Peti Lehel – Tánczos Vilmos (szerk.): Language Use, Attitudes, Strategies. Language Identity and Ethnicity in the Moldavian Csángó Villages, Nemzeti Kisebbségkutató Intézet, Kvár, 2012.
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Keywords: Principality of Transylvania; jurisdiction; Tripartitum; parliamentary resolutions
The jurisdiction of the Principality of Transylvania evolved as a result of a process which lasted many decades, side by side with the state, uniting the characteristics of the pre-Mohács Hungarian Kingdom and the novel characteristics of the new state. The year 1619 could be regarded as the end date of this process. The jurisdiction of the Principality is characterized by unity as well as diversity with regard to the basic statute and the procedures. The unity is due to the fact that, with the exception of the saxon natio, all others, the nobility of Transylvania and the Partium, as well as the judicial praxis of the Szeklers, relied in varying degrees upon the dispositions of the Decretum Tripartitum, composed by Werbőczy, and thereafter, upon the parliamentary articles from 1619, composed as a result of the harmonization process initiated by Gábor Bethlen. A more pronounced tendency towards unification, manifested by the princes, can be observed in the 16th and the 17th century. The diversity is due to the various systems of common law of the different natios, which had to be accepted for the sake of the state’s stability.
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Antonio Possevino alakjával viszonylag keveset foglalkoztak a magyar irodalom-, illetve mûvelõdéstörténészek. Barlay Ö. Szabolcs ugyan ír arról, hogy a mantuai születésû szerzetest Grazban „olthatatlan vágy” szállta meg a törökök által elfoglalt országok megtérítésére, és megemlíti, hogyan segített Possevino Báthory Andrásnak a bíborosi cím elnyerésében, de fõként magyar (és a lengyel) történészek írtak róla, kiemelve a Báthory István és Rettenetes Iván közötti béketárgyalásokban játszott szerepét. Ezenkívül Veress Endre, aki az erdélyi jezsuita misszió iratait is feldolgozta, kiadta Possevino Erdélyrõl írt feljegyzéseit Transylvania címmel.
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Interview with Hatos Pál by Zólya Andrea Csilla
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Keywords: Principality of Transylvania; privileged orders: the aristocracy; the Saxons; the Szeklers
After having become independent, subsequently to Hungary’s splitting into three parts, Transylvania has kept its feudal structure. The privileged orders were the aristocracy, the Saxons and the Szeklers. There were few aristocratic families, and only 15% of the aristocracy had as many as 1–3 villages. The principal property was very large; the ruler of the country was prince and squire at the same time for the majority of the villeins. The greatest part of the villeins were Romanian, their number grew continuously due to resettlement from the neighbouring principalities and due to natural reproduction. The Saxons still kept their economic superiority; however, they had some competitors amongst the merchants of certain Balkan peoples and amongst the Armenians settled in from Moldavia. Certain groups had privileges, in return for military services, which descended from the time of the monarchy. The significance of these was gradually decreasing, due to military and geopolitical reasons. Among these groups the Szeklers persisted most in keeping their privileges, but were gradually giving in to feudalization.
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Lucian Boia: Capcanele istoriei – Elita intelectualã româneascã între 1930 ºi 1950
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Keywords: Principality of Transylvania; princely household; main and deputy steward; master of the horse; captain general of the court; valet
The princely household meant a kind of narrowing of the court’s society as a travelling section of the central government offices (the chancellery and the treasury) which escorted the prince. It only changed in the case of national and regional assemblies. The leaders of the princely household were the main and the deputy stewards, the master of the horse, the captain general of the court and the valets/chamberlains (cubicularius). The steward of the household supervised the work of the master of the kitchen besides the work of the youths (valets, Lord High Stewards, table masters, cupbearers), furthermore, he also had control over the craftsmen and a part of the protectors of order (doorkeepers, couriers, postal youths). The head of stables directed the work of the stable, where a lot of people belonged to from the equerry to the stableboy, the coachman, the poundmaster and to the fowler. The court army (mounted soldiers and infantrymen) led by the captain general was headed by the captains of the court and had its lieutenants.
