This comprehensive study traces the history of over forty royal free towns from the sixteenth-century to 1848 in the territories of what today are Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania. Szelényi argues that these towns have been a neglected feature of national meta-narratives in Eastern Europe because their dwellers were often German speakers.



This comprehensive study traces the history of over forty royal free towns from the sixteenth-century to 1848 in the territories of what today are Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania. Szelényi argues that these towns have been a neglected feature of national meta-narratives in Eastern Europe because their dwellers were often German speakers.