Chapter II. Roots, or the Never-Ending Polemics on the Origins
- Kőrösi Csoma's hesitation between Transylvania and Hungary (earlier he
calls the college of Nagyenyed the best one in his country, and later mentions
that he set off to find the cradle of his nation, i.e. Hungary) derives from
the fact that after the expulsion of the Turks at the end of the 17th century,
the large historical territory Transylvania, once organic part of the kingdom,
was not reunited with Hungary but was pronounced an Austrian province, administered
directly from the imperial court in Vienna (1690-1867). Hungary, on the other
hand, was a sovereign kingdom whose monarch happened to be the (Habsburg)
Holy Roman Emperor.
- Hungarian Scientific Society: an early alternative name for the Hungarian
Academy of Sciences (founded in 1825, actual activity started in 1830).
- János Hunyadi (1387?-1456), Transylvanian oligarch and warlord, father
to king Matthias (Mátyás), successful military opponent of the increasingly
threatening Turkish attacks. See note 16, chapt. 1.
- Sándor Petőfi (1823-49), born to a Hungarian-Serbian butcher called Petrovics
and a Hungarian-Slovak servant girl, became questionably the greatest, unquestionably
the most popular, Hungarian poet ever. His spontaneous language and vivid
images make the identification with his poetic world easy.
- Reference to Hungary's conversion to Christianity and the end of nomadic
life.
- The Hungarian equivalents of the Finnish words are cited in brackets. In
both languages, diacritical marks (that is, various unfamiliar "accents")
are used to qualify the pronunciation and length of the vowels. The following
chart represents the family tree of the Finno-Ugric languages. In the Hungarian
lineage, the end date of coexistence is indicated. (The language groups with
more than a million speakers are listed in bold characters).
(ide jön a kép)
- Kalevala is the national epic of Finland, a poetic compilation of
folkloric myths based on old Karelian songs. The compilations was the work
of Elias Lönnrot, a country doctor, who published the first version of Kalevala
in 1835.
- The demographic statistics provided below, are courtesy of Dr. Harri Mürk
of the University of Toronto. Like certain other ethnic groups in our century,
some Finno-Ugric peoples have objected against their traditional (in their
opinion, patronizing) name. The name they prefer is indicated in parentheses.
Hungarians 14 500 000 Finns 5 000 000 Estonians 1 120 000 Mordvinians 1 191 800 Votyaks (Udmurts) 713 700 Cheremises (Maris) 622 000 Zyrians (Komis) 477 500 Karelians 138 000 Laps (Saamis) 48 000 Ostyaks (Khantis) 20 900 Voguls (Mansis) 7 600 Vepses 8 000 Votes - Ármin Vámbéry (1832-1913): orientalist, writer, and university professor.
He travelled extensively in Central Asia, and became preoccupied with the
cultural ties between Hungarians and the Turkish peoples.
- Reference to the final secession of the Hungarians from their nearest linguistic
relatives.
- One of several attempts to justify the right of Hungarians to the Carpathian
Basin. Earlier, the assumed Hunnish-Hungarian relationship provided such justification.
László theorized that the so-called "Late Avars," a Caucasian people
who dominated the Basin from the 670s till the early 9th century A.D., were
related to the Hungarians. According to this interpretation, the Hungarians
moved into the Carpathian Basin in two phases.
- The first Eastern (Arabic) and Western mentions of the Hungarians originate
from the early 860s A.D. Al-Dzhaihani, a high-ranking emissary of the Bokharan
emir, wrote about the "ferocious" Hungarians with fear and respect.
In Western Europe, we find the first reference in a Belgian chronicle from
862 A.D. By the end of that century, when the raids of the Hungarians reached
the West, chroniclers began to demonize them, attributing bizarre inhuman
traits to them.
- The Hungarian chroniclers mention seven tribes, while the Turkish word onogur (from which the name Hungarian was derived) means "ten arrows," probably referring to a confederation of ten tribes.
