Správny aparát mesta a jeho grafická vizualizácia (na príklade Banskej Bystrice v stredoveku a ranom novoveku)
The administrative apparatus of the town and its graphic visualisation (on the example of Banská Bystrica in the Middle Ages and early modern times)

Summary/Abstract: The paper aims at presenting the possibilities of graphical representation of the problem of the administrative organization of the town. In the textual part it presents the main organs of the town administration, which began to be formed in the Middle Ages, but took their final form mainly during the 16th century. In addition to the institution of the mayor, special attention was paid to the collective organs of the town administration, which were the town (inner and outer) council, as well as the later formed elected municipality. The functioning and staffing of these institutions were followed until the middle of the 18th century (until 1755) when, as a result of the state’s efforts to unify the administrative organisation of the royal towns, Banská Bystrica lost several unique elements of the organisation of its self-government (e.g. the nomination of candidates for the post of mayor by the burghers who owned a house on the main square or the annual election of the mayor). Two mind maps and three illustrative graphic schemes were created for the purpose of the study. The first mind map introduces the research of town administration in the medieval period. As many of the mechanisms for the election of individual officials and members of the collective organs of town administration were unknown for that period, this method of visualisation proved to be a suitable means of introducing the subject. The second mind map depicts the administrative conditions of the town in the first half of the 18th century. In this case, a large amount of data was already available for the treatment of the issue, so the mind map served as a means of clarifying, or supplementing, the specially drawn and appropriately simplified graphic scheme. Finally, the periods of the 16th, 17th and first half of the 18th centuries were treated separately, by means of separate graphic schemes of the administrative mechanisms. Through the three schemes it was possible to clearly trace the most important development processes and significant changes in the functioning of the basic mechanisms of the town’s administrative apparatus. Illustrative visualisations through various schemes and mind maps prove to be a welcome aid to study as well as research in the field of the history of administration. Visualisation of the problem of the town administration can help to better understand its workings as well as to raise questions for further historical research.

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