The city was first mentioned in writing in a document of King Béla IV from 1249 as Leucha. With the continued German settlement, Leutschau became the most important town in the Zips County and in 1271 the capital of the Zipser Saxon province. Like other Spiš towns, Leutschau enjoyed various rights, including self-government, jurisdiction, ore mining rights, the right to use forests, trade rights and warehousing rights. In 1317 the city was elevated to the status of Free Royal City by King Charles Robert of Anjou. Trade flourished not least because of its location: the city was located at a crossroads of trade routes (Baltic Sea-Balkans and East-West). The city became very prosperous due to constantly new privileges, such as the exemption from other cities' storage rights in 1402 and the exemption from paying thirtieths of duty throughout the Kingdom of Hungary from 1419.[3] At the beginning of the 15th century Leutschau joined the Pentapolitana League. Regionally, however, a century-long dispute arose over the leadership position with the town of Käsmark. After a Hussite attack in 1431, the city burned down. Nevertheless, the 15th and 16th centuries marked the high point of urban development. During this time the copper trade, with which the Thurzo family became famous, flourished, and the citizens traded with Kraków, the Hanseatic cities and Venice.[4] Neither the fire of 1550, in which the majority of Gothic architecture disappeared, nor the fire of 1599 slowed down development. In 1597 a synod was held in Leutschau, where priests were forbidden to allow lay people to live in concubinage on payment of a fine.[5] The rich city supported education and culture. Well-known personalities of this era are the sculptor Paul von Leutschau, the English poet Leonard Cox and the humanist Johann Henkel. A large part of the population worked in more than 40 guilds (tanners, leather workers, locksmiths) or in various trades (goldsmiths, sculptors, stonemasons, painters) (Wikipedia).
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