"Chvála básnického umenia" (Laudes artis poeticae, 1461) z pera Levočana Christophora Petschmessingsloera

Author(s): Mária Novacká / Language(s): Slovak / Issue: 2/2008

The article deals with the activities of an important fraternity of pastors from Spiš (Szepes, Zips) region founded in 1204 who resided in Levoča (Lőcse, Leutschau), especially with the work of one of its members, Christoph Petschmessingsloer. In addition to providing information on the life of the author of The Praise for the Art of Poetry (Laudes artis poeticae) from 1461, the study describes the circumstances of the origin of this work. The greatest attention is paid to an analysis of the text of this lecture on the art of poetry and an assessment of its rhetorical characteristics that represented an introduction to Satires by the Roman satirist Decimus Junius Juvenalis. For its first part, the poetic praise of art and poetry is characteristic; the second part speaks of rhetorical and poetic technique, verse forms together with terms of poetic expression. The work is concluded with a mythological story inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses about nine muses that represent nine human activities and methods of the acquisition of knowledge.

"Ustawienie o piercach a prokuratorzech albo o rzecznikoch" : ze studiów nad staropolską terminologią prawniczą

Author(s): Aleksander Zajda / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 23/1990

Der vorliegende Aufsatz ist ein Versuch, 15 altpolnische Wörter mit der Bedeutung ‘vicarius, advocatus, patronus’ und derer Geschichte im Laufe bis 1600 im Lichte der Wortfeldtheorie darzustellen. Schon im 15. Jhd. befinden sich im Zentrum des Wortfeldes die Bezeichnungen pierca. prokurator, rzecznik - die wir im Titel (Zitat aus der in der Mitte des 15. Jhds. entstandenen Übersetzung der früheren polnischen Rechte) sehen - und zachodica. Andere 11 Bezeichnungen bilden zu dieser Zeit Peripherie des Feldes. Aber auch die Glieder des Zentrums sind differenziert - pierca ist ein masowisches Wort, prokurator - grosspolnisch; nur rzecznik und zachodica sind gesamtpolnisch. Infolge der weiteren Entwicklung befinden sich schon in der Mitte des 16. Jhds. nur prokurator und rzecznik im Zentrum; pierca und zachodica verschwinden überhaupt aus dem Wortfeld, geschweige andere Kompenenten. Ende des 16. Jhds. ist ein ausschliesslicher Glied des Zentrums prokurator - sein Sieg ist auf den damaligen Zustrom des lateinischen Wortgutes in die polnische Rechtsterminologie zurückzuführen.

(Wild)haus w Bezławkach (Bayselauken, Bäslack)

Uwagi na temat budownictwa warownego zakonu niemieckiego w późnośredniowiecznych Prusach

Author(s): Krzysztof Kwiatkowski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 2/2016

The article constitutes a collection of remarks concerning military aspects of the construction and functioning of the Teutonic castle in Bezławki (Bayselauken, Bäslack) in the last decades of the 14th century. Speculations included in the article refer to opinions expressed by the authors of the collective monograph about the late medieval settlement complex in Bäslack published in 2013. It presents the findings of archeological research in the castle and the village in the years 2008-2012. Remarks presented in the article concern three out of six problems which are considered the most essential. While it goes beyond doubt that the castle played an important defensive role, the hypothesis of it being a “fortified camp” for the army during military actions of the Teutonic Order against the Lithuanians and Ruthenians has been undermined. It is not possible to consider it to play a military role on a significant strategic level, as do the authors of the monograph of 2013. In the second part of the article the author undermines the hypothesis about the “systematic” character of the complex of fortifications situated on the eastern Prussian border. If the castle in Bäslack was indeed part of some defensive system, it could operate on the local level and consist of an insignificant number of elements including longitudinal fortifications constituting the so called “Landwehr”. The next issue addressed by the author was a problem of the typology of the term “wildhaus”. As in the 14th century the term connoted the location of the fortification on the border of the forest, the author shows a far-reaching morphological diversity of fortifications on the eastern outskirts of the Prussian state, which were or could be classified as “wildhauses”. Thus, a “wildhaus” cannot be classified as a morphological type of a fortification. The typology of fortifications based on the morphological criteria cannot be connected with the typology based on the administrative and terminological criteria. Archeological examination of the Bäslack fortification evinces its major cognitive potential and makes us aware of how little is known about the functioning of minor fortifications in late medieval Prussia. Further research in this field belongs to one of the most important elements of historical science in the Prussian regional dimension and related branches of science.