Chapter III. Historical Tradition
- Three peoples that were the enemies of the Hungarians in nomadic times,
yet found refuge from their enemies in Christian Hungary and assimilated to
the Hungarians. All three groups were multiethnic: the Cumanians and Pechenegs
spoke Turkish languages, while the Jazygians were Iranian. The Cumanians
came from the Black Sea area, first attacking the Hungarians in the 11th century;
their big influx was in the 13th century. The Jazygians started their migration
to Hungary at an unknown date. Once enemies, other times allies of the Hungarians,
the Pechenegs started arriving in the mid-10th century, but the biggest wave
came in the early 12th century. By the mid-14th century, all three groups
were fully assimilated; only a number of geographic names keep their memory
alive.
- The expulsion of the Turkish empire from the Balkans was a simmering issue
of the 19th century. In 1862, when Kossuth made his views on the Danubian
Confederation public, the whole Balkan Peninsula was still under Turkish rule
or control, with the exception of Greece and Croatia. Bulgaria, Romania and
Serbia gained their independence in 1878, after long military and diplomatic
pressure on Turkey by Russia and the Western powers.
- In Romanian and the Slavic languages both titles are approximate equivalents
of the ruling prince.
- The north-eastern fringe of historical Hungary, held in special esteem
since the Verecke Pass, through which chief Árpád led the Hungarians into
the Carpathian Basin, is situated in this area. The Trianon treaty assigned
the area to Czechoslovakia. In 1939, when this country ceased to exist, Hungary
reclaimed Subcarpathia. After World War II the region was occupied by the
Soviet Union; today it belongs to Ukraine, where it is known as Transcarpathia.
- Ruthenians are a Slavic group inhabiting Subcarpathia. They have a sense
of ethnic identity, although Ukrainians claim they are just a subgroup.
- Two international conferences held in Vienna returned to Hungary parts
of the Upland (Felvidék) in 1938 and Transylvania (Erdély) in 1940.
- Sultan Suleiman's (1520-66) five expeditions to Hungary took place in 1521,
1526, 1543, 1552, and 1566.
- During the 150-year-long Turkish threat and partial occupation of Hungary,
the town Nagyvárad (now Oradea, Romania), on the edge of the Great Plain,
flourished, until it was occupied by the Turks in 1660. In Zrínyi's eyes,
"Várad" had great strategic importance for Hungary.
- Actually, Brazil was under Spanish rule only between 1580-1640, 23 years before Zrínyi wrote his pamphlet. Otherwise, Brazil was a Portuguese colony. News from other continents travelled slowly in those times.
Chapter IV. Ethnology and Folklore
- Gábor Bethlen (1613-29), ruling prince of Transylvania, and for a short
time (1620-21), uncrowned king of Hungary. While harbouring ambitious plans
for Hungary's liberation from both Austrians and Turks, Bethlen's greatest
success is believed to have been the consolidation of his principality which
prospered during his rule in all respects.
- Wallachs: originally dwellers of the Balkan mountains who gradually migrated north to the Lower Danube Valley. Beginning with the thirteenth century A.D., some of them moved on to Transylvania.
Chapter V. National Economy and Social Life
- Reference to numerous peasant rebellions that took place in the course of Hungarian history.
Chapter VI. Education and Science
- Philology: "love of the word" - once regarded as the basis of
comparative cultural studies, it is hardly used in English any more. This
discipline presupposes the perfect knowledge of the language(s) in which the
scrutinized documents are written, and derives far-reaching historical, anthropological,
social, even scientific, conclusions from the linguistic facts. A philologist
was a person of wide and thorough knowledge.
- Széchenyi is referring to one of his ambitious projects: the construction
of the Chain Bridge (Lánchíd), the first permanent bridge connecting Pest
and Buda. He commissioned two English masters, both called Clark (but unrelated):
William, the planner, and Adam, the builder. Construction started in 1840,
and the opening was in 1849.
- Reference to Farkas Bolyai's most important contribution to mathematics:
the two-volume Tentamen that he published in Latin in 1832. The lengthy Latin
title is usually not quoted in its entirety. It means, more or less: "An
attempt to introduce the studious youth to the basics of mathematics."
