Károly – VÉGH, András (eds). „Es tu scholaris.” Ünnepi tanulmányok Kubinyi András 75. születésnapjára. Budapest: Budapesti Történeti Múzeum, 2004, pp. 71–76. VÉGH, András. Buda-Pest 1300 – Buda-Pest 1400. Two Topographical Snapshots. In: NAGY, Balázs – RADY, Martyn – SZENDE, Katalin – VADAS, András (eds). Medieval Buda in Context. Leiden: Brill, 2016, pp. 169–203. VÉGH, András. Budapest születése, a középkori Buda-Pest 2025 [The birth of Budapest, Buda-Pest in the Middle Ages]. In: HERMANN, István (ed.) Budapest története [The history of Budapest] Vol. 1. Budapest: Budapest Főváros Levéltára, 2025 (forthcoming). WEISZ, Boglárka. Markets and Staples in the Medieval Hungarian Kingdom. Budapest: Research Center for the Humanities, 2020. 33 This study examines the inscriptional culture of the cities of the Pentapolitana in the Early Modern period. The cultural development of these five free royal towns was also reflected in the epigraphic sphere. The strong influence of Humanism, the Renaissance, and the Protestant Reformation is evident from an early stage. One notable example is the depiction of Martin Luther accompanied by text in Levoča Town Hall as early as the mid-sixteenth century. The bourgeois character of inscriptional culture is logically reflected in the urban patriciate’sdesire to assert its independence – including through the medium of inscriptions. This is exemplified by the inscriptions on Levoča Town Hall from the early seventeenth century. Throughout the Early Modern period, the dominant form of epigraphic expression was the sepulchral monument, which provides awealth of prosopographical data. These monuments often include quotations from the Bible which are of particular value for ecclesiastical and theological research. In addition, they serve as sources of valuable literary works, mostly in the form of epicedia. Keywords: Pentapolitana; inscriptions; sepulchral monuments; Early Modern period; graffiti. During the sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth century, the territory of today’seastern Slovakia underwent dynamic political, social and religious development. Needless to say, it was the local towns that played akey role in this process. Five towns – Košice, Prešov, Levoča, Bardejov and Sabinov, known collectively as Pentapolitana – represented an important grouping that was strongly active in social, cultural and religious matters. This was supported by regular meetings of political or religious representatives, as well as intensive communication within the Pentapolitana and with the outside world. The rapid development in education and the groundbreaking religious reforms in the first half of the sixteenth century were crucial for the development of inscriptional culture. Together with the new artistic style of the Renaissance, humanism and the Reformation were key attributes that shaped the inscriptional culture of the Pentapolitana in terms of both quantity and quality. The high quality of the local city schools was crucial in raising the educational level of the population of these cities. Their leaders, whether they were the rectors themselves or other types of teacher (auditor, cantor, collaborator), were typically scholars who had returned to Hungary from high-quality German universities or exiles from the territory of Bohemia and Moravia. The burghers were much more in the position of recipients, commissioners or ideological creators of epigraphs precisely due to increasing number and quality of educated members of the bourgeoisie. Inscriptional Culture in Pentapolitana Cities in the Early Modern Period* Miroslav Čovan** vol. 14, 2025, no.1, pp.33–47 https://doi.org/10.33542/CAH2025-1-02 * This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the Contract no.APVV23-0398. ** Mgr. Miroslav Čovan, PhD.; The Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic; [email protected]; ORCID: 0009-0003-0693-773. 34 It is not possible to identify aspecific inscriptional culture that would have been typical for this particular urban grouping. Nevertheless, the inscriptional culture of the Pentapolitana towns was presented externally in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century with considerably greater intensity than in the Middle Ages, and in amuch more flamboyant and varied manner, heavily infiltrated by secular elements. This was aconsequence of the laicization of society, which, in line with humanistic traditions, found inspiration from antiquity in the epigraphic space. The secularity of the texts is also reflected in their factuality and informational value. We learn from them about devastating catastrophes, such as fires or plague epidemics. The sepulchral monuments contain awealth of prosopographical data that contributes to the knowledge of the history of individual noble or burgher families. One special category is the increasing number of graffiti inscriptions, which deserve attention both because of the personalities who chose to preserve their memory in this way and due to the original content, which is often surprising in its message and is not limited to names and dates. Throughout the period under study, sepulchral remains have proven to be of the greatest value. They are very varied in form and content, as discussed later, but the Christian worldview dominates inscriptional culture in terms of ideas. The Sixteenth Century The late Middle Ages coincides with the beginning of the sixteenth century in the territory under discussion, including the cities of Pentapolitana. The new trends from the turn of the century are probably most evident in the epigraphic decoration of the town hall in Bardejov, which is not far behind its models in Italian, German or Silesian towns. The monumentality of the inscriptions that appear in the most exposed places of the Renaissance renaissance oriel and portal is complemented by the content of the texts, which are inspired by biblical or classical texts. Above all, they express the ideal of responsible and just urban governance.1 In the early sixteenth century, the ideas of Luther’sReformation took hold in the Pentapolitana towns. One of the earliest pieces of evidence is the depiction of Luther himself on the ground floor of Levoča Town Hall. It was created just after afire in 1550. Arecent discovery in the lining of the window was accompanied by afragment of an inscription, which we have been able to reconstruct as follows: MARTINVS [LV]THER. IS[LEBIVS] / [- - -]. The identification of Martin Luther was also aided by the three letters BIB which accompany the depiction. This is the designation of the bible (“BIBEL”) with which Luther is traditionally depicted. The painting is complemented on the opposite wall by acoat of arms of the town of Levoča with the letters CL, i.e. Civitas Leutschovia. Some very interesting and slightly older texts were found in close proximity to the portrait of Martin Luther representing the worldview and beliefs of the people of Levoča in this period, dating from the first third of the sixteenth century. Their content and form (written in modern capital letters) confirm that the building was altered as part of its adaptation to the function of atown hall. The first text comes from the Old Testament book of Isaiah, 11: 3–4, reconstructed as follows: 1 ČOVAN, Historické nápisy zo Šariša, 94–95. 35 CAP(VT) · XI · / [ET REPLEBIT EVM SPIRITVS TIMORIS DOMINI NON SECV] NDVM VISIONE(M) OCV= / [LORVM IVDICABI]T NEQ[V]E [S]ECV[ND]VM AV / [DITVM AVRIVM] ARGVET SE[D] IVDICABIT / [IN IVSTITIA P]AVPERES ET ARGV[ET] I(N) EQ=/ [VITATE PRO MANSVET]IS TERRE , ET PERCV=/ [TIET TERRAM VIR]GA ORIS [SVI ET] SPIR[ITV] / [LABIORVM SVORVM] INTERFICIET IMPIV(M) // [- - -]E · I · CAP(VT).2 The second text we have been able to identify also comes from the book of Isaiah, 5: 11–12 and 21–23: [VAE QVI CONSVRGITIS MANE AD EBRIETATEM SECTANDAM ET / POTANDVM VSQVE AD V]ESPERA(M) V[T VINO AESTVETIS CITHA] / RA ET L[YRA ET TYMPA]NV(M) [ET] TIBIA [ET VINVM IN CONVIVIIS VESTRIS] / ET O[PVS DOMINI NON R]ESPICITIS · NEC OPE[RA MANVVM EIVS CONSIDERATIS] / [I]SAIAS [- - - VAE QVI] SAPIE(N)TES ESTIS IN OCV[LIS VESTRIS ET CORAM / VOBISM]ETI[PSIS PRV]DE(N)TES QV[IPOTENTES ESTIS AD BIBENDVM VINVM ET VIRI FORTES AD MISCENDAM EBRIETATEM QVI IVSTIFICATIS IMPIVM PRO MVNERIBVS] / ET IV[STITIAM IVSTI] AV[FERTIS] AB [EO] / [- - -]. 3 These texts were not chosen for the space of the town hall by chance. The epigraphs, primarily of aspiritual nature, are both an admonition and acall for good, responsible and just governance and decision-making.4 The town of Sabinov also had adirect connection with Martin Luther. According to older sources, Ján Praedicator, who came from the Upper Lusatian town of Zittau, became the first Protestant pastor in the town at his direct intercession. He worked in Wittenberg as an Augustinian monk. After Luther’sappearance in 1517, he joined his teachings. An epitaph from 1533 informs us of his presence in Sabinov:5 Hac Janus habet requiem Praedicator in Vrna / Jam pridem Cathedrae, pars veneranda Sacrae / Primo Cruciburgi docuit Sacra dogmata Summi / Fortiter et rexit, per breve tembus oves / hidea Virum pietas et Olympia verba docendi / Dexteritas alium iussit habere locum / Nempe Cibinium cui sic placuisset repertus / Ipsi ut Templorum, Sceptra Suprema daret / Praefuit hic Septem cunctis Venerabilis Annos / Et celebris grata Simplicitate pater / Extinctum luget Urbs illustrissima Semper / Moenia 2 “Chapter 11. And the fear of the Lord shall fill him. He will not judge by the appearance of his eyes, nor by what he has heard, but in truth he will judge the poor, and will judge righteously in favor of the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. ... Chapter 1.” 3 “Woe unto you that rise up in the morning, seeking astrong drink, and are in awine-frenzy until the evening. The zither, the harp, the drum, the flute, and the wine are your feasts. But you do not look at the work of the Lord, and do not notice the works of his hands. Isaiah ... Woe to you who think yourselves wise and prudent before yourselves, who are valiant in drinking wine and in mixing drink. Woe unto you that justify the wicked for gifts, and take away the righteous from the righteous.” 4 On the epigraphy of Levoča and Spiš, see: ŠEDIVÝ, Stredoveká písomná kultúra na Spiši, 483–543. 5 Transcript by Archive of the Evangelical (Augsburg Confession) Parish in Prešov [Archív ev. a. v. fary vPrešove], WÄCHTER, Daniel. Status et Fatorum Ecclesiae Evangelicae utriusque Nationis Germanicae atque ac Slavicae in Regia ac Libera Civitate Cibiniensi, 1778, pp.84–86. 36 tota gemunt, cumq dolore gemunt / Corpus habet Templum hoc: Animam Sibi Sydera servant / Doctorum Superest Nomen in Orbe Viri!.6 Paradoxically, the religious tensions in the first half of the sixteenth century may be expressed in atext that no longer exists today: an inscription on alate Gothic chalice in Košice, the text of which contained, in the early sixteenth century, the word MARIA in addition to the name of Jesus. Apparently, in the period after Martin Luther’sascension the name of Maria was removed and only small fragments are visible today. Fortunately, these are sufficient to identify at least some of the letters. The Protestants in Košice would have logically rejected the deification of the Virgin Mary in this way.7 The inscriptional culture in Košice, the most important urban centre in Upper Hungary, was highly distinctive. Nevertheless, as with other towns in this period, especially Levoča, sepulchral monuments dominated from the second half of the sixteenth century.8 In Košice, however, we can observe an interesting phenomenon. All the sepulchral monuments of this period were for prominent individuals of various nationalities, almost exclusively nobles who came to Košice through their duties, whether in service to the imperial army or to serve in the Spiš Chamber. Košice was also the seat of the Upper Hungarian Captaincy. One of the oldest tombstones is dedicated to the Upper Hungarian Captain Imrich Telekeši, which dates back to 1560. Only part of the text has been preserved: INSIGNIA MAGNIFI/CI DOMI(NI) EMERICI TELE/KE[SI GENC]IVM [S] ACRATISSIM(AE) / ROMANOR(VM) CESAREAE REGIAE/Q(VE) [MAIES]TATIS IN PARTIBVS / REGNI HVNGARIAE [SV]PE/ RIORIB(VS) E[XI]STE(N)CIV(M) AC CIVI/TATIS CA[SS]OVIE(N)SIS [SV]PREMI / CAPITANEI OBYT AN(N)O [AE]TATIS / SV[AE] [L]II DIE XXX MAY [MD]LX.9 Another individual commemorated in this way is Peter, amember of the Italian Paar family, who came to Košice as part of his military duties. In 1567 he had an epitaph made in the Cathedral of St Elizabeth, which is no longer standing. The text is therefore only known from old written sources. 10 The first part is mainly of prosopographical importance for us: Martino Baroni de Parre Bergomensi Sac(rae) Caes(arae) Ma(iesta)tis Magistro Postarum Possonien(si) eiusq(ue) Consorti Lucretiae Sarsonae 6 “In this place John the Preacher found rest. But he once served honorably in the priestly office. First in the city of Kreuzburg he preached the holy dogmas of the Most High, and for ashort time bravely led the people there. His love for the people and skill in preaching the word of God led him thence to another place. When he found himself in Sabinov, he so endeared himself to its citizens that they entrusted him with the supreme government of the local church, at the head of which he stood, and with sincerity and simplicity he led, as avenerable and illustrious pastor, for seven whole years. Now the noble city mourns for him, the whole of Sabinov mourns and laments for him with sorrow. The body remains in the temple, but Heaven is no longer mindful of the soul. The names of the learned shall endure on earth!” 7 ČOVAN, Historické nápisy zúzemia Košíc, 32. 8 LUDIKOVÁ – MIKÓ – PÁLFFY, Alőcsei Szent Jakab-templom, 327–410. 9 “The coat of arms of the noble lord Imrich Telekeši, chief captain of his most holy imperial and royal majesty in Upper Hungary and in the city of Košice. He died at the age of 52, on 30 May 1560.” 10 WURMBRAND, Collectanea Genealogico-Historica, 330. 37 et Mauritiae Scarpae de Gandino, coniungi suae charissimae, Petrus de Parre superstes Magister Postarum Posoniensis, Frater et Coniunx, sibique dicans maestissimus pietatis ergo posuit Anno re(cu)peratae Salutis MDLXVII Mensis Junii XXIII.11 The second part of the inscription is actually an epitaph in the literary sense: Hic me percelebri cretum de gente Baronum /Martinum dictum nomine, claudit humus / Conteruit Turcis, pugnacis robora dextra / Nostraq(ue) Caesareus cura Veredus erat / Ad Christum mecum palmas Lucretia conjunx / Tetendit, Sarsonae sanguine nata Domus / Quae fuerat Thalami consors nunc Aecuba vitae / Est mihi defuncto nos habet una quies / Militia, Officio Fratri Parr stemmate claro / exstiteram; praestans munia digna probis / Integritas vitae pariter mea Martia Virtus / Nota fuit vulgo Principibusque Viris / In Dominumque fides solers et rebus in ejus / Dexteritas semper conspicienda fuit / Mauritiam uxorem Scarpea stirpe profectam / Mors injecit tumulo huic imperiosa meo.12 The sepulchral monument, although preserved only in secondary form, is an extremely valuable source on an important family from awhole-European perspective. As in many other countries, its members established themselves as postmasters in Hungary. Peter, who had the epitaph made, was the postmaster of Pressburg and the chief postmaster in all of Hungary. It was these duties that brought him to Košice in wartime, where his task was to establish apostal link between Pressburg and Košice and then onwards to Transylvania. It was probably the death of his wife that prompted him to have amonument made, which he also dedicated to his brother Martin and his wife.13 The Spiš Chamber had an important role in Košice and in the wider region of Upper Hungary and was thus in intensive communication with the individual towns of the Pentapolitana. Several of its representatives or their family members found their final resting place in Košice, including the Chamber’schief accountant, Juraj Jezernicky, whose epitaph is secondarily placed on the exterior of St Michael’sChapel. In addition to prosopographical data, the inscription also informs us about the cause of his death in 1577, during aplague epidemic: 11 “To Baron Martin of the House of Paar of Bergamo, Postmaster of Posonium, His Imperial Majesty, his wife Lucrezia of the House of Sarso, and his dearest wife Maurice Scarpa de Gandino, the surviving and bereaved husband and brother, Postmaster Peter of the House of Paar of Posonium, in the year of the regained Salvation, 1567, June 23, 1567, was given out of love by the surviving and bereaved husband and brother, Postmaster Peter of the House of Paar of Posonium, in the year of the regained Salvation.” 12 “Here the earth covers me, Martin, adescendant of afamous family of barons. With the Turks he was plagued, like the imperial Veredus, when he was our strength and true support against arebellious enemy. To Christ with me clasps the hands my wife Lucretia, descended from the House of Sarso, who was afaithful companion in marriage, now... of life. After death they rest together in peace. Igrew up when my brother of the illustrious House of Parr served in the military, rendering worthy service to all the brave. The integrity of his life as well as my military prowess were well known to princes and common men alike. His faith in the Lord was always evident, also that he was ingenious and skillful in his affairs. My wife, Mauritia, descended from the House of Scarpe, has been cast by an imperious death into this grave of mine.” 13 Martin himself died in 1553. FEDERMAYER, Uhorská vetva, 99. 38 E[PI]TA[PHIVM DOM(INI)] GEORGY JEZERNICZKY SAC(RAE) / [C]A[ESA(RAE) MAIES(TATIS)] CAMERAE SCEPVSIENSIS M(A)G(IST)RI RATIONV(M) / [LATINARVM - - -] 23 7BRIS 77 / [ANNO CHRISTIANO] OBDORMIVIT / HIC JEZERNICZKY PRAESTANS VIRTVTE GEORGIVS / EXTINCTVS PESTE [FVIT] VEHEMENTE IACET / DIVIS CAESARIBVS PRIMIS SERVIVIT AB ANNIS / ASSIDVO STVDIO MORTIS ADVSQVE DIEM / LAVS EST CAESARIBVS SERVIRE POTENTIBVS INGE(N)S / AT SERVIRE DEO GLORIA MAIOR ERIT.14 The tombstone of the captain of Šariš Castle, Konrad Kappler, dated 1558, which is secondarily placed on the exterior of the Church of the Beheading of St John the Baptist, represents to the same type of sepulchral sculpture.15 In this case, too, it commemorates anobleman who, as asupporter of Ferdinand I, joined the military campaign against the Ottoman threat. Conrad came from Tyrol, as reflected in the epigraphic dimension of the sepulchral monument itself. Paleographically, this is one of the earliest discoveries of Fraktur (German gothic minuscule) in the cities of Pentapolitana. This type of writing is often encountered in the Šariš region, where it is almost always associated with the German language. This is also the case with the Sabinov artifact: Am Jar 1558 den 16 Marty in Gott Seliglich ent/schlaffen der Edl und Vest Konrat Kappler von Fissenir / Ro(misch) Kay(serlichen) Majest(ät) Hauptman auf Scharus der under di/sem steine Begraben leit Welchen im seine geliebte ha/usfrau Margareta [- - -] einem gedechtnus [- - -].16 Aunique and, at the same time, representative sepulchral monument of its time is the tomb of Juraj Šerédy (Seredy), aŠariš county governor and one of the most important magnates of the sixteenth century, in the Church of St Egidius in Bardejov, from the year 1557. 17 The completely preserved red marble tumba presents basic information, such as the fact the artefact was made by the widow Katarína Bučinská. The carved poem, an epicedium, is undoubtedly the work of an educated pastor or rector, or possibly another scholar, who remains anonymous. Part of the mature Latin text is as follows: HVNC TVMVLVM QVICVNQVE VIDES, MEDITARE VIATOR / MORTALEM NVLLVM VIVERE POSSE DIV. / NON SI PRAESTARET CVNCTIS VIRTVTE, QVOT VSQVA(M) / IN TOTO VIVVNT ORBE, SVB AXE POLI. / SED TAMNE EST FOELIX ALYSQVE BEATIOR ILLE, / GLORIA QVEM SEQVITVR, CLARAQVE FAMA VIRVM.18 14 “Epitaph of Sir Juraj Jezernicky, chief accountant of the Spiš Chamber of the Holy Imperial Majesty, who died on 23 September, in the Christian year 1577. Here lies Juraj Jezernicki, distinguished for his bravery, who died at the time of aviolent plague. From his youth to the day of his death he served the divine emperors with unremitting zeal. It is exceedingly praiseworthy to serve mighty emperors, but it will be more glorious to serve God.” 15 ČOVAN, Historické nápisy zo Šariša, 119–120. 16 “In the year 1558, on the 16th of March, in God’sname, the noble and illustrious Konrad Kappler of Füssen, imperial-royal captain of the Šariš castle, who lies buried under this stone, which his beloved wife Margaretha ...had made in his memory (to commemorate him), fell blissfully asleep.” 17 ČOVAN, Historické nápisy zo Šariša, 117–118; LUDIKOVÁ, Hieronymo Canavesi, 771–772. 18 “Think, pilgrim, as you gaze upon this tombstone, that any mortal may live long if he surpasses in virtue others however long-lived in this world. For is he not happier and more blessed than others who is accompanied 39 Although Latin is the dominant language in the inscriptional culture of the sites under investigation, German emerges as astrong competitor at certain stages. This is not just amatter of sepulcralia. In the case of some German burghers, for example, German texts appear on the portals of their houses in addition to Latin. The inscription on the portal of Konrad Haller’shouse in Bardejov dates from 1544. In the lining there is atext in the Early Humanist capital: “DER · SEGE · DES HER / MACHT · REICH · O(H) N(E) · MVHE”.19 This is aquotation from the Old Testament book of Proverbs 10: 22. Inspiration from biblical or liturgical texts was becoming increasingly popular in the inscriptional culture of burghers or noblemen in this period. From the epigraphic point of view, it is ahighly valuable source of information about the ideological preferences of individuals or certain groups within the population. This process reached its peak in the first half of the seventeenth century, especially in sepulchral culture, as we will return to later. Following Haller’sinscription, let us mention another Bardejov portal, this time with atypical house inscription for German regions: “WER GOT TRAVT DER WOLL BAVT 1566”.20 It is located No. 44 Town Hall Square, Bardejov, and was commissioned by the burgher Hans Cebner. Numerous inscriptions on portals were created in this and later periods in Prešov. Their testimonial value is varied. In some cases they just give the initials of the owner and the year. Others offer alarger text expressing the worldview of the owner. An example of this is the house at 67 Hlavná Street, where the following inscription was carved in 1557 on the initiative of the probable owner, Petr Kuncz: “PRIMVM . QVERITE . REGNVM . DEI”.21 This is aquotation from Matthew 6:33. In the Early Modern period, aspecial epigraphic phenomenon comes to the fore, namely graffiti inscriptions. In contrast to the medieval period, it was very common for important individuals to be remembered in this way. In Prešov, ascholar called Weresch engraved the following in the tower of the Church of St Nicholas in 1599: “H(IC) F(VIT) MELICH(AR) WERESCH / A(NNO) D(OMINI) 1590”.22 Weresch came from Selce in Zvolen county, and was ordained in Wittenberg in 1605 and studied in Bardejov, Strážky and Košice. He was aparish priest in several Czech localities, finally in Pukanec.23 In Bardejov, David Gutgesel – one of Hungary’sfirst typographers – decided to immortalize his memory in the form of graffiti, engraving his name in 1584 on the altar of St Anne in the Church of St Egidius: “DAVID GVTGE/SEL 1584 [- - -]”. Moreover, this happened at the time when Gutgesel was the city mayor, and was undoubtedly aperson of great significance in his time. The exposed location of the altar panel indicates adisrespect for the sacredness of the artefact, which was understandable in the case of Protestants. The counter-Reformation of the seventeenth century saw frequent scratchings of names, especially surnames. by the fame and reputation of brave men?” 19 “God’s blessings are enriching and without any effort.” Recently to the development of inscriptios in German ŠEDIVÝ, Über (Sprach) Grenzen hinweg. 20 “He who believes in God, does good. 1566.” 21 “Seek first the kingdom of God.” 22 “Here was Melichar Weresch. In the year of our Lord 1590.” 23 CSEPREGI, Evangélikus lelkészek, 433. 40 First Half of the Seventeenth Century The first half of the seventeenth century was marked by political and religious events in Hungary that are visible in the field of inscriptional culture in the Pentapolitana towns. The high level of education of the burgher patriciate and the local nobility is reflected in the increasingly varied content of inscribed texts. The desire of city governments to create representative epigraphs expressing the strength and advanced development of the city continued. This is visible in Levoča in inscriptions from the early seventeenth century. The Renaissance town hall was intended as asymbol of the city government, not only in terms of art but also through its epigraphy – just as in Bardejov acentury earlier. The town hall underwent extensive reconstruction in 1615.24 An now lost inscription used to be visible on the south wall of the town hall, celebrating peace as the basis for the free development of the town: “PACE REFLORESCUNT OPPIDA, MARTE CADUNT ANNO 1615”.25 On the west side, an inscription was added in the same year which, in turn, emphasises the essence of responsible government over the city: “PULCHRITUDO CIVITATIS CONCORDIA 1615”. 