The castle of Szatmár ('Zotmar's fort' in Anonymus) on the Szamos, with the village of the German guests at Németi beside it, settled by tradition in Queen Gisela's time.
Salt from the Transylvanian mine at Dés comes down the Szamos to it. The guests' royal privilege (1230) and the town's later rise are still to come.
Who holds it
- Name
- The king, through the ispán of Szatmár (not named for 1200).
- Title
- Lord
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
The king, through the ispán of Szatmár (not named for 1200).
How things stand that morning
Royal county seat with a German guest settlement.
Charter
None: no town law in Hungary's plain in 1200.
Council
None: the place is governed by its lord's officers.
Communities
German guests (hospites) at Németi.
Fairs and markets
Not recorded for 1200.
Militia
None of its own; the castle warriors of the county.
Walls and castle
The county castle.
Trade and crafts
Szamos salt and timber.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Settlement tradition and salt role from English Wikipedia; nothing dated for 1200.
Primary sources for Hungary
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.
- Chronicle of Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (about 1227 to 1241, at the Cistercian abbey of Trois-Fontaines in Champagne). The widest net of any Latin chronicle for 1200, compiled from dozens of sources, many now lost. Read online
- The Austrian and Salzburg annals (kept in the 12th and 13th centuries, with continuations to the late 13th century). A family of monastic annals from Austria, Styria and Salzburg, printed together. Read online
- The Hypatian Chronicle (the Kievan Chronicle compiled about 1200 at the Vydubichi monastery; the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle in the 13th century). The southern record. Read online
- History of the bishops of Salona and Split, by Thomas the Archdeacon, Thomas of Split (about 1266). Written two generations later by a Split churchman born about 1200. Read online
- History of the doges of Venice (about 1229, with a continuation). The earliest surviving Venetian narrative close to the events. Read online
- 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
- The Book of Census of the Roman Church, Cencius Camerarius (Cencio Savelli, later Pope Honorius III) (1192, with later additions). The papal rent roll: every church, monastery, town and kingdom that owed a census to Rome in 1192, diocese by diocese, with the sums, followed by lists of papal lands and castles, the ceremonial Ordo and copies of charters. Read online
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
4 more in the sources library for Poland, Hungary and the Adriatic.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.