The modesty of the title does not reflect the pioneering character of this
internationally acclaimed work.
- Long and difficult decades preceded the opening of the National Theatre
(at that time called the Hungarian Theatre of Pest) in 1837, in the course
of which Pest county's mid-rank nobility assumed initiative and pushed forward
with the plan.
- Eötvös is addressing Ágoston Trefort, Minister of Religious Cults and Education,
in this "open letter". See the biographical notes.
- At that time in Budapest and Kolozsvár (now Cluj, Romania).
- A traditional Hungarian wind-instrument, most popular in the early 18th
century, during prince Ferenc Rákóczi's campaign against Austrian supremacy.
- In 1896 Hungary celebrated the one thousandth anniversary of its statehood with splendid commemorative events.
Chapter VII. Hungarian National Character
- Elite soldiers of the Ottoman Turkish army, composed of kidnapped Christian
boys who were raised to become fanatical fighters for the Sultan.
- Osman (1288-1326), first ruler of the Turks, founder of the Ottoman Empire that later challenged Hungary and Europe. The data provided here about his thirteen descendants is incorrect; that his nation developed from the dwellers of two thousand tents may be more of a figurative expression than historical fact.
- After hundreds of years of using Latin, Hungarian public administration
adopted the national language in 1844.
- The Unitarian bishop János Kriza's Vadrózsák (1863) was a celebrated
collection of Transylvanian folk ballads. "Clement the Mason" revolves
around a topic well known not only from Eastern European but also world lore:
human sacrifice for the public good.
- Székelys (Saecler): Transylvanian Hungarian group of much debated origin.
Assumedly, they constituted a Turkish-speaking tribe of the nomadic Hungarians
who seceded in the 6th century, and arrived to Hungary some time after, that
is, potentially centuries before the conquering Hungarians.
- Slovaks: a Slavic speaking group in Northern Hungary.
- Gyula Szekfű was a historian in the first half of the 20th century. The
source of his quote by Babits is unknown, but the same idea rings familiar
from several of Szekfű's other works.
- Reference to the Trianon peace treaty.
- Endre Ady (1877-1919) was a rebellious Symbolist poet of many controversial
ideas.
- Distinguishing between "high" and "low" culture was
a once fashionable division of cultural production along the horizontal line
of social stratification. The debated issue was whether folk art and customs
were "sunken" manifestations of upper-class culture, or whether
the latter was refined folk culture.
- The term "national classicism" was an attempt to reconcile the
concept of Romanticism with the earlier, great poetic tradition. Actually,
the poets who were thought to fall into this category, and the critics who
coined the term, were closer to national romanticism.
- The typical late 19th-century historical outlook in most countries of Europe
was historicism. Rooted in Romanticism, it advocated the idea that history
was a continuum. In poetry and ethics it also meant, figuratively, that the
past and its heroes were still actively shaping contemporary consciousness.
- After humiliating defeats on various European battlefields, Austria was
compelled to yield to the long-time Hungarian demand for independence. In
1867, Austria made Hungary an equal partner in governing the Austro-Hungarian
Monarchy (known in English terminology as the "Austro-Hungarian Empire").
The emperor was Hungary's king. Hungary gained full autonomy in all respects
except external affairs, defense, and finances. About half of the country
celebrated the Compromise as realization of a centuries old dream, while the
other half regarded it as a betrayal. The debate still goes on. At any rate,
the new arrangement led Hungary into decades of very intensive economic and
cultural progress.
- Zsigmond Móricz (1879-1942) is regarded as a writer (of mostly prose works)
who developed an unprecedented sympathetic, yet non-idealized, literary image
of the Hungarian country people.
- Although 18-19th century Hungarian authors often referred to this assumption
(familiar from Romanticism) in their works, no one expressed it in writing
in exactly these terms. It is a composite wisdom.