26 The origin of the first inscription is not yet clear. However, the text about unity almost certainly comes from the work of the important German polymath Nicholas Reusner (1545–1602) from Silesia, whose family moved there from Transylvania. The idea of unity can be found in his collection of emblems. At the same time, however, it should be added that Reusner himself, as ahumanist scholar, was inspired by ancient authors and referred to them directly in connection with unity. Whether Cicero or Sallustius, or before them Xenophon and Plato, they all emphasised unity and cooperation as essential prerequisites for afunctioning state.27 The libraries of the educated humanist burghers and nobles were full of the works of the aforementioned ancient authors, as is reflected in the inscriptional culture. In Prešov, at today’s65 Hlavná Street, an inscription in sgraffito decoration was created in the first quarter of the seventeenth century which is typical of this period in terms of content, language and palaeography. It is acombined Latin–German inscription, where the Latin is represented by modern capitals, while the German is traditionally associated with Fraktur: “CONCORDIA . RES . PARVAE. CRESCVNT . An gottes segen ist . alles gelegen . DISCORDIA . MAXIMA . DILABVNTVR”.28 The Latin part is based on chapter 10 of Sallustius’sDe bello Iugurthino. Another Prešov epigraph from 1617 belongs to this group of inscriptions. It was created on the initiative of František Darholc, anobleman from Šariš. His house was also rebuilt in the Renaissance style and numerous inscriptions were created using the sgraffito technique. In this case, however, they are simple inscriptions in the form of names that accompany and describe the upper-half figures of rulers from different periods of time, from Roman to Roman–German and Byzantine emperors, including 24 ČOVANOVÁ JANOŠÍKOVÁ, Renesančná amanieristická maľba, 790–792. 25 “In peace cities flourish, in war they decline.” 26 “The ornament of the city is unity”. The same inscription is found today above the main entrance to the Town Hall, although it is not the original inscription from 1615. 27 Emblemata Nicolai Reusneri Ic. partim ethica, et physica: partim verò Historica et Hieroglyphica, sed ad virtutis, ad morumq; doctrinam omniam ingeniosé traducta et in quatuor libros digesta cum Symbolis et inscriptionibus illustrium et clarorum virorum. Ex recensione Ieremiae Reusneri Leorini, Francofurti 1581, 26. 28 “By concord small things grow, by disagreeableness great things are weakened. Everything depends on God’swill.” 41 “TIBERIVS // CALIGVLA // CLAVDIVS // NERO // GALBA // OTHO // VITELI/VS // AVCVS // VESPASIA/NVS // TITVS // DOMINICIANVS”. In this spirit, the inspiration of ancient mythology can also be seen on the most widespread epigraphic monuments of the period: sepulchral monuments. The first of two Košice epigraphs is found on atombstone commissioned in 1623 by Michael Tutz, commander of the Košice armoury, for his wife and three children. Death is symbolically represented here by the River Lethe, from which the dead in the underworld drank to forget earthly life.29 Immortality or eternal life is symbolised by Tithonos, the son of the Trojan king, on the tombstone of the children of the Košice senator Valentin Konczik.30 Let us quote the whole poem of 1630, on which the eight poor sons console their father: [HONORIBUS VIDVATA DOM]VS / [TVA LVGET] A[D] EM[TIS] / [CHARE PATER SED NOS CHARI/TAS ECCE VOCAT] / [EVOCAT EX MISERA LACRI] MA/[RVM] VAL[L]E [P]E[REN]N[EM] / [IN PATRIAM] NO[MEN C]VI [DEVS] / O[MNIPOT]ENS / [TENDIMVS HVC OMN]ES [A]D EV[M] / QVI [TIBI] DEDIT [OC]T[O] / [QVIQVE] PETIT [DONVM QVOD] / [FVIT A]NTE [S]VV[M] / [INTER] EA EN [TE]RRAE [VRSO TE]R / [ARCA TRADIT]V [V]S[O] / [SVSCI]T[A]T A[D TITONVM COR/DA NOSTRA DEVS].31 Sepulcralia of various forms become the space of mature literary creation. Moreover, epicedia (funeral odes) or epitaphs in the literary sense of the word are sometimes signed. We know that sepulchral monuments included the poems of the most important Hungarian poet of the period, Jan Bocatius. 32 Unfortunately, they have been preserved only in the secondary form, referred to in printed materials from the sixteenth century.33 Several signed poems on sepulchral bearers have been preserved in Bardejov. The rector of the Bardejov school, Leonard Wagner, created, among other things, an epic poem for the tombstone of Bardejov’smayor (richtár), Tomáš Blimberg, in 1626: THOMAS BLIMBERGVS VIR SERVANTISSIMVS / AEQVI / SPE VITAE AETERNAE CONDITVR HOC TVMVLO / EXPECTANS CHRISTI L[AE] TAM SVPER AERA / VOCEM / SVRGITE, QVEIS MORTE EST VERA PARATA / SALVS / L(EONARDVS) W(AGNER) R(ECTOR) S(CHOLAE) B(ARTPHENSIS).34 Leonard’sbrother, Martin Wagner, one of the most prominent figures of the first half of the seventeenth century in the Pentapolitana region, was also known for his poetic work. In addition to holding the position of parish priest of Bardejov for 44 years, he 29 ČOVAN, Historické nápisy zúzemia Košíc, 36. 30 SVOBODA, Encyklopedie, 170. 31 “Stripped of ornaments, your house mourns, dear father. But behold, love calls us out of the miserable valley of lamentation to the eternal homeland, whose name is Almighty God. To him we all eight come. Those whom he has given to you, he asks back as agift that was formerly his own. Meantime, while we have been laid in the earth in the coffin according to custom, God will raise our hearts to eternal life.” 32 BOCATIUS, Hungaridos libri, 393–440. 33 ČOVAN, Historické nápisy zo Šariša, 139–140. 34 “In this tomb is buried Thomas Blimberg, alaw-abiding man, hoping for eternal life, awaiting the joyful voice of Christ from heaven: arise, you for whom true salvation is ready. Leonard Wagner, rector of the Bardejov school.” 48 Assessors, sometimes also referred to as sworn officials, formed an integral part of the organizational structure of vineyard offices (vinohradnícke úrady) in the Little Carpathian region during the seventeenth century. They primarily fulfilled supervisory and oversight roles in viticulture, ensured adherence to quality standards in wine production, and participated in the resolution of disputes among members of the vineyard community. Furthermore, they acted as assessors and advisors in the courts presided over by vineyard masters. As part of the local or municipal self-government, they played acrucial role in enforcing order and applying the legal provisions contained in the vineyard statutes. The number of assessors varied depending on the size and significance of each viticultural locality – in centres with more intensive winegrowing activity, multiple assessors often operated alongside several vineyard masters. Their activities had asubstantial impact on the development of viticultural conditions in the region and contributed significantly to the preservation of its long-standing winemaking tradition. Keywords: Little Carpathian region; vineyard assessor; viticultural institutions; viticultural judiciary. Introduction In previous historical research on viticultural institutions that operated in the winegrowing centers of western Slovakia, attention has primarily focused on the vineyard office (German: Bergamt, Bergrecht, Berggericht; Slovak: Slávne perecké právo, Perecký úrad) and its chief official – the vineyard master (German: Bergmeister; Slovak: Horný, Pereg; Latin: magister montium).1 Other viticultural offices and their officials have been left somewhat aside and have not received as much interest from specialists. Our current knowledge about the activities, rights, and duties of lower-ranking officials in viticultural institutions remains rather general in nature, providing only abroad picture with few details. In this study, therefore, based on our many years of archival research into viticultural institutions, we have decided to clarify the significance and fundamental aspects of the office of assessors (prísediaci) at the vineyard office and court during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. We have deliberately chosen the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries because it was precisely during this period that the definitive formation of viticultural institutions took place in the Little Carpathian winegrowing localities. Over these years, their organizational structure stabilized; their activities acquired aconsistent character; and the competencies, rights, and duties of individual officials were clearly defined and delineated. This period thus represents akey phase * Associate Professor Mgr. Michal Franko, PhD.; Department of History, Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, Trnava University in Trnava, Slovak Republic; michal.frank[email protected]; ORCID: 0000-0001-5236-1412. 1 FRANKO, Organizácia a správa, 29. Regarding the issue of vineyard masters, see also: KAHOUNOVÁ, Vinohradníctvo Malých Karpát. The Role and Importance of Assessors in the Administration of Viticulture in the Little Carpathian Towns Michal Franko*vol. 14, 2025, no.1, pp.48–64 https://doi.org/10.33542/CAH2025-1-03 49 in the history of local viticultural law and administration, laying the foundation for further development in this area. Geographically, we have focused on viticultural institutions that were formed and operated in the winegrowing towns of western Slovakia, specifically in the Little Carpathian region, which in the past was the largest and most productive winegrowing area in Slovakia.2 The growing production of wine in the Little Carpathian winegrowing regions at the end of the Middle Ages necessitated amore sophisticated organization and more efficient management of viticulture. As the importance of viticulture grew, so too did the efforts of the authorities to achieve the highest possible level of control in this sector.3 With the expansion of vineyard areas and the increasing involvement of the local population in vineyard work, the need for systematic management of wine production and the organized distribution of the wine produced also increased. This process naturally led to increased demands for legal protection and regulation of the entire sector. The traditional customs and practices which had previously sufficed were proving inadequate in the context of dynamic developments. New situations and emerging problems required the creation of new rules and the introduction of innovative organizational procedures. Alongside the development of viticulture and the flourishing of the wine trade, there was also agrowing need for the formation of specialized institutions and legal frameworks governing these activities. As aresult, at the end of the Middle Ages, the winegrowing centres of the Little Carpathian region began systematically codifying older customs and customary law concerning the protection and management of vineyards. At the same time, the importance of viticultural institutions grew, as their activities became increasingly necessary for maintaining favourable production. In the second half of the sixteenth century, for example, Bratislava already had an independent vineyard office led by avineyard master, who was responsible for the protection and management of the local vineyards.4 At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the economic situation of the towns and villages of the Little Carpathian region – and thus also of local viticulture – did not undergo any significant upheaval, and developments in this respect were similar to those of the previous century.5 However, it was not an entirely ideal period. Not only viticulture but the entire economic development of the region was adversely affected by various disruptions, such as military events, fires and climatic fluctuations.6 From the second half of the seventeenth century, Little Carpathian viticulture gradually began to fall into crisis, which culminated at the end of the century. During the crisis, 2 The Little Carpathian region is located in southwestern Slovakia. Today, it is home to the so-called Little Carpathian Wine Region, which is one of the six officially recognized winegrowing regions in Slovakia. The Little Carpathian Wine Region is the oldest and most significant winegrowing area in Slovakia; in the past, it ranked among the most important wine regions within the entire Kingdom of Hungary. It stretched along the southern foothills of the Little Carpathians, from Bratislava through Pezinok and Modra to Trnava. During the Middle Ages and the early modern period, it played asignificant role in the economic and cultural life of the region. 3 KAHOUNOVÁ, Vinohradníctvo Malých Karpát, 12. 4 FRANKO, Malokarpatské vinohradnícke poriadky, 35–36. 5 ŠPIESZ, Malokarpatské vinohradnícke mestá, 48–49. 6 For example, in 1619, Modra was burned down by the troops of Imperial General Buquoy. In 1633, the town was struck by agreat fire, and in 1663, the area around the town was ravaged by Ottoman military units, who burned down the serf village of Kráľová. LEHOTSKÁ, Dejiny Modry, 44. See also: ŠPIESZ, Malokarpatské vinohradnícke mestá, 49. 50 some vineyards were not cultivated at all and became neglected, or, if cultivated, they were managed with less intensity.7 This situation had an adverse effect especially on the urban economy. In the second half of the seventeenth century, wine production declined and the situation in Little Carpathian viticulture became significantly more complicated than they had been in the sixteenth century.8 The towns’ income from large-scale wine sales and the tapping of wine delivered by townspeople in the form of dues decreased.9 The unfavourable situation was also reflected in the long-distance export of municipal wine. Neither contemporary military events nor the overall political situation in the Kingdom of Hungary were favourable to Little Carpathian viticulture and the wine trade. At that time, imperial troops began long-term military operations to liberate Hungary from the Ottomans. The wars against the Ottomans along with uprisings against the Kingdom by rebellious estates, required truly substantial financial resources, to which the Little Carpathian towns and their inhabitants naturally had to contribute. The high contributions they had to pay nearly ruined their economies. 10 The overall economic situation was very tough, and the region’surban economies took along time to recover from these events. The towns tried to bridge this difficult period, for example, with large loans from wealthy individuals or church institutions (such as monasteries).11 At the dawn of the eighteenth century, Little Carpathian viticulture was still in acrisis that had been developing since the midseventeenth century. Despite the crisis and economic troubles, viticulture in the Little Carpathian towns remained one of the main sources of municipal income and supported asubstantial part of the population in the Little Carpathian winegrowing localities. Viticultural Institutions The importance of viticulture and winemaking in the towns of the Little Carpathians is also evidenced by the existence of special viticultural institutions – vineyard offices which operated within the local municipal structures. The first written record of such an institution dates from 1485 and refers to an office in Vajnory. These viticultural institutions developed alongside regular municipal administration, and their main task was the supervision, coordination and protection of local viticulture. The vineyard office coordinated the life of the viticultural community and represented an organized form of executive and judicial authority in viticulture. In the Little Carpathian region, these were either municipal or town institutions that combined supervisory, penal, judicial and control powers.12 The functioning of viticultural institutions in the Little 7 Štátny archív vBratislave, pracovisko Archív Modra, fund Magistrát mesta Modry, Acta varia, 1660–1674, inv. no.1601 (hereinafter ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Acta varia, inv. no.1601). 8 KAZIMÍR, Malokarpatské vinohradníctvo, 135. 9 For the economic situation of the Little Carpathian towns, see ŠPIESZ, Slobodné kráľovské mestá. 10 TANDLICH, Mestečká na území, 41. 11 Between 1682 and 1689, Modra paid atotal of the enormous sum of 72,791 goldens and 92 denarii in contributions. This amounted to an average of over 9,000 goldens per year. During the military years of 1694 to 1695, Modra was required to pay as much as 13,623 goldens. The situation became even worse during Rákóczi’sUprising (1703–1711), when both imperial and insurgent forces demanded financial contributions from the people of Modra. ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Acta varia, inv. no. 1601. See also: ŠPIESZ, Malokarpatské vinohradnícke mestá, 49–50. 12 See the records of the activities of the Trnava vineyard masters. Štátny archív vBratislave, pobočka Archív Trnava, Magistrát mesta Trnavy, Regestum promontorii rosarum MDLXIII, 1563–1632, sign. IV/m, fol. 171b (hereinafter ŠA BA, MmT, Regestum promontorii, 1563–1632, sign. IV/m.). 51 Carpathian region became more systematic during the sixteenth century, according to the documentation.13 From the second half of the sixteenth century, their activities were governed by legally binding norms codified in the so-called vineyard statutes.14 Gradually, however, landowners – mainly town councils in the Little Carpathian region – sought to limit the powers of viticultural institutions and subject them to their direct administrative control.15 Thus, vineyard offices and courts increasingly played the role of executive bodies within the local self-government of viticulture. The number of members of these institutions varied in different periods. It depended, for example, on the size and significance of aparticular viticultural locality, local traditions, and on the organizational structure of the town or municipal administration into which the viticultural institutions were integrated. During the seventeenth century, there were usually two vineyard masters in the Little Carpathian viticultural localities, who had at their disposal avarying number of assessors (most often referred to in sources as Bergleute, Beysitzers, or Beÿsitzende).16 As the area of vineyards in agiven locality grew, so did the number of office members; in more prominent viticultural centres, up to four vineyard masters could operate at the same time.17 During the medieval period, the vineyard master decided on all important matters concerning viticulture with the participation of the entire viticultural community. In the vineyard statutes from Vajnory (today adistrict of Bratislava), which are so far the oldest known vineyard statutes from the territory of Slovakia (the second half of the 15th century), the vineyard master is mentioned in connection with his duty to oversee the collection of the vineyard levy.18 The Bratislava vineyard statute from 1570 details the duties and rights of the local vineyard master. 19 In the sixteenth century, the scope of this officer’sauthority began to be more narrowly defined and individual tasks were specified.20 The vineyard master was elected from among local winegrowers, and the election of other members of the vineyard office and court took place simultaneously with his election.21 In the seventeenth century, the vineyard master was essentially 13 See Monumenta Hungariae Juridica-Historica, 1–821. Archív mesta Bratislavy, Kniha cechových štatútov 135–140, sign. Ce 387., fol. 157–162 (hereinafter AMB, Kniha cechových štatútov, sign. Ce 387). 14 Štátny archív v Bratislave, pracovisko Archív Modra, Magistrát mesta Modra, Privilegia civitatis Modor, statuta civitatis Modor, Acta promonthorii vinearum 1608–1689, sign. V. áll., 155, 1232 sz. (hereinafter ŠA BA, pAM, Privilegia civitatis, 1608–1689, sign. V. áll., 155, 1232 sz.). 15 Archív mesta Bratislavy, Magistrát mesta Bratislavy, Zápisnice zo zasadnutí mestskej rady a index (Sitzungsprotokolle des Stadtrats und Index), 1641–1660, 2a10, inv. no. 10679, 1661–1671, 2a11, inv. no.10686, 1675–1680, 2a13, inv. no.10697 (hereinafter AMB, MmB, Sitzungsprotokolle, 1641–1660, 2a10, inv. no.10679, 1661–1671, 2a11, inv. no.10686, 1675–1680, 2a13, inv. no.10697). 16 In 1603, six assessors served alongside the vineyard master in Pezinok. Štátny archív vBratislave, pracovisko Archív Modra, Magistrát mesta Pezinok, Protokol apozemková kniha vinohradov, Bergbuch 1589–1713, inv. no.355 (hereinafter ŠA BA, pAM, MmP, Bergbuch, inv. no.355). 17 Štátny archív vBratislave, pracovisko Archív Modra, Magistrát mesta Jur pri Bratislave, Spisy Magistrátu mesta Svätý Jur – základný rad. Čiastkový inventár I. diel. (1575–1638), box 62, inv. no. 1193.1. SM 1597 (hereinafter ŠA BA, pAM, MmJ, Spisy, box 62, inv. no.1193.1. SM 1597). 18 KOVÁTS, Avajnori hegyközség rendtartása, 469. 19 See the individual provisions of the Bratislava Vineyard Statute of 1570. AMB, Kniha cechových štatútov, sign. Ce 387, fol. 157–162. 20 Monumenta Hungariae Juridica-Historica, 9–25; KIRÁLY, Pozsony város joga, 409–417; See also AMB, Kniha cechových štatútov, sign. Ce 387, fol. 157–162. 21 ŠA BA, pAM, MmP, Bergbuch, inv. no.355. 52 amunicipal official, elected and confirmed in office by the town council.22 After being elected or confirmed, Little Carpathian vineyard masters took an oath. Their term of office was one year, but they could be re-elected several times in succession. 23 The rights and duties of vineyard masters and other members of the vineyard office were mainly contained in the individual vineyard statutes and their addenda (additamenta). 24 Vineyard masters possessed primarily organizational, administrative, judicial, control, disciplinary, police (e.g., detaining unauthorized persons in the vineyards), administrative, material, and local competences and powers. Amore detailed picture of their activities can be drawn, for example, from the records and books of vineyard masters (Bergbuch, Bergprotokol). 25 The power of vineyard masters was defined primarily territorially, meaning they had the right to manage and determine conditions in the vineyard hills and designated areas in their vicinity. Their main competences included supervising and inspecting vineyards and, if necessary, imposing sanctions on persons who violated the vineyard statutes. For example, the vineyard master regularly carried out not only inspections of local vineyards and vineyard-related work but also inspections of wells, embankments, roads, paths and turnarounds located in the given vineyard area.26 In addition to these activities, the vineyard master presided over the vineyard court and regular meetings of the viticultural community.27 Over time, however, the duties of the vineyard master increased and the vineyard office began to appoint assistants assessors. With the growing importance of viticulture and viticultural institutions, town councils gradually restricted the powers of vineyard masters and their subordinates. Individual town councils sought to subordinate the viticultural institutions and their personnel to their direct administrative control. Basic Characteristics of the Role of the Assessor As previously indicated, the vineyard master originally performed all important tasks and made decisions in viticulture with the participation of the entire community of winegrowers at joint assemblies in or near the vineyards. Over time, as viticulture and its institutions developed, this general participation was replaced by anarrower group of representatives of the winegrowing community, who carried out their duties 22 See the annual records of the election of personnel to individual municipal offices. AMB, MmB, Sitzungsprotokolle, 1589–1606, 2a6, inv. no.10667, 1607–1621, 2a7, inv. no.10670. 23 Štátny archív vBratislave, pracovisko Archív Modra, Magistrát mesta Modry, Liber juramentorum ab Anno 1607 usque Annum 1643, inv. no. 1307, fol. 23 (hereinafter ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Liber juramentorum. inv. no.1307). It often happened, however, that avineyard master proved adept at his office and, as aresult, was re-elected for several consecutive years. In Modra, Tomáš Smigalik and Ján Kappl were elected vineyard masters in 1689. They retained their positions for four consecutive years, until 1692. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the record-holder for the longest tenure as vineyard master in Modra was Martin Kusnic, who held the office continuously for ten years. See Štátny archív vBratislave, pracovisko Archív Modra, Magistrát mesta Modry, Zápisnice vinohradníckych majstrov, Bergprotokol 1661–1782, inv. no.643 (hereinafter ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Bergprotokol 1661–1782, inv. no.643). 24 The addenda expanded, supplemented, specified, and clarified the provisions of older vineyard statutes. They were usually not incorporated directly into the text of the original statute but were recorded separately – either following the main text or in another part of the vineyard book. For the issue of the addenda to individual statutes, see, for example FRANKO, “Additamenta” – dodatky, 190–206. 25 See, for example ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Bergprotokol 1661–1782, inv. no.643. 