Trust, Authority, and the Written Word in the Royal Towns of Medieval Hungary (Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy)

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