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Elements of Heritage in the Field of Technical History at Văleni-Călata
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Elements of Heritage in the Field of Technical History at Văleni-Călata

Technikatörténeti örökség a kalotaszegi Magyarvalkón

Author(s): Enikő Bitay,László Márton,János Talpas / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: technical history; local history; Transylvania; Văleni-Călata; Magyarvalkó; bells; horologe; church; gothic art;

In the history of a settlement the aspects linked to technical history are of major importance, as they are part of the course of culture and civilization. Research work, the insertion of findings in the complex of historical sciences is up-to-date in present historiography.This book contains the results of research in the field of technical history, research done in Văleni-Călata. The settlement appears for the first time in the written documents of the XIII-th century (in 1213) under the name of Vulchoi villa. As the years passed the settlement became also known as Wolcov (1291), Walko (1297), Wolko (1372), and Walko again (1468).In the year 1291 the settlement was among those ones that were paying taxes to the bishop of Oradea.The name of the settlement is most likely linked to the name of the noble Valkay family, onwer of lands, whose last representative disappeared in the year 1730.From the point of view of the settlement's history the XVIth and XVIIth centuries brought about great changes. Reformation, the invasion of Tartars, the multiple fires - all had benefic consequences. The devastated church was rebuilt and a fortress was erected around it. The tower was built and it got the function of a watchtower as well, in the fortified defence system of the settlement.The church is placed in a lovely region, under the protection of a forest arch. The building is architecturally well balanced, its tower has an unmatched robustness and it can be regarded as one of the most beautiful churches belonging to the Reformed Episcopate of Transsylvania.The general architectural characteristic of the church belongs to the Gothic style, although it also has a series of elements of the Roman styleand Gothic, respectively.A special feature, unique to this church in the whole region is that, the space under the tower is part of the pro–nave, augmenting its dimensions.From the point of view of technical history the counter–fortress walls of the church are made of adzed rectangular stones, this being a real demonstration of the skill of the carvers of the time. As a binding element mortar with lime was used and this gave the building enough resistence. The church is entirely covered with shingle. This refers to the church tower and also to the four small towers with cellular ceilings painted by the renowned carpenter and church ceiling painter Lőrinc Umling. This adds to the architectural and artistic value of the church.The monumental aspect is better underlined owing to some elements of building in Roman style originating from the previous building. These elements were organically incorporated in the present architecture of the church.The church tower gives home to three liturgy bells and a small bell to presignal the stroke of the horologe. Two of the bells, the biggest in dimension, were casted in Cugir in 1924 by the bell founder Oszkar Klein. The third bell originates from the bell foundry of the Andraschovski family in Cluj. For over a century the family had been known as famous for casting bells, a tradition passed on from father to son. The bell from Văleni wascasted in 1855 by János Andraschovski. The three bells are beautifully decorated in Baroque and Gothic style. They are placed on a wooden rack made from oak wood carved with a poleaxe. The wood of the rack is the very casing of the bell bail axes.Keeping company to the bells is the horologe built to the special order of the parish in the year 1839. As to where, and in which workshop of the time it was built, one doesn't yet have an answer. It is believed that the building took place in Oradea because this is the place of origin for several other horologes of the churches in the neighbourhood. This particular horologe is made up of three functional modules. The first module is the one that makes the horologe work and it rules the other two. The second module is responsible for the strokes of the quarters, while the third module makes the pre–signal bell work.The pre–signal bell marks the hours and it is located at the extremity of the tower, above the southern part of the porch. This porch surrounds the tower and it is used as an observation turret. The horologe worked till the mid–seventies of last century. At the moment it is incomplete, as its cinematic chain of movement transmission to the clock hands and the pre–signalling bell is missing.A chapter of the book deals with the presentation of the folk architecture development in the settlement. The evolution of the wooden constructions specific to the region is shown: the system of scaffolding and covering, the ornamentation of the facades. The development of the living space is dealt with in a sub–chapter of the book. Here one can come across examples ranging from the most simple living spaces with one room to the more sophisticated ones, set in an order characteristic not only to Văleni but to the entire region of Călata.Among the specific aspects of regional folk architecture one can put into evidence the widespread use of carved or uncarved spruce masonry, daubed either on one or on both sides.The structure of scaffoldings is detailed and so is the shingle covering that replaced in a relatively short while the prevalent straw covering of Călata.Owing to its position in the vicinity of the forest, the settlement came to be noticed as a center for the folk handicraft of shingle fabrication. Shingle was traded outside the settlement too. Handicrafts specific to mountainous regions can be found here woodwork and carpentery. The Văleni dwellers were nicknamed "the resinous ones" because of the spruce resin on the clothes of the people who processed it.Another business specific to the settlement, with a technical side to it, was the carving of spindles and of the nicely decorated, washer shaped spindle weights. These washers have a central orifice corresponding in dimension with the lower diameter of the spindle. This gives stability and inertia to the spinning during the process of spinning the hemp or woolen yarn.The yarn was at the core of another handicraft - the weaving of textiles for husehold needs. The spindle makers used an arch - like device. The string wrapped around the carved, semi-fabricated body of the would - be spindle and the movement generated by the bow gave the semi-fabricated item a bidirected rotation move. The semifabricate body was fixed between two heads and the whole assembly formed a primitive lathe that rounded the spindles. A similar device, used to round off and perforate pieces can be found in the Roman epoch too.Shingle fabrication and spindle making survived in Văleni till mid-XXth century. From that point on industrial products in building material and textiles have gradually replaced the famous products of the Văleni craftsmen.The findings presented in this book are the result of field investigation and registry document study. They demonstrate the fact that although a certain region has been "exhaustively" studied so far, new research and investigation can reveal other characteristic aspects of that region, unnoticed so far.Considering this, the book has the value of pioneering and of a model to be followed for those who wish to study a settlement from the point of view of technical and technological history.

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The Hydroelectrically Plant in Temesvár /Timişoara
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The Hydroelectrically Plant in Temesvár /Timişoara

Temesvár vízerőműve: működő műszaki műemlékünk

Author(s): Árpád Jancsó / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: technical history; local history; Transylvania; Temesvár; hydroelectrically plant; monument; industrial archaeology;

The city on the Bega River can show its pride, among other things, in its many industrial monuments, witnesses of the economic boom it experienced between the end of the XIXth and the beginning of the XXth. Those industrial traces are as important as the fortresses, the palaces, the castles, the churches and the monasteries of the area, because they illustrate, too the result of the work, the sacrifices and the aspirations of the communities to which they belonged.A pearl of industrial archaeology is the hydroelectric power station from Timişoara, known among the inhabitants by the name „The Turbins”. She will be, on the 3rd of May 2010, a hundred years old.The Bega River harnessing was begun in 1728, but only at the beginning of the XXth century it was fully transformed in a modern navigable canal, with a length of 120 km. and six hydro-technical knots (pound locks) (dam, lock [10].In the territory of the Timişoara/Temesvár city, Bega River was schemed for modern navigation up to the Fabric neighborhood, where the waters of the river spread in multiple canals and branches. The weirs were used to ensure the water chute for moving the wheels of watermills. Eight such watermills were in the property of the city and their lease brought a solid income to the city’s budget.But, at the end of the XIXth century the watermills’ mechanical efficiency was lower than those of the new steam-engine mills. The city administration decided to use the water energy more efficiently through the building of a hydroelectric power station. There were also in plan: the draining of the Fabric/Gyárváros neighborhood, the lowering the level of the phreatic waters, the elimination of the channels that transformed this neighborhood in Timişoara’s own Venice, the building of a new canalized river bed that would allow the access upstream of the biggest barges standardized for the navigation on the interior rivers. The building of a hydroelectric power station, through which it will be „exploited much more efficiently the energy of the Bega’s waters”, was decided by the Town Council. The large scale project of urban planning – important due to both architectural and public health issues – of eliminating the old streams and canals that spread in the Fabric neighborhood and the building of the hydroelectric power station was made by Timişoara/Temesvár’s engineerin-chief, Emil Szilárd. In the chapter dedicated to the expense-income issue, the engineer-in-chief demonstrated that, by the construction of a hydroelectric power station simultaneously with to draining of the neighborhood, this large investment of city planning will pay-off very quickly.Timişoara was a pioneer in this field, because the building of hydroelectric power stations was at its earliest stages across Europe. The first hydroelectric power stations were erected in the last decades of the XIXth century. Between 1893 and 1911, in what was then Hungary, 39 hydroelectric power stations were build for public use, out of which, the ones from Târgu Mureş/Marosvásárhely and Timişoara/Temesvár had an installed power of over 1000 HP.On the nowadays territory of Romania, the hydroelectric power station from Timişoara is the first a hydroelectric power station of the type dam – power station (hydroelectric dam).The hydroelectric power station, „built by the most modern knowledge”, was planned to be erected in the eastern edge of the city, the area where the Bega River, coming from the Ghiroda village enters Timişoara/Temesvár’s territory. Downstream from the hydroelectric power station, engineer-in-chief Szilárd envisaged the digging of a new canalized riverbed, 2400 m in length, and with a transversal section large enough to ensure a large flow of water. After the end of the works, the level of the Bega canal became lower with 4,40 m. The new riverbed was designed with the characteristics that would also allow the navigation in that sector. On top of the riverbed there were planned three new bridges, made in concrete steel. The one on the Park Street became famous because it was the largest bridge on concrete steel beams (Gerber system) in the world at the time [11], [12], [13], [14], [15].The cost estimate was of 1.700.000 crowns. The engineer-in-chief demonstrated, through detailed calculations, this investment will help save a 188.179 crowns worth of coal, thus it will pay-off very fast.The diggings of the new canalized riverbed, 2400 meters long and most of the power station’s construction works were finished by 1909. In the time of the building activities, the Bega waters were re-directed through the riverbed of Vâna Roşie/Vörös ér and of Suboleasa/Subolyásza so that the new riverbed, the power station and the three birdges were built on dry land. The architectural design of the power station’s building and annexes were madeby the famous city architect-in-chief, László Székely, in a historicist style, with many elements of Hungarian Seccessio influences. The majority of the power station works were made by the Hungarian building firm „Magyar Beton- és Vasbeton Építési Vállalat Wayss G.A. és Tsa.” from Budapest. The small-scale works were commissioned to some firms and entrepreneurs from Timişoara.The hydroelectric power station was equipped with three identical motor groups: each a triplex horizontal Francis turbine, producing 660 HP, with 140 rpm. At a water level difference of 5 m, each turbine needs a water flow of 12,85 m³/s, totaling 36-37 m³/s for the whole power station. The turbines and the generators have the same axis. The three power generators have a power of 400 kW each and are producing alternative biphasic electrical current with a tension of 2 × 2100 V.The turbines were bought in 1909 from the well-known Budapest firm „Ganz Danubius” and the generators from the sister-firm „Ganz-féle Villamossági R.-T.”. The Ganz group was already experienced from works on the electric power stations all over the world, of which, the largest was the hydroelectric power station from Tivoli that supplied power to the Italian capital. The calculations and planning for the power station’s installations were made by the two supplying firms.Due to unexpected expenses, the final cost of the investment was 2.132.950 crowns.Timişoara’s hydroelectric power station began its service at the 3rd of May 1910. In the first full year, it produced 4.132.000 kWh, which was 89% of electricity consumption of the Banat’s city. „We can say the hydroelectric power station is the most successful in the whole Hungary and is the proud successor of the oldest Hungarian hydroelectric power station both technically and economically. Timişoara / Temesvár remained loyal to itself when it accomplished this power station and has set an example about the way it should be organized and used such a communal station” wrote dr. Mihály Seidner in an article featured in the technicians magazine from Hungary, in which he made a presentation of the hydroelectric power station from the city on the Bega River.During the First World War, Timişoara/Temesvár felt less the lack in coal supply, due to the electricity provided by the hydroelectric power station on the Bega river.After the First World War, Timişoara/Temesvár and about two thirds of the historical Banat province were included in the territory of Romania. After the nationalization of the main inputs (11th of June 1948) in the socialist era the station became a sub-unit of different state departments. After 1990, the hydroelectric power station built with the citizens’ money returned into the possession of the city administration. It was kept in good conditions, the 100-year old installations still work today, the machines’ hall was beautifully renovated and the building that houses the command mechanisms for the weirs was restored following the original model in an exemplary manner. The hydroelectric power station – „The Turbins” from Timişoara/Temesvár – is a working technical monument, an extremely valuable sample of industrial archaeology.