,„Și încă a pustiit şi sfânta mănăstire”. Mănăstirea Govora și un gest de putere de la mijlocul secolului al XV-lea

Author(s): Ramona Adina Neacsa (Lupu) / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: XXXIII/2015

This paper analyses the destruction of the Govora Monastery by the boyar Albu the Great in mid fifteenth-century Wallachia. The main contention of the article is that this sacrilegious act was embedded in the struggles between different Wallachian noble groups competing for power. Thus, by devastating the monastery, Albu the Great was trying to strengthen his own position, while undermining that of the founder of the monastery, no other than Vlad the Devil, the lord of Wallachia. The Govora monastery played an important role in supporting and legitimizing Vlad’s rule, therefore any act of violence directed against it was actually aimed to its founder. A locus of history and legitimacy, the monastery had a significant capital of symbolic power that could be manipulated, destroyed or, on the contrary, restored. This is precisely what happed with Govora in the second half of the fifteenth century, when Vlad the Devil’s descendents took care to restore the family monastic foundation. Thus, Vlad the Impaler punished Albu the Great and his entire kin and, afterwards, Vlad the Monk and Radu the Great re-established the monastic estate by buying back two of its former villages, Glodul and Hinţa. The purpose of this article is to suggest that the fifteenth-century Wallachian monasteries were not solely a network of religious and economic centres, but also hubs of political power.

1468/9 Tahririne Göre Bosna Sancağinda Timâr

Author(s): Hatice Oruç / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 67/2017

The summary defter MC.076 held at Atatürk Library (listed in the Muallim Cevdet Manuscript Catalogue) is the oldest surviving tahrîr defter drawn up after the establishment of the Bosnian Sanjak. It includes invaluable information on the timâr system and transfer of the new conquered region over to Ottoman rule, making it priceless for historians working in this field. The content of the defter may be evaluated under two categories: I) The original records of the defter arranged between 1468 and 1469; II) The marginal notes that were added to the defter on various dates between 1469 and 1477, following its completion and approval. The original entries, covering the years between 1468 and 1469, show the distribution of ‘khâss’, ‘zeâmet’ and ‘timâr’ to the members of the military class in exchange for their service. The marginal notes added later on show the modifications made to the amount of timâr allocated to the persons in question, such as its cancellation, transfer or increase. In addition to providing the names of the timâr holders, the defter also contains addition information about them. This study will focus on the timâr entries in the 1468/9 dated summary (mücmel) defter in order to evaluate the timâr system and its distribution in the Bosnian Sanjak.

15. Yüzyilda Hitay’da Bir Timurlu Sefir: Giyaseddin Nakkaş’in Hitay Gözlemleri

Author(s): Betül Mutlu / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 67/2011

Hıtay Sefaretnamesi is our oldest known travel book written by Hoca Gıyaseddin Nakkaş in Persian in 1422 and transleted into Ottoman Turkish in 1728 by Küçükçelebizade İsmail Asım. Mirza Baysungur of the Timurid Mirza’s was commissioned as an envoy Hoca Gıyaseddin Nakkaş , while performing the embassy official duty, has not only satisfied with the physical observations but also dealt with social and cultural structure of Hıtay society and transferred them to his prepared report in detail. İn this regard Hıtay Sefaretnamesi can not be ignored as a source is important in the 15th century research as well as being our first travel book. The present paper analyses the narration and observation notes of the Hıtay Sefaretnamesi.

15. Yüzyilda Niğde Şehrinde Iskân Ve Mahalleler

Author(s): Nevzat Topal / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 01/2017

In this study, the settlements and districts of Nigde Province during the 15th century are reviewed. Nigde was under the rule of Karamanids for a long time during the 15th century, and in the second half of the century, it fell under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The districts of Nigde were identified through the cadastral record books and charter of pious foundation certificates drafted by the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 15th and the early 16th centuries. It is considered that the district names mentioned in these books existed during the rule of Karamanids. The first source referring to those districts in Nigde is the charter of pious foundation of Ali the Karamanid dating back to 1415. There are three district names in this charter, yet they seem to be unmentioned in the other sources cited in this study. In charter certificates prepared in 1476 and 1483 after the province came under the rule of Ottoman Empire, there are references to some mosque and district names belonging to Nigde. Moreover, the cadastral record books prepared in the early 16th century refers to some 29 districts in Nigde. Except for some of the district names specified in the aforesaid cadastral record book, most of the names existed to a great extent in also the Karamanid era. In the cadastral record book drafted in the early 16th century, two non-muslim districts are identified and it is possible that these districts also existed during the 15th century.

