A History of Central Eastern Europe

(elevation 1,512 ft). This earlier town is said to have been built further along the Ronyva Creek
and, hence, closer to its flood plain. SÁTOR-ALJA was granted to the RÁTÓT family around 1110
and they held it for over a century.
SÁTOR-ALJA was destroyed in the early 13 th century by either the invading Tartár horde in 1241
and/or flooding. The flooding is allegedly from the Tisza River which is unlikely as it is over 25
miles distant; if there was flooding of Ronyva Creek, the damage could be extensive and it is
likely that regional flooding would also cause the Bodrog (nearer) and Tisza (farther) Rivers to
overflow their banks as well. Incidentally this flooding is the reason many of the Hungary’s
famous wooden churches in the area have been preserved – the invading Ottoman armies of the
16 th and 17 th centuries ventured very little only into the region, once in 1566 when NAGY-
TORONYA was destroyed, but no semi-permanent invasions that was accompanied by greater
destruction. This minimal Ottoman irritation is also the reason why the population density is
greater here than in other parts of the country.
The Tartár invaders unexpectedly left around 1245 leaving the King to rebuild and fortify the
border towns. A better-protected location was chosen for the town; it still straddled the creek but
was now directly east of 4 mountains. From north-to-south the mountains are: Magas-hegy
(1,771 ft), Sźar-hegy (1,135 ft), Sátor-hegy (1,512 ft) and Var-hegy (1,100 ft). The castle was
built on the southernmost peak, Vár-hegy (Castle Mountain) around 1250 by KING ISTVÁN V
(1239 – 1272) as invasion from the south had been the most common route. The new town grew
down slope from the castle and well within its range of protection. ISTVÁN granted the place town
status in 1261 which exempted it from certain taxes and allowed weekly markets to be held.
Its location was different from the earlier settlement so there was no real connection to the older
place other than sentimental ones. The new location was mostly due to the castle’s location. The
village had to be adjacent to the castle as there was a mutual need for this proximity – and this
need precluded using the old site. Another consideration may have been that higher elevation
equates to a lower chance of being washed out in a flood. Whether or not a flood occurred or was
even a matter for consideration is not known, either way, the new location was safer. Once built,
some residents wanted a new name; Új-hely was suggested – New Town. As the opposition
argued – they were still in the shadow of the “tent” – and both parties got what they wanted – a
“new town under the tent” or SATORALJAUJHELY (and one of the longest names in the whole
of Hungary; try and put that on a postcard!).
The hyper-aware reader may have noticed the use of KING in the previous paragraph. That’s
because, technically BELA IV (1206 - 1270) was King of Hungary while his son ISTVÁN was only
rex junior, being crowned as such in 1246 (junior king/kingette, a step up from prince). Junior
20