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Gothic in Călata. A Legacy in the History of Technology
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Gothic in Călata. A Legacy in the History of Technology

Technikatörténeti örökség Kalotaszegen a gótika árnyékában

Author(s): Enikő Bitay,László Márton,János Talpas / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: technical history; local history; Transylvania; bells; horologe; church architecture; gothic art

Călata, an area with particular history and folklore, generated a specific, unmistakable architectural style, used especially in the construction of churches. Combining in harmony the Transylvanian tradition of the style and techniques used in the construction of the fortified Saxon churches, those of the Orthodox churches made of wood and of folk architecture in the area, the Călata style refers to churches with slim towers and shingle roofs. Most of these religious buildings, characterized by a perfect harmony of their proportions, most of them built in the Romanesque style and located on the most visible sites of the settlements, represent, even today, the attachment of the inhabitants to spiritual continuity and their homeland in the area of Călata.Five churches, built during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, stand out among the complex of such buildings in Călata through the fact that they share a series of architectural elements typical for the late Gothic style, with elements characteristic for the Transylvanian Gothic, with roots leading towards a beginning called the Cârþa Context. It was a puritan Gothic style created in the thirteenth century at the foot of the Southern Carpathians, in the settlement of Cârþa, in Sibiu County. The first Gothic church was built there. The style had been brought by the Cistercian monks in their expansion towards Eastern Europe. The first churches in the south and center of Transylvania were built following the style and building technique employed in the erection of the monastic architectural complex in Cârþa. Prejmer, Hărman, Braºov, Bistriþa and Cluj were the settlements adopting these rules in the building of their own churches.Abandoning the specificities of the Romanesque style, with its robust semicircular arcades, and employing a well-known, traditional building technology, people promoted the newdaring style,with tallwindows, full of light, ending in ogees, decorated with sculpted stone rails. It had ogee-shaped inner vaults, supported by profiled ribs ending in sculpted stone corbels embedded in the church walls and rows of slender pillars.The new style reached Călata later, towards the middle of the fifteenth century.Elements of this style were used in some churches, adapted to the architectural con ditions and dimensions of the existing churches in the area. Five such buildings were extended according to the Gothic architectural style, namely those in Huedin, Mănăstireni, Văleni, Căpuºu Mic, and Dorolþu.The first part of the present book consists of a comparative analysis of these five churches, focusing on the presence of Gothic elements and their preponderance in the complex of the respective edifices. The windows, gates, consolidations with buttresses, ogee vaults, and other stylistic elements are compared, aiming at determining, as much as possible, the motivation of those who promoted the new architectural style in this region.The second part of the book continues the research, from the point of view of the history of technology, with the other three Gothic churches, the ones in Văleni and Mănăstireni being presented in detail in two individual volumes recently published. Archive research and investigations have been performed, but on site measurements predominate. The construction, employed techniques, and stylistic elementsof the three churches, in Huedin, Căpuºu Mic, and Dorolþu were the aim of repeated field trips, measurements, and analyses.The bells in the towers of these three churches are another topic of interest in the present research. The history of these bells and of those preceding them, the circumstances leading to the disappearance of some medieval bells from these towers offer, not only to the authors but also to the reader, a true foray in the past of a craft considered up to the present day a top profession.The nineteenth century clocks placed in three of the five churches under discussion, have been, at the time they were bought, peak accomplishments of technology. The fact that these settlements managed to own clocks indicates that there was a social demand for their installation and there were significant financial resources at hand. The research includes the analysis of the kinematical scheme of these clock mechanisms and a comparison of their stylistic, technical, and technological elements in order to establish their origin.Three churches are thus analyzed in more detail in the present book, but the Gothic elements of the churches in Mănăstireni and Văleni are also presented succinctly for those readers who do not possess the first two volumes of the series which detail the history of technology researches related to the above mentioned settlements.The present volume ends a series of researches in the region of Călata. The three volumes related to the history of technology can be considered as opening new lines of research in the field and for other geographical areas.

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Károly Kós Engineer of the Art of Wrought Iron Forms
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Károly Kós Engineer of the Art of Wrought Iron Forms

Kós Károly, a művészi kovácsoltvas formatervezője

Author(s): László Márton / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: technical history; local history; Transylvania; stone cutter; stone maison; wrought forms;

Engineering and creative work of the architect, writer, illustrator, and politician Károly Kós, is analyzed by extensive studies. Spirituality and creativity of Károly Kós, which in all their details are Transylvanians and they are also components of general culture. The architecture of Kós is an essential art, because all its elements, including ornamentation have a central tendency, harmony.In his ornamentation revives the forms of folk art, used in wood carvings, tiles, embroideries of the Szeklerland and Nagykalota regions according to the requirements of material usage.Humans have been using for even over five millennia. In the Middle Ages, the artistic wrought iron used in the structure of European cathedrals is found both in outdoor and indoor spaces. Wrought ironing as an architectural increase, like any other artistic product, reflects the spirituality artistic eras in which it was created.The beginnings of wrought iron use as an architectural ornament relates to the early year of the second millennium, with roots in ancient Greek and Roman era. During the Early Middle Ages, in the Byzantine Christian architecture, this legacy was transposed in a new style, called romantic style.In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, due to some profound changes a new direction; a new style appeared in architecture, named Gothic. Paintings in the form of semicircular paintings are replaced by broken arch paintings, pointed arch. The changes in construction entail also changes in wrought iron design.In the twelfth century began a radical change in forging ironing due to the use of increasingly large scale water wheel. Heavy hammers of forging workshops are driven by the energy of water wheels.In the fifteenth century, in Italy appears a new artistic trend, the Renaissance. Ancient architectural traditions are found without being copied, and are developed with elements unused by the time. In Transylvania existed all of these conditions as a new style of architecture, to take root and spread rapidly. The art of wrought ironing keeps up with the new architectural style and in the same time creates a characteristically language of expression, in accordance with the architecture.The Renaissance style and the art of wrought ironing as a component of constitutive architecture of the centuries goes in parallel with the past, with a gothic style, but also with the next one, named the Baroque.From an architectural point of view, the era recorded by the history of art is Baroque.The rigorous regular forms, characteristic of Renaissance are followed by irregular style, recorded in the art history as the Baroque style.Nineteenth century is the century in which wrought ironing reached its peak. At the beginning, it could be seen different ways of searching in tradition, inheritance of this art. New styles have arise with an ephemerally lifetime such as empire, romanticism, historizmus, neo-rebirth, neo-baroque, with the respective adherents.As they appear, these styles disappear or remain only as the art of curiosities. Everything happens as a result of industrial development, industrialism, which determines new values and new standard requirements. Art of wrought ironing is to be dominated by commercial elements also creation of this domain is to be limited to single joints.In the second half, of the nineteenth century appears a new style of art, which strongly manifested in architecture and opposes all of the current artists. This trend is secession that is art nouveau. Renounces of the ancient forms are to be followed the model are to be found also in Japanese art and uses ornaments of folk art. Secession as a modern architectural style carries out this recent aesthetic by merging elements of folk art and with Japanese art symbolizes them especially in architecture. Also in the nineteenth century is developing more powerful, the necessity of creating an architectural line, which apart from the current fashion highlights the local national character. The challenges take concrete form in the twentieth century.Historical architectural styles were quickly separated from their place of birth, spreading throughout Europe. National style is the biggest challenge for architects. Since college years, Károly Kós seeks for his path to pursue a career and to be able to create a style of his own. In his architecture dominates large areas, simple, smooth without ornaments. The dimensional proportions of doors and windows, exterior or interior rails of the buildings grids are inseparable parts of the building and make a unique architectural ensemble, specific to the creator. Specific architectural language of the artist opened a way that can be recognized unmistakably without any doubts, over and over again.In Transylvania, the association that gathers craftsmen is guild. In the cities of Fãgãraº, Târgu Mureº, Odorheiu Secuiesc, Miercurea Ciuc, Turda and Aiud are powerfully organizations of guild (strong guild organizations). Here are also included blacksmiths, locksmiths, who deals with wrought iron. During Transylvanian principalities a large number of craftsmen, blacksmiths and locksmiths settled in Sibiu, Braºov, Mediaº, Cluj, Sebeº, Orãºtie. Through their work, these cities have become true centers of wrought iron art. In the nineteenth century it is almost inconceivable that a public building has not got iron elements. Palaces, churches, cathedrals, used increasingly the pieces of wrought iron as the parts of the buildings. Their variety is overwhelming, but even in the twentieth century, the searches, and the experiments in that domain characterize the entire activity.The foundation of our popular medieval art and the architecture, it is our national folk art, said Károly Kós. This actual statement led his whole young life. He declared, that folk art is an organic unity with its creator, the people. Only some people are able to create only spiritually united with the people, the artist can create his own artistic language. He advocates that, Transylvanian folk art is rooted in medieval art.Western European art is to be appeared in Transylvanian, after going through a specific change and became part of the Transylvanian culture and civilization. It is noticed that the carved stones metal objects in for general use have the ornamentation elements of folk art. Therefore, his work can be seen all of the popular ornamentation belongs. All of his works are rustic simplicity, but this simplicity doesn’t reduce its artistic value. Wrought ornate, hinges, handles and shields of them are unique creations, unique buildings to be found.In the field of architecture his activity and philosophy are linked to the spirituality and current architectural of the British architects like John Ruskin, William Morris and Finnish architect Akseli Gallen Kellela. He is an artist, a craftsman and in the same time competent of processing iron. In the design he takes into account these properties of iron.He starts working as an architect in Hungary. Here is he establishing the first project of public buildings, such as the Budapest Zoo Pavilions, the Church in Zebegény, the Parish and prayer house in Óbuda. The District of Veker and the School on Városmajor Street in Budapest, form an architectural unit. Each building is unique in the way in his unmistakable style. Each design is a complete wrought iron work, each element is perfectly lined with the work, which is actually a whole.A feature of his personality is the fact that the projects implemented by Kós are very detailed, with precise construction details. The rustic simplicity, decorative elements of folk art inspired ornamentation features are only summaries of his work. Besides the aspects inspired by folklore, his whole creation has a tendency to evoke a long-forgotten Middle Ages.Handles made of wrought iron are also decorated with motifs taken and processed their own style of the popular art of C?lata and Szeklerland area. Wrought wire handles, shields perfectly match door handles or colonnade of solid oak, with the actually building.In his wanderings in Transylvania he was able to study many relics of medieval construction. Gothic fittings loaded prevailing entire surface of the door has inspired artists in their own style training in the art of wrought iron. The hardware designed by the artist is much simpler, and, at the same time, maintaining the assurance characteristic of safeness and durability. From the house of Stana the hardware shutters are a typical example of rustic hardware.Rails of grids were designed to have dual functionality. On the one hand these provide space limitation function, and on the other hand it embroiders. These gratings are distinguished from any other style through their decorative elements. Birds, stars, flowers, are elements of popular ornamentation.Today, the wrought iron art can have a new revival. Materials are diverse, there are specializations at all levels of education, and there is a model to follow. Creativity of those who practice the wrought iron art today has to meet the customer’s requirements. And only then a productive way will be found, that can benefit everyone.