1819 YILINDA ASTRAHAN’DA BASILAN MUSA’NIN İLK KİTABI “YARATILIŞ” ÜZERİNE BİR DEĞERLENDİRME

Author(s): Döne ARSLAN / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 40/2018

Kypchak Turkish was used in two different geographical regions. On one hand, It became the language of the Kypchak who lived in today’s Russia, Ukraine and Caucasian which had been in Golden Horde between 13th – 15th centuries, it was used to write Codex Cumanicus by the Italian and the German, on the other hand again in this area it created a written language developed with Armenian letters in long centuries, and also it continued as not only spoken language but also written language in Egypt and Syria and as the literary language of Muslim Memluk Kypchak from the middle of 13th century to the beginning of 16th language. There are some phonetic and stylistic differences among the languages of these three different societies. It is predicted that that the work was translated by Charles Fraser who had started to work as the assistant of H. Brunton in Karas in 1803. H. Burton who translated many religious books into Turkish and Tatar and his follower Charles Fraser adopted the natives writing tradition. Fraser based the Ottoman translation of Ali Bey by learning Karai language, Astrahan and Orenburg Kypcak and he produced the Creation work in other words “The First Book of Moses”.

30 май 1453 г. Византийският воин: опит за реконструкция на външния облик и снаряжението

Author(s): Stanimir Dimitrov / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2015

The paper try to give answer on the questions about arms and armour used from Byzantine warriors in the final years of life of independent Greek States and in the remaining year still the end of 15thc when Ottoman rule will put an end on the military tradition brought by different social layers. The author’s opinion is that tracing post Byzantine society we can reveal weapons and tactics used by Romaioi before capture of Constantinople by the turks. Pivotal pointsare Italian sources from 1470s that mention a new type of military formation. Mentioned by Marino Sanudo, Philip de Comin and Molines like “stradiotto, stradioti”, they will become very popular in European war theatre. Besides written sources are used representations in works of art. They represent warriors with no typical for Western Europe outfit.

A bölcs Iuvenalis és a neolatin bukolika

Author(s): Lajos Zoltán Simon / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2/2016

This study analyses the bucolic poems of three humanist poets of the 15th century, Caspar Tribrachus, Baptista Mantuanus and Faustus Andrelinus, whose eclogues are characterized by both a realistic mode of depiction utterly differing from the idealized landscape of the pastoral and the influence of Roman satire. Although in the case of Mantuanus several allusions had already been noted by his contemporaneous commentator, Jodocus Badius, except for the obvious inspiration of Eclogue 5 by Juvenal, little attention has been devoted to the allusions to Persius and Juvenal by recent research. Th e analyses aims at a more thorough examination of this influence, dealing not only with the imagery and the vocabulary of the eclogues, but also with imitations of idyllic pictures from the satirists, as well as with the cases of double imitation, where the allusions to satire simultaneously parody classical passages of Vergil. Further, the important role of both Juvenal’s Umbricius and the medieval commentaries on Juvenal in the forming of Umber, the key figure in Mantuanus ’ eclogues, shall be pointed out. Finally, on the basis of the theoretical background of the two genres and their possible interrelations, it shall be argued that the satire played a decisive role in the establishment of this new variant of pastoral poetry, which is realistic in its imagery and didactic in its intention.

A Conflict for Values in the Origins and at the Beginning of the Thirteen Years’ War

Author(s): Stefan Kwiatkowski / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2016

