Suchergebnisse

The Jagiellonians in Europe: Dynastic Diplomacy and Foreign Relations, eds. Attila Bárány, Balázs Antal Bacsa, Debrecen 2016, p. 209 – 217. ; Szymon Brzeziński

The study analyses the appearance of Stephen Báthory, king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) in popular historiographic genre of so-called kings' catalogues (icones, imagines). This kind of historical works gained extensive popularity in early modern Europe, in Poland-Lithuania from the mid-16th century even until the end of 18th century. An analyse of several texts (from late 16th c. up to 1660s) allowes to draw an outline of Báthory's commemoration at the most widespread level. The authors focused on his military successes in wars against Muscovy and Gdańsk, which was apparently influenced by context of permanent wars led by Polish-Lithuanian state in 17th century and can be also considered as a part of broader development of the rulers' ideology in that time (victorious knight-king). Another characteristic events mentioned in popular historiography were: establishment of main court for nobility (Trybunał), supporting the Catholic Church in recaptured Livonia. Báthory's international respect and strategic skills contributed to a view of warrior king and his glorious, but short governance. Among intellectual and spiritual advantages the authors stressed a perfect knowledge of Latin language. Together with rulers' virtues the catalogues presented also his external features, remembering him as a tall, black-haired, white-teeth and hansdome man as well as emphasizing his similarity to images of Attila. This fix set of virtues was only slightly modified in next publications and basically remained the same in the whole period. Almost none of catalogues recalls negative remarks concerning Báthory's reign, only one of them briefly reminds of internal political conflict with powerful Zborowski family, so controversial in the 1580s and blames the king for dying without confession. Explanation of the phenomenon of so positive remembrance were the numerous panegyric writings and historiography, which praised Báthory and due to his propaganda skills predominated already under his rule and then established a base for more simplified historical literature and iconography. That contributed in decisive way to the development of Báthorys' image in modern historiography and popular opinion. It was primary nostalgic, but contained also some normative features. ; Szymon Brzeziński

translated by Noémi Petneki ; The studies of this volume concern Polish-Hungarian and Polish-Transylvanian relations in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the first paper, with reference both to older scholarship and recent research on the history of borderlands, I analyze the character and role of the Polish-Hungarian borderland. I ask how it was influenced by the natural environment and how it shaped mutual relations between the countries on both sides of the Carpathian Mountains. My conclusion is that this borderland was quite stable politically (despite the proximity to the turbulent Habsburg-Ottoman border) and remained a region of exchange, connected through numerous social, ethnic and economic ties. The western part of the borderland was a more easily accessible area (with more convenient mountain passes), cultivated and colonized earlier than the Eastern Carpathians. It influenced the number of trade routes and intensity of exchange. A special role was played by the Szepes (Spiš) region, which receives less attention here only due to the general character of the paper and many recent historical studies. Three papers refer to two remarkable figures in Polish-Hungarian/Polish-Transylvanian relations in the early modern period: John Sigismund Zapolya (Szapolyai, 1540-1571), first Prince of Transylvania, and Stephen Báthory, his successor as a Prince of Transylvania, then King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576-1586). I examine the way in which they were perceived by contemporaries. In the case of John Sigismund Zapolya, I describe how the image of the ruler, who died young, was shaped by his followers in the first years after his death, that is, in the 1570s and 1580s, and how the commemoration served the emerging political identity of Transylvania in the context of close Polish-Transylvanian ties during the reign of Báthory. An essential factor was the religious (Protestant, especially Unitarian) motivation of the apologists. This was accompanied by their religious and political goals together with moral issues (e.g. the commonly used notions of fortune and loss through which the reign of John Sigismund was interpreted). The paper is based on a survey of historiographical and literary works mainly by Christian Schesaeus (neolatin epic historiography), András Valkai (popular historiographical poems in Hungarian), Demeter Csanádi, Jan Gruszczyński (moralistic, commemorative texts) and Johannes Sommer with references to other authors as well. Subsequently, in a paper on King Stephen Báthory I show the contemporary polemics on his rule, in particular the controversies that arose in the years 1584-1585 and in the first years after the king's death. In this period, Báthory was faced with serious criticism due to his harsh conflict with the Zborowski family. I argue here mainly with evidence of contemporary political journalism. The fact of the foreign origin of the king and his support for Hungarian compatriots in Poland-Lithuania was also raised, just as in the first years following Báthory's death in 1586. This image changed only gradually later. In the next paper I show this process, using the example of literary texts known as "kings' catalogues" (icones, imagines), which shaped popular historical knowledge until the 18th century. It was much because of this sort of text why the representation of the king evolved to result in an image of a brave and wise ruler, almost overwhelming in the Polish historical memory of the subsequent centuries. This image also contained stereotypes of Hungarians (appearance, character), partly derived from the 'Hunnic' tradition and the parallel between Báthory and Attila. Decisive was the impact of contemporary events, primarily the Polish-Muscovite wars of the 17th century. To sum up, the papers contribute to a more nuanced history of the Polish-Hungarian relations and stereotypes, but refer to more general questions about the commemoration of a ruler (Herrschermemoria) in early modern Europe. ; Országos Tudományos Kutatási Alap (OTKA),Hungary, NK 81948 ; Szymon Brzeziński

