Specimina Nova Pars Prima Sectio Medaevalis

Einige Fragen der Kirchenverwaltung des mittelalterlichen ungarischen Königtums

Gábor Thoroczkay — 2023-11-25

The study deals with four problems of medieval Hungarian church law and church history. Firstly, it describes the debates surrounding the formation and status of the archbishopric of Kalocsa, emphasising the missionary nature of the early archbishopric; secondly, it discusses the relationship between archdeaconries associated with a provostship and collegiate chapters, stressing the primacy of archdeaconries; thirdly, it examines the question of the Eigenbistümer in Hungary, agreeing with the view that the bishopric of Nitra was initially such a church. In the fourth place, it interprets a sentence of a fourteenth-century Hungarian chronicle, stating that Gregory of Bicske, the elected Archbishop of Esztergom (1298–1303), was only the governor (procurator seu administrator) of the Archbishopric of Esztergom.

Methodological Aspects for the Analysis of Transylvanian Censuses in the First Third of the Eighteenth Century

Bálint K. Bandi — 2023-11-25

Throughout history, tax revenue has been a significant source of income for the state. Direct taxes composed a crucial part of the state budget, along with revenues generated from trade and other economic activities. Since the Early Modern Times, taxpayers have been registered before tax collection to estimate income and determine applicable taxes for households.
In the Middle Ages, censuses taken in the Kingdom of Hungary aimed to register the taxpaying population, mainly serfs, while excluding the tax-exempt nobility and ecclesiastical order. The Ottoman conquests led to changes in the tax system, with the occupiers building a well-organized system adapted to local social conditions in the territory under their rule. Despite the Viennese court's financial administration reforms, medieval taxation methods persisted for decades in the remaining part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Tax collection procedures in the Principality of Transylvania also followed medieval customs, although the Transylvanian government introduced changes in defining taxpayers and tax units, similar to the reform in the Kingdom of Hungary.
In my study, I examine the censuses (conscriptiones, connumerationes) carried out in Cluj and Turda Counties from 1713 to 1733. My research focuses on the structure and content of these sources, as well as their methodological implications and potential for data interpretation and application.

Discourse on Peace and Balance of Power in Early Eighteenth-Century English Political Sermons

Brigitta Schvéd — 2023-11-25

In the public debate on the English involvement in the War of the Spanish Succession, and over time, on the peace that would end the prolonged war, sermons occupy a special place among the various political mediums of the time. After briefly reviewing the main features of the political controversy, the present study specifically examines two political sermons by the English churchman John Adams (1662–1720), in which the discourse on balance of power is organically present, reinforcing the theme of the need for a “good peace”. In Adams’ sermons, published in 1709 and 1711, respectively, the notion of Christian joy and prosperity as well as the glad tidings of the securing of Protestant succession in the form of a future peace were given explicit emphasis alongside the discourse on balance of power. Both sermons were delivered on thanksgiving days, therefore – while supporting the anti-war, pro-peace Tory propaganda – they have a strong emphasis on predictions of the positive prospects for Christian spirituality. The paper focuses on the conceptual analysis of these delightful promises, showing how Adams considered the effects of a prospective peace on the Christian religion in general as well as on the future of the balance of power both at home and in Europe.

Authority as a Challenge

Marko Marina — 2023-11-25

The early Christian world was diverse. Various groups of Christians held opposite views on crucial theological and social elements while claiming to be the true followers of Jesus Christ. In this diversity, two streams of Christianity were particularly popular: proto-orthodox Christians and Valentinian Gnostics. These groups were included in the sharp polemical discussions and battles, as they tried to gain a monopoly in the early Christian world. In the end, proto-orthodoxy won thus marginalizing Valentinian Gnostics. In that process, Church authors, such as Irenaeus and Justin Martyr reclaimed the history of Christianity by defining themselves as the guardians of orthodoxy. Furthermore, they put the label of “heresy” on Valentinians claiming that they are not real Christians, but a subversive group that had corrupted the original message of Jesus and his disciples. In this paper, I have tried to demonstrate that one of the crucial reasons for the triumph of the Great Church was related to the concepts of authority and organization. To show that, I have analysed what kind of attitude Valentinian Gnostics had toward authority and organization. As sources reflect, Valentinian Gnosticism was an anti-structural movement that emphasized an individual approach to the divine through esoteric knowledge. Furthermore, their belief in the threefold division of humanity affected their attitude toward bishops and apostolic succession. Consequently, they rejected the authority of bishops and presbyters and put the emphasis on the small philosophical circle of students that would gather around influential teachers. Eventually, such a spiritual and religious perspective made it impossible to create a network of connected communities whose sense of universal identity would transgress local and regional borders. In the end, Valentinian Gnosticism was a conglomerate of independent communities scattered across the Mediterranean. In other words, Valentinian’s theological beliefs that modelled their attitude toward authority and social structure were a crucial factor in their marginalization within the early Christian world.