26 The provision of the Modra Vineyard Statute of 1664. Štátny archív vBratislave, pracovisko Archív Modra, Magistrát mesta Modry, Štatúty a inštrukcie, inv. no. 1303/a (hereinafter ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Štatúty, inv. no.1303/a). See also FRANKO, Organizácia aspráva, 29–32. 27 ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Bergprotokol 1661–1782, inv. no.643. 53 after taking an oath. 28 The election or confirmation of assessors to their positions took place annually, usually in the spring months, and their final selection was approved by the relevant municipal magistrate. Initially, only two assessors were elected to assist the vineyard master, but their number increased over time. At the turn of the seventeenth century, four to six assessors typically served in the vineyard offices of Little Carpathian towns and villages. By the end of the seventeenth century, the vineyard office in Modra had as many as eight assessors.29 The term of office for assessors was one year.30 Assessors were elected from among the local population, and tended to be chosen from among older, more experienced and wealthier winegrowers or members of the municipal magistrate. They were required to have sufficient knowledge of vine cultivation, vineyard protection and grape harvesting.31 This practice ensured that influential and experienced townsmen, who also had apersonal interest in the prosperity of local viticulture because they owned vineyards themselves, were involved in the management and resolution of viticultural matters. Thus, competent individuals with amandate from the community stood alongside the vineyard master, which strengthened the legitimacy of their decisions and the exercise of their office. At the end of the Middle Ages, until around the turn of the sixteenth century, assessors represented the interests of winegrowers in relation to the town or other authorities and were also in opposition to the local vineyard master. However, as viticulture developed and its economic importance grew, this role gradually transformed and underwent internal development. From the sixteenth century onward, assessors no longer represented only the winegrowing community but became the executive and advisory body of the vineyard master and began to defend the interests of the municipal magistrate in viticultural matters as well. They actively participated in the administration, organization and supervision of the municipal viticultural economy, implementing the orders and decisions of the municipal magistrate and the vineyard master.32 From the late sixteenth century, assessors became the closest collaborators of the vineyard master. Ideally, there was apartnership between them – the vineyard master led the office and represented the authority of the law, while the assessors provided support and ensured the implementation of his decisions. Their main task was to cooperate with the vineyard master in the protection, management, and administration of viticulture, ensuring above all that his decisions and orders were actually applied and carried out in practice. Assessors also formed akind of advisory board for the vineyard master, serving as his support in decision-making. Little 28 Oaths from the Little Carpathian winegrowing localities have been preserved mainly from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries and are recorded in the municipal or vineyard books of the respective towns and villages. The oath represented acommitment expressed through aspecific ritual form, invoking something sacred to the individual taking the oath. In the event of abreach of the oath, not only were specific punishment or sanctions imposed, the individual also faced moral dishonour. All members of the vineyard office, including those in the lowest positions, were required to take an oath of service. For oaths of viticultural officials, see: ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Liber juramentorum. inv. no.1307; and Štátny archív vBratislave, pracovisko Archív Modra, Magistrát mesta Modry, Kniha prísah ainštrukcií /Liber concordiarum et iuramentorum/, inv. no.1308 (hereinafter ŠA BA, pAM, Liber concordiarum, inv. no.1308). 29 GÁBRIKOVÁ, Malokarpatské vinohradníctvo, 35–36. 30 ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Liber juramentorum. inv. no.1307. 31 ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Liber juramentorum. inv. no.1307. 32 See the records of the activities of the vineyard master and his assessors. ŠA BA, pAM, MmP, Bergbuch, inv. no.355. 54 Carpathian vineyard masters often relied on the advice of their experienced assessors when dealing with complex problems.33 Interestingly, assessors in these localities, with afew exceptions, did not have aprecisely defined working time. The only specific mention of working hours was found in the later Modra edition of the statutes from the second half of the seventeenth century, which stated that Modra assessors were not allowed to remain at the division of vineyards later than three o’clock in the afternoon.34 During the seventeenth century, assessors became not only an advisory but also an executive component of every vineyard office in the Little Carpathian region. Despite all their duties, they still represented the entire community of local winegrowers and thus served as the main link between the winegrowers and the municipal magistrate. In practice, this meant that the municipal magistrates gained direct reach over the entire winegrowing community and, through the vineyard master and assessors, could manage and control the entire organization of vineyard operations within their territory.35 Activities and Duties of the Assessors of the Vineyard Master The basic rights and duties of assessors were anchored in the individual vineyard statutes. As mentioned above, the body of assessors was not only an advisory body to the vineyard master. Various duties and rights of the vineyard master were gradually delegated to the assessors, and municipal magistrates periodically assigned them new tasks.36 Their primary duties included supervisory activities. Either independently or together with the vineyard master, they monitored compliance with the provisions of the valid vineyard statutes and other regulations concerning local viticulture. 37 Assessors organized and coordinated collective work in the vineyard hills and in the vineyards themselves, which was crucial for maintaining the quality and continuity of viticultural production. They played asignificant role in organizing work in the vineyards, overseeing all activities taking place in municipal, ecclesiastical and private vineyards. 38 They supervised pruning, tying and hoeing of vines and the harvesting of grapes during the vintage. They ensured the maintenance and cleanliness of paths, roads and wells in the vineyard hills, as well as all fortifications near the vineyards (walls, fences, gates, stone embankments, drainage channels for rainwater from the vineyards, etc.).39 Proper organization of work activities, management of collective tasks in the vineyards and thorough supervision of their execution enabled effective use of the 33 ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Bergprotokol 1661–1782, inv. no.643. 34 “Gak dluhi čas pri Winohradnim deleny se zustawaty ma.” ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Štatúty, inv. no.1303/a. 35 ŠA BA, pAM, MmJ, Spisy, box 62, inv. no.1193.1. SM 1597. Štátny archív vBratislave, pracovisko Archív Modra, Magistrát mesta Jur pri Bratislave, Zápisnica magistrátu 1618–1622, inv. no.613 (hereinafter ŠA BA, pAM, MmJ, Zápisnica, inv. no.613). 36 AMB, MmB, Sitzungsprotokolle, 1641–1660, 2a10, inv. no.10679. 37 ŠA BA, pAM, MmP, Bergbuch, inv. no.355. Štátny archív vBratislave, pracovisko Archív Modra, Magistrát mesta Jur pri Bratislave, Perecký protokol /Bergbuch/, 1663–1761, inv. no.954 (hereinafter ŠA BA, pAM, MmJ, Bergbuch 1663–1761, inv. no.954). 38 ŠA BA, pAM, MmP, Bergbuch, inv. no.355. ŠA BA, MmT, Regestum promontorii, 1563–1632, sign. IV/m. fol. 171b. 39 ŠA BA, pAM, MmJ, Bergbuch 1663–1761, inv. no.954. Štátny archív vBratislave, pracovisko Archív Modra, Magistrát mesta Modra, Zápisnice vinohradníckych majstrov, Berg Ordnungs Protokol, inv. no.644 (hereinafter ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Berg Ordnungs Protokol, inv. no.644). 55 available labour. This was akey prerequisite for the successful progress of the growing season and the maintenance of economic balance within the winegrowing community. Assessors also assisted the vineyard master with various tasks and activities directly in the vineyards. They participated in measuring, dividing and inspecting vineyards, as well as in placing or removing boundary stones in the vineyard hills.40 The supervisory role of assessors was not limited to monitoring the vineyards and the work carried out there but also included gathering information about violations of vineyard statutes and conflicts among winegrowers. Assessors maintained close contact with individual winegrowers, who provided them with the necessary information and pointed out problems related to the vineyards and activities within them.41 The assessors reported their findings to the vineyard masters and often acted as mediators, helping to resolve conflicts and ensuring that disputes were settled in accordance with agreed rules and local viticultural traditions. Through their activities and mediation, they often prevented the emergence of larger and more complex disputes. The role of assessor was also associated with the need for close cooperation among members of the winegrowing community. Since assessors were often also members of the local municipal council or the vineyard court, they advocated for and promoted the views and needs of local winegrowers in these forums as well.42 In this way, they contributed to atransparent and fair management of the local winegrowing community. Assessors also participated in meetings of the vineyard court (Slovak: Perecké právo, German: Bergrecht). 43 In this respect, they acted as advisors and assistants in the courts of vineyard masters. Thus, they were part of collective decision-making, using their experience and knowledge of viticulture. Together with the vineyard master and members of the municipal magistrate, they even participated in the creation of rules intended to ensure order in local viticulture.44 In addition, they participated in the assessment of various, though usually less serious, offenses related to viticulture, such as damage to vines, theft of grapes or failure to fulfil work duties. Assessors took part in evaluating offenses and similar situations and, together with the vineyard master, proposed possible sanctions. In evaluating and classifying offenses and proposing subsequent sanctions, they primarily relied on the valid vineyard statutes and municipal laws.45 The vineyard master was not allowed to issue amore serious verdict without the presence and consent of the assessors.46 This ensured collective control over his power, and the assessors also served as akind of counterbalance to any potential arbitrariness in the vineyard master’sdecision-making. The role of the vineyard master’sassessors had adirect impact on maintaining stability and order in winegrowing communities. 40 ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Štatúty, inv. no.1303/a. 41 The Statutes of the Modra Vineyard Masters (after 1664). Štátny archív vBratislave, pracovisko Archív Modra, Magistrát mesta Modry, Štatúty ainštrukcie, inv. no.1298/a (hereinafter ŠA BA, pAM, Štatúty, inv. no.1298/a). 42 AMB, MmB, Sitzungsprotokolle, 1589 –1606, 2a6, inv. no.10667, 1607–1621, 2a7, inv. no.10670. 43 FRANKO, Viničné právo, 209–212. 44 See the final paragraph of the Svätý Jur Vineyard Statute of 1650. Štátny archív vBratislave, pobočka Archív Modra, Spisy Magistrátu mesta Svätý Jur – základný rad (1639–1662), box 67, inv. no.1245.37, SM 1650 (hereinafter ŠA BA, pAM, MmJ, Spisy, box 67, inv. no.1245.37, SM 1650). 45 ŠA BA, pAM, Štatúty, inv. no.1298/a. 46 Štátny archív v Bratislave, pracovisko Archív Modra, Magistrát mesta Modry, Liber statutorum 1617 – 1664, inv. no.1296 (hereinafter ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Liber statutorum, inv. no.1296). ŠA BA, pAM, Štatúty, inv. no.1298/a. 56 Although assessors did not possess full executive power, their participation in decisionmaking processes and in supervising labour discipline was irreplaceable. Effective management of work processes in the vineyards, consistent application of established cultivation methods and systematic protection of the vines had adirect impact on both the quantity and quality of the harvest, thus significantly contributing to increased production yields and improving the overall level of winemaking in the individual towns and villages of the Little Carpathian region. Rewards and Benefits The performance of the office of assessor to the vineyard master was associated with aset of privileges and benefits which represented aform of both material and symbolic recognition for fulfilling assigned tasks and responsibilities.47 For example, assessors received income from fines, administrative fees and fees collected in connection with violations of the vineyard statutes. Acommon practice in the Little Carpathian region was that acertain portion (often half) of fines imposed for offenses in the vineyards went directly to the vineyard office, that is, to the vineyard master and his assessors. 48 During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, vineyard assessors did not have afixed salary. In addition to financial rewards, assessors also enjoyed gifts in kind and other advantages. During work activities such as appraising, measuring and dividing vineyards, the owners would usually host them, providing food and wine. This was both aform of social respect and traditional compensation for work performed in the field.49 The assessor’srole was also associated with ceremonial social events, such as lunches or breakfasts (fruštik) organized on the occasion of the inauguration of new vineyard office personnel, during which wine from municipal vineyards was served.50 Such gatherings and feasts strengthened the community cohesion of vineyard office members and also underscored the importance of their role. In Little Carpathian towns, assessors were exempt from certain municipal duties, such as guard service on the town walls or performing various labour obligations.51 These exemptions reflected not only the workload of assessors within the vineyard administration but also recognition of their social status. The advantages and benefits associated with the office served not only as compensation but also highlighted the prestige and trust bestowed upon them by the winegrowing community. Despite these benefits, the position of assessor was primarily apublic service based on the principles of trust, responsibility and ethical conduct. Assessors held authority within the urban winegrowing community. The moral capital of the office played an important role – assessors’ social standing and reputation were closely tied to how honourably and impartially they performed their duties. 52 In cases of failure 47 See the provision of the Modra Vineyard Statutes from the seventeenth century: “W kterich wecoch Pergmistrowe oslobozeny gsu.” ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Štatúty, inv. no.1303/a. 48 ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Bergprotokol 1661–1782, inv. no.643. AMB, Kniha cechových štatútov, sign. Ce 387. 49 The provision of the Modra Vineyard Statutes from the seventeenth century: “...deleny Pred sebe wzity, ale spomocu aPritomnosty Prisedicich, kteri za swu Pracu od Panow Pergmistrow tractowany biwagu...” ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Štatúty, inv. no.1303/a. 50 “Instruction wegen derer Mahlzeithen.” ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Liber statutorum, inv. no.1296. 51 ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Štatúty, inv. no.1303/a. ŠA BA, pAM, MmJ, Spisy, box 67, inv. no.1245.37, SM 1650. AMB, MmB, Sitzungsprotokolle, 1641–1660, 2a10, inv. no.10679. 52 FRANKO, Služobné prísahy, 28–33. 57 or abuse of power, assessors faced sanctions and loss of credibility. In practice, this could lead to their premature removal from office or non-renewal of their mandate in the next term.53 Thus, the office of assessor stood at the intersection of exercising power, serving the city and upholding the moral order of the winegrowing community. The Position of Assessors within Municipal Self-Government During the sixteenth century, viticultural institutions in the Little Carpathian towns had arelatively high degree of autonomy. Vineyard masters and their assessors often participated in the preparation and revision of vineyard regulations. In some cases and situations, they could decide independently based on their own judgment and local practice.54 Gradually, however, the competencies of municipal authorities increased at the expense of the independence and autonomy of viticultural institutions. Especially during the seventeenth century, atrend of centralization of municipal administration can be identified, which manifested in the systematic restriction of the powers of the vineyard master and his assessors. 55 The magistrates of the Little Carpathian towns sought to manage and strictly control local wine production, as it generated significant revenue for the municipal treasury.56 In the town of Svätý Jur, for example, from the mid-seventeenth century, the decision-making independence of vineyard office officials was significantly reduced. The office lost its character as an autonomous body and was transformed into apurely executive branch, implementing instructions and resolutions issued by the town council or mayor. Decision-making powers in more serious matters, such as disputes over vineyard ownership, organization of vineyard defence, or the collection of wine taxes, were transferred exclusively to municipal authorities. 57 Asimilar development, though with varying intensity, occurred in other towns of the Little Carpathian region. Thus, during the seventeenth century, the vineyard offices of the Little Carpathians became firmly integrated into the structures of municipal self-government. The activities of each vineyard office’spersonnel were subject to formal oversight by municipal authorities, represented by the mayor, burgomaster and town council.58 The town council fulfilled aregulatory and supervisory function, issuing generally binding regulations for the vineyard office and its officials, including vineyard statutes. 59 At the same time, it monitored and controlled the observance and implementation of these regulations through the vineyard office. 53 AMB, MmB, Sitzungsprotokolle, 1675–1680, 2a13, inv. no.10697. 54 For this issue, see the provisions of the Bratislava Statutes of 1570. AMB, Kniha cechových štatútov, sign. Ce 387. 55 AMB, MmB, Sitzungsprotokolle, 1607–1621, 2a7, inv. no.10670, 1622–1633, 2a8, inv. no.10674, 1641– 1660, 2a10, inv. no.10679. 56 Archív mesta Bratislavy, Magistrát mesta Bratislavy, Rechtsbuchs, 4s1 (hereinafter AMB, MmB, Rechtsbuch, 4s1); Archív mesta Bratislavy, Magistrát mesta Bratislavy, Majetkové prevody aindex (Aufgaben, Kauf und Verkauf der Wiengarten und Häuser), 1606–1622, 4m1, inv. no.11197 (hereinafter AMB, MmB, Aufgaben, Kauf, 4m1, inv. no.11197). 57 FRANKO, Organizácia aspráva svätojurského, 74–75. 58 “...Da einer in Bergrecht zue einen Fiscal bestellet werden soll...” ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Liber statutorum, inv. no.1296. 59 “...Protož Slawni Magistrat na predgmenowane užiwagice Običage, nasledugice Prikazany ustanovity račil...” ŠA BA, pAM, MmM, Štatúty, inv. no.1303/a. 64 KAHOUNOVÁ, Ema. Vinohradníctvo Malých Karpát. In: Slovenský národopis, 1960, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 12–13. KAUT, Hubert. Wiener Weinkultur. In: TRAXLER, Hana (ed.). Die österreichische Weinbuch. Wien: Verlag Austria Press, 1963, pp. 259–260. KAZIMÍR, Štefan. Malokarpatské vinohradníctvo do konca 18. storočia. In: Historické štúdie, 1981, vol. 25, pp. 119–135. KIRÁLY, János. Pozsony város joga a középkorban. Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1894. KĽVAŇA, Josef. Vinohradnictví na Strážničku. In: Vlastivědný sborník Podlužan, 1930, p. 169–176. KLVAŇA, Josef. Vinohradnictví na Strážnicku, hlavně pak při Strážnici městě, ve stoletím sedmnáctém. In: POLÍVKA, Jiří (ed.). Národopisný Sborník českoslovanský, 1900, vol. 6, pp. 166–184. KLVAŇA, Josef. Vinohrady na Slovensku moravském. In: PASTRNEK, František. Národopisný Sborník českoslovanský, 1898, vol. 2, pp. 69–80. KOVÁTS, Ferenc. A vajnori hegyközség rendtartása 1460–70-böl. In: Magyar Gazdaságtörténelmi Szemle, VII. Budapest: Országos Magyar Gazdasági Egyesület, 1900. LEHOTSKÁ, Darina. Dejiny Modry. Bratislava: Vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied, 1961. MITÁČEK, Jiří – PROCHÁZKA, Rudolf (eds). Modřice. Dejiny města. Modřice: Muzejní a vlastivědná společnost v Brně pro Muzejní spolek Modřice; Město Modřice, 2017. POŠVÁŘ, Jaroslav. Moravské právo hor viničných. In: Časopis Matice moravské, 1951, vol. 70, pp. 153–156. ŠPIESZ, Anton. Malokarpatské vinohradnícke mestá Modra, Pezinok a Jur na prelome 17. a 18. storočia. In: Západné Slovensko, 1976, no. 3, pp. 48–49. ŠPIESZ, Anton. Slobodné kráľovské mestá na Slovensku v rokoch 1680 – 1780. Košice: Východoslovenské vydavateľstvo, 1983. TANDLICH, Tomáš. Mestečká na území Bratislavskej, Nitrianskej a Tekovskej stolice. Vybrané sídla s právnym postavením zemepanského mestečka (oppida) v rokoch 1526 – 1720. Nitra: Univerzita Konštantína Filozofa v Nitre, 2013. VÁLKOVÁ – FRÝZOVÁ, Marie. Úřad perkmistra pražských viničných hor. In: Sborník příspěvků k dějinám hlavního města Prahy VI, 1930, p. 2–32. 65 This article is acontribution to research on the cultural diplomacy of Nazi Germany on the periphery of Axis Europe. It focuses primarily on an analysis of the ideological assumptions underlying the organization of exhibitions about Slovakia and Slovak art in German cities in 1942. It assesses the thesis that the discourses of anti-modernism and anti-urbanism were the basis for the presentation of Slovak realities and culture. Interactions between the Nazi center and the Slovak periphery were characterized by an emphasis on the authenticity of folk culture and art, which implied acontrast between the “pure” countryside and the “decadent” city. This research shows that the decisive actors in this discourse were not domestic but “foreign” Germans, that is, members of the German-speaking minorities of Central and Southeastern Europe, who wanted to make up for their sense that their development lagged behind that of the Reich by emphasizing the originality and authenticity of the periphery, which they also projected onto local non-German-speaking majority cultures. Keywords: anti-modernism and anti-urbanism; cultural diplomacy; exhibitions; Nazi Germany; Slovak State. While the relations and interactions between the Slovak State and Nazi Germany during the Second World War have been the subject of historical research for decades, less is known about the perceptions of the two unequal actors toward each other and the presentation of these perceptions externally, especially by the self-proclaimed “protective power”, that is, Germany. While in Slovakia official propaganda portrayed the Third Reich as the protector of the rights of small nations against the threats of both Bolshevism and Western democracies, allegedly guided from behind the scenes by “world Jewry”,1 in Nazi propaganda Slovakia was to represent akind of showcase or “calling card” (Visitenkarte) of Nazi Germany’scondescending attitude toward the peoples of so-called Southeastern Europe (Südosteuropa) (referring to the Balkan countries plus Hungary and Slovakia).2 In view of the priorities of Nazi ideology, the role of German minorities in this region was generally to act as akind of vanguard of * This article was researched and written with the support of the Slovak Research and Development Agency under agreement No. APVV–22–0301 entitled History of Art in the Slovak State and Nazi Europe: Institutions and Reception between Centre and Periphery. ** Associate Professor Mgr. Miloslav Szabó, Ph.D.; Department of German, Dutch and Scandinavian Studies, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic; miloslav[email protected]; ORCID: 00000002-9768-5805. 1 NIŽŇANSKÝ, Obraz nepriateľa. 2 During National Socialism, “Southeastern Europe” (Südosteuropa) also included Hungary and Slovakia in order to distinguish them from German-dominated Central Europe (Mitteleuropa). Anti-Modernism and Anti-Urbanism as Ideological Foundations of Urban Exhibitions of Slovak Culture and Art in the Nazi and Fascist “New Europe”* Miloslav Szabó** vol. 14, 2025, no.1, pp.65–81 https://doi.org/10.33542/CAH2025-1-04 66 “Germanness” in the process of “racial” reorganization of the region. In addition to the elimination of “foreign elements”, above all “Jews” and “Gypsies” – and, in the specific case of Slovakia, even “Hungarians and Magyarons” – this was to consist of the Germanization of suitable “racial” material. 