Editing History of Slovakia (section)

====Development of counties and towns====
The royal administration of the territory was developing gradually during the 11th-13th centuries: new counties were established with the partition of existing ones or central counties of the kingdom expanded their territory northward today's [[Pozsony county|Bratislava]] ({{langx|sk|Prešporok}}, {{langx|hu|Pozsony}}), [[Trencsén county|Trenčín]], Gemer-Malohont ({{langx|hu|Gömör-Kishont}}) and [[Nógrád|Novohrad]] ({{langx|hu|Nógrád}}), while the kings' private forests were organised into "forest counties" around [[Zvolen]] and [[Šariš]] Castle ({{langx|hu|Sáros}}).{{sfn|Kristó|1994|p=594}}{{sfn|Kristó|1988| pp=341, 350, 378, 385–387}} Following the occupation of his brother's duchy, King Coloman set up (or re-established) the third bishopric in present-day Slovakia.{{sfn|Kristó|Makk|1996|p=144}}

Some of the towns in present-day Slovakia were granted special privileges already prior to the Mongol invasion: [[Trnava]] (1238), [[Starý Tekov]] (1240), [[Zvolen]] and [[Krupina]] (before 1241).{{sfn|Teich|Kováč|Brown|2011|p=39}}  Following the withdrawal of the Mongol troops (1242), several castles were built or strengthened (''e.g.'', [[Komárno]], [[Beckov]] ({{langx|hu|Beckó}}) and [[Zvolen]]) on the order of King Béla IV.{{sfn|Kristó|1994|p=771}} In addition to a relatively developed network of castles, agglomerations of an urban character became more important. Medieval towns should serve both to economic and defensive purposes.

The territory of present-day Slovakia was rich in raw materials like gold, silver, copper, iron and salt and therefore the mining industry developed gradually in the region.{{sfn|Kristó|1994|pp=80–82}} The development of the mining industry and commerce strengthened the position of some settlements and they received privileges from the kings.{{sfn|Kristó|1994|pp=80–82, 84, 479–480, 598, 716–717}}<ref name='juck'>{{cite book | last = Juck | first = Ľubomír | title = Výsady miest a mestečiek na Slovensku (1238–1350) | publisher = Veda | year = 1984 | location = Bratislava }}</ref><ref name="slovensko">{{cite book| author=Tibenský, Ján| title =Slovensko: Dejiny| publisher =Obzor| year =1971| location =Bratislava}}</ref> The list of towns with the earliest charters contains [[Spišské Vlachy]] (1243), [[Košice]] (before 1248), [[Nitra]] (1248), [[Banská Štiavnica]] (1255), [[Nemecká Ľupča]] (1263), [[Komárno]] (1269), [[Gelnica]] (before 1270), [[Bratislava]] (1291) and [[Prešov]], [[Veľký Šariš]] and [[Sabinov]] (all in 1299).{{sfn|Teich|Kováč|Brown|2011|p=39}}{{sfn|Kristó|1994|pp=102, 238, 370, 499}} The [[Saxons]] in [[Spiš]] ({{langx|de|Zips}}) were granted a collective charter (1271) by King [[Stephen V of Hungary]].{{sfn|Kristó|1994|pp=619}}

The colonisation of the northern parts of the Kingdom of Hungary continued during the period; [[Walloons|Walloon]], [[Germans|German]], [[Hungarians|Hungarian]] and [[Slavs|Slavic]] "guests" (''hospes'', as they are called in contemporary documents) arrived to the scarcely populated lands and settled down there.{{sfn|Kristó|1994|pp=619, 636, 652, 709–710}}  The contemporary documents mention that settlers from [[Moravia]] and [[Bohemia]] arrived to the western parts of present-day Slovakia, while on the northern and eastern parts, [[Polish people|Polish]] and [[Ruthenians|Ruthenian]] "guests" settled down.{{sfn|Kristó|2003|pp=90–100}}

