The urban economy in medieval Hungary

There are innumerable paths that link every branch of the medieval economy – from mining to animal husbandry, or handicrafts to forestry – to towns. This is particularly true of trade, domestic and foreign. What follows is not an attempt to embrace this complex area in its entirety, and neither is this necessary, because many aspects are covered by chapters of this book that deal with specific branches of the economy. Instead, this article is written to indicate how the town, as a particular form of settlement and social structure, influenced and interlinked economic activities, and vice versa: how the local economy formed or transformed the countenance and people of Hungarian towns. Since this book contains another chapter devoted to market towns, the focus of attention here will be the free royal towns. Royal private towns, and towns owned by ecclesiastical or private landowners, could be the subject of another study.