Summary of Isaszeg
The area of a varied surface belonging to the Gödöllő hills is arranged and divided into two parts by the rift valley of the Rákos stream. The valley abounding in water, and the huge forests spreading on the ridges of the hills ensured living conditions for those settling here already several thousands of years ago.
The village had already existed before its first mention in a charter, and in fact, the church with round walls that used to stand in the place of the Saint Martin monument church, now standing on today's hill, and preserving the architectural memories of several centuries also implies the century after the Hungarian Settlement. After the Mongolian devastation, a large battle was fought between Béla IV, and his son, the young king Stephen V here in 1265, which influenced the fate of the whole country.
We know even three villages in the Middle Ages, which occupied the area around today's settlement. Out of them only Isaszeg continued to exist, and its fields after several smaller landowners came to belong to the estates of the great Rozgonyies, than the Báthories, and from the XVII century, the Esterházies.
At the end of the XVI century, during the fifteen year war, the settlement ceased to exist, and was only re-settled from the 1690-es, after the Turks were expelled. First, a mixed population moved in here (German, Hungarian, Slovakian, Serbian Rumanian), and later mostly Slovakians from Upper Hungary and Hungarians came to replace the inhabitants, who became scarce during the Freedom Fight of Ferenc Rákóczi II, and the devastating years of the great pest between 1709-10.
During the ownership of Antal Grassalkovich and his widow, the serf village of Isaszeg had undergone significant development, which was also shown by the data of the first census, according to which the inhabitants of the village had grown by ten times during a hundred years.
During the months of the revolution for the social development and the liberty of the feudal Hungary, almost all men who could handle weapons joined the army of Kossuth as soldiers but mostly as national guards fighting against Austrian and Russian intervention. The most sanguinary battle, which at the same time brought about the greatest victory during the Hungarian people's freedom fight of several centuries was waged in Isaszeg on good Friday, on the 6. April 1849. This is commemorated by the military monument by Béla Radnai erected on the hillside next to the settlement in 1901.
The spirit of the victorious battle, the Hungarian freedom fights, but also that of reconciliation is fostered in the large village. In tribute, sculptures, memorial tablets, graves, churches were erected, however, more importantly, traditions and a spirituality, characteristic of the diligent people living along the Rákos, have evolved during the last one hundred years.
After the era of the Grassalkovich ownership, in 1867, the princely entail with its centre in Gödöllő, comprising several settlements was donated to the sovereign by the Hungarian Parliament. The state of being a royal estate determined the life of the village of Isaszeg: even though the people of the village were liberated from their feudal duties, the narrow-cut borders could not contain the ever increasing population.
The railway line opened in the 1860-ies, and later further constructed in the direction of Budapest-Losonc and later Miskolc, was of a great significance for the further development of the settlement. Those who were crowded out of agriculture in masses could find work on the railway, and jobs in the capital could be accessed. This change caused a gradual disruption of the village society, uniform for centuries, and common law, and it also influenced spiritual life, interior decoration of houses, and traditional wear. Civilisation started in Isaszeg at the end of the XIX century at a bigger pace than the national average.
The dominating majority of the inhabitants of the settlement used to be Roman catholic loyal to their faith, but later settlers, who came continuously already formed some religious communities, and at the same time those commuting to other towns got in touch with other fashionable ideologies, and as a result of all this, the religious communities started to loosen up, and new ways and scenes of spending leisure time were also created (societies, circles, common entertainment facilities, lido, cinema).
Isaszeg was hit hard by the bloodshed and the misery of the first world war, the unsuccessful attempt at bourgeois dictatorship, as well as the ruthless plunders of the Rumanian occupation. A drive in humans to survive however, quickly cured wounds, and in the 1920-1930-ies years a new upsurge of development started in the large village, which was still growing in population and territory.
This impetus was broken by the second world war, and within that the especially horrible devastation of 1944. At the beginning of the summer, the Jews living in the village were displaced, and in the autumn of the year, Isaszeg also became part of the Attila defence line embracing Budapest from the East. In the fights during the months of November and December, many harmless civilian inhabitants lost their lives, and the settlement suffered immeasurable material damage.
The wounds caused by the war were started to be healed in 1945 with new hope and renewed zest. During these years, the inhabitants of Isaszeg showed an excellent example of union, and love for their own village. The dictatorship of the one-party state, imbued with personal cult, imposed a fully alien ideology, and economic-social-administrative system on the religious people living in the spirit of Hungarian patriotism and honouring traditions - which had serious consequences. The reaction came in the form of a glorious revolt by the whole nation in 1956.
The change of the system in Hungary, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, opened new horizons for all the Hungarian communities. The last ten years could only be considered as seconds on the scale of history, and still, during this short period; serious developments took place in Isaszeg (the complete erection of the telephone, gas, and drainage systems), which could only be completed even in the richer Western states throughout decades. During this short period of time, - among many others - a secondary school, an arts school, a college, and a sports hall were established, and the life of societies and civilians regained momentum.
The hard-working people of Isaszeg may look into the XXI century with hope as - according to its history - they will be strong enough to face up to new challenges, and will have persistence to achieve the goals set for themselves.