W przededniu wojny trzynastoletniej naprzeciwko siebie stanęły dwie koncepcje ładu krajowego: zakonna i stanowa. Ścierały się one ze sobą od dłuższego czasu, aż w końcu stały się nie do pogodzenia. Zakon, jeśli chodzi o zasadę, stał na gruncie priorytetu prawa bożego, z zasady niezmiennego, wiecznego. Jego poddani, skonfederowani w Związku Pruskim, powoływali się na to, co przysługuje poddanemu z racji otrzymanych przywilejów, prawa pozytywnego, pojmowanego jako gwarancja zachowania sprawiedliwości pomiędzy ludźmi.Podstawą sporu o wartości stało się pojęcie ius i pochodne od niego: iustitia i iustum, zaprowadzające ład w stosunkach między ludźmi, regulujące to, co przysługiwało człowiekowi w relacjach z innymi ludźmi. Jako duchowny pan kraju stał na stanowisku Zakon, że iustitia opiera się na autorytecie prawa kanonicznego i cesarskiego, następnie władzy krajowej wyposażonej w przyrodzone prerogatywy (znany jest cytat opinii brata zakonnego wobec poddanych: „my jesteśmy waszym prawem”). Krzyżacy i ich poplecznicy twierdzili, że związkowcy występują przeciw słusznym prawom Zakonu i Kościoła, że chociaż na mocy iustitia poddani są zobowiązani do posłuszeństwa i lojalności, to jako ludzie o określonym, wysokim statusie postępują buntowniczo, tym samym niegodnie.Związkowcy powoływali się na przywileje, należące do prawa krajowego. Na nich opierali poczucie swej godności (ehrbar Leute) i subiektywne rozumienie sprawiedliwości. Postawy tej nie można zrozumieć bez uwzględnienia jej kulturowego kontekstu. Według związkowców, na mocy ogólnego wyobrażenia o prawie i sprawiedliwości, przywódcy zakonni i prałaci mieli być związani powinnością zachowania sprawiedliwości człowieka względem drugiego człowieka, oddania tego, co mu się należy. Dlatego w argumentacji związkowej pojęcie sprawiedliwości odnosi się do praw ludzi, którzy są poddanymi władzy zakonnej, ale wyposażonymi w prawne gwarancje. Ius i iustitia miały być fundamentem z jednej strony ładu krajowego (zapewnienie dobra powszechnego, w szczególności pokoju i sprawiedliwych sądów), z drugiej zaś – gwarancją czci i honoru poddanych. To założenie w znacznej mierze określało faktyczne stosunki poddanych z władztwem zakonnym już w okresie wcześniejszym. Jednakże w połowie XV w. przedstawiciele Zakonu i Związku Pruskiego zradykalizowali swe pozycje. Krzyżacy dążyli do umocnienia swoich władczych prerogatyw w kraju. W argumentacji związkowców, zasługującej zresztą na uwzględnienie przez historyka jej antropologicznych aspektów, Zakon pogwałcił prawa mieszkańców Prus, a przez swoje zarzuty wobec nich zniesławił ich i zakwestionował publicznie, na szerokim forum ich poczucie godności, honoru i prawowierności.

A császári univerzalizmus Zsigmond diplomáciájának gyakorlatában (A franciaországi és angliai látogatás tanulságai)

Author(s): Sándor Csernus / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 3/2017

Sigismund of Luxembourg was the longest reigning monarch in the history of the independent Kingdom of Hungary. During fifty-year reign, significant changes occurred in the history of Western Christianity, and by extension, Hungary. The Western dynasties (Anjou, Luxemburg, Habsburg) were living a period of successful expansion in Central-Eastern Europe during the Anjou reign in Hungary and the Luxembourg reign in Bohemia. It's becoming more and more obvious that several aspects of Sigismund's rule in Hungary can also be considered parts of this process. The Luxembourgs were aiming to establish strong positions in Central Europe, and to acquire the title of Emperor. The study examines Sigismund's international policy, which encompassed an uncharacteristically large area, as well as the methods of such policy. The "crisis" of the medieval West brought several common problems to light, which were economic, societal, organizational, political, military and ideological in nature. One of the most obvious manifestations of the division of Christianitas and the waste of resources was the Hundred Years' War. The answer to the schism was reformatio in capite et in membris, in the case of the Hundred Years' War it was peace mediation, and the reaction to the outside threat was a new Crusade. Sigismund used the widespread notion of conciliarism to convoke the Council of Constance, and he was commissioned by the Council to launch a mediation mission during the Hundred Years' War as Imperator Pacificus. The aforementioned crisis brought about the renaissance of imperial universalism, as well as the general strengthening of the Emperor's position. Sigismund successfully solved some of these problems, even though his solutions were controversial. Sigismund strongly depended on the principle of imperial supremacy, that could be derived from imperial universalism. However, this obviously infringed the sovereignty of the big national monarchies. His endeavors sparked overt or covert opposition from his partners. This is clearly visible in the French and English stages of his mediation attempt, which included several symbolic events. These events were interpreted somewhat differently by English, French, Belgian, and German historiographies. The study examines this process by comparing sources, and confirms that the alliances in Canterbury and Calais (1416), formed instead of peace mediation, ensured the undisturbed operation of the Council of Constance, and created a temporary balance between the rivaling Western powers. However, this balance was tainted by internal tension, and it foreshadowed the final, desperate struggles of the Hundred Years' War. The decline of conciliarism and imperial universalism also decreased the effectiveness of Sigismund's actions. This study considers the process to be the culmination of Sigismund's diplomacy based on universalism, and at the same time the confirmation of the national component in the big Western monarchies ("the king is Emperor in his kingdom") in a new context, which means the consolidation of the concept of sovereignty.

