In 1200 Torda is a salt-digging settlement with a royal castle (Tordavár), not a chartered town.
It lies on the Aranyos, the 'golden' river where gold was washed, above the Maros salt road, and it is the oldest named place of the salt country: the castle is recorded in 1075, though the mine itself is named explicitly only in 1271. No count of Torda ever appears, and Makkai counts Torda as the first county put under the voivode.
Who holds it
- Name
- King Emeric; the voivode commands the county (no count of Torda ever appears)
- Title
- Lord of Torda
- Since
- Castle named 1075
- Confidence
- medium
Makkai: Torda's castle is mentioned as early as 1075 and its count never in royal charters; the first county under the voivode. en.wikipedia (Turda): a Tordavár ('castle of Torda'), an estate recorded in 1075, Saxon settlers in the 12th century (not dated), destruction in 1241. en.wikipedia (Salina Turda): the salt mine is first named explicitly on 1 May 1271.
Lord in 1200
The king, through the voivode; the salt is worked for the king.
How things stand that morning
A royal salt place under the voivode; the tierra shows its near land.
Council
None; royal salt officers and the voivode's men.
Communities
Hungarian castle folk and salt diggers; German settlers are mentioned for the 12th century without a date (not pinned).
Fairs and markets
None recorded for 1200.
Militia
Castle folk of Torda.
Walls and castle
The earthwork castle of Torda; no wall.
Trade and crafts
Salt digging and carriage to the Maros; gold washing on the Aranyos (not documented for 1200).
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Castle 1075; mine named 1271; the 1200 settlement is inferred.
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)
- Turda, en.wikipedia
- Salina Turda, en.wikipedia
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.