Začiatky prímasa Alexandra Rudnaya
The beginnings of the Primate Alexander Rudnay
Author(s): Gábor VadernaContributor(s): Galina Sándorová (Translator)
Subject(s): History, Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Theology and Religion, 18th Century, 19th Century, History of Religion
Published by: Vydavateľstvo Minor, Kapucíni na Slovensku
Keywords: occasional poetry;Primateship;Catholic Church;history from below;political desires;Alexander Rudnay;installation ceremony
Summary/Abstract: When Alexander Rudnay (1760-1831) was installed as Primate, which is the highest position of Catholic Church in the Hungarian Kingdom, in 1820, he faced several challenges. First, he had to balance between the Habsburg Court and the Vatican, and between the Court and the Hungarian-Slovak noble estates. Second, the Catholic Church was in crisis at the beginning of the 19th century as the high clergy felt a moral deterioration. This paper presents the poetical representation of the installation ceremony, which was held in May 1820. More than a hundred poems were born in several languages (Latin, Hungarian, German, Slovak, and French) by numerous kinds of authors (such as clerics, nobles, students or simple citizens). Of course, in these poetic laudations the authors all praised the excellence and virtue of Rudnay, but they also tried to articulate what their wishes were, what expectations they had, what they thought about their political chances, and how an archbishop should support a political cause at the Court. In this sense, the poetry that was born for this occasion was a specific tool of political communication by which their opinions and desires could be express.
Journal: Studia Capuccinorum Boziniensia
- Issue Year: 8/2023
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 167-197
- Page Count: 31
- Language: Slovak