The author presents the scholarly achievements of a Hungarian literary historian Lajos Hopp (1927–1996) related to the Polish-Hungarian relations. It is a commentary to the fragment (conclusions) of Hopp's unedited work published in the present issue of Barok, entitled "Changes of Polish-Hungarian ideas and traditions in the first half of the 17th century". The study is kept in the Illyés Gyula Archives and Workshop of the Institute of Literary Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. It is an expanded and revised version of a dissertation entitled "Changes of Polish-Hungarian ideas and traditions in Baroque court literature" submitted by Hopp in 1987 to be awarded doctorate by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The presented fragment exemplifies the whole of Hopp research into the Polish-Hungarian relations in which he emphasised the endurance and changes of traditions of: "everlasting friendship", "friendly relations" and the idea of bulwark in both the cultures from the late Middle Ages to the 18th century. Some of the thoughts were presented in Hopp's monographs published in print. The discussed text refers to the period from the end of the 16th century (from Stephen Báthory's death in 1586) to 1648 (the death of Wladyslaw IV Vasa, George [György] I Rákóczi). As he says, at that time the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Transylvania drifted apart politically due to, in his opinion, increasing religious differences and successes of the counterreformation in the Commonwealth, as well as political alliances of Sigismund III Vasa. The change came during the reign of Wladyslaw IV Vasa, when George I Rákóczi devised plans to acquire the Polish crown. The author debate the significance of Hopp's research. His statements about social conditioning of the sphere of idea (its "social basis") and Marxising interpretations, although moderated with time, seem to be outdated now. In his reasoning, Hopp departed from the approach characteristic of literary historians (research on topoi, metaphors, rhetoric), and got closer to interdisciplinary understood history of ideas (history of concepts) and "classic" political history. This found its expression in his source base, too, which included also texts related to a political practice. It was valuable that he included the history of ideas into his research on political relations. A reconstruction of Hopp's methods causes difficulties – his language was complicated and he did not formulate his methodological assumptions or concepts used (for instance, a "historico-cultural form of consciousness" or "consciousness of community", etc.). A reception of his research outside Hungary was hampered by lack of translations. In the author's opinion, what is worth to emphasise in Hopp's achievements related to Polish-Hungarian themes is the subject of his research – comparative studies in the history of political ideas and concepts in Central Eastern Europe. In recent years similar postulates were formulated by Hungarian scholars due to a reception of current trends in Western historiography. Some signs of interest in the language of politics and history of concepts are to be seen also in Poland. It seems sound, therefore, to refer in this context to Lajos Hopp's research that could prompt us to reflect on possibilities and methodological form of its continuation. ; Szymon Brzeziński

Despite fragmentation, heterogeneity and the continuous pressure of the Ottoman Empire, early modern "divided Hungary" witnessed a surprising cultural flourishing in the sixteenth century, and maintained its common cultural identity in the seventeenth century. This could hardly have been possible without intense exchange with the rest of Europe. This three-volume series about early modern Hungary divided by Ottoman presence approaches themes of exchange of information and knowledge from two p...