A ferencesek asztala (A Kisebb Testvérek táplálkozási gyakorlata a késő középkori Közép-Európában)

Author(s): Marie-Madeleine de Cevins / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 3/2017

A görög irodalom újraéledése az első humanista fordításokban

Author(s): József Marton / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2010

The rebirth of the Greek culture is one of the unique characters of the renaissance humanism which makes it different from other renaissance movements. In that played the new Latin translations of the Greek classics crucial role which were pre-determined for the whole period by programming activity of Leonardo Bruni. This study analyses both the method (‘how?’) and motivation (‘why and what?’) of this revival. Firstly, the modern translation method of Bruni is interpreted which finds the essence of the text in its sense, presenting the historical-philological background of the method in the view of the contemporary intellectual schools and its complex linguistic aspects. Secondly, it discovers those literal motives, actual reasons and personal incitements according to that the Greek authors and works were chosen to be translated and purposefully ordered.

A horvátországi magyarlakta falvak története

Author(s): Krisztián Szigetvári / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2004

A kenyérmezei csata (1479)

Author(s): Lajos Négyesi / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 03/2019

István Báthori and Pál Kinizsi are among the figures of the Mátyás Hunyadi (Matthias Corvinus) statue group in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca). The victory over Isa-Beg’s army on 13 October 1479 is related to these two Hungarian captains. Several contemporary sources tell us about the armed conflict, with Antonio Bonfini’s description standing out among them due to its many vivid details. Unfortunately, however, it also contains an error and a passage that was later misinterpreted. Still others have stigmatized the historian as untrustworthy. The misunderstanding is due to the fact that Bonfini swapped the designations of the right wing and the left wing. As a result, the relative positions of the two opposing armies were also confused, leading to erroneous conclusions.

A kusalyi Jakcsok birtokosztálya 1425 körül

Author(s): Géza Hegyi / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 03/2014

The Jakcs family, which originated from the Szilágyság region, had belonged to the narrow political élite of the Hungarian kingdom between 1382 and 1441. After the middle of the 15th century, however, they definitively dropped from the ranks of the barons. During their presence in the court they had managed to build up a medium-sized landed wealth, which in 1423 consisted of one castle (Hadad [Hodod, Romania]), some 50 to 60 estates in perpetuity, and a further 30–35 by right of pledge. The majority lay around the ancient property of Kusaly (Coșeiu, Romania), in the counties of Közép-Szolnok and Kraszna, and the rest in that of Kraszna. This landed wealth was divided around 1425 between the two principal branches of the family, that is, the descendants of György I (†1415/1416) on the one hand, and those of István I († after 1418) on the other. As we have no comprehensive report about this division, the act itself can only be reconstructed by working backwards from later material after all the surviving charters of the family had been gathered, grouped and filtered. The emerging picture shows that in the case of 28 estates owned in perpetuity and 4 in pledge each settlement was divided by peasant plots, whereas the remaining ones were assigned undivided (and in roughly equal numbers) to one or the other branch. (In the wake of Pál Engel the former type is known as division by plots, while the latter as division by blocks.) The case analysed here nuances the model elaborated by Engel, according to which after 1360 division by plots became exclusively applied at the division of noble estates. It also makes evident the existence of a third type, that of mixed division, which was obviously a combination of the other two. Alongside that of the Jakcs, the division of the Bélteki in 1424 and that of the Dezsőfi of Losonc after 1405 offer examples of the mixed division. Apparently this kind of estate division was only applied in a narrow region (along the river Szamos), and even there perhaps only in the first half of the 15th century. Which among the two elements constituting this type of division was applied depended not on the time when the settlement in question was acquired, nor on the right by which it was held; nor, indeed, can any relationship be observed, at least directly, with the population numbers. On the other hand, a strong correlation exists with the ethnic-legal qualification of any given settlement, which was then strictly taken into account; namely, it appears that in all three cases listed above, the settlements of a dominantly Hungarian character were always divided by plots, while the Romanian and Ruthenian ones were allotted to either of the branches in blocks. The underlying reason may have been that the Hungarian villages were more stable, in average three times more populous than the others, and the Hungarian tenants roughly twice as profitable as the non-Hungarian villagers, and thus a more differentiated approach was needed to make division equitable.