- In 1936 Lajos Prohászka, a Hungarian philosopher, published an influential
book, A vándor és a bujdosó (The wanderer and the refugee), in which
he used sweeping allegories to compare the national character of Germans and
Hungarians. One of his controversial concepts was Hungarian finitism: the
assumed preference of Hungarians to close down their world, delimiting themselves,
and resisting change and expansion.
- The original sequence of this and the following two excerpts was rearranged.
- Until 1949 Hungary did not have a single document that would have clarified
the rights and responsibilities of government and citizens. Instead, gradually
enacted laws regulated political life. Similarly, in Great Britain codified
legal agreements and laws fill the role of a constitution.
- The motto of Miklós Zrínyi's prose pamphlet Remedy Against Turkish Opium.
- "Hungarian truth" (magyar igazság), later on "God
of the Hungarians" (magyarok istene): two expressions of much
less semantic significance than that which Babits attributed to them.
- Obsolete name for the Indo-European language family.
- Meaning of the four French words: hussar, kepi (also from French, but also
shako), frog (not the animal!), coachman. (Hungarian originals: huszár,
csákó, sujtás, kocsis).
- Adjectival form kocsi (of/from Kocs).
- Ferenc Kazinczy (1759-1831): poet, literary and language reformer. Thanks
to his activity, in the early 19th century Hungarian language was modernized
and standardized. More important than his fine literary oeuvre are his polemical
essays and his letters, the latter published posthumously in 23 volumes. 6.
Gergely Czuczor (1800-1866): poet and linguist, editor of the first major
dictionary of the Hungarian Academy. Along with Petőfi and Arany, he did much
to break down the dividing walls between poetic and colloquial language and
imagery.
- Actually, in 1791.
- Kosztolányi was wrong: linguists regard Dutch and Flemish as practically
identical languages.
B: Biographical and Bibliographical Notes
ANONYMOUS. All that we know about the author of the
first Latin chronicle based on old Hungarian historical tales is that he was
"King Béla's anonymous notary" who signed his name as Master P. While
there were four kings of the Árpád dynasty known by the name Béla (in the two
centuries between 1061-1270), research ascertained that the author had to be
the court notary of Béla III (1173-96), and his chronicle must have been compiled
around 1203.
Gesta Hungarorum (The chronicle of the Hungarians) was first published
in Hungarian in 1746. English translation: 6% of total text.
János APÁCZAI CSERE (1625-59). Transylvanian Protestant
theologian and educator. He studied in Holland for five years and gained his
doctoral degree there. Back in his homeland, the Transylvanian Principality,
he was ostracized for his modern pedagogical ideas. He was compiler of the first
encyclopedia in the Hungarian language, and author of a book on logic. He delivered
his inaugural speech on the occasion of his appointment to the presidency of
the college of Gyulafehérvár (now Alba Julia, Romania) - a position he did not
manage to hold for long.
"Az iskolák fölöttébb szükséges voltáról" (About the great necessity
of schools), 1656. English translation: 2.25% of total text.
János ARANY (1817-82). Poet, critic, editor, secretary-general of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Part of his poetic activity was aimed at recreating the Hungarian heroic epic. Why he thought this endeavour was so important is explained in "Naiv eposzunk" (Our naive folk epic), first published in the periodical Szépirodalmi Figyelő, 1, 2, 3, 1860. English translation: 30% of total text.
Mihály BABITS (1883-1941). One of the most respected
literary and public figures of the early 20th century. His activity covered
all fields of literature, from poetry to translation. He was also a thinker,
often tackling unpopular problems. Selections in chapters VII. and VIII., in
sequence, are from the following works: "Pajzzsal és dárdával" (With
shield and spear), first published in the periodical Nyugat, 1939: 65-72,
173-79. English translation: 9% of total text.
"A magyar jellemről" (On the characteristics of the Hungarians), first
published in the collective volume Mi a magyar? (Budapest, 1939). English
translation: 30% of total.
"Az írástudók árulása" (The treason of the intellectuals), first published
in the periodical Nyugat, 1928: 355-76. English translation: 7.5% of
total text.
