Karol I. a mestá
Charles I and towns

Summary/Abstract: The study examines certain elements of the policy of King Charles I concerning towns. The king issued almost 150 charters concerning more than fifty towns between 1310 and 1342. The analysis of these charters leads to the conclusion that during the reign of Charles I of Hungary the practice of donating privileges to the communities of hospites had two types following the pattern developed in the 13th century: some received the totality of privileges (towns), while others were only granted parts of them (free villages). However, it can also be noticed that from the second half of his reign new elements appear in Charles‘s policy. He also gave privileges to settlements owed by landlords, and, at the same time, the notion of a town involved it being fortified more often than before. It is worth noting that Charles I never granted the full privilege of a town to settlements in the northeastern part of Hungary, in Transylvania or in Slavonia. The reason for this is that these regions formed the three biggest honours of Charles‘s kingdom. The owner received all the royal revenues of the territory of the honour including those of the free villages. It was not in the interest of Charles I, whose system of government relied much on the services of the honours, to decrease the income of the honours.

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