Nemesbőd

The name "Nemesbőd" comes from the archaic Turkish noun "bő" (meaning "head of the clan"). The prefix "Nemes-" (meaning "noble") was later added to the name of the village to reflect the fact that many of its inhabitants belonged to the lower- or middle-nobility. In the 19th century there were three villages in Hungary called "Bőd". The first known record of Nemesbőd in the National Archives of Hungary comes from a 1226 document where it is referred to as "Beud". Contemporaneously, another village in Szolnok-Doboka County of Hungary's Transylvanian region (today known as Bőd or Beudiu) was known as Beud by as early as 1214. The third Bőd is described in Anonymous' Gesta Hungarorum where it is written that in the year 895 Árpád's troops crossed the river Tisza close to the present town of Csongrád at the ferry of Bőd (16 km from Kassa, and today known as Magyarbőd or Bidovce).[nb 1]

Within the historic materials of Hungarian National Archives, the spelling of Nemesbőd's name changes greatly from century to century. The village was originally called "Beud" in 1226, then "Bud" in 1344, later "Bod" (in 1356), "Antalbeud" (1387), "Beud" again (1418), "Bwd" (1441), "Bewd" (1444), "Beed" (1449), "Bed" (1460), "Bőd" ("Buiding") (1872), and finally "Nemesbőd" in the modern era when the prefix "nemes-" was added to the word "Bőd".

Another possibility for the origin of the name is that the town is named after Hungary's first bishop, Saint Bőd. According to traditional accounts, Saint Gellért, together with his fellow bishops Bőd and Beneta/Beszteréd and with Lord Lieutenant Szolnok, hurried outward from Fehérvár to greet Prince András who was returning home from Kijev.[nb 2] The bishops and Lord Szolnok spent the night in the residents' building of the Sabina Church (Kamaraerdő, foothill of Kőérbek) on 24 September 1046. The following day, they went to the ferry of Pest where the three pontiffs and Lord Szolnok were ensnared and martyred by pagans under the command of Vata.[6]

The first record of Saint Michael's Church comes from the 14th century in 1344 (church cemetery pictured).

The territory of Nemesbőd has been inhabited since ancient times, and Roman relics have been found throughout the region.

According to the records of the Cistercian Order:

"....another Szentgotthárd is in the valley of the river Rába. It is worth mentioning that this Abbey, located at the German border, received its staff from the areas inhabited by ethnic Hungarians. Among them, in a document issued by King Imre in 1194, the following names had been quoted as living in Bőd: Arud, Bek, Szolgad, Szombat, Varsa, Varo".[7]

Major landowner families in subsequent years would include the Ballia, Békássy, Bödei, Czycz, ‘Sidó, Széll, and Váti families. Further noble families associated with the village include the Balogh, Dömölky, Dukay, Fábián, Gálos, Hegedüs, Kun, Mesterházy, Porpáczy, Szerdahelyi, Tompa, and Vajda families.

The Roman Catholic Church in Bőd was mentioned for the first time in a Hungarian National Archive document dated 1344. It is named after the Archangel Michael, and it was used in the 16th century by the Lutheran denomination until 1647 when it became Catholic again. The church was rebuilt and enlarged in 1788 and further in 1938.

In 1627 Vas, Veszprém, and Zala counties held their county meeting in the village Nemesbőd, which earlier was closer to Szombathely (at the creek going to Vép). The meeting point was later moved to somewhat higher ground to the east, due to frequent flooding.