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.
