Nyírbátor középkori főterei. Településtopográfiai rekonstrukciós kísérlet.

Abstract

Nyírbátor was one of the most important market towns of the Great Hungarian Plain in the Middle Ages. This status of importance was the result of a combination of several factors. On the one hand, the settlement served as the residence of the Ecsed branch of the Bátori family, which gained national significance from the 14th century onwards, as evidenced by the high-quality medieval built heritage. The other reason that increased its importance is that the market town played a prominent role in the system of trade relations between Transylvania and Upper Hungary, which was also helped by high-level royal privileges that were not entirely considered credible in Hungarian historical research. Several certificates from the 14th–15th centuries report in detail on the medieval settlement structure of Nyírbátor, but their interpretation is still problematic. The study attempts to reconstruct the medieval street network, and at the same time tries to answer the complex question of the circumstances and time of the construction of the today still existing huge main square, which has a regular floor plan, and which is considered to be unique among Hungarian market towns.