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Chidea - a Village Carved in Stone
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Chidea - a Village Carved in Stone

Kide, a kőből épült település

Author(s): Enikő Bitay,László Márton,Tibor Sándor Nagy,János Talpas / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: technical history; local history; Transylvania; bells; horologe; church; Chidea

The present book is a result of intensive research conducted by the members of the section of technical sciences of the Transylvanian Museum Society. It is the 8th volume of a series, which focuses on the technical history of a small settlement, Chidea.With a history of more than 800 years, Chidea is one of the places where the number of inhabitants is continuously decreasing. The number of people living there used to be close to 800, nowadays there are not more than 140 inhabitants who have permanent residence in the village.Chidea is located in Cluj county, in the valley of the Chidea creek, one of the branches of the Borsa stream. The origin of the name of the village is unknown, it might come from one of the noble men once ruling in the Dabaca region. The first written document mentioning the name of the village, spelled Kyde dates back to 1332, it is a certificate that proves ownership.In the 13th century, the years of the tartar invasion, the fortress of Dabaca and the settlement of Chidea were partially destroyed and the population that couldn't take refuge, was killed.After the withdrawal of the tartars, life went on its course, and the village was trying to recover. To overcome the severe lack of population following the tartars' atrocities, a few dozens of families were brought to the village from the Eastern Region of Transylvania (Hungarian people called Székely) and they took over the defence of the fortress of Dabaca.In Chidea and in its region people have developed a specific craft of shaping the local volcanic (tuff) rock. This rock is relatively easy to work with, and it can be used as building material. Almost everything in Chidea - houses, side buildings (barns, store rooms, warehouses, stables) and even fences have been built of this carved stone.The diverse usage of the stone brought a good name to the local builders and masons who were esteemed even outside the borders of the settlement, throughout Transylvania.Education in the village dates back to the 18th century. Schools were run and supervised either by the state or by the church. Today, after more than 200 years of continuous activity, there isn't any school in the village, owing to the lack of children. The state owned school building was gradually deteriorating, which led to its demolition in the end.In terms of religion, the people from Chidea belong to five denominations. The majority of the population are Reformed, followed by Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Unitarians and Neo-protestants. There are very few parishioners, however each denomination has its own church, or a house of worship. The oldest is the Reformed church, first used by Catholics, then in the 16th century, the period of Reformation - by different protestant denominations. The church was built by the Roman Catholics, as it used to be the religion of the inhabitants in the period.The church was built after 1241, the first tartar invasion, when the previous building was destroyed. The first church of the village was supposedly built about a century before the tartars came.Throughout the years, the church was renovated, repaired and extended several times; the present steeple was raised in the 19th century. Due to some architectural components it is categorized as a medieval church, built in late Gothic style with some Romanesque elements. It is the oldest church in the area.The Orthodox, former Greek Catholic church is built of wood and could be seen as a gem of popular architecture. The church was initially built in a different location, and was pulled on sled to its present place. The church was built at the end of the 18th century.The Unitarian church was built in the 18th century, and the Roman Catholic in the 19th century.The four churches have two bells each, located in the steeples. The oldest of the eight bells is the one in the Reformed church, the so-called Polish bell. According to its inscription, this bell was cast in a town in Poland in 1560 and it was brought (for reasons unknown) to Chidea by Polish refugees, probably after Poland was divided in the 18th and 19th centuries.In the steeple of the Reformed church one can also see a clock, built in 1896 by Szabó József, the mechanic of the Baron Bánffy Ernő from Borsa. The clocks in Borsa and Cristorel - in the valley of Borsa - are also his works. Each clock was engraved with his name and the year of manufacturing. Out of these three, only the one in Chidea is still functional.The mechanic, who made these clocks used innovational techniques in the procedure. Thus he used a pinwheel escapement instead of the Clements regulator, which has a series of advantages in the assembly process. Another peculiarity of the clock is that it uses a snail wheel in the kinematic chain of the clock in order to reduce the number of the cylindrical gearwheels.Another name, the name of the stone carving master Sipos Dávid should also be mentioned. He worked here in Chidea, thus contributing to the fame of the village.He was a true artist with a peculiar choice of ornamental elements, unique in the art of stone carving in Transylvania. Even if his works are singular, they belong to the late Transylvanian Renaissance.His works are found in two of the churches in Chidea, namely a stone carved pulpit in the Roman Catholic church, and a liturgical table in the Orthodox church.There are also stone pulpits presumably from his workshop or disciples in the Unitarian and Reformed churches. This master has carved more than 20 pulpits throughout Transylvania, and also noble coats of arms, emblems, tombstones, door and window arch-ornaments in Cluj, Gherla, etc.In the present book one can read a description of the mill that probably belonged to the writer Nyírő József, a Catholic priest, who - assigned to Chidea - suspended his ministry and worked as the miller of the community for a short while. In the same chapter, one can also read about the manual grounding machines used by the locals for grinding the grains for their animals. It is an important detail that these grinders are handcrafted here in the village, from a rougher type of the same tuff stone, found also nearby.According to its subject the present book could be classified as a work of technical history. In result of the research conducted in the field, the exploration of archive material, and the study of the specific literature we have a more complex image of the village than historians, archaeologists, art historians have formed so far. One could get a full picture of the culture and civilisation of the region only by analysing its diverse complexity.

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Educational Institutions and Schoolage Populati on in Transylvania between 1919 and 1948
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Educational Institutions and Schoolage Populati on in Transylvania between 1919 and 1948

Oktatási intézményrendszer és diákpopuláció Erdélyben 1918–1948 között

Author(s): Attila Gidó / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: educational institutions; Transylvania; XXth Century; the period between the two world wars; statistics ofstudents

Our analysis presents the changes in the Transylvanian educational institutions and in the number of their students, according to levels of education, school types and the maintainers of the schools. The available statistics are incomplete and this did not allow us to make an exhaustive and complete presentation of the development of public education in the region. Nevertheless, we can more or less reconstruct the main characteristics of the education market and of the institutions of the educational system between 1918 and 1948 based on the data presented in our paper.On the territories annexed to Romania after World War I, and especially in the parts gained from Hungary, state schools were established in a higher rate than the national average, either through the nationalisation of institutions of Hungarian language or through the construction of new schools. The large-scale developments in infrastructure had two reasons. The first reason was to consolidate the position of the Romanian population living in the newly acquired territories as opposed to Hungarians and Germans and to the denominational schools run by minorities.The other reason was the changed role of the state in the public education. Prior to 1918 in Transylvania, in line with the practice of Hungary, educational institutions were primarily maintained by denominations, while in Romania the role of the denominations was insignificant in this respect. Thus, the Romanian state basically aimed at implementing its existing school policy also on the newly acquired territories.All these resulted in the fact that while in the 1920/1921 school year only 32.7% of the primary schools were functioning in Transylvania were maintained by the state or by the communities, by 1928/1929 this proportion jumped to 77.8%.This switch in proportion can also be observed in case of lyceums and upper girls’schools, although to a smaller degree.The data on Romanian students already indicate the effects of school policy of the Romanian Government. Prior to 1918 in Romania – thanks to the reforms of public education minister Spiru Haret –heavy emphasis was placed on practical education. This approach made its way to Transylvania, and resulted in the increased proportion of Romanian students in trade, vocational and housekeeping schools which exceeded by far the proportion of the minorities. Further factors also contributed to this: vocational schools were maintained by the state and the language of instruction in these schools was Romanian. The fact that these types of institutions were accessible for the Romanian population living mainly in rural areas is not incidental either.The proportion of Romanian students was dominant also in teacher training schools, which ensured the supply of pedagogues who were meant to fulfill the need for teachers of the expanded primary school system. Commercial schools and lyceums were also maintained primarily by the state, and this was also visible in the proportion of Romanian students. Consequently, these institutions not only ensured the closing-up of the educational gap between the Romanian population and the minorities but also established the basis of the ethnic elite change (Romanians were employed in state offices, cultural apparatus, and as professional intelligentsia).Higher education essentially mirrored the situation of secondary schools. In the case of Romanians and Jews we can again observe the overschooling, with the notable difference that in the case of Jewish students there was a decreasing tendency while in the case of Romanian students there was a continuous increase. In the period between the two world wars the supply for new generations of intelligentsia for the minorities slowed down and did not meet the societal demands.On the other hand, the number of Romanian graduates increased as a result of the “Romanianisation” of secondary schools with Matura and increased the numberof students enrolled in universities.The evolution of the Transylvanian educational system and that of the educational market were defined all along by the state policies (the elite formation strategies and the ethnic policies).

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Here is the final altar of Pallas. Transylvanian Scientific Institutions at the end of the 18th Century
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Here is the final altar of Pallas. Transylvanian Scientific Institutions at the end of the 18th Century

"Itt van a` legvégső óltára Pallásnak". Az Erdélyi Kéziratkiadó Társaság és az Erdélyi Magyar Nyelvmívelő Társaság története

Author(s): Péter Dávid / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: Scientific Institutions; Transylvania; 18th Century;