Béla BARTÓK (1881-1945). Composer, musicologist, one
of the internationally best known Hungarians. He researched the musical tradition
of a number of countries, most importantly his own, and achieved probably the
most impressive synthesis of folk and avantgarde music in his compositions.
Selections in chapters IV. and VII., in sequence, are from the following works:
"A parasztzene hatása az újabb műzenére" (The influence of peasant
music on modern music), first published in the periodical Új Idők, 23,
1931. English translation: 22% of total text.
"Népdalkutatás és nacionalizmus" (Researching folk songs in our age
of nationalism), first published in the periodical Tükör, 3, 1937. English
translation: 35% of total text.
Gergely BERZEVICZY (1763-1822). Hungary's first economist.
After his studies and travels in Germany, France and England, he participated
in Hungarian public life for eight years, then retired to his estate to be a
freelance scholar. As such, he received much recognition. Beside economic progress,
he also wanted to implement social reforms.
The excerpts are from two of his works written in Latin, translated for this
volume from Hungarian: De commercio et industria Hungariae (About Hungary's
commerce and industry, 1797), only a few pages of the total translated; and,
De conditione et indole rusticorum Hungariae (About the state and nature
of the peasants in Hungary, 1806). English translation: 7% of total text.
Dániel BERZSENYI (1776-1836). Transdanubian landlord, writer of poems in classical metric and conventions. His balanced reformist essay on the rural conditions of his country is an exceptional digression from the rest of his oeuvre, partly because it was based on personal experience. "A magyarországi mezei szorgalom némely akadályairul" (About some obstacles of Hungarian agriculture), 1833. English translation: 15% of total text.
Farkas BOLYAI (1775-1856). Mathematician, inventor, poet.
Studied in Germany (where he met the great mathematician Gauss), was appointed
to the college of Marosvásárhely (now Tirgu Mures, Romania) in 1804 as professor
of mathematics, physics, and chemistry.
Since Bolyai corresponded with Gauss in German, the two letters were translated
from this language as they were published in Franz Schmidt and Paul Stückel,
eds., Briefwechsel zwischen Carl Friedrich Gauss und Wolfgang Bolyai
(Leipzig, 1899). The letter of 1836 is from pp. 122-24. English translation:
25% of total text. The letter of 1848 is from pp. 128-31. English translation:
7% of total text.
Loránd EÖTVÖS, Baron (1848-1919). Physicist, university
professor, president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences for sixteen years.
He pursued higher studies in Germany. Better known as a scientist, he had penetrating
observations as a teacher and academician as well. Selections in chapter VI,
in sequence, from three essays:
"Néhány szó az egyetemi tanítás kérdéséhez: nyílt levél Trefort Ágoston
vallás- és közoktatásügyi miniszterhez" (Some observations on university
teaching: an open letter to Ágoston Trefort, Minister of Religious Cults and
Education), first published in the periodical Budapesti Szemle, 1887:
307-21.
"Az egyetem feladatáról: rektori székfoglaló beszéd a Budapesti Tudományegyetemen"
(About the task of the university: inaugural presidential address at the University
of Budapest), first published in Természettudományi Közlöny, 1891: 505-14.
The above two writings were conflated here; English translation: 27% of total
text.
"Elnöki beszéd a Magyar Tudományos Akadémia közülésén, 1895" (Presidential
address at the general meeting of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1895),
first published in Akadémiai Értesítő, 1895: 321-25. English translation:
90% of total text.
Ottó HERMAN (1835-1914). Natural scientist, ethnologist,
politician, member of parliament 1875-86. He was famous for his vivid style
and his success at presenting the natural and anthropological sciences to the
wider public. Also, he had merits in developing Hungarian scholarly terminology.
Selections in chapters II. and IV., in sequence, are from the following works:
"Bezáró szó," A magyar nép arca és jelleme (Postscript to:
The physiognomy and character of the Hungarian people), Budapest, 1902. English
translation: 1.5% of total text.