On the Way to a New Structure

Márta Font — 2023-11-25

During the second half of the thirteenth century when the Mongols occupied the centre of the former Kievan Rus’ and the princes of the North-Eastern region became dependent on them, Polish and Lithuanian influence increased in the western areas (Galicia, Volhynia, Smolensk, Polotsk). During the first decades of the fourteenth century the dynasties of Poland and Lithuania contended with each other for the hegemony. According to the negotiations in the 1340s, Galicia and a part of Volhynia belonged to Poland, and another part of Volhynia to Lithuania. In the following years, because of the expansion, Casimir the Great acquired Podolia, and the Lithuanians occupied the surroundings of Kiev. The chronicler of the Teutonic Knights pointed out that “omnis Russia ad Letwinos deberet simpliciter pertinere”. Władysław Jagiełło, King of Poland (1387−1434) and Witold, Grand Duke of Lithuania (1392−1430) started to organize the new administration on the East Slavic territory. The part belonging to the Polish Crown voivodships (wojewódstwo) were organized, just like in the Polish territory in general. Another part of the territory belonging to Lithuania there were either organized units similar to the Polish system, or the former principality tradition was conserved. In most cases, new administrative centres emerged. The Mongolian-Lithuanian border remained a less organized form of military administration. The Polish-Lithuanian rule contributed to the development of the Belarusian and the Ukrainian identities. The patriarchal Greek and Polish ‒ Lithuanian Latin chancelleries created the terms Russia Minor and Russia Alba.

When the Papal Legate Is Not Well Received

Gergely Kiss — 2023-11-25

The Papacy became the supreme authority of the Latin Christianity at least at the turn of the twelfth–thirteenth centuries. Papal delegates, especially legati a latere were the “long arm” of the popes to settle and negotiate both ecclesiastical and political issues. In theory, papal representatives should have been given a warm welcome in the places where they were sent, however, as the examples in the paper show, this was by no means always the case. The paper aims to discuss this process by analysing the activities of the papal legates in the Kingdom if Hungary, the form of representation and the procedures of the negotiation (cooperation, contestation, refusal) of this authority in the context of the Hungarian Kingdom in thirteenth-fourteenth centuries.

The Institution of Consilium – Obligation or Right?

Péter Báling — 2023-11-25

In the following short paper, I would like to point out that the concept of consilium and auxilium proved to be a much more complex phenomenon during the centuries of the Middle Ages than many lexicons or the secondary literature presents. Contemporary sources also make it clear that armed military assistance was by no means the most typical form of assistance. We would also like to emphasize that the consilium was not necessarily seen as an obligation, but rather as a privilege, as it was an important political tool in the governance during the Middle Ages.

The Hungarian Royal Family and the Delegated Papal Jurisdiction from the Mongol Invasion to the late Thirteenth Century

Gábor Barabás — 2023-11-25

This paper is a short contribution to the history of the relations between the Roman pontiffs and the Hungarian rulers, or in a broader sense, the royal family. The focus of the research is on the second half of the thirteenth century, starting with the events after the Mongol invasion of Hungary in 1241–1242 and ending with the death of the last Árpádian king, Andrew III. The main question is: how did the members of the royal family get in touch with papal judges-delegate in the realm of St. Stephen? In which cases did they turn to the papacy in order benefit from the system, and under what circumstances did they appear as participants of a procedure? One of the most interesting sources regarding the attitude towards the papal delegated jurisdiction is a petition of King Béla IV. In his response, Pope Innocent IV forbade – with certain exceptions – the citation of the subjects of the king outside of the realm. The initiative of the Hungarian ruler is clear evidence for his awareness of the extension and the significance of the system of delegated jurisdiction in his kingdom.

Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena as an Imagined Millet?

Rudolf Barišić — 2023-11-25

During the four centuries of Ottoman rule, the Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena was the only institutional structure of the Catholic Church permanently present there. According to tradition, their legal status and security were guaranteed by a document issued by Sultan Mehmed II in 1463, known as the Fojnica Ahdname. Franciscan sources show that they had been constantly using documents of Ottoman provenance to resolve their legal and economic issues since at least the seventeenth century and continued this practise even when Bosnia came under the Austro-Hungarian administration in 1878. In the twentieth century, this led to an overemphasis on the importance of the Ahdname and its placement in an anachronistic framework that corresponded to the image of a “better past.” The paper aims to show the historical context in which this narrative pattern developed in the Franciscan sources. The findings suggest that the Bosnian Franciscans also used their incorporation into the Ottoman legal system for relations with the Catholic West.

Religious Tolerance as a Political Argument. Debates on the Legal Status of the Protestants of Hungary, 1790–1791

András Forgó — 2023-11-25

The Decree of Toleration (1781) brought radical changes to the lives of the Calvinist, Lutheran and Orthodox denominations in the Kingdom of Hungary. The most important change was that the private religious practice was substantially extended. Another important element of the decree was that it exempted non-Catholics from the so-called decretal oath and from participating in Catholic rites. Equally significant is the regulation on marriage law, which, among other things, specified the denominational status of children in mixed marriages and after conversions. Following the death of Joseph II (1790), an unprecedented political ferment began in Hungary. As no assembly of the Estates had been convened since 1765, the Hungarian political elite, inspired not least by the French example, felt that the time had come to put into practice the long-matured reform ideas. Among these matters, the religious question was the most prominent. The majority of the Estates supported the equal rights of the Protestant denominations, and only the Catholic clergy and a few secular Catholics maintained the earlier intolerant position. With the legalization of the free exercise of religion by the two Protestant (and Orthodox) denominations initiated the process of dismantling the status of Catholicism as a state religion. A few decades later, this led to the establishment of religious equality, an essential cornerstone of the modern civil state.

Klaniczay Gábor: A boszorkányüldözés története. Balassi Kiadó. Budapest. 2022. 423 p. (Vallásantropológiai Tanulmányok Közép-Kelet-Európából 13) / Klaniczay, Gábor: The History of Witch-Hunting. Balassi Kiadó. Budapest. 2022. 423 p. (Religi

István Kovács — 2023-11-25

review

Héloise (European Network on Digital Academic History) Workshop in Pécs (31 August 2023)

Gergely Kiss — 2023-11-25

review