Buda law, Fehérvár privil., Saxon rights, right for markets
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City rights were medieval privileges of cities and the rights that differentied citizens from non-citizens. The first collection of city rights was the Fehérvár law. The Buda law, which developed from this, became significant in Hungarian criminal, private and procedure law in the 14th century. As other city rights, the Buda law also contains town privileges, exemption from paying customs duties, the right to hold national or weekly markets and staple rights. Besides these economic rights, it also involved legal privileges (to elect judges and member of the council) and church privileges (to elect parish priests and regulations about collecting certain tithes).
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The Fehérvár privileges
The Fehérvár privileges were assured for the people of Fehérvár (the majoritz of them were Latins) by King Bél a IV, as the letter of privilege issued by St Stephen or rather Stephen III was destroyed in a fire. Only a single article of this survived in a 15th-century charter, according to which the citizens of Fehérvár were exempted from pazing customs duties. They probably had the right to elect a judge and 12 members of the jury, to operate a law court in the city and settle down freemen in Fehérvár. They may have had the right to elect a parish priest, too. The Fehérvár privileges were the base of Hungarian city rights formed in the 13th century. There were references to the Fehérvár privileges in 1217 in a forged letter of privilege of Garamszentbenedek. The privileges of Fehérvár were received by Nagyszombat (1237), Nyitra (1248), Győr (1271), Szatmár (1271) and Sopron (1277). From the 15th century on there are no references to the Fehérvár privileges.
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Saxon rights of Szepes
The privileges of the Saxons of Szepes were included in Stephen V's charter (1271), which was modified by Charles I in 1317. Their privileges included the free election of judges and priests, free hunting, fishing and mining rights and the exemption from paying customs duties. In return they had to present 50 spea-men, in case of foreign wars, too. The roots of autonomy go back to the 12th century, the judge of the Saxons is menioned first in 1257. The conception of the 24 towns of Szepes is mentioned first in 1344. These formed the Saxon community with other settlements.
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right for holding national markets
Weekly and national markets were held near the borders of geographical regions, along ethnical borderlines for a great number of consumers. The places of these markets are preserved by Hungarian place names like Vásárhely, Szerdahely, Csütörtökhely, Szombathely...etc. National markets were held at palces where many people met on a certain day (patronal festivals of churches). These were Fehérvár, St Stephen's day: 20 August; St Emeric' s day: 5 November; Nagyvárad, St Ladislaus's day: 27 June).
Holding markets was regulated by privileges from the 12-13th centuries. This privilege included legal authority over the market, the protection of people coming to and going home from markets and their exemption from paying customs duties. the most important regulations and legal procedures were declared at markets. The first such privilege was received by Buda in 1278 on 8 September (Ladies' day). Privileges were given by rulers only. The mile right of German origin was asserted by privileges, too, according to which it was prohobited to hold markets on the same day at neighbouring places in a certain distance.
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