Szolnok is a royal county whose northern strip lies inside Transylvania along the Szamos round Dés.
Its wealth is the salt of Désakna by Dés, which goes down the Szamos toward the Hungarian plain. Dés is first named in 1214 and its castle (Deeswar) in 1236; the salt mine is noted in early 13th-century documents. In 1201 the count is Marton.
Who he is
- Name
- Not pinned for 1 January 1200; Marton (Martin) is count of Szolnok in 1201
- Title
- Count (ispán) of Szolnok
- Since
- Marton: 1201
- Confidence
- low
Makkai: 'in 1201, a certain Marton served as count of Szolnok'; in 1214 the voivode Gyula Kán was also count of Szolnok; in 1220 the two offices were held by different men; Szolnok passed under the voivode only in 1263. Whether Marton already held it on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.
Overlord
King Emeric directly: Szolnok stayed outside the voivode's authority until 1263.
What it holds
- The castle lands round Dés
- The salt of Désakna and its carriage down the Szamos
- The Szamos valley between Doboka and the Meszes
How it was acquired
Royal office.
Allies and rivals
The king's officer, not the voivode's.
How things stand that morning
A royal count (Marton by 1201, not pinned for January 1200) holds the Dés land and its salt for Emeric.
Wealth
The count's third of the castle folk's dues; the salt is the king's.
Military
Castle folk and warriors of the county. No figures.
Places of note
- Désakna salt mine: Salt mine by Dés
Where the sources disagree
- The seat of the medieval county of Szolnok and the link between its Tisza and Transylvanian parts are disputed; only the Transylvanian strip round Dés is drawn here.
Evidence: Count Marton 1201 (Makkai); Dés 1214 and 1236 (en.wikipedia, Dej).
On the map: Only the Dés core is drawn; the county's bounds in 1200 are not recorded.
Primary sources for Transylvania (voivode Legforus)
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Deeds of the Hungarians, by the Anonymous Notary of King Béla, Anonymus (P. magister) (about 1200 to 1210, the date disputed). Not a record of events but a picture of the kingdom's nobility and geography as a courtier of about 1200 wished to see it: the clans and their lands, the castles and counties, the Vlachs, Cumans and other peoples of the Carpathian basin, all projected back onto the conquest. Read online
- Hungarian royal charters: Fejér's Codex diplomaticus and Szentpétery's critical calendar of the Árpád kings (documents of the 11th to 13th centuries; Fejér published 1829 to 1844, Szentpétery vol. 1 in 1923). The documentary base for Hungary in 1200: King Emeric's grants to Pannonhalma, the bishops, the Templars and Hospitallers, Duke Andrew's acts in Croatia and Dalmatia, and the papal letters of 1200 to Emeric about his brother's rebellion and about heresy in Bosnia. Read online
Sources and studies
- L. Makkai, Royal Counties in Transylvania, in History of Transylvania I (ed. B. Köpeczi, English ed. 2001)
- Dej, en.wikipedia
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.