"A magyar konyha és a tudomány," A magyar halászat könyve (On
the relation between Hungarian cuisine and science, in The book of Hungarian
fishing), Budapest. 2 vols. English translation: only three pages from the book.
Gyula ILLYÉS (1902-1983). Writer, poet, public figure.
Between the world wars, he was one of the leaders of the leftist populist reform
movement. He endorsed the communist takeover after World War II but became disenchanted
and, not surprisingly, welcomed the national revolution of 1956. During the
relatively liberal decades that preceded the collapse of communism, Illyés was
revered as a national icon, but also put under surveillance when he raised his
voice on behalf of the Hungarian minority of the detached historical territories.
Selections in chapters II. and III. are from the same pamphlet: Ki a magyar?
(Who is a Hungarian?), Budapest, 1939. English translation: 16% of total text.
Lajos KOSSUTH (1802-1894). Statesman, newspaper editor,
as proxy of various aristocrats delegated to several parliamentary sessions
in the 1830s. For his unwavering opposition to Habsburg supremacy he was regarded
as a radical and imprisoned for three years (1837-40). He became instrumental
in the 1848-49 Hungarian revolution and fight against the Habsburgs, then was
elected governor of Hungary for four months in 1849. After the defeat of the
revolutionary war in August 1849, Kossuth spent all the rest of his life in
exile, bursting with plans that had less and less to do with Hungarian realities.
Selections in chapters III. and VII., in sequence, are from Kossuth's collected
works (Iratai, ed. Ferenc Kossuth. Budapest: 1898).
"Dunai szövetség" (Danubian Confederation, 1862), VI, 9-12. Full
text translated.
Dezső KOSZTOLÁNYI (1885-1936). Poet, writer, translator
and journalist. Without yielding to extreme formalist tendencies, he introduced
a new poetic style and perspective in Hungarian literature. He had an inclination
to criticism, as the translated polemics (triggered by a sense of fairness)
proves.
"A magyar nyelv helye a földgolyón: nyílt levél Antoine Meillet úrhoz"
(The global place of the Hungarian language: an open letter to Mr. Antoine Meillet).
First published in the periodical Nyugat, July 16, 1930. English translation:
44% of total text.
Ferenc KÖLCSEY (1790-1838). Poet, critic, member of parliament
1832-34; an outstanding public figure of the so-called reform age (1825-1847).
His well-known moral integrity also brought recognition to the liberal reform
movement that he represented.
"Magyar játékszín" (Theatre in Hungary), 1827. Published posthumously.
English translation: 17.5% of total text.
Sándor KŐRÖSI CSOMA (1784-1842). Transylvanian scholar,
traveller, linguist. After his studies at the college of Nagyenyed (now Aiud,
Romania) and in Germany, he set off to trace the route of the migrating Hungarians
from the Orient to their homeland. His hypothesis about the ancient cradle of
his nation did not coincide with the Finno-Ugric theory. During the decades
of his Asian sojourns, he became an internationally noted orientalist who, among
others, compiled the first dictionary of the Tibetan language.
Selections are from the same collective volume: Kőrösi Csoma Sándor levelesládája
(The correspondence of S.K.Cs.), Budapest, 1984. Letter to his sponsors; dated
Teheran, December 21, 1820. English translation: 50% of total text. Letter to
Gábor Döbrentey; dated Calcutta, July 18, 1835. English translation: 25% of
total text.
Gyula LÁSZLÓ (1910-1998). Archeologist and historian,
prominent figure of the new historical school that has challenged the official,
linguistically oriented views on Hungarian prehistory.
Excerpts are arranged as a mosaic from two of his works: A honfoglalókról
(About the conquerors), Budapest, 1974; and Őstörténetünk (Our prehistory),
Budapest, 1981. English translation: 4% of the total of two books.
László NÉMETH (1901-1975). By profession a physician,
one of the most influential and controversial thinkers, writers and critics
of 20th-century Hungarian intellectual life.
"A magyar rádió feladatai" (The tasks of the Hungarian Radio). First
published in the periodical Tanú, 9, 1934: 197-222. English translation:
8% of total text.