This work shows how the 18th century scientific societies were established in Transylvania. Furthermore, it deals with the aims, the works, the ideology and the texts written by these societies. My thesis introduces how it was possible in Transylvania to find this type of societies with the support of the then-governor of Transylvania, György Bánffy. These institutions had the chance to be self-led, which was very strange at that time, given that there weren’t any similar institutions in Hungary.The first chapter of my thesis deals with the political situation of Transylvania in the 1790s and also with the diets that gathered at that time. The reason for this is that these diets bring forward the main issues of the whole Transylvanian society providing the context for the scientific societies’ purpose. This part of the dissertation highlights some political questions which were negotiated in the diet. Later these issues gave topics to the Manuscript Publishing Society and the Language Protective Society as well. One of the crucial questions is the relations of Transylvania with Hungary and Austria. There were some opinions at the diet of 1790–91 – using the chaotic situation after the death of Joseph II – which reinterpreted the relations between Vienna and Buda, Vienna and Cluj and also Buda and Cluj. A part of the thesis aims at analysing the relationship between the three countries based on some Transylvanian leaflets.At the 1790s diets there were both innovative and conservative ideas. The conservative ideas came from the Szeklers and the Saxons who were against paying taxes and joining the military. They also wanted to have their old privileges restored.This was the period when the Romanians first appeared on the Transylvanian political stage. They handed in the Supplex Libellus Valachorum which required privileges for the Romanian nation also referring to their ancient rights. The Supplex Libellus Valachorum would have given wider political rights and religious freedom to the Romanians if it had been accepted. Unlike the Romanians, the Armenians were successful. The cities of Szamosújvár and Ebesfalva handed in a petition to the diet to give them the right of becoming free royal cities. The question of nationalities inside Transylvania was a crucial problem outside the diets as well. This work shows how the 18th century scientific societies were established in Transylvania. Furthermore, it deals with the aims, the works, the ideology and the texts written by these societies. My thesis introduces how it was possible in Transylvania to find this type of societies with the support of the then-governor of Transylvania, György Bánffy. These institutions had the chance to be self-led, which was very strange at that time, given that there weren’t any similar institutions in Hungary.The first chapter of my thesis deals with the political situation of Transylvania in the 1790s and also with the diets that gathered at that time. The reason for this is that these diets bring forward the main issues of the whole Transylvanian society providing the context for the scientific societies’ purpose. This part of the dissertation highlights some political questions which were negotiated in the diet. Later these issues gave topics to the Manuscript Publishing Society and the Language Protective Society as well. One of the crucial questions is the relations of Transylvania with Hungary and Austria. There were some opinions at the diet of 1790–91 – using the chaotic situation after the death of Joseph II – which reinterpreted the relations between Vienna and Buda, Vienna and Cluj and also Buda and Cluj. A part of the thesis aims at analysing the relationship between the three countries based on some Transylvanian leaflets. At the 1790s diets there were both innovative and conservative ideas. The conservative ideas came from the Szeklers and the Saxons who were against paying taxes and joining the military. They also wanted to have their old privileges restored.This was the period when the Romanians first appeared on the Transylvanian political stage. They handed in the Supplex Libellus Valachorum which required privileges for the Romanian nation also referring to their ancient rights. The Supplex Libellus Valachorum would have given wider political rights and religious freedom to the Romanians if it had been accepted. Unlike the Romanians, the Armenians were successful. The cities of Szamosújvár and Ebesfalva handed in a petition to the diet to give them the right of becoming free royal cities. The question of nationalities inside Transylvania was a crucial problem outside the diets as well. Famous Transylvanian historians and the members of the Language Protective Society will work on this topic.From the reports of the diets, leaflets, petitions and private letters emerges a very colourful Transylvania, with several religious cults, nationalities and political ideologies. Among these, Governor György Bánffy, tried to create a “unified Transylvania”. Bánffy’s idea is based on the Transylvanian traditions and laws. That is why Bánffy’s programme became Transylvania’s official ideology. The main argument for his theory is that it may have succeded in controlling the contrasts between the multiple nationalities and religions. Bánffy’s aim is to reach peace among the nationalities by trying to reach a network of compromises. The scientific institutions, which are supported by Bánffy, will use the same ideology in their texts. The second chapter of my dissertation deals with the Manuscript PublishingSociety. It follows the tradition of those treatises which have been written about this topic earlier. It centers on the description of the structure and the aims of the institution. This chapter has two significant results. On one hand, it interprets manuscripts which have never been analysed before. On the other hand, it deals with the paratexts of Schesaeus-epic, published by the society. From these texts we can extract elements of the “unified Transylvania” ideology.The third chapter is about the Transylvanian Language Protective Society. I start the description with the analysis of György Aranka’s leaflets and the problem of the Hungarian official language. Based on these leaflets we can discover the main aim of the society: to develop the Hungarian language and to make its use possible in both political and legal communication. Moreover, its objective was to spread it among the different nationalities that live in the country. The chapter also figures out why the researchers and politicians considered this theory possible. This chapter describes the structure of the society, the changes it went through and its most important members. It differentiates the institutions, firstly from a circle of friends who gathered in 1803, secondly, from a scientific society which was founded and supported by Farkas Cserey in 1806. And thirdly, it intends to separate the Language Protective Society from the group which gathered in 1818, leaded by Gábor Döbrentei. This segment studies the Aranka-correspondence as the primary source for revealing the relationship among the members of the society.In addition, it analyses the reports of the societies in order to discover the facts that caused some changes in the structure of the institution, dividing its work into six periods. This chapter also analyses the “colourful” publication of the institution called The First Work of the Hungarian Language Protective Society. The aim of this book was to show that Hungarian language is appropriate for assembling several types of writing (e.g.: review, comical poems or odes).With the help of new sources, my paper tries to explain the reasons which led to the end of the Language Protective Society’s work in 1801. The last chapter of the thesis is about two texts in which the members of the Language Protective Society were extremely interested. These texts are the following: the Szekler Chronicle of Csík and a description of Transylvania which used the Szekler Chronicle of Csík. This description was compiled as a response against August Ludwig Schlözer’s Kritische Sammlungen. From the analysis of these works it turns out that the Language Protective Society also followed the theory of the “unified Transylvania” and tried to create representative documents that show the Hungarian as an appropriate language for legal, political or scientific communication. The description of Transylvania, which was written for thise purpose, defines the situation of the Hungarian, Szeklers and Saxon nationalities on the basis of traditional historical view. Using the Szekler Chronicle of Csík it considers the Szeklers to be the aboriginals of Transylvania who even helped the Hungarians to find their new homeland in the 890s. Another innovation of this description is that it also regards the Romanian nationality as residents of Transylvania.In the last part of the third chapter readers can get acquainted with the societies which were formed later and which tried to pose as successors of the Language Protective Society. Although these societies and their texts were created on the basis of other political ideologies, they aimed to inherit the support and the collection of their predecessor. They wanted to define themselves as the pursuers of the work of the late 18th century society. However, they wanted to hide the idea of the “unified Transylvania” which was very significant in the life of the Language Protective Society.

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The History of the Collection of Coins and Antiques of the Transylvanian Museum Society
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The History of the Collection of Coins and Antiques of the Transylvanian Museum Society

Az Erdélyi Nemzeti Múzeum Érem- és Régiségtárának története

Author(s): Béla Pósta / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: Collection of Coins and Antiques; 19-th Century; manuscript ;

The present volume is a delayed edition of a manuscript which was born one hundred years ago, on the Collection of Coins and Antiques of the Transylvanian Museum Society (TMS).Founded in 1859, the TMS was conceived as a replica of the Transylvanian Hungarian society against the neo-absolutist regime, established following the defeat of the Hungarian revolution and fighting for freedom of 1848–1849. Its objective was the salvation, conveyance to the public and scientific analysis of natural and inherited man-made treasures. This noble intention was marked by the establishment of a library, a natural collection, and also a collection of coins and antiques.On the fiftieth anniversary of the TMS, Béla Pósta, professor at the archaeology department of the university and also the manager of the collection of coins and antiques, was asked to present the history and background of the collection he was entrusted with. The invitation was sent at the beginning of 1909 and a year later the manuscript, together with its addenda, was ready to be printed. The publication did not take place however, initially because of a lack of funds and later because of the start of WWI and the political changes that followed this. The manuscript was recently discovered in the archives of the TMS and brought to the attention of those who were interested by Professor Csetri Elek. Although delayed, the publication of the manuscript is motivated by the fact that it is the most comprehensive presentation of the collection and is therefore a reference work for those who are going to come into contact with the past of the museum movement of Cluj and of Transylvania.The history of the collection, which takes up more than half the manuscript, is divided into three shorter periods. Although the initial offers and donations arrived later, the first period (1862–1872) is calculated from the time when Henrik Finály was elected custodian of the collection of coins and antiques; he was charged with organising the collection, which in the meantime became independent. The 25 year long second period, which lasted from 1872 to 1898, was dominated by the takeover of the management of the collection by the recently established university, though this did not compromise the TMS’s ownership of the collection. From that moment on, the pieces of the collection were used in the educational process as well as in obtaining new sources of income, which were used to enrich the collection.The re-housing of the collection, caused by the start of construction work on the ornate new university building, and the death of Finály in 1898 threatened the double collection with a Cinderella-like destiny, but the third period, the next 10 years (1899–1909), which began with the appointment of Pósta, marked the renaissance of the collection. This was a decade of growth and spiritual excitement, its benefits increased vertiginously in the next five years, until the start of WWI. The second half of the manuscript is richly illustrated and presents the objects of the collection in historical order and also catalogues them according to where they came from. Among the acquisitions of the Finály period a number of pieces stand out; the Zsófia Torma collection from Turdaş followed by the Greek helmet discovered at Uioara, the Roman funeral statue (mother and child) from Potaissa, appendages from the princely tomb (Omharus) in Apahida and Albert Bíró’s collection of majolica. During the Pósta period the collection grew constantly by buying valuable new objects (the little bronze statue of Venus from Potaissa, tankards, the altars from Jimbor and Guşteriţa and oriental carpets), and thanks to donations and deposits (vestments and paintings by Hungarian contemporary artists).However, thanks of their scientific value, the most important additions were the acquisitions that came from the archaeological excavations initiated by the new curator (at Iclod, Balsa and Sântana de Mureş), as well by ethnographic collections (fishermen’s tools, embroideries). Among the most recent acquisitions the manuscript mentions are the bronze finds from Uioara, bought in 1909, and the contents of the tombs which came from the migration era cemeteries of Târgu Mureş, excavated in 1909–1910. The Egyptian mummy, which was received in December 1909, was omitted from the list, perhaps because it was not possible to include it with the monuments of Transylvanian history, the basis of the collection. It is clear that the discoveries made in 1910–1911 at the Turdaş, Valea Nandrului, Cioclovina and Cluj excavations, and which substantially modified knowledge of the Paleolithic and Neolithic in Transylvania, and also the period of the Hungarian establishment, remained out of the presentation.The description of the coin collection is missing from the manuscript. István Kovács, Pósta’s disciple, was asked to write this since he was assigned to supervise the collection. The title of the mentioned study appears in a contemporary enumeration of his speciality works, but only an extract of it was published, being the introduction of an article in which is described the jubilee plaque of the TMS. The original manuscript did not come down to us.In the present publication, in the annex of Pósta’s work, one can find Kovács’s article, and thus the reader can get a fairly accurate image of the double collection a hundred years ago. A second annex offers another unpublished manuscript by Pósta, which has the text of the conference dedicated to the presentation of the above mentioned plaque. Most of the pictures are publications of the images selected by Pósta, though a few missing photographs were replaced from other sources. Included in this category is a published image of the plaque, as well as two photographs of some pages from the manuscript dedicated to the double collection.The original manuscripts, and also most of the pictures in the present publication, are in the National Archives, Cluj County Department. After the dissolu tion of the TMS, at the start of the communist regime, its collections were taken to different state run museums in Cluj, but the most valuable pieces were taken to Bucharest. Following the collapse of the dictatorial regime, the Transylvanian Museum Society is still waiting for the restitution of those spiritual items it was deprived of in dark times.

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Language Contact Issues in the Hungarian Spoken in Transylvania
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Language Contact Issues in the Hungarian Spoken in Transylvania

Kontaktusjelenségek az erdély magyar nyelvváltozatokban

Author(s): Attila Benő / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: Hungarian language; foreign words; surnames; toponyms;

The book is a monograph on the sociolinguistic and contactological phenomena in the Hungarian language variants used in Transylvania (Romania). The work integrates the previous researches in the field and shows the new results of direct and indirect contact processes analysis based on recent empirical surveys. The means of foreign words’ integration and phrases are particularly emphasized. Romanian, as a state language, has a considerable effect on the Hungarian language variants in Transylvania. This process is structurally analyzed at different levels from morphology to syntax. The influence of English on Hungarian is also discussed in several chapters.The lexical and lexicographic sources for the research are the recognized dictionaries for Hungarian (for example: A magyar nyelvjárások román kölcsönszavai [Lexical Borrowings of Romanian Origin in Hungarian Dialects]) and recent lexical databases (Termini Online Dictionary). The description of the contactological processes also uses the findings of recent MA and PhD dissertations written at Hungarian Linguistic Department (Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj/Kolozsvár). The sociolinguistic observations also make use of the representative survey conducted by the Institute for National Minorities Studies (Cluj / Kolozsvár) in 2009. The description of lexical borrowings also covers proper names, such as surnames and toponyms. The borrowings of proper names are presented both from diachronic and synchronic approach, making use of the new database as the Database of Hungarian Surnames (ed. Vörös Ferenc).The book’s observations and conclusions can be useful both in the description of present-day Hungarian as well as in the language’s planning and policy.