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Erdélyben a hitújítás terjedésével, ennek kezdeti szakaszában, 1545-ben és 1548- ban az országgyûlés még a vallási újításokat tiltó határozatokkal kíván gátat vetni a protestantizmus térnyerésének. De egy évtized sem telt el, amikor 1557. június 1-jén a tordai országgyûlés kimondta a szabad vallásgyakorlást. A rendek ezt követõen még többször határoztak a vallásszabadságot illetõen, hol ismételten biztosítva, kiegészítve, csak részlegesen engedélyezve a szabad vallásgyakorlást, 1566-ban pedig ismét korlátozva, míg végül 1571-ben a június 6. és 14. Közötti marosvásárhelyi országgyûlés kimondta, hogy „az Isten igéje mindenütt szabadon prédicáltassék, az confessióért senki meg ne bántassék, se prédikátor, se hallgatók.”
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Keywords: Principality of Transylvania; building operations; late renaissance; Szamosújvár (Gherla); Nagyvárad (Oradea); Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia); Gabriel (Gábor) Bethlen; Collegium Academicum; Giacomo Resti
The beginning of the principality coincided with the spreading of the manifestations of the high and the late renaissance in Transylvania. The castles Szamosújvár (Gherla) and Nagyvárad (Oradea) are important early relics of the revolution in the field of military science. In the transitional period, Queen Dowager Isabel and her son, John Sigismund, occupy the domains of the bishop and the chapter of Transylvania. Due to these circumstances, the capital of the principality is located at the seat from Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia) of the medieval episcopate. The bishop’s palace has been remade and extended already in these first decades. The greatest achievement from the era of the princes from the House of Báthory was the castle of Nagyvárad (Oradea). The next important period of building operations begins with the reing of Gabriel (Gábor) Bethlen (1613–1629). Practically, he tripled the extension of the princely palace and established the Collegium Academicum, built a water conduit and also contributed to city planning. His Lombard architect, Giacomo Resti, planned the residences built at the domains of Alvinc (Vinţul-de-Jos), Nagyvárad (Oradea), Radnót (Iernut) and Balázsfalva (Blaj), which also served as models for his entourage. His interrupted building operations were continued by the princes György Rákóczi I and II. After the great destructions of the years 1658–1661, practically everything had to be resumed from scratch.
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Keywords: principality; Kolozsvár; guild life; leisure activities; communication phenomena; regulation of costumes
The study examines different segments of everyday life in Kolozsvár during the 16th and 17th centuries, including leisure activities and phenomena of social interaction and communication, while regarding the city – viewed as a process in itself – not merely as a location of the discussed events, but as a place which influences citizens as well as outsiders. The discussed domains include guild life and the function of guilds in closed and characteristically self organizing communities, certain types and specific locations of pastimes and games, gossip and insult as the warrants of publicity, and the regulation of costumes.
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A mohácsi csatavesztés utáni években a középkori Magyar Királyság három részre szakad. Egy keskeny északi és nyugati területsáv a Habsburg Birodalom részévé válik; a Duna és a Tisza menti központi területek közvetlen török közigazgatás alá kerülnek; az ország keleti része pedig a kettõs királyválasztás következményeképpen a Portának adót fizetõ, félfüggetlen entitássá válik, olyan államalakulattá, amelyet a kortársak már 1570 körül Principatus Transylvaniaeként emlegetnek.
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Michael Sievernich Emberi jogok 460 éve címû tanulmánya került nemrég a kezembe. A „kritikus kortársak” rögtön visszaszámolnak az évszám láttán, és valahol a megadott évszám felénél megtorpannak – játszik el Sievernich a gondolattal. Legtöbbjüknek az emberi jogok hallatán az 1776-os északamerikai emberi jogok nyilatkozata (Virginia Bill of Rights – 1776. június 12.) vagy az 1789-es francia forradalom (Déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen – 1789. augusztus 26.) jut eszébe.2 Velem is valami hasonló történt. 449 évet számoltam vissza, az 1564. június 7-ei tordai országgyûlésig, amely kimondta, hogy a katolikus vallás mellett mind Luther, mind Kálvin követõi teljes vallásszabadságot élveznek.