3 Although the Nazis did not overtly promote this goal by highlighting the “healthy” roots of folk culture and art in selected non-German ethnic groups, they seem to have at least implied it. In the present study, Iwill examine public exhibitions to show by way of example the limits of the presentation of images of such accepted difference under the conditions of the Nazi “racial order”. In so doing, Iproceed from the thesis that in Southeastern Europe the modernism of Nazi ideology and culture in relation to the “ethnic Germans” (Volksdeutsche) and the majority peoples that surrounded them was accompanied by avölkisch or ethno-nationalist tendency toward anti-modernism to agreater extent than within the Reich. Maria Todorova understands modernism on the eastern periphery of Europe in the affirmative sense of catching up with the “western core”, which prompted Sorin Antohi and Balázs Trencsényi to reconceptualize Roger Griffin’sthesis of fascist modernism as arejection of modernity and aprojection of an alternative modernism. Indeed, modernity on the eastern periphery still remained largely aprogram or projection, and both authors therefore propose the use of the term anti-modernism, which better describes the oscillation between the modern and the premodern, or the recurrence of the latter.4 In the case of Nazi Germany’scultural diplomacy in relation to the regions of Central and Southeastern Europe, anti-modernism manifested itself in an emphasis on the ethnic roots of national culture and the preference for folk, or at least “old”, art among both the German minorities and the majority peoples there. This is also true of one variant of anti-modernism, völkisch anti-urbanism, which demonized the cosmopolitan city and projected the “pure” city of the future being firmly tied to the land as asource of collective vitality. This is the best way to explain the paradoxes of the presentation of folkloristic or directly rural architecture in the environment of dynamically developing German cities, or the coexistence of the “engaged romanticism” of local Volksdeutsche and the modernist urban development programs of the capital city of Bratislava, protected by the Reich. 5 In the present study, Iwill not examine this paradoxical, essentially anti-modernist oscillation between traditionalism and modernism through the example of architecture, but Iwill apply it to the analysis of ideological influences on the conception of the exhibition “Slovakia” shown in Stuttgart in 1942, which had arelatively large resonance both in Germany and Slovakia, but which has nevertheless not been the subject of historical or ethnological research to date. This understanding of anti-urbanism also indirectly influenced the presentation and perception of contemporary art, which Iwill demonstrate in the discussions that accompanied the plans to hold arepresentative exhibition of Slovak art in Berlin at the same time. The present study is acontribution to atopic hitherto little researched, at least in the context of East–Central Europe (although it has been an important aspect of research on the history of Axis Europe over the past decade): cultural diplomacy. According to 3 KAISER, Politik des Dritten Reiches, 433– 434; TÖNSMEYER, Dritte Reich, 46–47; SCHVARC, Nacionálnosocialistická nová Európa. 4 ANTOHI – TRENCSÉNYI, Approaching Anti-modernism, 7–8. 5 NĚMEC, Pressburg als Satellit; STOLIČNÁ, Deutsches Bauen. 67 recent research, cultural and artistic influences and the presentation of individual national cultures were not merely afootnote to the bigger picture of political, economic and military history, nor were they limited to the interactions between German Nazism and Italian Fascism.6 This was an independent power sphere (Kulturmacht) that operated at the intersection of state structures and private associations and thus represented, in many ways, amore successful cultural pendant to an explicitly political fascist internationalism, which should not therefore be entirely reduced to apropagandistic aspect. 7 This development would not have been possible without the renationalization of culture. The essence of this new internationalism, which replaced liberal internationalism and became the basic premise of the new cultural diplomacy, was the glorification of one’sown national culture and, at the same time, at least in principle, the recognition of the legitimacy of the existence of other national cultures.8 The 1942 Exhibition “Slovakia”: One of the Highlights of Nazi Germany’sCultural Diplomacy toward its Satellites in Southeastern Europe? Public exhibitions were already one of the basic tools of cultural diplomacy long before the era of fascism and Nazism, but they were further developed by the latter in terms of their ideological and propagandistic priorities. Even before military expansion, Hitler – and Stalin as well – used the pavilion at the Paris World Exhibition in 1937, to name one example, for these purposes. Marla Stone characterizes the exceptional function of exhibitions for fascism and Nazism as follows: The possibilities embedded in the exhibition as acultural form – its ability to contain and propagandize any message, to direct the gaze, to control the narrative, and to regulate emotions – made it an ubiquitous presence and adefining aspect of the Fascist and Nazi cultural imaginary. Moreover, exhibitions offered aphysical meeting-place and mixing-point for cultural producers and consumers, as well as fulfilling the propaganda exigencies of the regimes.9 This, of course, did not only apply to the explicitly propagandistic – especially anti-Bolshevik and antisemitic – exhibitions that also came to Slovakia after the establishment of the Slovak State in March 1939.10 In asense, the seemingly apolitical, or at least not exclusively and primarily political, exhibitions were even more impressive and influential. Immediately after its establishment, the Slovak State became heavily dependent on Nazi Germany and, despite recognition by several states, internationally isolated. The nationalist fervor that accompanied its proclamation manifested itself in aunilateral effort to constantly convince the Nazi protector of the legitimacy of the Slovaks’ national and state existence. At the same time, by its willingness to collaborate, this diminutive state sought to overshadow its much larger southern neighbor, Hungary, to 6 Benjamin G. Martin uses the term “soft power” as an equivalent to cultural diplomacy. MARTIN, Nazi-Fascist New Order, 2; NASTASĂ-MATEI, Transnational Far Right. 7 TROMMLER, Kulturmacht ohne Kompass, 425. 8 TROMMLER, Kulturmacht ohne Kompass, 422. See also IRIYE, Cultural Internationalism, 91–130. 9 STONE, Acts of Self-Representation, 235–236. 10 See BURGSTALLER, Inszenierung des Hasses. 68 which it had had to cede vast territories even before its declaration of independence on the instructions of fascist and Nazi “arbiters”. These problems also resonated in cultural policy and diplomacy, which in turn copied the patterns of relations with other nominally independent countries in the Nazi sphere of influence, especially in Central and Southeastern Europe, whether these involved the conclusion of interstate cultural agreements, the establishment of independent interstate societies to cultivate cultural relations or the founding of German scholarly institutes.11 The idea of organizing an exhibition on Slovakia as amodel satellite in Germany, specifically in Stuttgart, emerged even before the establishment of the Slovak State in February 1939.12 In the meantime, Slovakia had been presented at fairs in Leipzig and Vienna but it was only the Foreign German Institute (Deutsches Auslands-Institut) in Stuttgart that undertook the task of presenting this German “calling card” (Visitenkarte), as Slovakia was internally called by the Nazi authorities, for “ideal motives”, as the Bratislava-based German newspaper Grenzbote wrote approvingly. 13 The real contours of the venture began to take shape only in the course of 1941, when it was taken over by the former head of the Foreign German Institute, aGerman from Transylvania, Richard Csaki. Established after the First World War to cultivate the language and culture of “foreign Germans”, under Csaki’sleadership the institution after 1933 became an instrument of ethnic politics (Volkstumspolitik) under the auspices of the newly established Foreign German Center (Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle), which was under the direct supervision of the Schutzstaffel, better known as the SS.14 The organizers of the “Slovakia” exhibition had the support of important institutions, headed by the Reich Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Propaganda, as well as the German Embassy in Bratislava. The plan probably gained importance in early 1942 after the establishment of the Italian Cultural Institute in Bratislava, which the German envoy Hanns Ludin interpreted as competition for Nazi Germany in the field of cultural diplomacy. 15 The importance of the exhibition enterprise is underlined by the fact that at this time, due to the danger of air raids, fairs and other similar events were no longer being held, and even shortly before the opening of the exhibition there was athreat of a “general ban on exhibitions”.16 Despite the competition between Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, and 11 The Slovak–German Society in Bratislava was founded at the beginning of 1939, the German–Slovak Society in Berlin only in 1941. DALFINGER, Kulturbeziehungen, 206–210. The signing of the German–Slovak cultural agreement also took place only in 1942. Although the Slovak side partially defended its competences in the field of higher education, the agreement overall strengthened “German hegemony in the cultural life of Slovakia”. BARBIAN, “Kulturwerte im Zeitkampf”, 434. On the cultural agreement, see also SCHVARC – HALLON, Nemecká kultúrna politika, 262–266, and DRAGÚŇ, Nemecko-slovenská dohoda. 12 Bundesarchiv Berlin-Lichterfelde (hereafter BA), R57/11499, Zur Besprechung der vom DAI (Deutsches Ausland-Institut) für die Zeit vom 1. 10. – 15. 11. 1939 geplanten Deutsch-Slowakischen Ausstellung..., 24. 2. 1939. 13 BA, R57/11499, Slowakei-Ausstellung in Stuttgart. Von Elfried Fürstenberg. Aus: Grenzbote, Pressburg, 16. Juli 1942. 14 BURLEIGH, Germany Turns Eastwards, 181–182. The terminological shift from Auslandsdeutsche to Volksdeutsche to refer to foreign Germans sanctioned the penetration of ethno-nationalism and racism into the terminology of institutions that, even before 1933, were responsible for promoting the culture of Germans living outside Germany. See LUTHER, Volkstumspolitik des Deutschen Reiches. 15 BARBIAN, “Kulturwerte im Zeitkampf”, 433. Indeed, during this period Italy was trying to catch up with Nazi Germany precisely in the field of cultural diplomacy. TROMMLER, Kulturmacht, 487. 16 BA, R57/11499, Dr. Csaki: Zur Begründung des Vorschlages an den Herrn Generalsekretär Dr. Brestensky…, 23. 7. 1942; BA, R57/11341, Aktennotiz über eine Besprechung mit Dr. Maiwald am 5. 5. 1942. 69 in this case especially from the SS organizations under Heinrich Himmler, all those involved apparently agreed on the need to present Slovakia as a “calling card” for the supposedly tolerant Nazi policy towards small nations. The different views of the SS and the Foreign Office on the question of how to approach Slovak policy do not change this. While the former advocated aheavy-handed strategy, the embassy, under the leadership of senior Sturmabteilung (SA) functionary Ludin, tried to maintain abalance between the radicals around Prime Minister Vojtech Tuka and Minister of the Interior Alexander Mach (also commander of the fascist Hlinka Guard under the direct control of the SS) on the one hand and the supporters of President Jozef Tiso, who cultivated anational–conservative image despite his active collaboration and fascist rhetoric, on the other.17 The conveyance of aharmonious image of tolerance towards small nations on the way to an anti-Bolshevik and anti-democratic – or simply antisemitic – “New Europe” apparently caused the typical disputes over the tendency of Nazi politics to recede into the background. This is evident from the remarks of arepresentative of the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle, acertain “Herr Riemann”, who approved of the political tendency of the exhibition at ameeting with Richard Csaki in January 1942. Only Slovak flags were to be flown at the exhibition, and not even abust of the Führer was to have aplace on the grounds. On the other hand, the positive role and importance of the German minority (Volksgruppe) for Slovakia, as well as the place of the Hlinka Guard – “because it is supported by the Reichsführer” (Himmler) – were to be highlighted everywhere. The Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle was to provide the logistics. After taking his directives into account, Riemann agreed that Csaki should discuss further details with the German envoy Ludin. 18 This occurred afew days later in Bratislava, when Ludin agreed to everything and stressed that “the sovereign Slovak State should be presented impressively, but the performance of the German Volksgruppe should of course be absolutely outstanding”.19 In fact, Ludin held amore critical view of the role of the German minority and denounced its condescension toward the Slovaks and its dislike of their state, whose existence he saw as astabilizing element in the region, necessary for the achievement of the final German victory. He went so far as to place the local Germans on the same level as the allegedly arrogant members of the Hungarian minority. 20 Ludin shared this anti-Hungarian sentiment with the German Csaki from Transylvania.21 Initially, it was considered whether the Hungarian minority should also be given aplace at the “Slovakia” exhibition. In spite of its presence in cultural life, especially in Bratislava, this issue was sensitive on the Slovak side due to asense of historical injustice committed under Hungarian rule. Nevertheless, in the space between the exhibition 17 SZABÓ, Hitler’sPriests. 18 BA, R57/11499, Besprechung am 7. I. 1942 mit Herrn Riemann, Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle, zuständig für die politische Beurteilung der Slowakei-Ausstellung. 19 BA, R57/11499, Dr. Csaki: Dienstreise in die Slowakei, 8. – 14. 1. 1942. In addition, both actors agreed that one of the founding fathers of Czechoslovakia, Milan Rastislav Štefánik, would not be mentioned in the same line as the Slovak People’sParty leaders Hlinka, Tiso, and Tuka. 20 Dokument 91, 326. 21 During his visit to Bratislava in 1940, Csaki met with several representatives of the Hungarian minority and noted their “ambivalence” toward “everything German”, betraying both contempt for the local Germans (as aVolksgruppe) and feelings of inferiority toward the Reich. BA, R57/11499, Dr. Csaki – Bericht über Dienstreise nach Pressburg 1. – 6. II. 1940. 70 halls devoted to the Slovak and German nationalities, respectively, ashowcase was to be placed with examples of Hungarian literature and press, photographs from everyday life, as well as alikeness of the “leader” János Esterházy and an ethnographic map, which was intended to preempt any complaints from the Hungarian side. 22 The German Embassy, on the other hand, was opposed to the integration of the Hungarian minority from the beginning, but was waiting for afinal statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.23 Although the latter gave the organizers afree hand, Anton Endrös (cultural officer of the German Embassy and advisor to the Slovak Propaganda Office) eventually swept the whole matter off the table with the telling reasoning that the aforementioned János Esterházy – the only Hungarian Party member of the Slovak Parliament – had abstained from voting on the constitutional law legalizing the deportation of the Jewish population to extermination camps on the territory of the General Government. Endrös argued that “This should have been asufficiently compelling argument to disregard the Hungarian national group.”24 The exhibition had asurprisingly large impact. According to the available data, as many as 300,000 visitors visited it in the summer months of 1942, which is surprising even after taking into account that group visits were organized for high school pupils in September.25 Needless to say, Slovak politicians, led by Prime Minister Vojtech Tuka, and the media felt extremely honored. The exhibition’ssuccess was also aided by the institutions that participated in the extensive preparations and willingly loaned exhibits. Some of these exhibits, not least the Slovak and German wooden house and its furnishings, were graciously donated to the collections of the planned Umweltmuseum. Slovak Wooden Houses in the “City of Foreign Germans”: Richard Csaki as an Ideologue of Anti-Modernism and Anti-Urbanism Richard Csaki, who took over the leadership of the German Foreign Institute in 1933, elevated German minorities above majority populations in accordance with the racist theories of Nazism, although only in order to subordinate them to ahierarchical structure analogous to the Nazi Party. When he was dismissed from the leadership of the institute in the summer of 1941 because of his lack of authority, he threw himself into new, though less prominent tasks, in particular the organization of aso-called Deutsches Umweltmuseum, amuseum of “foreign” ethnic groups in the midst of which German minorities lived. 26 The concept of the “Slovakia” exhibition, which was the first and only 22 BA, R57/11341, Slowakei – Ausstellung, Stuttgart, 25. 2. 1942. 23 BA, R57/11499, Dr. Csáki: Dienstreise vom 15. bis zum 22. März 1942. 24 BA, R57/11499, Dr. Csáki: Dienstreise vom 14. bis zum 23. Mai 1942. The exhibition likely also included anti-Jewish posters of the Slovak Propaganda Office; Richard Csaki asked for and received these in any case. BA, R57/11341, A. Stengel an Dr. Csaky (sic), 29. 4. 1942. The debate on the inclusion of Hungarians continued for some time. Ambassador Ludin also presented anegative position in Berlin, while Rudolf von Scheliha, a diplomat in the Foreign Ministry (and secret resistance fighter) adopted a pro-Hungarian position. BA, R57/11341, Aktennotiz über Besprechung mit Legationsrat von Scheliha..., 5. 5. 1942. 25 Die Ausstellung “Die Slowakei”. In: Deutschtum im Ausland, vol.25, 1942, nos. 7/8, pp.175–176. On group visits, see BA, R57/11499, Betr. Slowakei-Ausstellung, 23. 7. 1942. This figure also seems relevant in comparison with the number of visitors to the Bulgarian Culture Week, which took place in Frankfurt am Main the same year. Despite the much more developed cultural contacts and diplomacy between Germany and Bulgaria, the organizers counted only 50,000 visitors there. DALFINGER, Kulturbeziehungen, 157. The fact that asubstantial part of the “Slovakia” exhibition was placed in the open air, which was not commonplace in times of threatening air raids, may have played arole in this. 26 RITTER, Das deutsche Auslands-Institut, 59–61. 71 one to be realized within this museum project, was thus conceived within an institutional framework that relied on an ideologically distorted process of legitimizing the power transformations of conquest and subjugation of “living space,” which in the case of Southeastern Europe took into account the non-Germanic “environment” (Umwelt) in an ethnographic and cultural sense.27 The task of the Deutsches Umweltmuseum was thus to acquaint Germans with the specificities of “those nations which, together with the German one, will be incorporated into the new world order”.28 That not all nations were chosen for this new order was already suggested by Csaki’semphasis; after all, the new order was to differ from “democratic egalitarianism”. One of the criteria of this quasi-natural selection was to be the “cultural performances past and present” that created the “face” of the respective nations, the view of which had been distorted in the past for the Germans by the “upper classes with their Jewish relatives or Jewish financial backers” (jüdisch versippte oder jüdisch bezahlte Oberschicht). 29 The Germans’ true face was therefore now to be revealed in the open-air installations, inspired by those Csaki had previously seen in Scandinavia, intended to convey an essentially anti-modernist image to German visitors: “In everyday life, in the farmhouse with all its accessories, in the urban room, in agriculture, in craftsmanship, in customs and traditions, in clothing and housing, the character of the people arises from the natural soil of the landscape.” 30 The reference to the “urban room” hardly neutralizes the emphasis on the “natural soil of the landscape”, in which the “characteristic nature of the nation” is supposed to have its roots. With public events like the Slovak exhibition, the city fathers hoped to help overcome Stuttgart’sprovincial character (despite the fact that it was industrialized and boasted the title “City of Foreign Germans”) and to aid its transformation into ametropolis. 31 Yet Csaki’scity was not intended to be cosmopolitan or exploitative, i.e. “Jewish”, but national and socialist – a “living space” (Lebensraum) of Germans, surrounded by other authentic peoples (Umwelt), supposedly chosen to accompany them into abright future. Even before the victory of Nazism in Germany, Richard Csaki had already stressed the agrarian character of “foreign Germans” in Eastern Europe and their mission to defend their Lebensraum, their “fatherland” (Scholle der Väter), in the face of foreign ethnic groups. 32 However, all we read in Csaki’s1932 travelogue about the majority “foreign-race” peoples surrounding the German “minorities bound by fate” (Schicksalsminderheiten) in Eastern Europe is that they were “young”, culturally backward, and “hungry” for German soil.33 In the introduction to the 1942 brochure for the “Slovakia” exhibition, Csaki therefore had to look for positives in Slovakia and found them in the role of a “small nation” and “amodel example of astate formation alongside the Central Powers”. 34 The foundations on which the Slovak nation was building its 27 MISCHEK, Das Völkerkundliche Institut, 184. The Umweltmuseum was to be the culmination of amuseum complex themed around “primitivism” and German colonialism. 28 CSAKI, Vom Sinn auslandkundlicher Darstellung, 19. 29 CSAKI, Vom Sinn auslandkundlicher Darstellung, 20. 30 CSAKI, Vom Sinn auslandkundlicher Darstellung, 20. 31 MISCHEK, Das Völkerkundliche Institut, 185, FN 86; RITTER, Das deutsche Auslands-Institut, 111. 32 CSAKI, Deutscher Wegweiser, VII. On Bratislava/Pressburg in German travelogues, see TANCER, Neviditeľné mesto. 33 CSAKI, Deutscher Wegweiser, VIII. 34 CSAKI, Antlitz der Slowakei, 14. 72 future came from its “healthy folk culture”, which allowed it to survive in unfavorable circumstances under the domination of the Hungarians and the Czechs and to avoid the mistakes that accompanied the coming-of-age of more developed and modern nations. The Slovak State could therefore enter the “new Europe” as a “particularly proactive and progressive element” – not despite, but precisely because it had not lost its links with traditional culture. 35 This last point also linked it to the German element, which was also “fighting” against oppression and assimilation: Slovaks, like Germans, were presented as the bearers of atrue “earth-bound” culture. This, of course, did not mean that the former were equal to the latter. Rather, their subordination in all areas of modern life was to be viewed by both sides as something quite natural. The exhibits from Slovakia covered older culture and history and complemented the areas of economics, tourism, current politics and ideology. However, ethnography predominated. This was evident, among other things, in the ubiquity of national costumes (the accompanying staff were to be dressed in these as well), embroidery, ceramics and, above all, rural wooden architecture. Wood, as the “main export article” of the still largely agrarian Slovakia, was to be the subject of an entire section of the exhibition.36 The organizers built ashepherd’shut in the open space of the exhibition where cheese and wine were sold, aceramic workshop and, most importantly, two wooden huts with authentic furnishings. According to aplan from the autumn of 1941, these were to be “permanently inhabited by afamily dressed in national costumes”, in the style of ahuman zoo. One of the huts was modelled on the distinctive Slovak village of Čičmany and the other on the German-speaking town of Wagendrüssel (today called Nálepkovo). This open-air space on the grounds of the former flower fair, including the passage leading to it from the indoor area, was conceived as the culmination of the whole exhibition.37 Modern urbanism was not directly addressed in the “Slovakia” exhibition. Apart from Bratislava, which was only portrayed as akind of outpost of the Reich,38 Csaki did emphasize – alongside the natural beauty and picturesqueness of Slovak folk culture – the influence of the urban landscape, but he was referring to medieval German towns such as Banská Štiavnica/Schemnitz, Kremnica/Kremnitz, Kežmarok/Käsmark, and especially Levoča/Leutsche, which he portrayed as testimonies of “medieval German culture and thus testimonies of centuries of connection with the Reich”. 39 One section of the exhibition was to be explicitly devoted to “intimate representations of old urban culture”. 40 Anti-urbanism, directed primarily against the modern cosmopolitan and 35 CSAKI, Antlitz der Slowakei, 15. 36 CSAKI, Antlitz der Slowakei, 23. 37 BA, R57/11499, Plan zur Gliederung der Slowakei-Ausstellung (2. Entwurf, 31. Okt. 1941); BA, R57/11499, Dr. Csaki: Dienstreise in die Slowakei, 8. – 14. 