SIMON OF KÉZA. Court chaplain of king László (Ladislaus) IV (1272-90). He wrote his Latin chronicle around 1283, in which he provided a colourful (although fictitious) account of the Hun-Hungarian relations. First translated into Hungarian in 1862. English translation: 3% of total text.
(Saint) STEPHEN I, born in 975, first king and converter
of Hungary 1000-1038. He was born to the last pagan chieftain Géza (who also
converted later) and was named Vajk, until he became Christian and adopted the
name István (Stephen). During his rule he forged a feudal kingdom from the previous
tribal system. He was canonized in 1083. His son and appointed successor, Prince
Imre, died young - seven years before his father.
"Admonitions": the complete Latin title is Libellus de institutione
morum ad Emericum ducem (A book of admonitions to Prince Imre). Hungarian
translation 1738. English translation from Hungarian: 20% of total text.
[The genre is European, where similar medieval "King's Mirrors" summarized
the characteristics of the good monarch. The actual author who wrote down Stephen's
rules around 1015, was probably a German monk.]
István SZÉCHENYI (1791-1860), Count. Patriotic reformist
aristocrat who used his great wealth to initiate so many economic and cultural
projects that only more substantial biographies list all of them. Pertinent
to our readings is that he tried to modernize Hungarian finances and economy,
and established the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, which is still the citadel
of research and scholarship in his country.
Selections in chapters III. and V. are from Hitel (Credit), 1830. English
translation: 1.3% of total text.
The excerpt in chapter VII. is from Világ (Light), 1831. English translation:
1.5% of total text.
Excerpts in chapter VI. are from A Magyar Akadémia körül (About the Hungarian
Academy), 1842. English translation: 12% of total text.
Blanka TELEKI, Countess (1806-1862). Pioneer of Hungarian
women's education, she opened the first school for girls in 1846. Because of
the war of independence of 1848-49, the school closed down. After the defeat
of the revolution, countess Teleki was charged with conspiracy and suffered
six years of imprisonment.
"Nyilatkozat" (Proclamation). First published in the periodical Honderű,
24, 1845. Full text translated.
Pál TELEKI, Count (1879-1941). Scholar, politician, statesman.
Received a Ph.D. in geography; his work on this field brought him academic membership.
Between the world wars he filled several political positions, among others as
minister of different cabinets. He did much to introduce social reforms and
propagate Hungarian history in Europe. In 1941 Prime Minister Teleki committed
suicide, in despair about Hungary's irreversible alignment with Germany.
Magyar politikai gondolatok (literally: Hungarian political thoughts,
i.e. Hungarian thoughts on politics), Budapest, 1941, is a collection of already
published essays. English translation: 1.75% of total book.
Mrs. Pál VERES, née Hermin Beniczky (1815-1895). Educator,
emancipator, founder of the first, extant, women's college (1867). Also founder
of the National Association for Education of Women (to whose first meeting she
refers in one excerpt), and author of a handbook in psychology.
A complete [?] collection of her writings was published in Budapest, 1902: Veres
Pálné Beniczky Hermin élete és működése (The life and work of ...). Selections
from: "Két levél Madách Imréhez" (Two letters to Imre Madách), 1864,
pp. 130-35; "Felhívás a nőkhöz közvetlenül az első értekezlet előtt"
(Call to women preceding the first conference), 1867, pp. 142-43. English translation:
50% and 60% of texts, respectively.
Miklós ZRÍNYI, Count (1620-1664). Poet, soldier, statesman.
He was brought up to be loyal to Hungary's Habsburg kings, appointed captain-general
of Croatia, and celebrated as an outstanding leader. As time passed, Zrínyi
got in conflict with the attitude of the Viennese court towards Hungary. As
it has been surmised, he could have become head of an openly anti-Habsburg opposition.
Because of his early death (a topic of many conjectures), we will never know.
His most famous poetic work is a Baroque heroic epic about his great-grandfather's
battle with the Turks. He wrote several military and historical treatises and
polemic pamphlets.