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A Fragment of a Register from the Aradian Chapter (1504–1518)
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A Fragment of a Register from the Aradian Chapter (1504–1518)

Az aradi káptalan jegyzőkönyvtöredéke (1504-1518)

Author(s): Emőke Gálfi / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: history; regesta; middle age; archive

Beginning with the end of the twelfth century, the most important cathedral and collegiate chapters had undertaken the task of compiling charters and diplomas concerning private legal transactions. During the middle ages the collegiate chapter from Arad was an important “place of authentication” in the southern part of the Hungarian kingdom. This institution was destroyed by the Turkish army in 1552.The archives of the chapter, which preserved the copies of diplomas issued usually in the form of volumes (protocolla), had been transported to Transylvania between 1556 and 1563 and were lodged in the archives of the cathedral chapter in Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia). Here, it was the task of the requisitors (“letter searchers”) of the secularized chapter to guard the remained registres from Arad. János Laskay, a humanist requisitor from Gyulafehérvár, wrote a preface to one of these volumes in 1580. This text and a few fragments from the register are the only remains of these archives. The volume begins with an introductory study about the life and activity of János Laskay and the charter-issuing activity of the place of authentication from Arad. The introduction is followed by the transcribed latin preface written by Laskay, which focuses on the role of the places of authentication as archives. The volume continues with the Hungarian abstracts (regesta) of the charters preserved in the medieval register and a list of the canons from this period. The Hungarian regesta contains among the juridical transaction all the important historical data, all the names (denomination of places and persons) and other details which could be useful for farther historical research.The index includes every personal name and all the toponyms, but it is also a register of subjects.

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From Hiisi’s Elk to the Wonderdeer
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From Hiisi’s Elk to the Wonderdeer

Hiisi szarvasától a csodaszarvasig: a Kalevala magyar fordításai

Author(s): P. Ildikó Varga / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: Kalevala; translation; comparative study

The Finnish epic Kalevala has been translated into Hungarian five times in the time span of over a century, as follows (in chronological order, mentioning the names of the authors): Ferdinánd Barna 1871, Béla Vikár 1909, Nagy Kálmán 1972, István Rácz 1976, and Imre Szente 1987. Fragments of the epic were translated by Antal Reguly, Pál Hunfalvy and István Fábián in the 19th century, as well as by Géza Képes and Domokos Varga in the 20th century. In my book I am going to deal only with the complete translations. The choice of my topic was mainly motivated by the absence in Hungarian Kalevala research and literature of studies focusing on the comparative study and analysis of the translations of the epic employing a translation studies framework.The aim of this book is to locate these Hungarian texts in the Hungarian literary polysystem through a comparative study of the five complete Hungarian translations, investigating these translations both linguistically and in their cultural historical context.The present analysis uses Itamar Even-Zohar’s polysystemic theory, further developed by Gideon Toury´s Descriptive Translation Studies, and by José Lambert and André Lefevere´s works as well.The two literary systems I am dealing with, the Hungarian and the Finnish, occupy a peripheric position in the (Western)European macrosystem, the main reason being the “isolation” of the two languages in (Western)Europe. Both are Finno-Ugric languages, and this fact leads further than the simple scheme of “two kindred languages”; in different ages it is the attitude towards each other based on the affinity of languages that determines the mode of the approach to translations.The analysis is based on the relations that may have influence on the reception of the translations: the context in which the source text and the target texts were born (the strategies followed by Lönnrot, the compiler/author and by the Hungarian translators in the creation of the texts) and the critics. This is followed by the comparative analysis of the source and target texts, examining the translators’ solutions regarding the form of the epic: rhythm, metre, schemes (alliteration, parallelism) and the translators’ interpretation of the text as regards the Kalevala as original myth, as well as the emphasis laid on the transmission of tradition from one generation to the other and on popular motives and features. I introduced the notion of a “Finno-Ugric network” as a main means of constructing an individual character.The network itself implies the existence of text systems (all texts written in a Finno-Ugric language) and of a conceptual grid (a tool of identification, it concentrates on similarities that may be necessary for its creation, as well on differences emphasizing those “alterities” that differentiate the Finno-Ugric network from the concepts determined by the Western network).The study revealed that the existence of the Finno-Ugric network was crucial in the reception of the first two Hungarian translations. The intentions of Ferdinánd Barna were to fill in the gap generated by the absence of a national epic from the Hungarian literary system, under the flag of Finno-Ugric affinity. He tried to show how a major Hungarian national epic could be created using poetic means borrowed from the Finnish epic. This attempt failed for several reasons. First, the cultural centre in Hungary at the end of the 19th century did not consider the epic poem to be an adequate genre for a major national epic work. Second, the translator was inconsequential by sustaining the conceptual grid only in the Notes-part of the edition and also having the idea to reconstruct a Finno-Ugric mythology. The second translator, Béla Vikár, saw the Kalevala as a genre pattern and as a starting point for tracking down a Finno-Ugric mythology that could serve as a basis for a conceptual grid, but without the idea of reconstructing this mythology.The success of Vikár’s translation in the 1930s and the following years was due to the joint effect of several factors. Vikár combined in his text archaistic language with a dialectical one and used a domesticating strategy regarding the formal solutions, translating or transcribing Finnish names into Hungarian and adapting the Kalevala-metre and rhythm to Hungarian accentual verse of 4/4 rhythm with end rhyme. With a sense for the literary politics of his age the translator chose Dezső Kosztolányi, a well-known poet in the centre of the literary system, to write an introductory essay for the 1935 edition of his translation at the time of the Finno-Ugric movement, where personal and semi-official Hungarian–Finnish relations turned into official relations. The cult towards the translator also had a key-role in the succes of the translation and in gaining a central position in the Hungarian polysytem.The situation started to change in the 50s along with the change of paradigm in translation studies. Instead of domestication the maintenance of the foreign sonority, for example through formal solutions, was considered acceptable. Archaistic and dialectical language was also criticized.The first re-translation, Kálmán Nagy’s, uses the common Hungarian idiom of the 70s. The translator’s person led to an ambivalent reception for this work. As a Romanian Hungarian he was unknown to critics in Hungary, and his early death, which preceded the publication of his work in the communist Romania, made his person and life stand in the centre of attention. His translation received only meagre critical response. Kálmán Nagy’s translation may be considered as centring on the source culture and also on the text by being loyal to the distinctive forms of the Finnish epic. He emphasized a distant attitude towards the text by preserving the foreign sonority, that is the Finnish orthography of names. He did not wish to borrow the genre as a pattern or to create some kind of a Finno-Ugric network. In his interpretation the Kalevala is the original history of the Finnish people, a product of the Finnish collective subconscious and of Lönnrot at the same time. The language used by the fourth translator of the Kalevala, István Rácz, is close to Nagy’s language. His methods had the aim of domesticating the source-text, following Vikár’s example in formal solutions, and he also translates or transcribes Finnish names into Hungarian.The last complete Hungarian Kalevala, Imre Szente’s translation, which was published twice during past decade in Hungary, may also be considered to be domesticated due to the fact that its vocabulary includes notions borrowed from the Hungarian cultural sphere. The textual analysis partly confutes this, since it proves the use of Finnish orthography (thereby the preservation of the foreign nature of the text) contrary to the domesticating intention.Vikár´s translation held its central position for decades, but was gradually peripheralized by the new re-translations. Even if in the hypothesis I stated that this position could only be taken by a text based on a totally different concept, after analysis I reached the conclusion that it was Rácz`s translation that has occupied this place. The reason why this may be the case is the employment of a translation strategy in many forms similar to Vikár’s, as well as the translator’s original view on poetics: the creation of a Hungarian Kalevala based on alliteration.

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Diminutive Suffixes in the Old Hungarian in Transylvania
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Diminutive Suffixes in the Old Hungarian in Transylvania

Kicsinyítő képzők az erdélyi régiségben

Author(s): Borbála Zsemlyei / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: diminutive suffixes

The analysis of diminutive suffixes and the diminutive derivatives has been marginalized in the linguistic descriptions.Diminutive suffixes form a special group of denominal nominalizing suffixes. Their primary role is not the creation of new words but the expressions of semantic nuances, and that is why they cannot be considered typical suffixes. Their formation, their apparition is rooted in the attitudes of the speakers, in the linguistic ambition to avoid plainness in phrasing. The most important characteristic of diminution lies in its playfulness.As a result of this, diminutive suffixes have significantly spread in the different languages, nevertheless their frequency, productivity, their systemic nature differs in all these languages. In English, for example, there are relatively few diminutive suffixes in comparison with other European languages (Spanish, Italian, Russian), while in the Swedish language except for some lexicalized derivatives there are no diminutives at all. On the other hand there are differences in complexity of the systems between the different languages. In the Hungarian and German languages there are only a few formants available to the speakers (‑cska/‑cske, -ka/-ke; -lein, -chen), while in Russian diminutives form a complex system, and speakers can choose the most appropriate one according to their semantic and pragmatic features (Bronislava 1987, Dahl 2006: 594).The category of diminutive suffixes shows a certain kind of consistency throughout the history of the language: although during the periods of the history of the language some new elements appeared to express diminution, their group thus being enlarged, their meaning basically stayed the same, the modifications add nuances only. Another particular characteristic of this group of suffixes is that the ancient formants have not disappeared, they still exist in a few derivatives and in some dialects. The function of -csa/-cse from the second half of the Old Hungarian period was limited to the creation of pet names (e.g. Ancsa, Borcsa, Julcsa), in the Slavonian dialect this was the most frequent diminutive at the beginning of the 20thcentury (e.g. aprócsa, egércse, küszöbcse), moreover it was not rare in adverbs, either (e.g. nagyszerűcsén) (Zsilinszky 2003: 181).The subject of this research was the analysis of the 16–19th century diminutives in the Transylvanian Hungarian Historical Dictionary (THHD), as well as that of the diminutive derivatives (which may be lexicalized). I chose this particular subject because as an editor of the THHD I realized that this dictionary provides extremely rich linguistic data. The analysis of the determined period and region based on the marked data constitutes an organic part of other researches in language history, completing them, as such an extensive analysis has not been carried out on this group of the denominal nominalizing suffixes.The analysis of diminutive suffixes represents a small fraction of the linguistic research, in connection of which – mainly based on the bibliography – one cannot say much. Nevertheless during the more thorough analysis it became obvious that applying several aspects we can get a detailed picture of the use of diminutives in the Old Hungarian language in Transylvania. The results of the analysis refer to the Transylvanian regional standard of the period stated above (from the point of view of language history the Middle and New Hungarian period), because as the title of the THHD suggests, it contains the linguistic data of the Eastern Hungarian speech area.Due to the specific nature of the subject it was a requirement to perform a thorough analysis from as many perspectives as possible. As a result of which I enlarged the traditional description of diminutives – which is based on morphological aspects –, and I took into consideration their sociolinguistic determination, pragmatic character, geographic distribution.The research was not extended to the present day diminutives (from the Transylvanian or Hungarian dialects), nor to other denominal nominalizing suffixes.The aim of this work is the presentation of the diminutive suffixes used in the Old Hungarian language in Transylvania (16–19th century), as well as the description of their connection rules, morphological, syntactic, morphopragmatical, semantic features, their sociolinguistic determination and geographic distribution.

