The origins of the town of Slovenj Gradec (Windischgraz)

A contribution to the formation of towns in Southeast Carinthia in the Middle Ages

Abstract

Slovenj Gradec is one of the oldest and most significant Slovene medieval towns. The treatise depicts the beginning of the development of urban settlement in the 12^th and 13^th centuries. The first explicit mention as forum from the year 1251 is a tipical case of poorly preserved documents. Important princes as owners of the estate, mention of trading and toll collection around the year 1200, minting of the coins of the counts of Andechs from the last decade of the 12^th century, residence of margrave of Istria Henry IV. of Andechs (in the years 1208–1228) and contemporaneous development of neighbouring urban settlements in Carinthia and Styria prove that the town undoubtedly originates already in the 12^th century.