German guests had an important but not exclusive role in the development of towns. Smaller groups of Germans were present already prior the Mongol invasion, but their immigration took a significant rate in the 13th-14th century.{{sfn|Teich|Kováč|Brown|2011|p=39}}{{sfn|Kristó|2003|pp=135, 137}} In that time, there already existed settlements with a relatively highly developed economy in the territory of present-day Slovakia,{{sfn|Teich|Kováč|Brown|2011|p=45}} but Germans who came from economically and administrative more advanced regions introduced new forms of production and management, new legal system and culture. The German guests settled in Upper and Lower [[Spiš]], mining towns in Central Slovakia, their wide surroundings and many localities in Western Slovakia: Bratislava, [[Trnava]] and wine-growing towns in [[Malé Karpaty]].

In the Middle Ages, present-day Slovakia belonged to the most urbanized regions of the Kingdom of Hungary and it was an important cultural and economic base.{{sfn|Teich|Kováč|Brown|2011|p=38}}  According to the decree of the King Vladislaus II Jagiello (1498) six of the ten most important towns in the kingdom were located in the present-day Slovakia: [[Košice]], [[Bratislava]], [[Bardejov]], [[Prešov]], [[Trnava]] and [[Levoča]].{{sfn|Teich|Kováč|Brown|2011|p=43}}  In 1514, more than half of the royal towns and free mining towns of the kingdom were located in Slovakia.{{sfn|Teich|Kováč|Brown|2011|p=43}} At the end of the Middle Ages, about two hundred other settlements had an urban character from a functional point of view. The first written mention prior 1500 is available for 2.476 settlements. The mining towns in Slovakia significantly contributed to the economy of the Kingdom of Hungary. Around the middle of the 14th century, [[Kremnica]] alone produced 400&nbsp;kg of gold per year.{{sfn|Teich|Kováč|Brown|2011|p=45}} [[Banská Štiavnica]] and [[Banská Bystrica]] produced a substantial proportion of silver of the whole kingdom. During the second half of the 14th century, the Kingdom of Hungary produced cca 25% of Europe's total output.{{sfn|Teich|Kováč|Brown|2011|p=45}}

The towns formed unions and associations to defend their privileges and common interests. The most important unions were the Community of Saxons of Spiš ({{langx|de|Zips}}) (later reduced and known as the province of twenty-four Spiš towns), the Lower Hungarian Mining Towns (mining towns in Central Slovakia), Pentapolis (alliance of free royal towns in present-day Eastern Slovakia) and the Upper Hungarian Mining Towns (mining towns in eastern Slovakia including two mining towns in present-day Hungary).{{sfn|Teich|Kováč|Brown|2011|pp=45-47}}

The inhabitants of the privileged towns were mainly of German origin, followed by Slovaks and smaller number of Hungarians.{{efn|Hungarian population was dominant in free royal town Komárno, in other important towns like [[Košice]] or [[Nitra]] they lived together with substantial German and Slovak populations. Slovaks had an overwhelming majority in [[Trenčín]].}}{{sfn|Teich|Kováč|Brown|2011|p=51}}{{sfn|Štefánik|Lukačka|2010}}{{sfn|Kristó|1994|pp=84, 479–480, 598}} Royal privileges prove that several families of the developing local nobility (''e.g.'', the Zathureczky, Pominorszky and Viszocsányi families) were of Slavic origin.{{sfn|Kristó|2003|pp=88, 93}} The presence of [[Jew]]s in several towns (''e.g.'', in Bratislava, [[Pezinok]]) is also documented at least from the 13th century; the Jews' special status was confirmed by a charter of King [[Béla IV of Hungary]] in 1251, but decisions of local [[synods]] limited the participation of Jews (''i.e.'', they could not hold offices and they could not own lands).{{sfn|Kristó|2003|p=185}} The [[Böszörmény|Muslims]], living in the region of Nitra, also faced similar limitations; they disappeared (perhaps converted to Christianity) by the end of the 13th century.{{sfn|Kristó|2003|pp=52–53}}