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English and Hungarian Unitarian Relations in the 19th Century
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English and Hungarian Unitarian Relations in the 19th Century

Angolszász-magyar unitárius érintkezések a 19. században

Author(s): Sándor Kovács / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: relations between unitarians; ecumenical Christianity;

The theme of this thesis is the history of Anglo-Saxon and Hungarian Unitarian relations in the 19th century. For the last few decades scholarly research of Hungarian–English Unitarian connections has been almost completely neglected.The lack of academic interest could be explained, at least partly, by the insularity of both religious groups. The research material is scattered in the archives and libraries of Oxford, Manchester, and Kolozsvár. The author had the privilege of researching not just the libraries and archives of Kolozsvár (Transylvania), but also the Library of Harris Manchester College, Oxford, and the John Rylands Library, Manchester.The investigational method of the thesis could be labeled as late positivist, and I will agree with such a designation, although my thesis yields new evidence on the impact of Anglo-Saxon Unitarianism on Transylvanian theological thought and ecclesiastical-political life. I am aware that the rich field of English-Hungarian connections embodied in the two small religious denominations must be explored from other perspectives, too. As a Unitarian I might be prejudiced concerning the role this denomination played in 19th century society in England and Transylvania, but I am convinced that the results of my research are relevant to wider issues in the history of Anglo-Hungarian relations.During the preparation, I have read hundreds of pages of English and Hungarian correspondence, minutes, journals, and articles. As well as many Hungarian periodicals – including Keresztény Magvető (Christian (Seed-)Sower), Unitárius Élet (Unitarian Life), Unitárius Közlöny (Unitarian Bulletin) − I used the most important English and American Unitarian Journals: The Monthly Repository, The Christian Reformer, The Inquirer, The Christian Life, The Unitarian Herald, The Christian Register, The Christian Examiner and Theological Review, The Monthly Religious Magazine, The Unitarian Review, The Christian Inquirer, Old and New, Monthly Journal. I used a linear chronology in order to incorporate the overwhelming abundance of periodicals, miscellanies and minutes, as well as manuscripts in the thesis. This means that the backbone of the book is a historical chronology of the 19th century Transylvanian Unitarian Church which is fleshed out by the series of events proceeding from English-Hungarian connections..The content of the book is composed of three major parts. The first is entitled “The evolution of Hungarian–English–American Unitarian Relations from 1821 to 1848.”In this, I present a key document, a printed Latin text, sent to Kolozsvár from the Unitarian Fund on 30 April 1821 under the title Unitariorum in Anglia etc., and investigate how it traced the course of English–Hungarian Unitarian affairs. The detailed analysis of the Latin document and the reply written by the Transylvanian church throws new light on the history of the early relations between the churches, and the role of Bishop John Körmöczi. This enlightened cleric was the facilitator of these newly established connections, and he was the first translator into Hungarian of some parts of Theophilus Lindsey’s An Historical View of the State of the Unitarian Doctrine and Worship from the Reformation to our Own Times.Also in this chapter, I scrutinize John Bowring’s translations of Poetry of the Magyars, and investigate how, through his Unitarian acquaintances, he gleaned genuine information about Hungarian poetry and affairs. I point to the importance of Bowring’s denominational ties in presenting his very first translations, which appeared in a Unitarian periodical.The second chapter, under the title “English Unitarians in Transylvania, Hungarian Unitarians in England 1849-1869”, describes the consolidation of English–Hungarian relations, through the life and work of John Paget. In this section, I also present the first English visitors to Transylvania and their task as ambassadors of the Unitarian faith.The third, and longest chapter bears the title “English-American-Hungarian relations from 1870 to 1905”. It takes into account the lives of John Fretwell and John Kovács, an alumnus of Manchester New College, as two important figures in the third part of the 19th century. Through an examination of Fretwell’s life and career, new light is thrown on the translation of some of Jókai’s novels, and their reception in England.Under the title The English Conversation Club of Kolozsvár, I describe how English language, culture and politics were present in the heart of Transylvania. Through the history of the English Club, I cover the history of English-American-Hungarian Unitarian relations, too. I also describe the endeavours of Kovacs, the former Manchester New College student, and other alumni in spreading English culture and customs in Transylvania.The outcome of research. Conclusions1. The Latin document’s view of the opinions, history and institutions of the Unitarians of Great Britain should be considered the most important tract sent to Transylvania in the 19th century. There is no other theological, historical or literary work whose translation was circulated as widely as the above mentioned Brevis Expositio. At least 124 Hungarian copies were made available, and it is probable that the chief goal of the Transylvanian Unitarian elite was the development of a feasible strategy for co-operation with the English Unitarians. The examination of the reply proves that the Transylvanian Unitarian Church officially adopted and canonized the mythical account of the origins and identity of the Church put forward by János Tőzsér Kénosi and István Fosztó Uzoni, the authors of the Unitario-Ecclesistica Historia Transylvanica. Written in Latin in the last third of the eighteenth century, this work was used by the Unitarians of Transylvania to justify the very existence of their community.2. The role of John Körmöczi in establishing the new English–Hungarian connections must be re-evaluated. It is due to Körmöczi’s diligence that the Hungarian Unitarian elite had some knowledge of English Unitarianism before receiving the Brevis Expositio. Körmöczi’s translations of Planck and Wendeborn were in fact the transposition of Lindsey’s work. A printed Latin confession of the Transylvania Unitarians, found in the British Library, throws new light on Körmöczi’s efforts to clarify the dogmatic stands of the Transylvanian Unitarian Church. On the last sheet of the printed confession there is a handwritten letter addressed by Körmöczi to the English Unitarians. This could be considered as a first official reply from Transylvania.3. Sir John Bowring’s letter addressed to Körmöczi and the Transylvanian Unitarians proves once more the role of the Unitarian societies in literary matters.4. Sándor Bölöni Farkas was the first Hungarian Unitarian who travelled in Great Britain and North America. His reputation was widely recognized and acknowledged by his biographers, but they all neglected his role as an accredited diplomat of the Transylvanian Unitarian Church. Re-analyzing his reports as well as the minute records of the BFUA, I am convinced that Bölöni may have been financially supported by his friend and traveling companion, but he was spiritually and intellectually supported by the greater Unitarian community. 5. Similar things could be said about John Paget, one of the chief figures of Anglo-Hungarian relations. In my thesis I focus on his activity as a member of the Hungarian Unitarian Consistory, giving new data with regard to the establishment of the Hungarian Scholarship at Manchester New College.6. One subdivision of the thesis scrutinizes Louis Kossuth’s political activity and the use of his English Unitarian connections for purely political purposes. I point to the Kossuth articles found in the Inquirer as one explanation of the Unitarian propaganda.7. John Fretwell and Jókai Mór’s literary relationship was neglected by the biographers of Jókai. One Jókai novel was written about Transylvanian Unitarians and is entitled God is One. Reading Fretwell’s correspondence and articles I propose a new approach to the genesis of Jókai’s novel, and its English and American reception. It was Fretwell, who convinced the Hungarian novelist to take on the subject of Unitarians, and he is credited with translating abstracts of Jókai’s Unitarian novel into English as early as 1877. The translation and publication of Jókai’s novel Slinging-Stones in Edward Hale’s periodical, the Old and New, are also examined.8. The longest chapter of the thesis examines the role of the English Conversation Club of Kolozsvár in spreading English language, culture and customs in 19th century Transylvania. The history of the English Conversation Club was previously entirely unknown; this thesis is the first to reveal the significance of the Club and its visitors to intellectual life in 19th century Transylvania.Conclusions:• As a direct result of Anglo-Hungarian-American relations, the frozen theological thought of Transylvanian Unitarians, which was based on Szentábrahámi’s chief work, Summa Theologiae… (1787), started to melt. This stemmed from the availability of the translations of William Ellery Channing’s tracts. Step-by-step, the very dogmatic Transylvanian Unitarian theology embraced a more liberal, Christian humanist attitude.• Inspired by the English and American Unitarian periodicals, Bishop John Kriza founded in 1861 the very first Hungarian theological journal entitled Christian Seed-sower. This journal was, from its first issue, the chief organ of 19th century liberal theology, presenting such topics as the latest results of biblical criticism, the theory of Darwin about evolution, etc.• Following the pattern of English Unitarian Societies, George Boros founded the Francis David Society for propagation of Unitarianism, in 1885. The Society edited a monthly bulletin, held regular meetings and did much for the improvement of education and morals.• In the second part of the 19th century, Transylvanian Unitarianism re-discovered its founder, Francis David, and a process of rehabilitation took place, in which English Unitarian historians manifested much interest. The romantic view of Unitarian origins and identity helped English and American Unitarians to discover their forgotten roots.Due to the financial aid of English and American Unitarians, a successful Hungarian mission was conducted and many congregations were organized outside of Transylvania proper, the most important being the First Unitarian Church of Budapest.

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Unsettling Image/Texts
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Unsettling Image/Texts

Nyugtalanító írás/képek

Author(s): Katalin Sándor / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: visual poetry

In this volume I discuss the intermediality of visual poetry can correlate with the ideologies and projects of various movements but not as their unproblematic translation into the sphere of artistic practices. Consequently, I examine these movements as ideological constructs having their own (self)contradictions, revealing at times discrepancies between the declared projects and the concrete artistic results.In the volume I discuss three specific figures of visual poetry – concrete and lettrist poetry and collages – in three different chapters due to the fact that these figures can be related to different historical contexts and display different imagetext relations.Concrete poetry (e. g. poems by Gomringer, Heisenbüttel, de Campos, Kolár) can be perceived as an attempt to extend the limits of language, to reveal both the verbal and the non-verbal conditions of reading. In concretism language does not appear as purely conceptual but as an embodied language, whereas reading is not a medially homogeneous practice but is shaped by the iconicity of the text, by the sensuality of writing and the ”silent”, non-discursive spaces between words. From the perspective of image-text relations, figurative concrete poetry tends to display a shift from naming and convergence towards divergence by scattering the correspondence between word and image (which can be related to the modernist experience of losing the common system of reference between words and things). In non-figurative concrete poetry the shaping of the typographic space, the non-linear distribution of writing, the combination and variation of linguistic elements are meant to foreground not the referentiality but rather the materiality of language.In lettrist poetry and in typograms (e. g. the works of Isou, Broutin, Szombathy, Géczi, Tandori, L. Simon) the non-semantic use of writing as visual material seems to extract even the last verbal elements from the process of reading, apparently replacing the problem of medial heterogeneity with that of monomediality.Although lettrist poems minimize the linguistic elements and foreground the physical aspects of language, they do not exclude the verbal dimension altogether.Hypergraphics as a mode of writing suggested by lettrist authors, combines different sign-systems evoking in this way the cultural memory of writing: from pictograms to mathematical signs, from iconic signs to the latin alphabet, from drawing to calligraphy. Another argument in favour of intermediality could be that lettrist works are prepared, announced, justified by poetic manifests and theoretical discourses which actually function as discursive pre-texts for the works themselves. (Referring to abstract painting, W. J. T. Mitchell speaks about a similar problem, namely the interdependence of theory and painting, which he calls ut pictura theoria.)In the collages of visual poetry (e. g. the works of McCaffery, Géczi, Zalán, Szombathy) both texts and images appear as fragments from larger contexts: from literature and painting to science and mass-media, from the anonymous found objects to the cultic products of culture. In collages the use of words and images becomes a contextual practice, more precisely a confrontation of different contexts.We can observe the eruption of images in the sphere of verbality (and vice versa), which marks an important difference between the perception of language in collages and the concretist concept about a decontextualized language, purified of referentiality. This impurity and medial heterogeneity of collages can expose the ideology and the contradictory aspect of certain modernist tendencies to purify the medium of language or painting to get to its essence.The above-mentioned figures of visual poetry can become the antecedents of certain intermedial practices in the digital medium. I discuss the way digital texts become flexible or even unstable, offering the readers the possibility to alter or recreate images and texts. In some texts the iconic-calligrammatic aspect which is based on a static, compositional correspondence can be replaced by correspondences between different temporal processes and performative acts. Those texts and multimedial installations which involve the human body in the process of reception expose the act of reading and communication as an embodied and not entirely discursive practice.The study of intermediality has made clear that the relation between texts and images is not relevant only from the perspective of mediality. More precisely: neither the problem of mediality can be restricted to technical and material aspects, but extends to the symbolic practices, the ideological and institutional contexts of the medium. Thus, collages do not only combine texts and images but also display a reflexive (or at times critical) attitude towards tradition and different cullural phenomena by confronting canonical and marginal, artistic and non-artistic discourses.In concrete poetry not only the image-text relation is raised as a problem but also the discursive and medial conditions of seeing and meaning-making.Although from the perspective of cultural criticism some works of visual poetry are considered a ’weak’ self-referential discourse, I would still emphasize the critical potential of reflecting on the medium and intermediality. Ideological constructs can be questioned precisely by revealing their constructedness, as well as their institutional, discursive and medial conditions. Intermediality as a critical practice and the capacity of intermedial phenomena to displace homogeneous discourses and institutional or disciplinary practices can show us that intermediality is not only the name of a (stable) relation between words and images but a continuous question and challenge.

