Dés is the salt place of the upper Szamos where the two Szamos rivers meet: the mine of Désakna lies just south, and the salt goes down the Szamos toward the plain.
It is first named in 1214, with a castle (Deeswar) by 1236; on 1 January 1200 it is a royal salt settlement in the king's county of Szolnok, not a town.
Who holds it
- Name
- King Emeric, through the count of Szolnok (Marton in 1201; not pinned for January 1200)
- Title
- Lord of Dés
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
en.wikipedia (Dej): first named as Dees in 1214, as Deeswar in 1236; Makkai: Dés and the salt mine at Désakna appear in early 13th-century documents; Marton count of Szolnok in 1201.
Lord in 1200
The count of Szolnok for the king (not the voivode).
How things stand that morning
Royal salt place of Szolnok county; tierra shows Dés and Désakna.
Communities
Hungarian salt diggers and castle folk.
Fairs and markets
None recorded for 1200.
Militia
Castle folk of Szolnok county.
Walls and castle
A castle is implied by 1236 (Deeswar); not pinned for 1200.
Trade and crafts
Salt digging at Désakna and shipping down the Szamos.
Places of note
- Désakna: Salt mine
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: First named 1214; earlier existence inferred from the salt.
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
- Dej, en.wikipedia
- L. Makkai, Royal Counties in Transylvania, in History of Transylvania I (ed. B. Köpeczi, English ed. 2001)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.