1. 1942. 38 Already during his visit to Bratislava in 1940, Csaki noted the aesthetic contradiction between the old German Bratislava and “Czech” modernity: “The contrast between blatant lack of culture and the highest formal beauty is particularly stark in the old town with its wonderful wealth of architectural treasures. Iwould just like to point out the barbaric façade of the Bata shoe store.” BA, R57/309, Dr. Csaki – Bericht über Dienstreise nach Pressburg 1. – 6. II. 1940. 39 CSAKI, Antlitz der Slowakei, 22. An illustrative example of this understanding is provided, for example, by the “Slovak issue” of the Leipzig picture magazine Illustrirte Zeitung, where anumber of large-format photographs of folklore and late Gothic architecture and art are complemented by only one smaller illustration of the first high-rise residential and commercial building in the center of Bratislava, the so-called Manderla. Slowakei – ein Land stellt sich vor. In: Illustrirte Zeitung, no.4969. Leipzig: J. J. Weber, 1941, 168b. 40 BA R57/11499, Plan zur Gliederung. 73 capitalist big city, was not explicitly mentioned by Csaki in the exhibition brochure, but it was nonetheless ahidden structural element of the exhibition. We do not know to what extent the theses of the Sudeten German ethnologist Bruno Schier, who held avisiting professorship at the Slovak University in Bratislava at the time of the exhibition preparations, were reflected in its conception. Schier considered Slovak folk art to be “pure” and “untouched by the destructive influence of big-city civilization”, which – along with asuitable “racial” profile – was to serve as asolid basis for the national existence of Slovaks, albeit in aGerman-dominated Central Europe. 41 The only mention of Schier concerns the decision regarding what kind of Slovak wooden house to build in Stuttgart. Schier, who was an expert in vernacular village architecture, suggested ahouse from Orava, while Csaki suggested one from Čičmany. The architectural elements of the Orava house struck Csaki, who went to see it for himself, as very similar to the German ones, and he argued that there was no point in “building aquite similar or identical Slovak peasant house next to the German one”. Moreover, the Čičmany wooden house was, in his opinion, more representative and more beautiful.42 Csaki may here have drawn inspiration from the research of the Slovak–German art historian Elisabeth Günther-Mayer, whose study on folk art Csaki colorfully highlighted in the margin when preparing his list of scholarly sources on Slovak folk culture. 43 Günther-Mayer’sarticle on Slovak folk art from early 1941, which she wrote for the Slovak thematic issue of the German picture magazine Illustrirte Zeitung, was illustrated with areproduction of the Čičmany house. In it, she praised the aesthetics of Slovak folk art for its immediacy and liveliness, which was supposed to be typical of “natural peoples” (Naturvölker).44 The connection between anti-urbanism and the folk culture of the Slovaks was explicitly emphasized by Günther-Mayer in the aforementioned scholarly study from 1939, which Csaki apparently received. In it, she explained the originality and compactness of Slovak folk art by reference to the peasant conservatism that allowed Slovaks to preserve their “racial distinctiveness” (rassische Eigenart) despite ethnic pressures. Its natural environment was supposed to be the village, whereas ethnically mixed Slovak towns – “with the exception of the old German ones” – “do not show aunified face”.45 The “gap” between the denationalized town and the Slovak village before the establishment of Czechoslovakia in 1918 had the immediate effect of stunting the higher culture, but at the same time it preserved the folk peasant art from which modern Slovakia was to draw in the future, because it carried within it the “germs of urban culture with strong ethno-national ties” (Keime völkisch-verbundenen städtischen 41 PANCZOVÁ – KILIÁNOVÁ – KUBISA, Volkskunde in den Diensten des Dritten Reiches, 126. On Schier as an authority for the SS’ssuggestions concerning the Germanization of Slovaks, see TÖNSMEYER, Bruno Schier. 42 BA, R57/11499, Dr. Csaki: Dienstreise in die Slowakei, 8. – 14. 1. 1942. 43 BA, R57/11499, Schrifttum zur Slowakei (zusammengest. 11. 7. 1941). The likeness of “Frau Dr. Günther” was to be placed among photographs of “leading personalities” or “prominent figures in artistic and scientific life”. BA, R57/11499, Plan zur Gliederung. Elisabeth Günther-Mayer, in Slovak Alžbeta Güntherová-Mayerová, was one of the pioneers of Slovak art history, especially after the Second World War. BARCZI, Alžbeta GüntherováMayerová. During the years of the Slovak State, Günther-Mayer not only profiled herself as ascholar within the frame of reference of nationalist ideology, she was also in charge, among other things, of registering works of art from the possessions of deported persons falling under the racist category of “Jew”. ŠVANTNEROVÁ, Expropriation of Jewish Collections, 27–33. 44 GÜNTHER-MAYER, Artgebundene Volkskunst. 45 GÜNTHER-MAYER, Ziele und Entwicklung, 684. 80 HANÁKOVÁ, Petra. Umenie – štát – propaganda. In: BAJCUROVÁ, Katarína – HANÁKOVÁ, Petra – KOKLESOVÁ, Bohunka (eds). Sen a skutočnosť: Umenie a propaganda 1939 – 1945. Bratislava: SNG, 2017, pp. 51–77. IRIYE, Akira. Cultural Internationalism and World Order. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1997. KAISER, Johann. Die Politik des Dritten Reiches gegenüber der Slowakei 1939 – 1945: Ein Beitrag zur Erforschung der nationalsozialistischen Satellitenpolitik in Südosteuropa. PhD diss., Ruhr University Bochum, 1969. LUTHER, Tammo. Volkstumspolitik des Deutschen Reiches 1933 – 1938: Die Auslandsdeutschen im Spannungfeld zwischen Traditionalisten und Nationalsozialisten. Stuttgart: Steiner, 2004. MARTIN, Benjamin G. The Nazi-Fascist New Order for European Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016. MISCHEK, Udo. Das Völkerkundliche Institut der Universität Tübingen zwischen 1940 und 1959. In: SCHÄFER, Volker (ed.). Bausteine zur Tübinger Universitätsgeschichte. Folge 7. Tübingen: Universitätsarchiv, 1995, pp. 168–217. NASTASĂ-MATEI, Irina. Transnational Far Right and Nazi Soft Power in Eastern Europe: The Humboldt Fellowships for Romanians. In: East European Politics, Societies and Cultures, 2021, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 899–923. NĚMEC, Richard. Pressburg als Satellit Berlins: Architektur und Politik entlang der nationalsozialistischen und faschistischen Macht (1938–1945). In: CORNELIßEN, Christoph – PETRBOK, Václav – PEKÁR, Martin (eds). Stadt und Krieg im 20. Jahrhundert: Neue Perspektiven auf Deutschland und Ostmitteleuropa. Essen: Klartext, 2019, pp. 233–264. NIŽŇANSKÝ, Eduard et al. Obraz nepriateľa v propagande počas II. svetovej vojny na Slovensku. Bratislava: Univerzita Komenského, 2016. PANCZOVÁ, Zuzana – KILIÁNOVÁ, Gabriela – KUBISA, Tomáš. Volkskunde in den Diensten des Dritten Reiches: Deutsche Forscher und Forscherinnen in der Slowakei. Berlin: Lit, 2023. RITTER, Ernst. Das deutsche Auslands-Institut in Stuttgart 1917–1945: Ein Beispiel deutscher Volkstumsarbeit zwischen den Weltkriegen. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1976. SCHVARC, Michal. Nacionálno-socialistická nová Európa a Slovensko. In: FIAMOVÁ, Martina – HLAVINKA, Ján - SCHVARC, Michal (eds). Slovenský štát 1939 – 1945: Predstavy a realita. Bratislava: Historický ústav SAV, 2014, pp. 69–80. SCHVARC, Michal – HALLON, Ľudovít: Nemecká kultúrna politika na Slovensku 1939–1945. In: SOKOLOVIČ, Peter (ed.). Život v Slovenskej republike: Slovenská republika očami mladých historikov IX. Bratislava: ÚPN, 2010, pp. 259–284. Slowakei – ein Land stellt sich vor. In: Illustrirte Zeitung, no. 4969. Leipzig: J. J. Weber, 1941, 168b. STOLIČNÁ, Elena. Deutsches Bauen in der Slowakei im Zeitraum 1939 – 1945: Letzte Jahre einer langen Tradition. In: Architectura, 2001, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 49–64. STONE, Marla. Acts of Self-Representation: Nazi-Fascist Wartime Cultural Diplomacy. In: European History Quarterly, 2024, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 233–257. SZABÓ, Miloslav. Hitler’s Priests in Slovakia? On the Convergence of Catholicism and Fascism in Nazi “New Europe”. In: Sudobé dějiny/Czech Journal of Contemporary Studies, 2022, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 691–723. ŠVANTNEROVÁ, Jana. The Expropriation of Jewish Collections of Fine Arts and their Transfer to State Collections. In: ŠVANTNEROVÁ, Jana et al. Tieň minulosti/The Shadow of the Past. Bratislava: Židovské komunitné múzeum, 2013. TANCER, Jozef. Neviditeľné mesto: Prešporok/Bratislava v cestopisnej literatúre. Bratislava: Kalligram, 2013. TOMASELLA, Giuliana. Bienalli di Guerra: Arte e propaganda negli anni del conflitto (1939– 1944). Padua: Il Poligrafo, 2001. TROMMLER, Frank. Kulturmacht ohne Kompass: Deutsche auswärtige Kulturbeziehungen im 20. Jahrhundert. Vienna/Cologne/Weimar: Böhlau, 2014. 81 TÖNSMEYER, Tatjana. Bruno Schier. In: FAHLBUSCH, Michael – HAAR, Ingo – PINWINKLER, Alexander (eds). Handbuch der völkischen Wissenschaften: Akteure, Netzwerke, Forschungsprogramme. Vol. 1. 2nd edition. Berlin/Boston: DeGruyter, 2017, pp. 726–729. TÖNSMEYER, Tatjana. Das Dritte Reich und die Slowakei 1939–1945: Politischer Alltag zwischen Kooperation und Eigensinn. Paderborn: Schöningh, 2003. Horizons Horizons 84 After the Battle of Mohács in August 1526, where the Ottoman army decisively defeated the Hungarian army, Hungarian Kingdom entered along period of continuous fighting that persisted across the following centuries. Amid these events, the struggle for the royal crown between Ferdinand Iof Habsburg and John Zápoľský (Zápolya) also took place. The conflict resulted in many casualties, but it also brought power to new nobles, such as John Katzianer, the commander of the Habsburg forces. Katzianer’sname became deeply etched in the history of the town of Trenčín, which was significantly impacted by the battle between Ferdinand and John Zápoľský. Katzianer’sarmy looted the town, and it took along time for its inhabitants to recover. The town came under the control of King Ferdinand; the residents continued to remember this commander with much disdain and his name came to symbolize abad person among the people of Trenčín. Keywords: John Katzianer; town and castle of Trenčín; John Zápoľský; siege; terms of capitulation; war for the Hungarian throne. Introduction The struggle for the Hungarian throne between John Zápoľský (Zápolya) and Ferdinand of Habsburg undoubtedly had asignificant impact on the lives of many towns in today’sSlovakia.1 One such town was Trenčín, which at the end of the Middle Ages was under the control of John Zápoľský. Older literature often mentions the devastation caused during the war by the troops of John Katzianer, but the actual events and the extent of the violence are difficult to imagine today without credible source * Mgr. Miroslav Kotrha; Department of History, Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, Trnava University in Trnava, Slovak Republic; miroslav[email protected]; ORCID: 0009-0006-6353-9195. 1 The political situation after 1526, which emerged in the Kingdom of Hungary as aresult of the defeat at Mohács, represents one of the most pivotal moments in Hungarian history. On the battlefield, where the fate of the kingdom was decided, King Louis II Jagiellon met his death while attempting to escape, leaving the country vulnerable to the ravages of the Ottoman army. With the king’sdeath, the struggle for the royal crown ignited. King Louis II died without leaving amale heir, but there was no shortage of claimants to the throne. Based on the contracts from 1515 – when Ferdinand Ibecame engaged to Anna Jagiellon and Louis II to Mary of Habsburg, the brother-in-law of the late King Louis II – the future King Ferdinand Ibegan to claim the Hungarian crown. Negotiations regarding the marriage took place in Bratislava (FRIMMOVÁ, Preláti vBratislave vroku 1515, 295– 296). The wedding took place in July of the same year in Vienna. The agreement stipulated that if one of the families died with no male heir, the other would inherit its claim to the throne. However, the agreement directly conflicted with the rights of the Hungarian nobility, which, in such acase, claimed the right to elect anew king. It is also important to note that at that time, the most powerful Hungarian magnate, John Zápoľský, had already submitted aproposal to King Vladislaus II in 1505, according to which, if the last male heir dies anew Hungarian king would be elected exclusively from the ranks of the Hungarian nobility. The king ultimately agreed to and accepted this proposal, which worked into favour of John Zápoľský. It was John Zápoľský who became the most serious candidate for the Hungarian throne among the Hungarian aristocracy (BOTLIK, 1526. OKTÓBER 19, 669). The Siege of the Town and Castle of Trenčín by Army of John Katzianer in 1528 Miroslav Kotrha*vol. 14, 2025, no.1, pp.84–106 https://doi.org/10.33542/CAH2025-1-05 85 material. 2 To this day, this topic has received only limited attention. The occupation of Trenčín, astrategically important stronghold of John Zápoľský and also the seat of the Zápoľský’sfamily, was of great importance to Ferdinand of Habsburg. During the siege, the capture of Trenčín Castle as afortified base was paramount, as it would open the way for Habsburg forces into the Upper Váh Region. Thus, the castle represented the most crucial point for seizing control of the area, unlike the town itself, which likely remained on the periphery of interest. The town had stone fortifications dating back to the fifteenth century which were connected to the castle walls.3 Apossible attack on these town walls can also be inferred from later documents mentioning repairs to the town’sfortifications. To understand the situation that prevailed in the town of Trenčín during the siege, we must largely rely on documents related to the castle, among which asignificant document detailing the terms of capitulation has been preserved. Based on the analysis of this document, we can attempt to reflect on the course and consequences of the siege of Trenčín, particularly after the castle’ssurrender, as the town was closely connected to the castle at the time, even though they were two distinct entities. The task of capturing Trenčín was entrusted to John Katzianer, who ultimately succeeded. In addition to the capitulation document, the siege of Trenčín is also mentioned in contemporary works, which to some extent reflect the impact of Katzianer’scampaign not only on the burghers of Trenčín but also on residents of other towns through which Habsburg troops marched.4 However, these sources must be approached with adegree of caution, especially when they come from supporters of either side. It is clear that both factions, in waging war – which inherently brings suffering and loss of life – resorted to certain acts of violence. The sources remain silent on more detailed accounts of the plundering of the town itself, which might have significantly affected its economic prosperity and demographic development. Nevertheless, the town remained an important economic centre in the region. Although Trenčín became afree royal city only later, the monarch undoubtedly had an interest in its prosperity, particularly due to its strategic location. This is also evident from later royal privileges granted to the town just afew months after the siege ended.5 The king’sprivileges for Trenčín date back to the 1530s and 1540s. The town may have required alonger period to recover from the plundering, as even in the 1540s there were still reports concerning difficulties in maintaining the town walls.6 The Journey of John Katzianer to the Town of Trenčín Ferdinand of Habsburg’scampaign into Hungarian Kingdom began in July 1527. Initially, Ferdinand’stroops encountered little serious resistance, and John Zápoľský was forced to retreat to the eastern part of the Kingdom. 7 Ferdinand thus gained asignificantly stronger position in the struggle for the throne, while John Zápoľský 2 KAROLYI, Trencsén vár, 56–57. 3 HORVÁTH, Trenčín vobdobí novoveku, 73. 4 This also testifies to the importance attributed to the conquest of Trenčín. 5 Štátny archív vTrenčíne (hereinafter ŠA TN), fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny ainé príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C2, fasc. 1, no.3. 6 ŠA TN, fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny ainé príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C2, fasc. 1, no.14. 7 MRVA, Slovenské dejiny, 140. 86 was increasingly forced to seek support, first from his brother-in-law, Polish King Sigismund I,8 and eventually from the Ottoman Empire, for which he earned awave of criticism.9 The situation in the country began to grow complicated. In 1527, Ferdinand confirmed John Katzianer to the position of deputy commander of the army and Katzianer subsequently served Ferdinand bravely in the fight against John Zápoľský, who had fled to the eastern part of the Hungarian Kingdom after Ferdinand’scapture of Buda. Katzianer was ordered to advance further and pursue Zápoľský’sforces. Zápoľský hastily gathered all available military forces, but they were defeated in the Battle of Tokaj. The army led by Nicholas of Salm achieved such acrushing victory that Zápoľský was forced to retreat beyond the Tisa River. Despite these defeats, Zápoľský was determined not to give up. He managed to assemble another army and headed north towards the city of Košice.10 Another significant battle took place near the village of Seňa, but even here, Zápoľský was unable to succeed and was forced to flee to safety, seeking refuge with Sigismund IJagiellon, in Tarnów. 11 Meanwhile, Katzianer’sadvance did not stop. On Ferdinand’sorders, he began capturing Zápoľský’sproperties in the territory of present-day Slovakia. 12 Katzianer’sunits seized Spiš Castle and Zniev Castle, continuing their march towards the Central Váh Region.13 John Katzianer’sexpedition continued its advance towards Trenčín, which was one of the most significant possessions of John Zápoľský. The loss of this strategic point would have been asignificant blow to his side. 14 Katzianer’sjourney to Trenčín was not easy; his advance was likely slowed by rainy weather. It is important to note, however, that Katzianer was equipped with heavy artillery and cannons. While these proved very useful in battle, they also delayed his progress, and he likely reached Trenčín only in the first half of May 1528.15 The problem, however, was not just the weather. Katzianer complained to Ferdinand during his departure from Košice to Trenčín that his army was lacking higher-quality artillery, the roads were often barely passable, desertion was becoming an issue among the soldiers – particularly due to unpaid wages, and spreading diseases also posed asignificant challenge. All of these factors made it impossible for Katzianer move his forces any more swiftly. It is also worth noting that during the siege of Trenčín Katzianer was not in the best health. As early as the beginning of April 1528, he wrote to Ferdinand requesting to be relieved of his 8 Zápoľský’smother was the notable Polish noblewoman Hedwig of Teschen, and his sister Barbara (who died in 1515, before the events described here took place) married Sigismund Ithe Old. KUCHARSKÁ, Ducissa, 98. 9 The Pope declared an excommunication against John Zápoľský. MRVA, Slovenské dejiny, 142. 10 During this period, John Katzianer became the supreme commander of Ferdinand’s army in Hungary. BERGMANN, Medaillen auf berühmte und ausgezeichnete Männer, 245. 11 MRVA, Slovenské dejiny, 140. 12 After the success at the battle of Seňa, Katzianer wrote a letter to Ferdinand informing him of Zápoľský’s escape to Poland. However, in his reply, Ferdinand informed Katzianer that he had received information that 5,000 soldiers had joined Zápoľský in Poland, and that he had already paid them. BERGMANN, Medaillen auf berühmte und ausgezeichnete Männer, 245–246. 13 BEL, Trenčianska stolica, 230. John Katzianer’sarmy did not continue its advance through the Váh region, as there were still many supporters of Zápoľský in this area. Therefore, Katzianer had to approach Trenčín from adifferent direction, coming from the Kláštor pod Znievom, which could have been more challenging for the heavy artillery. 14 KENYERES, ATrencséni vár aXVI. században, 6–7. 15 ISTVANFFY, Magyarország Története 1490 – 1606, 175. 87 command due to illness and asked for the appointment of anew commander to take his place, as he needed to leave for treatment.16 The Town of Trenčín in the Power Struggle for the Hungarian Throne An important factor in the struggle for the Hungarian crown is undoubtedly the towns and cities which both contenders for the throne tried to win over to their side. Despite numerous privileges granted by Hungarian kings, Trenčín was unable to obtain the status of afree royal city and, as aresult, it remained under the control of various owners throughout the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. 17 Some sources mention the granting of privileges as afree royal city through acharter dating from 1412. According to this charter, Trenčín was to enjoy the same rights as Székesfehérvár and Buda.18 However, as noted by Richard Marsina, this charter was aforgery.19 Thus, during the early modern period, 20 the town of Trenčín belonged to the owners of Trenčín Castle.21 The castle, along with the town, came into the hands of the Huňady (Hunydi) family. In 1473, King Matthias Corvinus pledged it to the Count of Trenčín county, Franz from Háj, who held it at least until 1476. Around 1476–1477, Franz from Háj died, and the pledge remained in the hands of his wife, Margaret. Subsequently, around 1477, Trenčín Castle and the town became the property of the Zápoľský family22 after Stephen Zápoľský purchased the pledge on the castle from Franz’swidow Margita for 6,200 florins.23 This situation lasted until 1494, when King Vladislaus II Jagiellon issued adonation deed to Stephen Zápoľský and his son John for the castle and town of Trenčín. 24 Thus, Trenčín Castle and town became the hereditary property of the 16 BERGMANN, Medaillen auf berühmte und ausgezeichnete Männer, 246. 17 ŠPIESZ, Slobodné kráľovské mestá na Slovensku v rokoch 1680–1780, 14. By the seventeenth century, Trenčín was legally recognized as afree royal city. The issue of when and how Trenčín was granted the status of afree royal city requires deeper analysis and study in the future. 18 Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Országos Levéltára (hereinafter MNL OL), fund Diplomatikai Fényképgyűjtemény (hereinafter DF), 280 059. 19 Throughout the Middle Ages the town and castle of Trenčín had several owners. During the period of the Arpad Royal Dynasty, Trenčín was an unconditional possession of the Arpad kings, but by the end of the thirteenth century, the town came under the control of Matthias Čák of Trenčín. It is clear that Matthias was interested in the town’sprosperity and, as aresult, it must have acquired several privileges during this period that contributed to its development. FRANKO, Vybrané aspekty z hospodárstva Trenčianskej župy začiatkom 14. storočia, 76. 20 After the issuance of King Vladislaus II’sdecree, Trenčín was still not listed among the free royal cities. However, as Richard Marsina notes, the conditions for this had already existed at the end of the reign of King Louis Ithe Great. MARSINA, Najstaršie dejiny Trenčína, 69. After the suppression of the Dózsa uprising, the assembly emphasized that there were atotal of eight free royal cities. The cities were named, but Trenčín was not mentioned among them. RÁBIK, Spoločensko-politická situácia vslobodných kráľovských mestách, 154. 21 After the death of Matthias Čák, Trenčín returned to royal possession. During the second half of the fourteenth century and the entire fifteenth century, it was owned by several prominent nobles, including Palatine Emerich Bebek (FEKETE NAGY, Trencsén vármegye, 220), as well as Queen Barbara of Celje and Queen Elisabeth of Luxembourg. Another owner was Ulrich of Celje, to whom Albert of Habsburg had pledged the castle and town. In 1454, King Ladislaus the Posthumous allowed John Huňady to redeem the pledge on Trenčín Castle for 13,000 florins. MNL, fund Diplomatikai Levéltár (hereinafter DL), 14 839; TELEKI, Hunyadiak kora Magyarországon. Oklevéltár. X. 420, no.205. 22 The exact date is not provided. 23 KUCHARSKÁ, Ducissa, 51. 24 “...castrum nostrum Trinchiniensis in comitatu Trinchiniensis habitum, quod aliis per serenissimum principem condam dominum Mathiam regem predecessorem nostrum, bone memorie, eidem titulo inscripcionis in certa et notabili sumpma peccuniarum fuerat obligatum ac tandam per nos ratificatum et confirmatum 88 Zápoľský family.25 The fortifications of the town and castle of Trenčín underwent reconstructions in the first quarter of sixteenth century, as evidenced by adocument from King Vladislaus II from 1510. 