Vplyv prisťahovalectva na etnické pomery stredovekých miest na Slovensku
Influence of immigration on the ethnic situation of the towns in medieval Slovakia

Summary/Abstract: Medieval towns were not an isolated island, but a living organism with intense interactions with its environment. From a demographic point of view they were dependent on the flow of people from beyond its walls. The town needed new people to its natural development and functioning. In the example of five Slovak towns (Bratislava, Trnava, Bardejov, Prešov, Košice), we have shown how immigration and immigrants contributed to their demographic picture. The main sources for exploring this question were the registers of new burghers and also the tax registers. These sources, however, do not register low-income inhabitants forming a significant part of the urban population. Therefore, on the basis of their analysis, we can not form a realistic picture of the immigration. German patriciate played a leading role in researched towns, what is reflected by the data coming from the registers of the burgher rights acceptance. They provide evidence that the burgher rights were granted mostly to the persons of German nationality (except Trnava). The regular trade contacts with foreign countries have led to the immigration of foreigners mostly of German origin. Location of the city and its surrounding neighborhood with different ethnicity played also its role.

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