Balassagyarmat (Hungarian: ; formerly Balassa-Gyarmath; ; or ) 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. History 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,