Hertník originated around 1300 and is associated with the Mongol invasion of Europe of 1241–1242. Following the invasion, Béla IV of Hungary donated his estates to his patricians. The noblemen of the northern Šariš region initiated resettlement of plundered and decimated areas (some regions experienced 50% loss of the original population) by inviting German colonists. The incoming Germans (mostly from the Baltic Sea area) were usually craftsmen, traders and miners. The arriving Germans settled in or immediately next to the older Slovak settlements. The legacy of German colonization from that era in the eastern Čergov mountains is manifested in German names of the settlements and other geographical features that have survived to the present time. Etymologically, the name Hertník is derived from the German word Herkenecht (meaning master servant); likewise, nearby villages Šiba (Scheibe), Richvald (Reichwald) and Kľušov (Schonwald).
The oldest recorded mention of the village Hertník is from 1351 and can be found in the statement issued by Spišská Kapitula (one of the medieval Hungary's "places of authentication"[1]) which confirms that Hertník belonged to the Lords of Perín (Perényi, a noble Hungarian family).[2]Mikuláš from Perín reconfirmed this claim later in a statement issued in 1355 where he declared that Hertník, Šiba, Richvald and Kľušov were in the possession of the Perín family since 1325. Hertník belonged to the Perins until around 1440 when a free royal town of Bardejov became a new owner. In 1442 a Richnava's Bratrík captain Ján Talafúz seized Hertník and other villages from Bardejov. However, in 1446 Hertník was repossessed by Bardejov (the church of Saint Aegidius).
