Pentapolitana (or rarely Pentapolis) was a

league of towns Several leagues of cities (in German: ''Städtebünde'', singular ''Städtebund'') became influential in the history of the Holy Roman Empire. Military alliance and mutual assistance strengthened the position of imperial cities, especially during t ...

in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

of the five most important Hungarian royal free cities (Latin: ''libera regiae civitas'', Hungarian: ''szabad királyi város'', German: ''Königliche Freistadt''; Slovak: ''slobodné kráľovské mesto'') of the Kingdom of Hungary; Kassa (today Košice), Bártfa (

Bardejov Bardejov (; hu, Bártfa, german: Bartfeld, rue, Бардеёв, uk, Бардіїв) is a town in North-Eastern Slovakia. It is situated in the Šariš region on a floodplain terrace of the Topľa River, in the hills of the Beskyd Mountains. ...

), Lőcse (

Levoča Levoča (; hu, Lőcse; rue, Левоча) is a town in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia with a population of 14,700. The town has a historic center with a well preserved town wall, a Gothic church with the highest wooden altar in the wo ...

), Eperjes ( Prešov), and Kisszeben (

Sabinov Sabinov ( la, Сibinium, hu, Kisszeben, german: Zeben, russian: Сабинов) is a small town located in the Prešov Region (north-eastern Slovakia), approximately 20 km from Prešov and 55 km from Košice. The population of Sabinov ...

). The cities are currently in eastern

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. The first meeting of the representatives of the towns in question took place in 1412. The actual alliance arose between 1440 and 1445. The main role of the Pentapolitana was to control and to develop trade as there were important ancient trade routes in the region of the north-eastern part of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

, present-day eastern Slovakia. The leading town of the Pentapolitana was Košice. In 1549, i.e. during the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

period, the Pentapolitana created its own Lutheran confession, the Confessio Pentapolitana. Article on 2013 cultural cooperation of east Slovak cities towns once part of the Pentapolitana
kosice2013.sk

References

Slovakia in the Kingdom of Hungary Medieval Slovakia {{Slovakia-geo-stub