A magyarországi obszerváns ferencesek 1499. és 1518. évi konstitúcióinak prológusa

Author(s): Balázs Kertész / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 04/2016

The Hungarian Observant Franciscan vicary, established in 1448, underwent a thoroughgoing reorganization at the end of the 15th century. The chapter (capitulum vicariale) held in 1499 at the monastery of Atya (today Šarengrad, Croatia), accepted constitutions which determined in detail the organisational structure and functioning of the vicary. These, in fact, are the earliest known decisions of the vicary. The author of the regulation was Osvát Laskai, much better known as a writer of sermons, who was three times elected for the two year vicarial office (1497–1499, 1499–1501, 1507–1509). The long work consists of two parts: while the first defines the offices of the superiors, that is, of the vicar, the custodes, the guardians and the visitors (visitatores), the second regulates the everyday life of the friars through an explanation of the Franciscan rule. The constitutions of Atya are not available in a modern critical edition, its only edition of 1827 being based on one single manuscript. That important milestone in the history of the Franciscan Order, the Roman capitulum generalissimum of 1517, and Pope Leo X’s Bull of Ite vos in vineam meam, naturally effected considerable changes in the life of the Hungarian vicary as well. For instance, the Hungarian vicar also became a minister, and the area under his supervision was consequently called a province. In reaction to the changes, the friars of the new province gathered in 1518 for an extraordinary chapter, under the leadership of provincial minister Albert Dereszlényi, at the tomb of Giovanni da Capestrano at Újlak (Ilok, Croatia). The importance of the constitutions of Atya is reflected by the fact that in 1518 the regulation of 1499 was merely updated in accordance with the new conditions. Among others, the necessary terminological modifications were carried out: vicary was changed to province, vicar to minister, and capitulum vicariale to capitulum provinciale. The text of the constitutions of Újlak has never appeared in print. The two sets of constitutions are thus closely connected to each other. The present study offers the description and edition of their respective prologues, a preliminary to the forthcoming critical edition of the two regulations.

A mezővárosi ingatlanforgalom szokásjoga a 14−16. századi Zemplén megyében és környékén

Author(s): László Szabolcs Gulyás / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 01/2016

The purchase, exchange, mortgage, alienation and bequest of real estate, as well as their offer to ecclesiastical institutions as pious donation was a general phenomenon in late medieval Hungarian market towns. Free disposition of various pieces of property – plots, houses, arable, mills, pasture, and before all vineyards – was an everyday and widely accepted occurrence. Supervision of real estate trade was a basic duty of the town council, a task it discharged on the basis of the town’s own customary law. It was the same body which put such matters to writing, and, although the ensuing real estate contracts were meant to have a limited, local degree of authenticity, practice proves that their legal binding force was in fact acknowledged by extensive social groups, both local and outsider. The present study explores the content of this customary law and its practical application in the market towns of northeastern Hungary in the late middle ages. Some of the legal institutions applied in such transactions were known throughout the country, and can thus be regarded as parts of national (noble) law. As examples can be cited the procedure employed at depositions, standing as guarantee, frivolous prosecution, or the taking into account of the right of pre-emption by kinsmen, but also demonstration by charters or witnesses in lawsuits. Other legal customs, however, were either restricted to certain areas, or otherwise common nationwide, but limited to the peasantry. Such was, for instance, pledging by drinking toast, the previous lodging of the estimated value of a piece of property in case of litigation, or, in the region of the Hegyalja, the sealing of land transactions with a delay of a year and three days, a practice evidently introduced with a view to prevent problems connected to the right of pre-emption. In forming this customary law the peasantry could rely on several legal sources. Part of the consuetudo no doubt filtered down to the local custom of the market towns from national law through the mediation of the literacy pursued by the so-called places of authentication (loca credibilia) and public notaries. Another such source may have been the legal practice of the free royal towns, which resembled parallel practice in the market towns in several points. Moreover, the dispositions of the letter of privilege granted to the town (if there existed one) were also respected. But there also existed procedures which had evidently emerged among the peasantry in the course of past centuries. By the late middle ages these different legal customs had frequently merged in distorted forms, and thus created the various customary laws which were proudly referred to in the charters of local communities (ius, mos, libertas, consuetudo etc.).

A New Archaeological Study of Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

Author(s): Ken Dark,Jan Kostenec / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0