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Nations in Transylvania
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Nations in Transylvania

Nemzetek Erdélyben

Author(s): Annamária Biró / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: Transylvanian nations; origin debate; historiography; Erdélyi Magyar Nyelvmívelő Társaság

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The Transylvanian Csákys
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The Transylvanian Csákys

Az erdélyi Csákyak

Author(s): Klára Papp / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: Family history; Csáky family

The monograph gives an overview of the Transylvanian branch of the Csáky family from the mid-seventeenth century up to 1742, the extinction of the male line and examines the efforts of the female line, until the Csákys’ possibilities to preserve their name, rank and landed estates are traceable, that is, the middle of the nineteenth century. The first chapters of the volume discuss the great seventeenth-century predecessors of the Csáky, who moved from Transylvania to the Kingdom of Hungary and established, then strengthened their landed possessions and political authority. Especially, István Csáky, remembered as „Great” in family tradition, who was a General of the Principality of Transylvania and Captainin-Chief of Prince István Bocskai, as well as his sons, two talented politicians, István Csáky, Lord Chief Treasurer and László Csáky, Lord Chief Justice, both belonging to the circle of Lord Palatine Esterházy, who based the prestige of the Kingdom of Hungary branch.The family correspondence describes the relationship of Lord Chief Treasurer as contradictory with his children, of whom he had a good opinion of only the middle son of the same name, István, the elder son, Francis, and the younger, László turned against him. Concerning their political views and relations all the three young gentlemen went off the path set by their father, the two older ones maintained good relations with Miklós Zrínyi, the younger held together with the opponent of the father, György Rákóczi II.The Transylvanian branch marks the third son of István Csáky, Lord Chief Treasurer, László and his descendants, who returned to the Transylvanian lands, and wished to found their future upon farming and their estate revenues. One of the basic tasks of the research was to explore the history of the Transylvanian branch. Historical literature has so far much neglected the denominator László Csáky and his political and military role, furthermore, the fate of the descendants, their functions in Transylvanian political life, and the situation of the family holdings has almost never been seen in historical scholarship. László Csáky could not administer his Transylvanian estates for long since he lost a good part of his holdings because of his role in the Béldiconspiracy against Prince Apafi, and was only able to return from his Turkish captivity through Poland and Vienna during the great anti-Ottoman war of the end of the century, taking on a military task on the side of the Habsburgs. Contemporary diary entries show how deeply he was resented by the Transylvanians, which he was only able to change working hard for long years. István, the son of the Transylvanian László Csáky was appointed Főispán (sheriff) of County Kolozs in 1699, after the death of his father.Together with his younger brother, László he was striving to regain their Transylvanian holdings. It is now unanimous that in the War of Independence led by Francis II Rákóczi the sons of the Transylvanian László Csáky both László (who died in 1708) and István – who had formerly been a follower of Imre Thököly – supported Prince-Governor Rákóczi, from whom they hoped for and did in fact receive landed donations.Of the two Csáky brothers taking part in the War of Independence it was the elder, István who was to strengthen the influence and possessions of the family. The lord, who retained his power and authority even after the War of Independence, had really substantial properties.Beyond the lordships of Almás and Buza in County Doboka he obtained that of Szurdok, moreover, regarding the Bihar County holdings (Köröszszeg and Adorján) ha could come to an agreement with László Csáky of Tata from the Kingdom of Hungary branch.The fate of the two sons of the főispán of Kolozs, Zsigmond and Imre Csáky largely affected the eighteenth-century history of the family. While the son of the late seventeenth-century Lord Chief Justice, István Csáky, Cardinal Imre Csáky was addressed by Ödön Málnási as „Széchenyi of the 18th century”, his name-sake nephew, Imre of the Transylvanian branch was suffering in the captivity of the Gubernium.It is justified by the correspondence and litigation record that Zsigmond Csáky was to made all effort to gain the estates of his brother imprisoned by the Gubernium. The younger Csáky, keeping his household in Szurdok himself gave a handle to take an action against him since he did not administer his estates in a way that could be expected at the time but treated his villein tenants ill which created a general uproar throughout Transylvania. He was condemned by the Gubernium and had him taken into home custody in Kolozsvár as well as had his estates put under the control of Zsigmond Csáky. It was definitely the elder Csáky brother that was concerned to keep the whole of the holdings, of which he also wished to give his two daughters a share. However, in 1735 he unexpectedly died, therefore the Mikola-kindred was able to achieve to set Imre Csáky free.Imre, who died at the 1742 plague, was naturally to make contacts and come on to good terms with the Kingdom of Hungary branch against his own Transylvanian relatives pushing him to the background. He corresponded with Lord Chief Treasurer Zsigmond Csáky and György Csáky, and finally in his will bequeathed all his goods and chattels to them. After the extinction of the male line of the Transylvanian Csákys (1742) the members of the Hungarian branch entered into a long lawsuit – lasting up until the third decade of the nineteenth century – to regain the Transylvanian possessions, which resulted in a total victory of the Transylvanian kindred, and they managed to preserve their estate holdings for their own descendants only. In investigating the reasons for the quarrel and the process of the litigation it was not only the motives of the descendants of Lord Chief Justice István Csáky that were important but also the interest relations of the Transylvanian family members. For the female off springs wedded from aristocratic families, having a decisive role in eighteenth-century Transylvanian history – Bornemissza, Haller, Bethlen, Jósika – who gave them a most explicit backing so as to preserve the familiar holdings.After the death of Zsigmond Csáky it was in the first place his widow, Kata Haller and his elder daughter, Mrs. György Haller who managed family affairs. It seems justified that the widow favoured Borbála Csáky, holding the Gorbó lordship, thus the couple gained a considerable influence. After the death of Imre Csáky, upon the order of György Haller his grain and livestock were carried to Kaplony and Oláhfenes, his money and jewelry chests to their Kolozsvár house. In 1759 the Haller couple also obtained the mortgage rights of the Bihar Csáky estates. Lease contracts justify that they took up smaller-bigger loans from many persons at many different places in Transylvania, thus they were consciously striving to regain their Bihar possessions, the reason for which being their high productivity.The sources made it possible to examine the ways of farming efforts of the two sisters, Borbála and Kata to manage, gain and preserve estates. The Transylvanian Csákys successfully kept on maintaining their estates along their seventeenth-century patterns. István Csáky, Főispán of Kolozs took a primary part in regaining lands and reorganizing the estate management. Zsigmond Csáky and his wife had great results in the administration of the substantial Transylvanian and Bihar County lands. His elder daughter, Borbála relied in the first place on his husband’s help in estate management, but the younger one, Kata did it on her own. She endeavoured to have her fully powered commissioners and court judges under close control as well as demanded and did in this way receive regular reports from them. She made inquests upon any complaints into any possible abuse, and rightfully recovered the amounts missing in the accounts embezzled by her bailiffs.The basis for Kata Csáky’s independent management was the landed property inherited from his father, Zsigmond Csáky, which guaranteed to make a living on her own even when she was not provided for by his husband. The survived suit records, agreements and commissions however prove that beyond the estates of Szurdok, Almás and Buza the noblewoman did herself wish to increase her wealth. She got hold of Sajókeresztúr and took steps to redeem a part of Sárfalva, near Branyicska in County Hunyad owned by her grandmother. She bought a house in Kolozsvár in 1775, to which she had the neighbouring merchant house owned by Ábrahám Ábrahám attached, what is more, in the spring of 1780 did even purchase another town house on the northern side of the outer Magyar street. She used the mortgaged vineyards between the Bihar County Lüki and Kohány, near the Érmellék wine-district. The composition of the acquired possessions demonstrate that the countess either added to the ancestral lands raising its value in this way (for instance, taking in pledge and appending and smaller part of another estate and its tenant holders to it), or, bought vineyards particularly in good wine-growing regions producing quality wine, which could increase the profitability of the estates. The profits were thus occasionally much greater, especially in years to come, for the descendants than the amounts paid out for the holdings or put out on loan. Kata Csáky’s efforts to make her own living was strengthened by the fact that her second daughter, Rozália Bethlen was born, and her husband, after their first years of marriage tried to keep her under control even more strictly and rudely. In this situation it seems natural that the young noblewoman – relying on her own landed revenues – did all her best to be able to stand on her own legs, and grounding upon her relations secure good education and envisage favorable marriage for her daughter. The husband became also worn out by the 1773 visit of the Emperor in Szeben, and since Joseph did not form a good opinion of the mental capacities and achievement of Miklós Bethlen. It was to be expected that he would be put out of the way, which did occur in a few years.The couple stayed together mainly because of their common interests. The fate of their daughter, Rozália, the scheme, then the realization of her marriage, serving family concerns, with János Csáky of the Kingdom of Hungary branch brought forward a long-lasting community of interests. Rozália Bethlen had three children, and could rightfully hope that she would be able to preserve the Bethlen and Csáky wealth in Transylvania.The family correspondence makes it clear that both branches wished to make use of the marriage to improve their property positions. The Transylvanian branch, with the aid of the father of Rozália, Miklós Bethlen earned a főispán position in County Kolozs for János Csáky, who took up a – according to the Vienna Court disputable – role in suppressing the Horea-revolt. The deterioration of the marriage however put an end to the hopes of Countess Kata Csáky to bring the suit between the two branches into a standstill by way of her daughter’s marriage.Since Borbála’s son, János Haller died childless, his widow’s, Zsuzsanna Nemes’ inheritance, for the most part after her death, passed on to Kata Csáky’s daughters. The seigneurial and villein tenure farming of the lordships, the conflicts in the practice of service and the possibilities of peasant labour are discussed until the death of the younger daughter of Kata Csáky, Rozália Bethlen, or, the division of landed estates that followed it. It is important to see how women were able to take over the management of farming and administer lordships on their own. It is primarily the efforts of the resolute woman of reason, the grandmother, Kata Csáky and Rozália Csáky Mrs. Jósika following her path that can be traced upon, considering them as very peculiar women.Kata Csáky took responsibility for the running of her lordships and had sound economic programs, which went far beyond contemporary conceptions. She did not only make her stewards aware that she found it important to sow wheat in the seigneurial economy and have a most profoundly designed, purposeful production, providing a survey of wholesale marketing opportunities, but also had an active role in running the economy in a utilitarian way, taking into account productivity.The countess took great responsibility in farming, and did even receive new ideas. Her manor houses everywhere had appurtenant kitchen-gardens and orchards, where she had from time to time planted seeds bought from Vienna or Szeben, and employed several (Romanian, German, Hungarian) gardeners, who raised plants in hotbed. However, the progressivism of her economic methods are not only shown by the orange and lemon trees or the fishponds dug near to her manor houses, but also the rich, high quality wheat crops in Almás, but the so called Turkish wheat of Branyicska reserved for wholesale markets, and the number of cattle, sheep and pig recorded in the „Red Book” inventory for sale.After the 1826–1827 land division the Csáky holdings gradually became incorporated into the lordships of the two branches of the Jósika family, and only a small proportion, that of Nagyalmás remained in the hand of the squandering József Csáky, entangled in loan transactions.Of the descendants of Countess Csáky it was Rozália who unanimously became a landholder woman prepared for economic tasks and capable of running farming in a utilitarian way, who, after 1820 wished to initiate reasonable and progressive changes in her Búza estate. Differently from her brother, József Csáky, who traveled to Paris, Rozália got aware of the reforms that could be utilized for her estates, and what she could, she did put into practice. The social position of the countess was a favorable starting point regarding the establishment of the sugar manufacture and the several other initiatives. The wife of the Transylvanian governing body could discover the possibilities of enterprise so much the more than the majority of her contemporaries, if she had enough openness, common sense, initiative and resilience. It seems the concordance of chances and capabilities furthered the successes of the countess. Her letters also reveal the obstacles of the newly launched enterprise: the lack of credit possibilities, the use of loans traditionally available only from Jewish merchants, the setbacks of Transylvanian conditions like the aversion and incomprehension of the villeins of the lordships, the forces taking effect against cooperation, the difficulties of marketing etc.The efforts to regain, increase and run family estates elevate Borbála, but so much the more Kata Csáky, urging utilitarian economy next to the significant estate-managers of the eighteenth century (István Csáky, főispán of Kolozs, Zsigmond Csáky, Gubernium Councillor). The daughter of Rozália Bethlen, Rozália Csáky, brought up by her grandmother, Kata Csáky followed the traditions of the family. Her education, intelligence and ambitions for reform, mainly through the sugar manufacture ranks her amongst the greatest reformer figures of Transylvania. The noblewoman is rightfully seen as the initiator of social policy in Kolozsvár, since she organized an „Association for Noblewomen” that maintained a nursery school for the poor as well as established a hospital at her Gorbó estate. She had her grandmother’s breviaries, and bequeathed a significant botanical collection and library to her descendants. Despite the fact that the contemporaries did not judge Rozália Bethlen well, yet she left behind much less concrete results and personal achievements than her strict but very active and self-ironical mother, Kata Csáky, who was all her life working hard to regain the family holdings, or, her younger daughter, Rozália Csáky, who acknowledged the guiding role of masculine society but was always constantly aspiring for reform and at the same time wishing to change the role of women.The volume devotes a separate chapter to the villein farming of Transylvanian estates and the changes in villein services. Appendices of source excerpts, lists of measurements, sources and bibliography as well as an index are also provided at the end.