26 In 1528, Trenčín Castle was one of the most important fortifications in the northwestern region of Hungarian Kingdom.27 John Zápoľský also valued the town of Trenčín and sought to support its economic growth. Therefore, in February 1527, at the request of the mayor Blaze Hrubý, George Magolt, scholar Laurence Hulman, and George Kropáč, he confirmed acharter, based on earlier privileges, which exempted the burghers of Trenčín from paying tolls, market fees and various other fees.28 As the King of Hungary, Zápoľský also granted the town of Trenčín and its citizens the privilege of using red wax, again upon the request of Hrubý, Magolt, Hulman and Kropáč.29 The significance of Trenčín as aborder defence point can be seen shortly after the outbreak of the dispute between John Zápoľský and Ferdinand Habsburg. In February 1527, it became the site of negotiations between Stephen Werbőczy and Leonardus III of Harrach. The discussions in Trenčín were intended to establish conditions for securing peace between the two contenders for the Hungarian crown, and the negotiations were also meant to serve as afoundation for future formal talks between Ferdinand and John Zápoľský. The first condition was that John Zápoľský should marry Ferdinand’ssister and widow of Louis II, Mary Habsburg. The second condition involved ceding Lusatia, Moravia, and Silesia to Ferdinand, with John also returning 400,000 florins. The third condition stipulated that if John Zápoľský had no descendants or legitimate heirs with Mary, the throne would pass to the Habsburgs. Based on these negotiations, which Werbőczy then presented to his king, John Zápoľský, it was agreed that the talks would continue, this time with the presence of both Ferdinand and Zápoľský, and the Polish king would act as an arbiter. 30 Initially, the events following the negotiations in Trenčín seemed to suggest the possibility of resolving the succession dispute.31 It should be emphasized that Trenčín was the most important seat of the Zápoľský family. The place for conducting the first negotiations regarding the resolution of succession rights was certainly not chosen by chance, since the entire administration of John Zápoľský must have been located there at that time. After arriving in Olomouc, John Zápoľský still believed that Ferdinand might truly renounce the crown. However, when the negotiations began, the terms of the Trenčín simulcum civitate similiter Trinchiniensis omnibusque villis possessionibus prediis porcionibus et iuribus possessionariariis ac pariter cum cunctis suis utilitatibus et pertinentiis quibuslibet, eidem Stephano palatino ac Iohanni filio suo vigore aliarum litterarum nostrarum donacionalium superinde confectarum in perpetuum contulerimus velimusque eosdem in dominium eorundem castri et civitatis...” MNL DL 19 969. 25 After the death of Stephen Zápoľský, the estates of Trenčín Castle were managed by his wife, Hedviga of Cieszyn. After her death in 1519, John Zápoľský’sbrother, George, took over the administration, but he died in the Battle of Mohács in 1526. MRVA – SEGEŠ, Dejiny Uhorska aSlováci, 143. 26 MNL DF 280 057; KUCHÁRSKA, Ducissa, 55. 27 HORVÁTH, Trenčín vobdobí novoveku (1526 – 1848), 73. 28 ŠA TN, fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny ainé príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C3, fasc. 1. 29 ŠA TN, fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny ainé príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C3, fasc. 1, no.3b. 30 From a letter from John Zápoľský to the Polish king, we learn that there were supposed to be more negotiations in Trenčín, but Stephen Werbőczy had to hurry to the Hungarian Diet. At the same time, Zápoľský was trying to seek advice from the Polish king and convince him to act as an arbiter between him and Ferdinand. GÓRSKI, Acta tomiciana IX., 54. 31 The place chosen for the negotiations was Olomouc. ACSÁDY, Magyarország három részre oszlásának története, 27. 89 agreement were not mentioned. On the contrary, Ferdinand demanded the Hungarian crown and the payment of incurred expenses amounting to 300,000 florins, which Zápoľský could not agree to.32 As is well known, these events did not lead to apeaceful resolution and soon Trenčín once again became afocal point in history. 33 In the first half of May of 1528, 34 John Katzianer’smilitary units were approaching Trenčín with the aim of capturing the centre and one of the most important strongholds of John Zápoľský. Moreover, Trenčín represented astrategic point for controlling the northwestern part of the Hungarian Kingdom. 35 The fall of Trenčín would have represented not only astrategic advantage but also the capture of John Zápoľský’sseat, which would undoubtedly have been asignificant moral blow. The Siege of the Castle Trenčín According to Nicholas Istvanffy The siege of the castle was previously described by Nicholas Istvanffy.36 Based on this description, we know that in May 1528, asizeable army under Katzianer – consisting of around 3,700 mercenaries (landsknechts) recruited from German-speaking countries, along with several hundred cavalry from Hungarian Kingdom – arrived at Trenčín. 37 The town and castle were thus surrounded by Ferdinand’sarmy. On the other hand, Trenčín was well-prepared and equipped for the siege. John Zápoľský deployed around 2,000 soldiers for the defence of the castle, ensuring that the town was well-supplied and capable of withstanding apotential prolonged siege.38 Among the commanders of Katzianer’sarmy were Luis Pekry, Gaspar Šerédi (Serédy), Valentine Turek and Gaspar Cobor (Czobor), significant Hungarian nobles on the side of King Ferdinand. In addition, there was Hungarian Vice-Palatine Emerich Nagy, Leonard the Younger of Vels, Field Marshal John Afalter, Udalrit Laysser, Julius of Hardek, Rupert of Mandersthud and, Lukas Zarkel.39 Against them stood Paul Baračka40 and Benedict Kozár, who were tasked by Zápoľský with securing the castle’sdefence;41 both are described as very tough but determined men.42 Since the castle was built on ahigh rock, with the Váh River flowing below it, the most advantageous position for Katzianer to begin the siege was from the southern side of the castle. 43 Katzianer used the modern siege techniques of the time, subjecting the castle to heavy cannon fire. The southern fortifications of the castle were, however, thoroughly reinforced by Stephen Zápoľský after he took full possession of the castle and town in 1494.44 This prevented the castle from being easily captured from the 32 ACSÁDY, Magyarország három részre, 29. 33 BÉKÉS – SZÖRÉNYI, Nicolaus Olahus. Epistulae pars I., 244. 34 We can assume that this happened in the first half of May. However, this is not an exact determination. 35 KENYERES, Atrencséni vár aXVI. században, 8. 36 ISTVANFFY, Magyarország Története 1490 – 1606, 174. 37 KENYERES, Atrencséni vár aXVI. században, 8. 38 KENYERES, ASzapolyai-család és Trencsén, 188. 39 ŠA TN, fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny ainé príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C3, fasc. 10, no.15. 40 Anoble family from Bardoňovo. 41 In 1527, Gregor Mutňanský is listed as the castellan of Trenčín Castle. 42 ISTVANFFY, Magyarország Története 1490 – 1606, 174. 43 Today, Brezina Forest Park. 44 This is confirmed by acharter from King Vladislaus II from 1510. 96 relevant after its incorporation into the Habsburg domain.75 The town was ravaged by Katzianer’sarmy and it took along time to recover from the looting. 76 The financing of the mercenary army by Ferdinand Habsburg encountered difficulties, so looting the local population seemed to serve as aform of reward and motivation for the landsknechts for their military service. 77 The burghers of Trenčín, however, did not have an easy life even after the departure of John Katzianer. As early as 1530, there are records of raids by Ottoman forces that reached the area around Beckov, information which was preserved by the later Archbishop of Esztergom, Nicholas Oláh.78 This marked the beginning of along period of continuous attacks and devastation of towns in Hungarian Kingdom, whether due to later anti-Habsburg uprisings or Ottoman raids aimed at plundering and intimidating the peasant population, asituation that lasted until the beginning of the eighteenth century. The economic and social situation in Trenčín after the departure of Katzianer’sarmy must have been miserable. The town and castle were burned, the surrounding villages devastated and the fortifications of the town damaged. Ferdinand knew the destruction his army left behind in the places it intended to rule, so he had to act. One of the ways to revive the town’sprosperity was through granting various privileges, which were meant to relieve the town from paying various taxes to the monarch. In November 1528, King Ferdinand issued acharter confirming all privileges granted to the town of Trenčín up to that point.79 On 2 December 1528, Ferdinand issued the first of several charters concerning the privileges previously granted to the town. He forbade all prelates, barons, nobles, toll collectors and cities from collecting taxes from the burghers of Trenčín.80 It is clear that the people of Trenčín must have appealed to the king in Vienna to help them out of the misery they had fallen into. This claim is supported by another charter issued by King Ferdinand for the town of Trenčín the very next day, 3 December 1528. This time, Ferdinand took into account the events surrounding the burning of the town and castle, which had been carried out by his army to drive out the supporters of John Zápoľský. The town of Trenčín was completely destroyed, so the king decided to exempt it from paying any fees for aperiod of ten years. The charter was not only intended for the burghers of Trenčín but also for the Master of the Treasury Nicholas of Grind and all his successors and toll collectors, instructing them to comply with the king’sorders and refrain from collecting any taxes from the burghers of Trenčín during 75 The town and castle of Trenčín was a frequent stop of the Hungarian kings on diplomatic or military campaigns to Moravia, Silesia and Poland. As an important fortress, it also played astrategic role during the Hussite raids into the Hungarian Kingdom during the reign of King Sigismund of Luxembourg. KENYERES, ASzapolyai család és Trencsén, 177. 76 HORVÁTH, Trenčín vobdobí novoveku, 73. 77 More about this matter can be learned from the memoir of Melchior Hauffe, which we will cover in the following pages. BERGMANN, Medaillen auf berühmte und ausgezeichnete, 247. Shortly after Katzianer left the town, however, his health worsened again, and in August, he again asked the king to appoint anew supreme commander in his place. Leonard of Vels was appointed as his deputy, but Katzianer was to remain in the position of supreme commander despite his illness. 78 BÉKÉS – SZÖRÉNYI, Nicolaus Olahus, 151. 79 ŠA TN, fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny ainé príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C2, fasc. 1, no.2. 80 ŠA TN, fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny ainé príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C2, fasc. 1, no.1. 97 the specified period.81 It was indeed asignificant matter, but not all nobles adhered to it. In September 1535, King Ferdinand had to issue acharter addressed to Gabriel of Levice, instructing him not to demand tolls and market fees from the burghers of Trenčín, as this violated the privilege he himself had granted to them.82 The series of charters issued by Ferdinand to Trenčín dating from December 1528 continues with the confirmation of the privilege charter of King Matthias Corvinus from 21 May 1464. According to it, the burghers of Trenčín had the right to retain 200 florins annually from the royal tithes, with the condition that this amount be used for the repair of the town fortifications. After the siege, these must have been in acatastrophic state, especially after being bombarded by artillery.83 The 200 florins from the royal tolls84 for repairing the town’sdefences85 were again confirmed by the monarch more than eight decades later, in December 1546.86 Another charter from King Ferdinand, dated to 1546, allowed Trenčín to hold markets on St Valentine’sDay (14 February) and the Feast of St Peter in Chains (1 August).87 The third charter from King Ferdinand in 1546 again focused on the reconstruction of the town fortification. In it, the king prohibited burghers and foreigners from privately brewing and selling beer: only the town of Trenčín itself was allowed to do so. The proceeds from beer sales were to be used for the reconstruction of the town’sdefences. 88 In February 1546, Trenčín was still facing issues with the fortification, as the mayor and the representatives of the town appeared before Ferdinand Iwith arequest to allow the royal revenues from Trenčín to be used for the reconstruction. 89 We can add another charter from 1547 to the issue of the damaged it sustained. This charter tells us that Trenčín’sviscount, Paul Baračka, owned ahouse outside the town walls and was exempt from taxation. Nevertheless, he committed to helping with the repair of the town fortification.90 On the other hand, the castle came under the administration of the Hungarian Chamber, which pledged it to Alexius Turzo (Thurzo) in 1534. After his death in 1543, 81 ŠA TN, fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny ainé príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C2, fasc. 1, no.3. “...tum vero compacientes inopie et paupertati fidelium nostrum prudencium et circumspectorum iudicis et iuratorum cetororumque civium et tocius communitatis civitatis nostre Trinchiniensis, in quam iidem per expugnacionem et conflagracionem eiusdem civitatis anostro exercitu, quem pro expellendis et domandis emulis nostris superioribus diebus illic miseramus factam, devenisse dicuntur, quo iidem cives rursus civitatem ipsam in pristinum statum redigere possint, eosdem ab omni solucione taxarum et contribucionum nostrarum tam ordinare quam extraordinare ac aliorum quorumcunque censuum quocumque nomine censeantur intra spacium decem integrorum annorum adatis presencium computando duximus eximendos et supportandos...”. 82 ŠA TN, fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny ainé príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C2, fasc. 1, no.8. 83 ŠA TN, fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny ainé príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C2, fasc. 1, no.4. 84 ŠA TN, fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny ainé príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C2, fasc. 1. 85 However, another reason could have been the growing pressure from the Ottoman Empire, due to which it was necessary for towns to be properly prepared for possible attacks 86 Adispute over the 200 florins also appears in 1527 (ŠA TN, fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny ainé príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C3, fasc. 10, no.17). The king became involved in adispute again in 1548, when he once more forbade the tax collectors from collecting the 200 florins intended for the construction of the town’sfortification. ŠA TN, fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny ainé príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C2, fasc. 1, no.14. 87 BERNÁTOVÁ-MORIŠOVÁ, Poklady ztrenčianskeho archívu, 13. 88 BERNÁTOVÁ-MORIŠOVÁ, Poklady ztrenčianskeho archívu, 21, no.8. 89 ŠA TN, fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny ainé príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C2, fasc. 1, no.13. 90 ŠA TN, fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny ainé príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C3, fasc. 2, no.3. 98 it was held by Nicholas of Salm but eventually, in 1549, it came back under the control of the Hungarian Chamber.91 In 1549, negotiations took place with Isabella Jagiellon, the widow of John Zápoľský, about the possible return of the castle to the Zápoľský family, specifically to her son John Sigismund. However, this never happened.92 After the siege, repairs to the damaged sections of Trenčín castle and the town fortification were initiated. One of these was what is now known as “Jeremias Bastion” (Jeremiášova bašta), which took adirect hit from Katzianer’sforces coming from the south. Anew fortified entrance to the town with more advanced towers and amoat was built and, notably, anew bastion was also constructed. 93 As aresult, the town had to undergo extensive reconstruction after the departure of Katzianer’sarmy. Other Sources Mentioning the Siege of Trenčín by John Katzianer The war between Ferdinand Habsburg and John Zápoľský is associated with several preserved sources, one of which is the work of George Sirmiensis (Georgius Sirmiensis), 94 aloyal supporter of John Zápoľský in the struggle for the Hungarian crown. Sirmiensis supported Zápoľský’scandidacy from the very beginning, as he participated in the Diet in Tokaj, where he voted for John Zápoľský as the new king. During the war with Ferdinand, he held the position of John’scourt chaplain. In the 1540s, he wrote the work Epistola de perdicione regni Hungarorum. 95 It is an extensive work written in Latin which presents the most important events in the country from 1484 to 1543, with the author also capturing his own dialogues with prominent authorities of the time. Of course, we must approach the presented sources with acertain degree of criticism, as it one might naturally expect some bias from the author, who wrote his work retrospectively. From the memories of Sirmiensis, we learn that during Zápoľský’sretreat to Polish Tarnów, in 1528, Sirmiensis was in Veľké Kapušany. At that time, John Katzianer arrived in Košice following the victorious battle at Seňa. He spent one week there, during which he sent tax collectors from Košice to Veľké Kapušany, where they also found Sirmiensis. Fearing imminent danger, Sirmiensis fled to Užhorod, where he stayed for afew days. He continued on, and in April he arrived in Tarnów to join John Zápoľský. In the meantime, John Katzianer left Košice heading west to seize Trenčín. Information about his advance reached Zápoľský in Tarnów. Trenčín Castle was supposed to be defended against Katzianer by Franz Kapolnaj, but he left the castle, allegedly pretending to be ill as an excuse to escape. Trenčín was then left to be defended by ascholar called Michael Puich. However, when Katzianer saw him, he immediately realized that he was not awarrior, but rather just arather effeminate man. Katzianer sent an envoy to Trenčín to negotiate the castle’ssurrender with Puich. The envoy was to convince Puich to hand over the castle in exchange for anoble title, property and two hundred serfs. Puich seems to have been quite pleased with the offer, but nevertheless remarked that he would only surrender the castle to Katzianer if Zápoľský failed to provide assistance 91 HORVÁTH, Trenčín vobdobí novoveku, 73. 92 KENYERES, ASzapolyai-család és Trencsén, 188. 93 ŠIŠMIŠ, Trenčiansky hrad, 54–55. 94 The work Emlékirata Magyarország romlásáról, 1484–1543, was edited by the historian Gustáv Wenzel. In 2023, it was also edited by Slovak researchers, and it was translated into Slovak. SRIEMSKY, Juraj. Zničenie kráľovstva Uhorského. Transl. KARABOVÁ, Katarína – KATRENIČOVÁ, Anabela. Bratislava: Perfekt, 2023. 95 Magyar életrajzi lexikon: Szerémi György, <https://www.arcanum.com/hu/online-kiadvanyok/Lexikonokmagyar-eletrajzi-lexikon-7428D/sz-77C95/szeremi-gyorgy-77F86/> (accessed: 18-01-2025). 99 within 15 days. Puich pointed out that the castle must still be bombarded with cannons during that time.96 In Tarnów, John Zápoľský received the envoy from Trenčín who informed him of the dire condition of the town and castle. He requested help from Zápoľský, claiming that the castle could not be held for more than two months. However, Zápoľský sent aresponse to Puich instructing him to hold the castle until the very last moment and under no circumstances surrender Trenčín to Katzianer. He was to defend it until he himself died in the process. The messenger then returned to Trenčín, where he delivered John Zápoľský’smessage to Puich, informing him that no supplies would be sent and no help would come to defend the castle. Puich was advised to collect supplies from the population under his rule. After the messenger’sarrival from Tarnów, not even aweek passed before Puich surrendered the castle to Katzianer. George Sirmiensis was not adirect witness to the siege of Trenčín, as he was in Tarnów at the time, serving as Zápoľský’sconfessor. Therefore, he described the capture of the castle as aprearranged matter between Michael Deák and John Katzianer. Sirmiensis’sdescription of events is highly simplified and shows no signs of credibility, resembling more the author’simagination or the recording of unverified facts.97 Another significant document that provides insights into the siege of Trenčín is the memoir of Melchior Hauffe, aGerman mercenary who personally participated in Ferdinand’scampaign to Hungarian Kingdom as part of the Habsburg army. Hauffe joined the Habsburg service in 1526 and was alandsknecht serving under Lamparter.98 The source has previously been extensively studied by Peter Ratkoš. Melchior Hauffe wrote his memoirs after being persuaded by friends, with whom he used to meet, to record his memories from the time he served in the military. By then, Hauffe was already of considerable age and more than 30 years had passed since his participation in the campaign in Hungarian Kingdom. Despite this, many of his recollections align with historical facts, therefore we can also refer to his memories of Trenčín. His memoir offers aperspective on the campaign from the viewpoint of amercenary in Habsburg service. However, since he wrote it sometime in the late 1560s or early 1570s, it is important to note that Hauffe must have viewed the events he experienced with acertain degree of retrospection. During his military service as amercenary, Hauffe travelled through Hungarian Kingdom. From the very beginning, he was part of the campaign led by Nicholas of Salm and John Katzianer. Under these commanders he made it to Buda and from there moved towards Tokaj, where John Zápoľský was defeated. Subsequently, he took part in the Battle of Seňa with the army under John Katzianer. He spent three days at Seňa and eventually made his way to Košice, where he and the soldiers spent Easter. After the feast, they set out to march towards Trenčín. On the way, he also took part in the siege of Spiš Castle. Eventually, they reached Trenčín where, as he states, the siege lasted atotal of nine weeks. He records that the castle and town were overcome by constantly bombardment with cannons, and that ultimately everything was set on fire and destroyed. However, as he notes, this ruined their plan to plunder the town, 96 George Sirmiensis, while recounting the siege of Trenčín, mentions acertain pilgrim named Paul who was at the castle at the time and had committed several shameless transgressions that were deemed to oppose God. George thus links the fall of Trenčín with the will of God. WENZEL, Emlékirata Magyarország romlásáról, 223. 97 WENZEL, Emlékirata Magyarország romlásáról, 222; SRIEMSKY, Zničenie kráľovstva Uhorského, 551–552. 98 Lamparter was amercenary commander in the service of the Habsburgs. RATKOŠ, Memoár, 141–142. 100 as the fire burned everything down. He mentions the burning of the castle and town occurring on the feast of Saint Vitus, 15 June 1528. After the capitulation of the castle, John Katzianer found anoblewoman on the castle grounds whom he sent, along with the spoils, to Vienna to King Ferdinand. Hauffe then mentions that his unit departed through Trnava and Bratislava to Csepreg, where the mercenaries finally received their unpaid wages from the monarch. In addition, they were promised that reinforcements would soon join their unit. Afterward, they returned to Trenčín, where he describes the outbreak of arebellion against Wasserman, the Castellan of Trenčín. Although this rebellion is not documented in the town’sarchival letters, it is highly likely to have taken place, as it was also mentioned by Caspar Ursini Velli. According to Hauffe, the rebels were successfully driven out of Trenčín when the Habsburg soldiers managed to enter the castle unnoticed through the back gate, surprising the rebels. By the next morning, they had gained control over the entire town and castle. Afterward, Hauffe’sunit set off again to Košice, where they spent the winter. There, they rejoined Katzianer and Vels and prepared for another campaign. Hauffe fought several times against the forces of John Zápoľský, often encountering poaching and bandit groups. On one occasion, after avictorious battle against bandits, many prisoners were taken. Some were executed, but afew were selected and sent to Trenčín to dig awell.99 Melchior Hauffe endured many hardships and dangerous situations, but in this case, luck was on his side on the battlefield, which allowed him to write his memoirs. Hauffe’sstory is thus very interesting and adds to the narrative of major political events in Central Europe. He continued to fight against the Ottomans, both in Hungarian Kingdom and in defence of besieged Vienna, when Sultan Suleiman laid siege to the city in 1529. 