The Cities and Towns of Medieval Hungary as Economic and Cultural Centres and Places of Coexistence. The Case of Pécs

The paper consists of two parts. In the first chapter the author gives a general survey of medieval Hungarian urban development, calling attention to the characteristics of urbanization of the Carpathian Basin in the Middle Ages. In the second chapter the author explores the medieval history of Pécs, see of one of the oldest and wealthiest bishoprics of Hungary. The author concludes that the medieval city of Pécs - despite its legal position, namely that the city fell under the jurisdiction of the bishop and the cathedral chapter - was functionally a ‘real city' (town), the economic, ecclesiastical and cultural centre of south-western Hungary, where foreign ethnic groups (Germans, ‘Latins' and Croats) lived in large numbers. He stresses that the medieval history of Pécs can greatly contribute to the better understanding of the characteristics of a special type of town, the archiepiscopal and episcopal sees, the research of which can still be regarded as a neglected field of urban history in Hungary.

 Key Words: Hungary, medieval history, urbanization, Pécs.