Map - Balassagyarmat (Balassagyarmati Járás)

Balassagyarmat (Hungarian: ; formerly Balassa-Gyarmath; Jahrmarkt; Balážske Ďarmoty or Balašské Ďarmoty) is a town in northern Hungary. It was the seat of the Nógrád comitatus. Balassagyarmat is the capital city of Palóc country as the prominent author of Hungarian epic, Kálmán Mikszáth said. Palóc people’s origin is quite mysterious. Their distinctive dialect, culture, folklore, and traditions make them a unique ethnicity.

Since 1998, the town's coat of arms has borne the Latin inscription "Civitas Fortissima" (the bravest city) because it was claimed that in January 1919 Czechoslovak troops crossed the demarcation line delineated in December 1918 in preparation for the Treaty of Trianon, illegally occupying towns south of the line, including Balassagyarmat. The occupation was the subject of a 2009 song by the nationalist rock-band Kárpátia, "Civitas Fortissima"

Due to its favorable location, Balassagyarmat has been populated since the Bronze Age. When the Magyar tribes entered the Carpathian Basin, Grand Chief Árpád sent his two generals, Zoárd and Kadosa to take the northern parts of Hungary. After the occupation of Nógrád Castle, Zoárd and Kadosa took control over the Balassagyarmat region. The name of the town derives from the name of Gyarmat, which was one of the seven Magyar tribes who came with Árpád. The Gyarmat tribe settled in the Balassagyarmat region.

In 1241, the Mongols invaded the country, destroying the settlement completely. After the Mongols withdrew the following year, stone castles were built all over the country at the urging of King Bela IV. He was anticipating a second Mongol invasion, and he expected to stop them with the help of stone castles.

The first medieval castle of Balassagyarmat developed from a watchtower established after the Mongolian invasion. At this time, it was called just Gyarmat. We know that it was the king’s property, and it used to belong to Hont castle in 1244. King Béla IV gave these estates to Miklós, son of Detre of the Kacsics Clan in 1246. Detre became the ancestor of the Balassa family. In the same document, the king ordered the construction of a castle in Gyarmat, which was completed around 1260. It was how Detre, the ancestor of the Balassa family, built the first fortified stone tower in Gyarmat along the Ipoly River. The construction was certainly ready in 1274, as it was mentioned in a contemporary charter.

Later Péter (aka Furró), one of the members of the Balassa family was accused of infidelity, so King László IV took the castle from him. However, the new owner, Comes Demeter of Pozsony and Zólyom Counties could not take the property as the previous owner didn’t cede it. We came to know about this incident as it was mentioned in a document in 1290, according to which Demeter had to take the residential tower of Gyarmat by force. As it was, Demeter was also related to the Balassa family, so the property remained in their hands. They didn’t let it slip from their hands. In 1374, the Balassa family received a new letter of donation from King Lajos the Great so the town remained the property of the family. The only change was that the castle was in the hands of the king, who usually appointed the members of the Balassa family as his castellans. The settlement developed into a market town by the 15th century, but despite its closely integrated castle, it had no military significance. Officially speaking, Balassagyarmat became a market town in 1437.

The situation changed radically after the battle of Mohács in 1526. The importance of the castles of Nógrád County, including Gyarmat castle, had been increased. The northern part of the fortification was defended by the Ipoly River, but the other defences were hastily fortified, and the city was surrounded by a wooden palisade.

The Ottoman Turks were expanding their rule unstoppably to the north, and in 1541 they took Buda as well. In 1544, 500 soldiers were guarding Gyarmat castle, under the command of Horváth Bertalan. (Please note that I use the Oriental name order for Hungarians, where family names come first.)

The enemy took the nearby Szanda castle and destroyed it in 1551. Captain Horváth heard of the approaching Turks in 1552 and fled from the castle, leaving it empty. It was how Pasha Hadim Ali of Buda castle took it without a fight. He set it on fire and demolished it at once. The castle was recaptured by the royal troops only in the 1593 campaign of Chief Captain Kristóf Tiefenbach of Kassa (Košice, Kaschau) who was aided by the troops of Pálffy Miklós and Homonnay István. They could easily take the small castle as the Turk garrison set it on fire and fled when the Christian army was coming. Colonel Philip Morgentaller was appointed as captain of the castle, and immediately began repairing and restoring the damaged walls. Let us also commemorate Balassi Bálint, the great Renaissance poet and warrior who lost his life at the siege of Esztergom in 1594.

Below is a commemorative plaque to Bálint Balassi (1554–1594) Hungarian poet and warrior. It was affixed to the wall of the high school which bears his name. Quote: “The beautiful confines of your homeland are truncated everywhere.” (Balassagyarmat, Deák Ferenc Street Nr 17)