Žilina

Žilina lies in the Váh basin, where routes from the surrounding mountain valleys converge. Its merchants and craftsmen made it a centre of the northwestern Hungarian lands, and its town law served communities throughout the region. The town book begun in 1378 preserves its legal customs and records in several languages.

In 1381 King Louis I granted the Slovak burghers equal representation with Germans on the town council. The town book later acquired entries in Slovak, beginning in 1451. Žilina's cloth was sold across Hungary and beyond, while guilds organized a range of local crafts. In 1610 Protestant representatives met here at a synod that organized the Evangelical church in parts of Upper Hungary. Religious change and disputes with the town's landlords marked the centuries that followed.