Az török áfium ellen való orvosság (Remedy against Turkish opium), 1660-61,
first published in 1705. English translation: 8% of total text whose considerable
parts are quotations from Latin sources.
Since the persons or events listed below are explained either in the text or notes, further information is not provided here. For the sake of continuity, however, important long periods not covered by the readings are mentioned below in brackets.
| 895: | The Conquest: Árpád and the Hungarian tribes arrive in the Carpathian Basin. |
| 1000-1038: | Stephen I, first Christian king, converts Hungary to Christianity |
| 1000-1301: | The rule of the Árpád Dynasty. Ca. 1203: The first Hungarian chronicle written (in Latin) by Anonymous. |
| 1247: | The Mongol invasion. [1302-1458: Hungary is ruled mostly by foreign-born kings - a familiar phenomenon in the Middle Ages. Rulers of the 14th century are generally more benevolent than those of the 15th.] |
| 1458-90: | King Matthias rules Hungary. [After Matthias' death: decades of eroding power and declining morale.] |
| 1526: | The Mohács disaster. |
| 1541: | The Turks take the fortress of Buda by cunning. Hungary falls into three parts. 1541-1690: Historical Hungary is governed by three rulers: the Habsburg emperor (king of Hungary) in the West, the Ottoman Empire in the centre, and the Transylvanian Principality (a Turkish vassal state) in the East. |
| 1685- : | The united Christian armies of Europe expel the Turks from
the territory of the whole of historical Hungary. Transylvania is not reunited with the kingdom - it becomes ruled directly fromVienna. [1699: a peace treaty between Austria and the Ottoman Empire ends Turkish claims to Hungary.] |
| 1703-11: | Rákóczi's War for Freedom [Prince Ferenc Rákóczi's attempt to regain Hungary's independence from the Habsburgs. Defeated in 1711, Rákóczi leaves the country and dies in emigration in Turkey.] |
| 18th century: | Repopulation of the war-torn country by the Habsburgs. [For a while, Hungarians become a minority in their own homeland.] |
| 1825: | After years of absolutism, the parliament convenes. Call for reforms; Széchenyi establishes the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. |
| 1825-47: |
The "Reform Age": hopes for a peaceful way to gradual independence. |
| 1837: | The National Theatre opens in Pest. |
| 1848-49: | Peaceful changes having failed, a revolution (March 15, 1848),
then a War of Independence erupts, led by Lajos Kossuth. Hungary demands the restoration of its autonomy, later its full independence. [April 1849: Hungary becomes a republic. Desperate to win, the young Austrian emperor seeks the help of the Russian emperor. The struggle for independence is crushed. Hungary surrenders in August. A brief period of terror, then almost two decades of absolutism follow.] |
| Aug. 1849-1894: | Kossuth lives in exile; eventually dies in Turin, Italy. |
| 1867: | The Austro-Hungarian Compromise: Hungary regains full autonomy and is reunited with Transylvania. |
| 1896: | The Millennium: one thousandth anniversary of the Conquest.
[1914-18: as Austria's partner, Hungary is drawn into World War I, ending up as loser. Fall 1918: after almost four hundred years, dethronement of the Habsburgs is achieved.] |
| June 4, 1920: | The Trianon peace treaty is signed, meaning catastrophic losses
to Hungary. [1920-44: nominally Hungary remains a kingdom, ruled by regent Miklós Horthy, a rear-admiral of the Austro-Hungarian navy in World War I.] |
| 1938: | First Vienna Award: the southern part of the Upland (Felvidék) is returned to Hungary. |
| 1940: | Second Vienna Award: northern and eastern Transylvania is
returned to Hungary. [1941: Hungary enters World War II as ally of Germany and Italy. For the country, the war ends in April 1945. The barbarism of the conquering Red Army defies description. 1945-91: the country is occupied by the Soviet Union, with a communist puppet regime in power from 1948 to 1989.] |
| Fall 1956: | unsuccessful national uprising against communist rule and Soviet occupation. |