Apariție editorială: Trust, Authority, and the Written Word in the Royal Towns of Medieval Hungary, K. Szende

Apariție editorială: Trust, Authority, and the Written Word in the Royal Towns of Medieval Hungary, K. Szende

ISBN: 978-2-503-57881-1

A comprehensive overview of the formation of urban pragmatic literacy in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary.


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.Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
List of Figures and Tables

Introduction
On This Volume
Trust and Authority
Literate Mentalities
European Frameworks

1. Setting the Scene
Whose Literacy? Urban Development and Urban Society in Medieval Hungary
Pragmatic Approaches to Pragmatic Literacy
Sources and Scholarship

2. In the First-Person Plural: Civic Literacy and Communal Identity
Royal Charters and Urban Identity
The Beginnings of Civic Literacy
Civic Literacy and Places of Authentication
Formulaeand Community
The Municipal Seal: the Matrix of Identity
Communal Concerns: The Contents of Early Municipal Documents
Conclusions: Trust in Charters

3. From Charters to Books and Back
The Institutionalisation of Writing Offices
Municipal Books as Instruments of Civic Governance
The Material of Town Books: The Use of Paper in Administration
The Contents of Municipal Books: Thematic Differentiation
Outlook 1: The Beginnings of Pragmatic Literacy in Craft Guilds
Outlook 2: Town Chronicles and Municipal Literacy
Conclusions: Trust in Municipal Books

4. Language and Literacy
Language on the Research Agenda
Why Not Monolingual?
Areas of Urban Life Where Language Became an Issue
Medieval Urban Language Use in the Light of Sociolinguistic Research
Conclusions: Trust in Language

5. "in cartula scribere faciat" – The Uses of Writing between Christians and Jews
Legislation on Jews and Literacy – A Chronological Overview
Records of Urban Administration as Sources on Jewish-Christian
Conclusions: Trust in Writing between Christians and Jews

6. From Charters to Archives
Variations on Archives
The Advent and Advantage of Civic Archives: Storage and Safekeeping
Binding Records: The Example of Sopron
Using Civic Archives
Conclusions: Trust in Archives

Final Conclusions

Appendices
Appendix 1: Gazetteer of Names of Towns in the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary Discussed in the Book
Appendix 2: Regnal Years of the Kings of Medieval Hungary
Appendix 3: Documents Issued by Civic Authorities in Hungary, (1244) 1255-1305
Appendix 4: Earliest Mentioning of Municipal Notaries (up to 1400)
Appendix 5: The Earliest Preserved Charters of Bishops’ Towns (Issued by the Municipality)
Appendix 6: Municipal Books Started before 1500

Bibliography

Index


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