100 The preserved accounts and events described by Hauffe provide acaptivating glimpse into the life of Habsburg mercenaries in the sixteenth century. While George Sirmiensis supported John Zápoľský, Melchior Hauffe directly fought in the Habsburg army. The preserved stories thus provide us with aview of both sides, although we cannot say that Hauffe, as amercenary from Germany, was an ardent supporter of Ferdinand. Therefore, it is necessary to approach both sources with acertain level of criticism and through the lens of contemporary thinking. Acloser look at the siege of the town is provided by the work of Caspar Ursini Velli titled De bello Pannonico. According to this account, after Katzianer arrived at the town, the surrounding villages voluntarily sided with Ferdinand and joined his military forces. Katzianer’sarmy positioned itself outside the town walls but it was very poorly disciplined. The defenders of the town noticed this during the siege and decided to launch an attack with approximately 100 cavalrymen and infantry. The defenders managed to capture around 200 of Katzianer’ssoldiers, with 20 men being killed. The rest fled into the surrounding hills. The town thus refused to surrender, but the morale of Katzianer’sarmy was declining, which led him to withdraw from the town and march toward the city of Trnava. The surrounding villages were once again forced to switch their allegiance to John Zápoľský. In Trnava, Katzianer was victorious, so he decided to march north again. On the way, two of Zápoľský’smen were captured and 99 Whether it was the well in the lower courtyard of the castle is not specified, but historians such as Milan Šišmiš consider this reference to be evidence of the beginning of the excavation of the so-called Well of Love. ŠIŠMIŠ, Trenčiansky hrad, 54. 100 RATKOŠ, Memoár, 145–147. 101 revealed to Katzianer that most of the Trenčín infantry was stationed in the suburbs of the town. Katzianer did not hesitate and launched an early morning attack on the town. He succeeded in entering the town. About 30 of Katzianer’smen reached the town’scannons, which they then turned against the defenders. Katzianer had the town within his grasp, but his troops began to loot and plunder the town in an undisciplined manner. He then ordered that the suburbs of Trenčín be burned down.101 This description presents apossible scenario of how the town of Trenčín fell into the hands of John Katzianer before the castle was captured. The castle was guarded by around 800 men, hence Katzianer decided to attack the town first. However, the town initially resisted Katzianer’sassaults. One of the reasons was that the cannons were brought to the town only later, which then accelerated the siege. Katzianer subsequently launched an attack on the castle as well, which was eventually set on fire and its garrison surrendered. Ursini also confirms the account of Hauffe, who claimed that after Katzianer’sdeparture and the signing of the capitulation, arebellion broke out. Ursini, however, states that the town was retaken by around 600 of Zápoľský’ssoldiers and that it surrendered voluntarily, thus falling once again into the hands of supporters of Zápoľský. The rebels did not capture the castle and so it remained in the hands of Ferdinand’sfaction. However, John Katzianer knew that the castle had not yet been conquered. Therefore, he set out for the town with 300 men. The infantry advanced slowly, together with the cannons, aiming to cross the bridge into the town before the defenders could destroy it. He unexpectedly stormed the town, killing around 50 men. The garrison from the castle also decided to support Katzianer, and the remaining rebels fled through the second town gate into the nearby hills. After Katzianer’ssecond capture of the town, he ordered that the bridge over the Váh River be repaired. He did not stay long in Trenčín, leaving with his army to pursue the enemy.102 Caspar Ursini’saccount suggests that John Katzianer led the attack on the town from the southern side, as only the second attack by Katzianer is described as coming from the direction of the Váh River. However, even this work diverges from certain known facts, such as the description of Katzianer’scampaign against Trnava and his abandonment of the siege of Trenčín. Nevertheless, this work most likely provides the closest depiction of the actual situation in the town – especially where it is supported by Melchior Hauffe’smemoir, which offers independent confirmation of certain recorded facts. One thing that is clear is that the situation in the town was not as straightforward as it might initially seem and the actual takeover of the area by the Habsburgs was preceded by several other smaller conflicts. Conclusion The town of Trenčín was undoubtedly plundered during the siege by the forces of John Katzianer, as was its surrounding area. This was most likely due to the insufficient funding of the mercenary army, for whom looting served as aform of substitute payment in place of wages. The plundering of the town, mentioned in one of King Ferdinand’scharters, may have been caused not only by the mercenaries’ pillaging but also by the spread of fire from the castle to the lower part of the town, as indicated by the destruction of the parish church. The fire could have affected asignificant portion of the town, though the issue of repairing the town’sfortification must have been directly 101 VELII URSINI, De bello Pannonico libri decem, 49–50. 102 VELII URSINI, De bello Pannonico libri decem, 139. 102 related to the siege itself. Narrative sources also speak of the town being plundered. Acloser look at the capitulation document of Trenčín Castle sheds light on asituation that applied to the town of Trenčín as well. John Katzianer primarily focused on seizing all available munitions, which he undoubtedly needed for the continued advance of his army northwards. Asignificant part of the capitulation document deals with matters of property, which involved not only the possessions of the castle lords but also those of the burghers of Trenčín. It is quite logical that the burghers were also subject to aban on leaving the town or staying outside its boundaries at night. Such measures were primarily aimed at preventing desertion or avoiding astrategic disadvantage in relation to the army stationed near the town. After the capitulation was accepted, the town’srepresentative, Mayor Blaze Hrubý, continued in office until 1532. At the same time, according to the final point of the capitulation, all prisoners on both sides were to be released. The capitulation was therefore highly acceptable for both the castle garrison and the burghers. The town retained all the privileges granted by John Zápoľský, but it was primarily King Ferdinand Iof Habsburg who contributed to its economic recovery after the difficult days of June 1528. During the mid-sixteenth century, the town of Trenčín underwent significant reconstruction. Although the reliability of narrative sources is somewhat inconsistent, it can be assumed that the accounts of Melchior Hauffe and Caspar Ursini regarding the two occupations of the town are credible and were written independently of one another, just as their descriptions of the town’sburning appear to align. Thus, the town of Trenčín endured several military assaults in ashort span of time, from which it undoubtedly had to recover. Appendix 24 June 1528, Trenčín – The commander of the Habsburg army, John Katzianer, issues 15 capitulatory conditions for the castle of Trenčín, based on which the terms of surrender were negotiated with the defenders of the castle. The original on paper (A) is stored in the Štátny archív vTrenčíne under the signature C3. fasc. 10. No. 15. The text of the document is also included in the transumptum of Leonard Súľovský from 1529 under the same signature. (E). The document is damaged by frequent cuts and several stains. The text of the document is recorded on three pages of paper. Nos infrascripti Iohannes Catzianer eques auratus regie maiestatis Hungarie et Bohemie etc. consiliarius et capitaneus generalis, Emericus Nagh vicepalatinus regni Hungarie, 103 Ludovicus Pekry de Razyna 104 capitaneus supremus levis armature, Leonardus iunior liber baro de Vels, 105 eius maiestatis consiliarius cubicularius et capitaneus supremus peditatus universi etc. Nicolaus de Thurm 106 eques armatus 103 Emericus Nagy was Hungarian vice-palatine. 104 Today Rasinja in Croatia. Ludovicus Pekry was ban of Criatia. Nagy, Iván. Magyarország családai. Pekry család. [online]. Accessed 9. 9. 2025 <https://www.arcanum.com/hu/online-kiadvanyok/Nagyivan-nagy-ivanmagyarorszag-csaladai-1/kilencedik-kotet-796B/pekry-csalad-pekrovinai-vagy-petrovinai-7FC8/> 105 Today Vels in Österreich. Leonhard II. Freiherr Vels was supreme Field Commander in Hungary and in Slovenian and Lower Austrian lands. BERGMANN, Medaillen auf berühmte und ausgezeichnete Männer, 243. 106 Today Thurm in Germany; supreme captain of heavy cavalry. 103 capitaneus supremus gravis armature, Iohannes Aphalter eques auratus supremus campi marsalkus, 107 Udalricus Leysser 108 capitaneus municionum et ingeniorum bellicorum supremus, Iulius comes de Hardek 109 etc. Rupertus comes de Mandersthud, 110 Caspar Czobor de Zenth Mihal, 111 Lucas Zarkel Baro in Frydaw 112 et Cristopherus de Thurm capitaneus veteris Zoly 113 et comes comitatus Zolyensis recognoscimus et facemur tenore presencium significantes quibus expedit universis, quod cum nos simul cum regie(!) prefato exercitu per tempus aliquod castrum et civitatem Trinchiniensis obsederamus et capitaneos possessoresque castri eiusdem ad regie maiestatis domini nostri graciosisimi obedienciam repetiveramus extunc ad peticionem eorundem salvum et securum conductum nostrum iisdem dedimus et concessimus, per quod quidem. Nos cum iisdem incolloqium amicum et milem devenimus et post longa et multa habita consilia bene preponderata premeditata et recta consciencia. Nos nomine et loco prenominate regie maiestatis ex auctoritate potestate et comissione ab eadem regia maiestate data et concessa negocio isto inimisimus. Nosque ex utraque parte tandem in contractum intromisimus de superque articulos conclusiones et contractum sequentem ereximus et conclusimus. Primo transactum et conclusum est. Capitaneis et possessoribus castri Thrinchiniensis omnia bona mobilia aurum videlicet argentum, clenodia et a[l]ia bona ad eorundem dominum Iohannem de Zapolya pertinentis et in castro Thrinchiniensis [ia]m dicto existentis, quo scilicet commodius et melius solucionem stipendiorum suorum nancisci et acquirere possint libere et impedite permitti debere. Secundo ingenia sew tormenta bellica pixides eciam alie globi pulveres et materia omnis ad conficientem pulveres destinata cum pixidibus114 et pertinentiis aliis ingeniorum tormentorum et pixidum quibuscumque quantum in predicto castro existit venerali 115 capitaneo domino Iohanni Catzianer loco regie maiestatis Hungarie et Bohemie etc. simulcum castro Trinchiniensis dari, resignari et assignari debebunt. Tercio omnia privilegium maiestates alieque littere prefatis capitaneis et possessoribus castri Thrinchiniensis dominoque eorum attinentis in castro eodem deposite existentis apud eosdem capitaneos et possessores dicti castri permaneant exceptis tamen litteris privilegiis et registris castrum et comitatum Trinchiniensis simul eciam bona civium civitatis Trinchiniensis concernentis, que in castro ad manus capitanei generalis permanere tandemque resignato castro, que civibus attinent rursus restitui debebunt. Quarto resignato castro Thrinchiniensis cives civitatis eiusdem simul cum bonis aliorum capitaneorum bona sua et ecclesiasstica propria de castro eodem libere educere possunt. Quinto quecumque alia clenodia ecclesiastica in prefato castro Thrinchiniensis deposita nec ad cives Thrinchiniensis pertinentis in castro eodem ad manus capitanei generalis loco regie maiestatis immota permaneant exceptis clenodiis ecclesiastis ad dominum eorundem spectantis necdum ad ecclesias ullas dicatis. Sexto nobilibus in castro Thrinchiniensis existentis bona sua immobilia et hereditaria, que nunc temporis 107 Field marshal of Habsburg army. 108 Chief commander of military and siege engines. 109 Today Castle Hardegg in Österreich. Count of Hardek. 110 Probably alocation in the German lands. Count of Mandersthud. 111 Village Zombor in Slovakia. Caspar Cobor was aprominent Hungarian nobleman 112 Today Fridau in Österreich. Baron of Fridau. 113 Today Zvolen in Slovakia. Count of Zvolen county. 114 In the original, it is missing. 115 In the original, it is missing. 104 possident ea eciam de quibus in isto bello hungarico deiecti et expulsi forent omnique, que aprefato eorum domino Iohanne de Zapolya de bonis eius propriis donacionis titulo acceperunt cum bonis, que iisdem impignorata ‖ seu hipothecata sunt. Nuncque iisdem nobilibus libere et impedite permitti et assignari debebunt. Contra quo capitanei nobiles et possessores castri Trinchiniensis obligantur bona immobilia quecumque que regietis subditis in bello isto hungarico occuppassent aut eosdem subditos de bonis suismode deiecissent iisdem regie maiestatis subditis libere redere et rursus assignare. Septimo ecclesiastice persone quecumque in castro Thrinchiniensis existentis suis usque ad ulteriorem regie maiestatis Hungarie et Bohemie etc. ordinacionem revisionem et consensum quiete permaneant eademque beneficia, ut antea ad regie maiestatis tamen complacentis possideant utantur et fruantur. Octavo cum capitaneis et possessoribus castri Thrinchiniensis honori eorum convenire visum sic eiusmodi eorum extremam necessitatem domino suo Iohanem de Zapolya significare itcirco dictis capitaneis et inhabitatoribus castri Thrinchiniensis acapitaneo generali concessum est. Nuncium ad dominum eorundem transmittere responsicionemque ex parte auxilii eis mittendi usque ad feriam terciam proxime venturam, qui dies ultimus est mensis iunii expectare ea tamen lege quasi in prefixi termino iisdem ab eorum domino auxilium missus mitteretur neque capitaneus generalis simulcum toto exerciti per vim et potenciam sepedicti Iohannis de Zapolya ex [cam]po profligatur ex tunc capitanei e[t] possessores castri Thrinchiniensis idem castrum ad feriam terciam proxime venturam ante solis occasum diei eiusdem iamdicto capitaneo generali et dominis suprascriptis libere et impedite omni ulteriori procrastinacione postposita redere debeant et teneantur et eciam si capitaneus generalis ex necessitate vel aliis causis evidentibus cum exercitu et copiis acastro isto ad miliare duo aut quatuor obiret et prefixus terminis absque ullo auxilio aut profligacione elaberetur nichilominus tamen castrum Thrinchiniensis ad dictum terminum per possessores eiusdem capitaneo generali redi et resignari debebit. Nono concessum est prefatis capitaneis et possessoribus dicti castri ut scilicet in spacium ferie secunde proxime future secundum necessitatem et exigenciam eorum pabulatum aut alio e castro exire equitare vehique possint cum presciencia autem capitanei generalis qui iisdem certos quosdem homines semper adiungat ea tamen condicione et uno quovis die non magis quo duodecimo currus et decem equites e castro exeant semperque ad noctem rursus se se in castrum recipientis nullomodo alibi per noctem. Decimo quocumque prefati possessores castri Thrinchiniensis ierint ibidem omnes necessitates quasdem condigno precio administrari debebunt. Undecimo si quidem quispiam capitaneorum aut possessorum in castro tempore abitus sui salvum et securum conductum acapitaneo generali pecierii talis salvus conductus petenti dari et concedi debebit. Duodecimo si unus aut alter pluresne salvum conductum seu trengas violaverit aut fregerit ex tunc pena saltem atransgressore sumetur nec in alios cupla delicti transferatur. Tredecimo si quando in castro Thrinchiniensis predicto inter possessores discordiam aut sinistri quippiam oriri contingerit ex tunc iisdem possessoribus facultas data est ab[s]que capitaneo generali et regie maiestatis exerint eandem discordiam et sinistram machinacionem inter se se absque ullo penitus inpedimentis componere posse. Decimoquarto sepedictis capitaneis et possessoribus castri Th[ri]nchiniensis post resignacionem et assignacionem castri eiusdem pro obitu tres septimane immediate sequentes permisse sunt et concesse ea lege ut se se in eiusmodi temporis spacio ex regnis et prominentiis prefate regie maiestatis Hungarie et Bohemie etc. ad alia loca conferant nec in ullum presidium in hoc regie Hungarie se se recipiant extra tamen eiusmodi eorum obitui liber et securus 105 salvus conductus apertusque passus dari et permitti debebit. Ultimo captivi quicumque in ista obsidione et bello hungarico ab utraque parte capti absque ulla lesione aut impedimento libere utrimque rursus assignare debebunt. In super nos predictis capitaneis et possessoribus castri Thrinchiniensis sub honore et fide nostra christiana divissioneque honoris capitum rerum et bonorum nostrorum scienter per presentes promittimus et pollicemur suprascriptos omnis articulos et conclusiones in omnibus suis punctis et contentis quantumcumque nobis iidem articuli seu conclusiones iniungunt sive subterfugio contradiccione aut impedimento aliquas firmiter in violabiliterque servare et exequi nec contra eosdem vel consilio vel facto quitque agere aut idem nostris faciundem permittere debere et velle nullo [p]enitus modo sub predicta obligacione omnium nostrorum honore capitum rerum et bonorum si[ne] omni dolo et fraude. In cuius rei robur [et] testimonium efficacius maioremque securitatem secreta [et] signeta nostra solita litteris presentibus appo[su]imus et easdem manibus nostris propriis subscripsimus. Datum in castris ad Thrinchinium metarum in festo Nativitatis beati Iohannis Baptiste, anno Domini millesimo quingentesimo vigesimo octavo. BIBLIOGRAPHY Primary Sources Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Országos Levéltára, fund Diplomatikai Fényképgyűjtemény Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Országos Levéltára, fund Diplomatikai Levéltár (available online at: https://archives.hungaricana.hu/en/charters/) Štátny archív v Trenčíne, fund Magistrát mesta Trenčín. Listiny a iné príbuzné záznamy II. Novoveké listiny, C2 and C3. Published Sources BÉKÉS, Enikő – SZÖRÉNYI, Ladislaus (eds). Nicolaus Olahus. Epistulae pars I. Budapešť: Reciti kiadó, 2018. BERNÁTOVÁ-MORIŠOVÁ, Viera. Poklady z trenčianskeho archívu. Trenčín: Štátny archív v Trenčíne, 2001. GÓRSKI, Stanisław. Acta tomiciana IX. Posnaniae, 1527. ISTVANFFY, Miklos. Magyarország Története 1490 – 1606. Translated Vidivich György. Debreczen, 1867. Original available at: <https://books.google.hu/ books?id=twvg2G5kJTsC&printsec=frontcover&hl=hu#v=onepage&q&f=false> KISS, István. A magyar helytartótanács I. Ferdinánd korában és 1549–1551. évi leveles könyve. Budapest, 1908. SRIEMSKY, Juraj. Zničenie kráľovstva Uhorského. Transl. KARABOVÁ, Katarína – KATRENIČOVÁ, Anabela. Bratislava: Perfekt, 2023. TELEKI, József. Hunyadiak kora Magyarországon. Oklevéltár. X. Pest, 1853. WENZEL, Gustáv. Emlékirata Magyarország romlásáról, 1484–1543. In: Monumenta Hungariae historica. Magyar történelmi emlékeks. Első kőtet. Pešť: Magyar Tudományos akademia, 1857. VELII URSINI, Casparis. De bello Pannonico libri decem. Vindeboni, 1762. Internet Sources Magyar életrajzi lexikon Szerémi György [online]. <https://www.arcanum.com/hu/onlinekiadvanyok/Lexikonok-magyar-eletrajzi-lexikon-7428D/sz-77C95/szeremi-gyorgy-77F86/> (accessed: 09-09-2025) Ludovicus Pekry was ban of Criatia. Nagy, Iván. Magyarország családai. Pekry család. [online]. <https://www.arcanum.com/hu/online-kiadvanyok/Nagyivan-nagy-ivan- 112 The author also delves into the topic of post-war society portrayed in contemporary women’s magazines such as Die Frau (The Woman), Lilith, Regenbogen (Rainbow) and Constanze. These magazines pondered the state of the defeated country, striving to make it cozy despite all the challenges. Constanze became the most popular magazine in terms of circulation. After 1947, it became the most successful pictorial women’s magazine in West Germany. It ceased publication in 1969, replaced by its thoroughly rejuvenated successor, Brigitte. An essential component of women’s lives in the post-war reality in the context of the “huge increase in survival due to constant proximity to death,” was the erotic dimension.19 Many women longed to experience romance again. The ecstatic moods of a new beginning during the first post-war months, coupled with the shocks caused by fear and loneliness, led to a sexual hunger that could take on bizarre characteristics.20 The sexual activity of post-war women was driven by a phenomenon that everyone talked about at the time – the surplus of women. There were many beautiful women and very few men. Moreover, the men who survived were in a deplorable state, limping on crutches, gasping for breath and coughing up blood. Over five million German soldiers fell in the war. Additionally, by the end of September 1945, 6.5 million men were still in captivity by the Allies. More than two million prisoners were starving in Soviet camps. Even in 1950, there were 1,362 women for every 1000 men. An integral part of the German post-war reality for some was the experience with the Soviet military power. Estimates regarding the number of rapes vary widely, but they are generally believed to have reached several hundred thousand. At least two million women were raped, often repeatedly.21 Rape was accompanied by brutal displays of admiration, torture and killing. Preserved records from Berlin women of those days are full of graphic descriptions of terrible crimes. Almost no night passed without wild plundering, door-breaking, beating and rape. Margret Boveri summed it up: “I must say that the nightly wait for bombs and grenades seems far less nerve-wracking to me than the wait for strange men. I simply fear exploding people less than exploding iron. I slept through two nights with sleeping pills, and so I heard nothing, and only in the morning did I learn what had happened: Mrs. Hartmann from the back house was raped four times, Miss They, whom I don’t know at all, a two hundred percent Nazi, who we all heartily wish it to, once.”22 The author also highlights the difference in perception within the context of this issue, namely the experience in East and West Germany. Rapes by occupying soldiers also occurred in the West, but the image left by Western occupying forces was much friendlier, if not downright attractive. It is all the more surprising that this difference is rarely discussed when seeking an explanation for the much greater mistrust of foreigners in the East. However, this “perfect” image was not entirely untouched – North African soldiers of the French Grande Nation reportedly behaved particularly poorly. The fact that this group of perpetrators engraved itself into memory especially deeply may have been due to racism. What was considered typical for Moroccans could be seen as an isolated case by Americans, and accordingly downplayed. Caution should be exercised in making common judgments. After the invasion of French troops, 1,389 women filed rape complaints in Stuttgart alone.23 19 For more information see: EVANS, Life among the Ruins; HEINEMAN, Before Porn Was Legal; MCLELLAN, Love in the Time of Communism; STEINBACHER, Wie der Sex nach Deutschland kam; TIMM, The Politics of Fertility. 20 HARSCH, Eroticism, Love, and Sexuality. 21 Estimates of rape victims from the Berlin’stwo main hospitals ranged from 95,000 to 130,000. One doctor deduced that out of approximately 100,000 women raped in the city, some 10,000 died as aresult, mostly from suicide. The death rate was thought to have been much higher among the 1.4 million estimated victims in East Prussia, Pomerania and Silesia. Altogether at least two million German women are thought to have been raped, and asubstantial minority, if not amajority, appear to have suffered multiple rape. BURDS, Sexual Violence in Europe. 22 JÄHNER, Aftermath, 135. 