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Intelligentsia and Romanian–Hungarian Cultural Contacts in the Second Half of the 19th Century
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Intelligentsia and Romanian–Hungarian Cultural Contacts in the Second Half of the 19th Century

Magyar-román kulturális kapcsolatok a 19. század második felében. Értelmiségtörténeti keret

Author(s): Tímea Berki / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: history of literature; relationships history

The paper deals with the Romanian-Hungarian literary contacts in the late 19th century and early 20th century, the last decades of the Austro–Hungarian Monarchy. The extensive bibliography, which legitimized the concept of “Monarchy-literature” about the term Central and Eastern Europeanism, marginalizes or does not include the cultures of Romanians in Hungary, considering partially this literature. This influenced me in defining the topic and thesis of the problems.History of meaning and concept of national literature becomes the central issue of the thesis, as the period studied gives us many examples that go beyond national character of the literatures. The book is not a comparative monograph, not a history of reception, but wants to be an experiment in study of the contacts that enriches both thematically and through new documents the history of Romanian-Hungarian translations from the late 19th century.The reception of the Romanian literature is represented by sporadic translations made by intellectuals, published in various periodicals. I think that their interpretations operates on a double scale, but this book tries to contextualize gestures of the translators to better understand their synchronic perspective, not from a later point of view of the aesthetical concept of literature.The analysis of the reception is starting from the debut of Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu, from his first polemical texts appeared in the Romanian literature of the Austro–Hungarian Monarchy. There are two studies in Hungarian, written as doctoral dissertations in 1895. There are positivist monographies, but also gives us interesting parallels in the context of Hungarian and foreign literature (Lenau, Schopenhauer, Petofi).This dissertations are very interesting in terms of language, namely, is a work of a Romanian author (the future Patriarch, Miron Cristea, Ph.D., University of Pest) presenting the Romanian literature, but from the perspective of the language used in the dissertation, is a Hungarian work, and becomes part of the Hungarian literature. This fact holds reception anomalies, unquestioned so far, and the study of this dissertation and its context will make arguments about the use of Hungarian language not as an individual decision, but as an obligation imposed by the power of language in the University of Pest.Exploring the context of translation can reinterpret our knowledge about the Hungarian periodicals of the time, because the translations of Romanian poetry appear in local newspapers, which until now were only listed in the press history, without recognizing their value in Hungarian and Romanian literatures contact.The poems of Eminescu translated into Hungarian are published for the first time in the special issue (Christmas 1885) of Kolozsvári Közlöny, and in the feuiletton of the Szilágy-Somlyó newspaper (1889–1891), representing a claim or requirement on the part of press-publishers, on another part of the – multicultural, knowing many languages – readers from Transylvania, and not least the translation and practice of intellectuals discernible in the use of two languages (the politician, the organizer of institutions, József Sándor; the theologian Laurenţiu Bran). Their translations are the results of the literary preoccupation from the special literary circles of the religious boarding schools, attended by translators. With everything that Sándor and Bran deal with translating Eminescu’s poetry, their work gives us interesting examples of studies of the contacts and cannot be classified by the same criteria.This period is characterized by modern society, the concept of the Hungarian state in contrast with the reality of the Austro-Hungarian Dualist Monarchy. The canonization of the concept of the literature is laid to the Hungarian national political process, deepening the distance between the Hungarian nation and the ethnic communities.The second half of the book link to see that methodological issue which sees experience in different cultures as a result of the process of socialization, legitimated by the multicultural and multilingual reality of the Monarchy. Identifying students of the Faculty of Letters at the Royal Hungarian University, later named Franz Joseph, deals with the Romanian side in this study of intercultural contacts and reveals the issue of the national identification of the students and also defines that the Romanian department of the university attract only Romanian students. This reality also explains the lack of professionals between Hungarian translators of Romanian literature, the foreign character of the Romanian language persist until the first decades of the 20th century, against the existing translations. The book contains a chapter that reinterprets the literary contacts from the perspective of intellectual careers, representing the different concepts of the cultures, of their characteristics defined by language, by nationality; that implicitly reveals the different policies of cultural transmissions.Brassai Sámuel and Hugo von Meltzl are editors of a comparative and interdisciplinary multilingual magazine, approaching to cosmopolitanism, universalism, bringing arguments to a supranational identity. Moldovan Grigore passed abandoned publicizing in Romanian, becoming a Hungarian writer true to the Hungarian national state: as a Hungarian citizen with Romanian nationality, he was loyal to the Hungarian state, and was considered a traitor from the perspective of his ethnical community. Became a problematic figure of the Romanian nation and for the Hungarian also, and his hybrid identity of this view seemed inaccessible.Sporadic translations of this period, the different conceptions of translators of the Romanian poetry, show the way pieces of Romanian literature are looking for their place in the Hungarian literature. The most important issue of the thesis is that the Romanian–Hungarian literary contacts, the case studies of dissertation cannot be differentiated on the basis of national character, because since the late 19th century the concept of the nation, state, national literature and national culture were still just developing.

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Guns and Muses. The Art of Transylvania at the Time of the 1st World War
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Guns and Muses. The Art of Transylvania at the Time of the 1st World War

Fegyverek és múzsák. Erdély művészete az első világháború idején

Author(s): Jenő Murádin / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: art; World War I;Transylvania;

The events from a hundred years ago, the centenary commemorations about the 1st World War make especially timely the revelation of that age’s cultural history. The society of Transylvania was sorely tried because of the events and in the meantime it illustrated the sufferings endured as a reflection in a mirror by its spiritual, value-creating power. This thesis is the first summary of the history of art’s references of the four war-time years concerning us. It presents the works of art of the creators who made a service in the field revealing the backgrounds of their genesis. There is distinct chapter joining all these which flashes the fates of the P.(O.)W. camps’ Transylvanian survivors on the basis of a manuscript unpublished so far.

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Engineering Works on the Jasenovo/Jaszenova–Oraviţa/Oravica–Anina Railroad
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Engineering Works on the Jasenovo/Jaszenova–Oraviţa/Oravica–Anina Railroad

Műtárgyak a Jaszenova-Oravica-Anina vasútvonalon

Author(s): Árpád Jancsó / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: retaining wall; tunnel; viaduct,; bridge; underpass; mountain railway; culvert

The present work focuses on the engineering works on the Jasenovo-Oraviţa-Anina. The entire history its inception and use was published in volume no. 7 of the current collection under the title „Az Oravica–Anina hegyi vasút története.” The extremely difficult topographic conditions forced the layout planners to take on a highly unusual route: for a relatively short distance, it required a series of engineering works: retaining walls, 14 tunnels, 11 viaducts, bridges and underpasses. Due to its technical specifications, the mountainous sector between Oravița and Anina is often compared to Austria’s Semmering mountain railway. The book continues, after a short presentation of the railway’s history, with a summary of its main technical specifications, followed by an indepth analysis of its engineering works: its retaining walls, its underpasses, bridges, viaducts and tunnels. The author did extensive research in the archives and reambulated multiple times the railroad’s route. The book is richly illustrated with reproductions of the initial project’s documents and boards never published before, with drawings dating back to 1895, when Vince Reichmann, Oravița’s railway section chief, reambulated the line; to these the author added old pictures and countless photos made by himself. Together with the previous volume on the history of the railway, this testimonial book is the richest and most extensive monography of the mountain railway Jasenovo–Oraviţa–Anina.

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Officialdom in Early Modern Transylvania
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Officialdom in Early Modern Transylvania

Hivatalnok értelmiség a kora újkori Erdélyben

Author(s): / Language(s): Hungarian

Keywords: Officialdom; Transylvania;

This volume contains the texts of the papers presented at the conference "Officialdom in Early Modern Transylvania" held in October 2015 in Cluj (Kolozsvár). Written on the basis of archival sources the essays particularly deal with the lives, careers and competences of the clerks of the central government of the Transylvanian Principality.

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