23 The journalists blamed African troops, though they were uncertain about the ethnic and national origin of the soldiers in question: they implicated Senegalese, Moroccan, Tunisian, and Algerian men alike. According to some reports, later taken up by US senators, the soldiers were wearing US Army uniforms and the local population 113 Chapter six, Robbing, Rationing, Black-market Trading – Lessons for the Market Economy, starts with the assumption that after World War II many Germans experienced hunger for the first time, as they had relied on plundering occupied territories for sustenance. Despite the collapse of infrastructure towards the war’s end, most Germans managed to survive the immediate aftermath with relatively full stomachs, thanks to resilient efforts from bakers and traders who continued to supply food amidst the chaos. The onset of the “hunger winter of 1946/47” was delayed due to the remarkable ability of both victors and vanquished to cope with crises, with heroic individuals sustaining food supplies through resolute actions, such as personally procuring provisions and organizing delivery routes. Though challenges persisted, the food supply system operated surprisingly well, defying expectations of a complete collapse. The food ration card is one of the best known and most notorious objects of the post-war period, even if many Germans today have forgotten precisely how the management of the shortage economy actually worked. Food rationing in post-war Germany was a tightly controlled system where individuals received monthly cards with stamps for essential items like bread, meat and sugar. These stamps were exchanged for goods at set prices, and without them one could not purchase anything. Shopkeepers had to account for every stamp received and provide explanations for any discrepancies. Looting24 became the routine everyday life of the Germans, as journalist Margret Boveri wrote in her diary early in May 1945 when she took part in the looting of a pharmaceutical warehouse: People climbed through the doors and windows, pulled goods from the shelves, threw what they didn’t want to the floor, trampled each other down, ‘like wild animals’, as an Austrian beside me put it. Of course glucose, which was all I was interested in, was long gone, but I grabbed a few things: throat lozenges, cough syrup, toilet paper. All the soap products were gone too, of course. So I came back under a cloud and shared what I had with Frau Mitusch.25 Chapter seven, The Economic Miracle and the Fear of Immorality, focuses on economic issues but the final part, “Is Germany drowning in filth? The fear of waywardness” brings important question: what should the “new” Germany look like? As Jähner states, those of a nationalist and conservative tendency feared the spirit of the young republic. The liberal influence of the Allies, the new films and books, abstract art and cheerful, swinging, “exciting” music were a source of horror to them. They suspected, quite rightly, that these influences would fundamentally change German society. During the post-war years, teachers confiscated and publicly burned comic books26 such as Mickey Mouse, Akim, Sigùrd, and Fix & Foxi. Concerns about “sexual squalor” and delinquent youth emerged, attributed by some to the influence of the “modern world” rather than the aftermath of war or Nazi indoctrination. Chapter eight, The Re-educators, provides a detailed account of the Allies’ efforts to reshape the German mindset following World War II. It delves into the psychological warfare strategies employed by both the Soviets and the Americans, highlighting the recruitment of German emigrants to aid in propaganda efforts. The chapter sheds light on the establishment of newspapers and magazines aimed at disseminating Allied ideals and rebuilding trust among the German population. Through meticulous planning and execution, the Allies sought to eliminate Nazi influence and foster reconciliation, laying the groundwork for lasting peace. Chapter nine, The Sound of Repression, offers a compelling exploration of the psychological aftermath of World War II in Germany. The chapter effectively sets the stage by recounting the mistook them for African Americans. The soldiers were from the French First Army, but since September 1944 had been fighting under US command. LAWLOR, The Stuttgart Incident; KRIMMER, Philomela’sLegacy. 24 ZBOROWSKA, ‘Abandoned’ things. 25 JÄHNER, Aftermath, 183. 26 For an interesting view on the culture of comics books in East Germany, see: EEDY, Four-Color Communism. 114 military events leading up to Germany’s defeat, offering a clear timeline of the country’s gradual surrender to Allied forces. It delves into the perplexing shift in behaviour observed among German civilians and soldiers post-surrender, exploring the sudden collapse of resistance and the emergence of a subdued demeanor. While the chapter offers a rich tapestry of historical events and psychological phenomena, there are moments where the analysis could be clearer. For instance, in discussing the reluctance to acknowledge guilt regarding the Holocaust, a more explicit connection between societal shame and the evasion of responsibility could enhance comprehension. At times, the tone shifts between descriptive and analytical modes. Ensuring a consistent tone throughout could enhance the coherence of the chapter. While the chapter touches upon themes such as guilt, shame and moral responsibility, a more in-depth exploration of each could provide deeper insights into the complexities of post-war German society. Providing additional contextual information, such as the socio-economic conditions and political landscape of post-war Germany, could enrich the reader’s understanding of the broader historical backdrop against which these psychological dynamics unfolded. The book is very readable and offers many interesting insights that remain hidden in common perceptions of the end of the war, such as the tons of waste that needed to be disposed of. However, there is much more for the reader to discover. The diverse range of topics covered in the visual appendix is fascinating: its variety is appreciated by not only many readers but also members of the professional community. We acknowledge the criticism raised by Tosin Adeoti that the book focused more on what happened in Eastern Germany after the Third Reich fell, seemingly neglecting the western side of things. I am curious about how East Germany’s struggle with poverty compared to West Germany’s path to prosperity during the recovery period. More insight into this would have been very interesting and informative.27 Despite these shortcomings, the book offers a high-quality insight into the events in post-war Germany. Mgr. Maroš Melichárek, PhD. Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovak Republic ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0122-0235 Mgr. Lucia Heldáková, PhD. Slovak Academy of Sciences, Košice, Slovak Republic ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3176-5829 BIBLIOGRAPHY ADEOTI, Tosin. Book Review – Aftermath by Harald Jähner. In: Medium. [online]. https:// tosinadeoti.medium.com/book-review-aftermath-by-harald-j%C3%A4hner-f2cab6d10f27 (accessed: 15-01-2025). AHONEN, Pertti. After the expulsion: West Germany and Eastern Europe, 1945–1990. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. APPLEBAUM, Anne. Iron curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944–1956. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2012. BARTLETT, William. Croatia: Between Europe and the Balkans. London: Routledge, 2003. BAUER, Yehuda. Out of the Ashes: The Impact of American Jews on Post-Holocaust European Jewry. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1989. BURDS, Jeffrey. Sexual Violence in Europe in World War II, 1939–1945. In: Politics & Society, 2009, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 35–73. CLARK, W. Mark. A Prophet without Honour: Karl Jaspers in Germany, 1945-48. In: Journal of Contemporary History, 2002, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 197–222. DOUGLAS, Raymond M. Orderly and Humane: The Expulsion of the Germans after the Second World War. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012. 27 ADEOTI, Book Review – Aftermath by Harald Jähner. 115 EBERHARDT, Piotr. Political Migrations On Polish Territories (1939–1950). Warszawa: PAN, 2011. EEDY, Sean. Four-Color Communism: Comic Books and Contested Power in the German Democratic Republic. New York: Berghahn Books, 2021. ERLINGHAGEN, Marcel – ETTE, Andreas – SCHNEIDER, F. Norbert – WITTE, Nils. The Global Lives of German Migrants: Consequences of International Migration Across the Life Course. Netherlands: Springer Nature, 2021. EVANS, V. Jennifer. Life among the Ruins: Cityscape and Sexuality in Cold War Berlin. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. FRANK, Matthew. Expelling the Germans: British opinion and post-1945. Population Transfer in Context. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. GILLIS, John R. (ed.). Commemorations: The Politics of National Identity. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996. HARSCH, Donna. Eroticism, Love, and Sexuality in the Two Postwar Germanys. In: German Studies Review, 2012, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 627–636. HEINEMAN, Elizabeth. Before Porn Was Legal: The Erotica Empire of Beate Uhse. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011. HOMZE, Edward L. Foreign Labour in Nazi Germany. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967. JÄHNER, Harald. Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich 1945–1955. London: WH Allen, 2021. JÄHNER, Harald. Čas vlkov: Život v troskách Tretej ríše. Bratislava: N Press, 2022. JÄHNER, Harald. Höhenrausch: Das kurze Leben zwischen den Kriegen. Berlin: Rowohlt, 2022. JÄHNER, Harald. Wolfszeit: Deutschland und die Deutschen 1945 – 1955. Berlin: Rowohlt, 2019. JUDT, Tony. Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945. London: Vintage, 2010. KÖNIGSEDER, Angelika – WETZEL, Juliane. Waiting for Hope: Jewish Displaced Persons in Post-World War II Germany. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2001. KRAUSS, Marita. Integrationen: Vertriebene in den deutschen Landern nach 1945. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008. KRIMMER, Elisabeth. Philomela’s Legacy: Rape, the Second World War, and the Ethics of Reading. In: The German Quarterly, 2015, vol. 88, no. 1, pp 82–103. KURTHEN, Herman. Germany at the Crossroads: National Identity and the Challenges of Immigration. In: The International Migration Review, 1995, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 914–938. LAWLOR, Ruth. The Stuttgart Incident: Sexual Violence and the Uses of History. In: Diplomatic History, 2022, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 70–96. MCLELLAN, Josie. Love in the Time of Communism: Intimacy and Sexuality in the GDR. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. PAVLAKOVIĆ, Vjeran – BRENTIN, Dario – PAUKOVIĆ, Davor. The Controversial Commemoration: Transnational Approaches to Remembering Bleiburg. In: Croatian Political Science Review, 2018, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 7–32. PHILLIPS, Ann L. Power and influence after the Cold War: Germany in East-Central Europe. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. STEINBACHER, Sybille. Wie der Sex nach Deutschland kam: Der Kampf um Sittlichkeit und Anstand in der frühen Bundesrepublik. Munich: Siedler Verlag, 2011. TIMM, F. Annette. The Politics of Fertility in Twentieth-Century Berlin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. ZBOROWSKA, Agata. ‘Abandoned’ things: Looting German property in post-war Poland. In: History and Anthropology, 2021, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 580–602. 116 ANDERSON, JEFFREY E. VOODOO: AN AFRICAN AMERICAN RELIGION. BATON ROUGE: LSU PRESS, 2024, 272 PP. ISBN 978-0-8071-8132-4. Jeffrey Anderson’s monograph Voodoo: An African American Religion combines several fields of historical research (cultural history, urban history, religious history) in order to provide “a much-needed modern account of the faith as it existed in the Mississippi River valley”, as described by the publisher. Professor Anderson, a researcher at the University of Louisiana Monroe, is a recognized scholar on African American religious traditions. He has published several books and scientific studies on the topic of Voodoo, magic, religion and the American South. Anderson’s primary goal is to describe the constituents of Voodoo as a religion practiced in the Mississippi River valley from the eighteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, and to explain its associations with the city of New Orleans. At the beginning of the monograph, Anderson introduces two key words that are heavily used in the text – Voodoo and hoodoo. He outlines the complexity of the use and distinction between these two words, as well as the difficulties in defining the geographical scope of Voodoo as a belief, which, according to him, makes it rather difficult for historians to even attempt to examine this topic. In addition, a particular issue in the research of Voodoo is the primary source base, which is not very extensive. A large part of the history of Voodoo in the Mississippi River valley has thus been lost forever, but the author attempts to at least systematize all available information and expand our knowledge of this marginalized and often misunderstood faith. The reviewed book can be seen not only as the culmination of Anderson’s twenty-year research and study in this field, but also as a beneficial and very important tool for other scholars devoted to researching Voodoo in the Mississippi River valley. The monograph consists of five chapters. The subject of Voodoo is interesting and complicated, and the book’s structure helps the reader to follow presented ideas smoothly. Through these five chapters, Anderson introduces various entities and elements that influenced the formation of Voodoo in the Mississippi River valley, including deities and their counterparts in other religions, spiritual leaders and their practices, the rituals and ceremonial life of Voodoo’s followers, and also the death and surviving legacy of this lost faith. Anderson concludes his monograph with an appendix consisting of surviving primary sources, including various chants, songs, and prayers. The first chapter, “The Peoples of the Mississippi River valley”, analyses the region’s diverse population, with particular regard to New Orleans as a place that has shaped the character of Voodoo since the late eighteenth century. In his interpretation, Anderson proceeds from the premise that Voodoo had diverse roots in the region, due to the fact that the inhabitants of the Mississippi River valley never formed a stable or homogeneous population. Voodoo emerged from a fusion of the deities, rituals, words and practices of Native Americans, French and Spanish Catholic colonists, enslaved Africans, and Haitian immigrants. Despite many similarities with other religions, especially Haitian Vodou and African creole religions, Anderson believes that Voodoo remains a unique faith that is intrinsically linked to the Mississippi River valley and reflects the multiculturalism of the peoples who shaped this environment. The influence of African religions on Voodoo is addressed in the second chapter, “African Spirits in the Mississippi River valley”, in which Anderson reconstructs the creole spiritual universe of Africans living in the area and their descendants, as well as the faith that, under various influences, became unique to this specific territory. Anderson faced many challenges in his research because Voodoo as a faith was despised and marginalized by white people and was not thoroughly documented. As a result, only fragments of primary sources on the topic have been preserved. This is probably why Anderson provides more assumptions than indisputable facts, which he tries to compensate for, where possible, by acquainting the reader with various theories and interpretations from other authors dealing with the issue of Voodoo. In addition to the description and analysis of the characteristics of individual deities, there are two useful tables at the end of the chapter which summarize information about individual deities and their connection to their Haitian counterparts. The first contains the names, basic characteristics, recorded source(s), confirmation and origin of the mentioned deities. The second table visualizes 117 the significant Haitian influence on Voodoo in Mississippi River valley through the table of Voodoo gods and their Haitian equivalents. Voodoo ministers and their assistants form the topic of the third chapter, giving the reader an opportunity to delve deeper into the lives of important spiritual leaders who served as the link between Voodoo gods and their followers. This chapter details how they became leaders and what their roles entailed. Anderson offers a truly in-depth exploration of the subject of Voodoo spiritual leaders. He places particular emphasis on elucidating the origins of the names of individual leaders, enabling readers to construct a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding. A particularly valuable component appears at the outset of the chapter, where attention is given to women and their position within the framework of Voodoo. The female dimension plays a significant role and is, in fact, essential for a fuller comprehension of the subject. A compelling and unusual parallel emerges in the suggested connection between Voodoo and Christianity, established through the use of shared ritual objects. Anderson mentions candles, altars, and numerous other items. Detailed descriptions are employed with salient features carefully highlighted – whether contextualizing the roles of practitioners or depicting everyday life, rituals, objects and specific events. Particularly commendable is the section on the economic dimension, which addresses the various forms of income and monetary exchange inherently tied to the Voodoo tradition. Chapter Four, “Working with Spirits”, offers a more in-depth exploration of the role of rituals, ceremonies, feast days, and holy dates within the Voodoo tradition. The chapter opens by highlighting divergent perspectives through a comparative analysis of Voodoo practices in Haiti and New Orleans. The structure of the chapter is clearly organized, enabling readers to navigate the subject matter with clarity and ease. To elucidate ritualistic and ceremonial practices, Anderson draws on specific case studies of individual practitioners. Particularly noteworthy are his descriptions of the activities of Marie Laveau, a figure of significant renown in New Orleans and surrounding areas. The subsequent section of the chapter shifts focus to feast days and key dates in the Voodoo calendar. Special emphasis is placed on All Saints’ Day (1 November) and Saint John’s Eve / Day (23–24 June), which occupy a distinctive place in the ritual calendar and spiritual landscape of Voodoo. The final chapter, “The Death of a Religion?” already poses the central question in its title – one to which Anderson seeks answers throughout the entire section. A significant portion is devoted to examining whether Voodoo can still be regarded as a living faith or whether it has become merely a part of history. While many scholars in the field have tended to avoid this question, Anderson strives to offer the reader the most comprehensive perspective possible. The twentieth century proved to be a turning point, during which many practitioners became increasingly reluctant to openly admit their engagement with Voodoo rituals or even to publicly reference the religion itself. Although Voodoo was never explicitly outlawed, legislation and legal practices frequently targeted its various forms, thereby placing the faith under growing pressure and marginalization. In the concluding section of the chapter, Anderson focuses on the contemporary state of Voodoo and Hoodoo in New Orleans, examining modern practitioners and efforts to reconstruct the tradition. His analysis offers a nuanced view of how a once-vibrant religious system has evolved, survived, or been reimagined in a changing social and cultural landscape. The presented monograph offers a detailed and comprehensive examination of the subject of Voodoo and its diverse aspects. Anderson’s work fills a significant gap in the study of this topic and provides a much-needed scholarly contribution that will undoubtedly be of value to both academic audiences and the broader public. The monograph encompasses all the essential knowledge and information necessary for understanding the complexity of Voodoo, and it unquestionably holds a rightful place within the historiography of the subject. Mgr. Andrea Skybová Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovak Republic Mgr. Viktória Švigárová Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovak Republic 118 LUKÁČOVÁ, KATARÍNA – SVATOVÁ, MIRIAMA. LOCAL HISTORY – REGIONÁLNE DEJINY INOVATÍVNE, BÁDATEĽSKY ADIGITÁLNE [LOCAL HISTORY – REGIONAL HISTORY IN INNOVATIVE, RESEARCHBASED AND DIGITAL WAYS]. KOŠICE: SPOLOČENSKOVEDNÝ ÚSTAV CENTRA SPOLOČENSKÝCH APSYCHOLOGICKÝCH VIED SAV, V. V. I., 2025, 103 PP. ISBN 978-80-8298-008-3. The methodological guide Local History – Regional History in Innovative, ResearchBased and Digital Ways is designed for history teachers in primary and secondary schools, contributing to the integration of contemporary trends into history education. The guide was published under the auspices of a joint project between the Institute of Social Sciences of the Centre for Social and Psychological Sciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) and the Centre for Lifelong Learning and Project Support at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University (UPJŠ). Through this guide, the authors, Katarína Lukáčová and Miriama Svatová, provide a didactic transformation of historical events that took place in Košice between 1938 and 1945. As noted in the introduction, local history holds particular significance today, as it conveys history through specific places, events, and individuals whose stories are relatable to students. This approach enables a better understanding of major historical processes within local contexts, while simultaneously fostering historical awareness and a connection to one’s city or region. Although the guide has a regional focus, its activities are also applicable to the teaching of Slovak history more broadly, addressing highly significant topics such as the Holocaust, authoritarian regimes, war and everyday life. The guide is structured into two main parts, the first of which is theoretical. In addition to introductory remarks outlining the primary objective of the guide, it presents a historical analysis of events that took place in Košice between 1938 and 1945, but focuses primarily on the didactically motivated theoretical perspectives that informed the authors’ approach in developing the guide. Within this framework, the authors highlight the challenges facing history education in Slovakia, reflecting a certain stagnation and predominance of traditional teaching methods despite numerous reforms. They propose research-oriented teaching as a solution, emphasizing active student engagement in the learning process, with the teacher assuming the role of facilitator. Particular attention is devoted to the chapter on student assessment, which emphasizes that assessment should go beyond the traditional evaluation of acquired knowledge. The authors rightly stress the importance of students being able to critically evaluate not only what they have learned but also their own learning process. This includes reflecting on newly acquired knowledge as well as identifying areas that require further development or remain unclear to them. The second part of the guide is methodological and contains a collection of methodological sheets for individual activities, each reflecting various historical events in wartime Košice. The basic structure of each methodological sheet includes the activity title, the guiding research question and the target grade levels, as well as the performance and content standards, which the authors have aligned with the current revised State Education Program. Each sheet also features a QR code, providing direct access to the respective activity on the online portal www.localhistory.sk. The guide further provides a description and didactic analysis of the primary sources with which students work. The selection of sources is highly commendable, including photographs, contemporary diaries and memoirs. This approach allows students to gain an authentic experience of historical events and to obtain information directly from lived experiences rather than solely from reproduced “textbook” facts. At the same time, these activities enable students to adopt multiple perspectives on a historical event, emphasizing a key element of modern constructivist teaching: multiperspectivity. The formal layout, together with the didactic transformation of the content, is also beneficial for teachers, facilitating quick orientation and enabling them to select the most suitable activities for their students. The titles of the activities themselves are also thoughtfully chosen. For instance, the activity Students at the Front, accompanied by the guiding question Why did they have to go?, helps students develop historical awareness by showing that men who participated in the war had authentic personal stories – they had families, dreams, and, despite this, were compelled to fight involuntarily. This approach can also foster emotional intelligence, which can be applied to understanding 119 and critically evaluating contemporary events. Consequently, the activity’s title is far from dry and does not portray soldiers merely as an anonymous mass. The methodological guide represents a significant achievement, advancing history education toward a modern, constructivist approach that fosters the development of critical thinking and numerous other essential competencies and skills among students. Through this guide, the authors demonstrate that history is not merely about rote memorization of dates and facts, but rather its depth lies in understanding and critically evaluating historical events. Such an approach can help prevent young people from becoming lost in the flow of information, where it is all too easy to fall into the sphere of disinformation and distortion of both contemporary and historical facts. Moreover, the application of the principles offered in the guide can support the responsible use of digital technologies as well as the development of emotional intelligence and self-reflection in young people. The guide also constitutes an important step in elevating discussions on the significance of history to the level of professional discourse and teacher education, encouraging educators, through their enthusiasm, to contribute to meaningful change. Mgr. Helena Kuncová Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovak Republic Chronicle Chronicle