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Keywords: Principality of Transylvania; state; political regime
In the 16th and 17th centuries the Principality of Transylvania, a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, functioned as a state with limited sovereignty. The Hungarian kings considered Transylvania to be an integral part of the Holy Crown of Hungary, and thus never relinquished their claim to it. This special relationship was acknowledged in the Treaty of Speyer, concluded in 1570 by János (John) Sigismund, son of János I Szapolyai, and king Maximilian I (r. 1564-76) of Habsburg. In this treaty, John Sigismund renounced his title of “elected king of Hungary” (electus rex Hungariae) and contented with the title of Prince of Transylvania and of the Adjacent Parts of Hungary (Princeps Transylvaniae et partium regni Hungariae eidem annexarum). He also acknowledged that Transylvania was part (membrum) of the Hungarian Crown and that the Hungarian king was his sovereign. According to a right, which became a law in 1567, the Transylvanian princes were elected by the Transylvanian estates from 1571 onwards. This paragraph of the Law of 1567 named ’libera electio’, that is free election, was repeatedly acknowledged by the Ottoman Porte. The Porte always required pre-election negotiations regarding the person of the future prince, or on occasion ordered its troops to bring a new prince to the Transylvanian throne as was the case of Gábor Bethlen in 1613. The choice of the Transylvanian estates had to be confirmed by an ahdname of the Sultan in all cases. The prince's position became only legitimate with this document. The Estates of Transylvania had to take an oath of allegiance (a homagium) to the new prince. Following the election, the estates made the new prince accept and sign the conditions of the election, which included the Estate’s rights to limit the princely authority. Among the conditions we find the maintenance of the right of the Estates to elect the prince, free practice of the four accepted denominations, the preservation of the laws of the country as well as of the liberties of the nobility, and, furthermore, the right of free speech at the Diets. It was the Prince who summoned the lords of the Princely Council and decided the matters of discussion. The first of the councillors was the head of the government, the chancellor. The Prince also commanded the army, decided in matters of war and peace as well as diplomacy, and in matters concerning the treasury and finances. The prince nominated the magistrates who led the government and were responsible to him. The most important office of governance was the Chancellery, which, however, acted as an executive body of a strong princely power. Under Princes Bethlen and the Rákóczi, the chancellors were the personal clerks of the ruler. The prince was also the chief justice, and judgements passed in the court of justice reflected the prince’s personal and economic interests. The Transylvanian estates gathered in an archaic and unicameral Diet, which could only be summoned by the prince. The Diets were usually led by a president, nominated by the prince. In the diet it was the propositions of the prince that the estates discussed. The power that was concentrated in the hands of the Prince is even more conspicuous with regard to the sphere of authority of the Diet. In fact, that the prince's power could hardly be limited by the estates. The estates of Transylvania were the Szekelys, the Saxons and the Hungarian nobility. At that time, Romanians living in Transylvania had no constitutional rights that meant that they had not been able to participate in the Diets, and they had no common privileges. The three estates of Transylvania formed alliances (unio) from the 15th century onward in order to defend their common interests.
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Szulejmán szultán akaratából I. János király felesége és csecsemõ fia megkapta a Tiszától keletre fekvõ országrészt. Mégis igen hosszú folyamat zajlott le 1571-ig, amikor a speyeri egyezmény megkötését követõen létrejött az Erdélyi Fejedelemség, amelyet a kortársak röviden Erdélynek neveztek. Ekkorra alakult ki a terület kettõs függése (a Magyar Királyságtól és az Oszmán Birodalomtól), formálódott az egykori vajdaság és a Partiumnak nevezett vármegyék területi egysége, amelynek pontos határait a Habsburg-uralkodóval kötött megállapodásban rögzítették.
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Mint mindenhol, ahol az elõzõ rezsim bukása után elkezdett haldokolni a mozihálózat, de a keményvonalas filmszeretõk nem akarnak lemondani a nagy sötét terem varázsáról, a kilencvenes években Romániában is megjelentek a filmfesztiválok. Filmfesztiválok régóta léteznek a világban (a legré- gebbi, a velencei tavaly ünnepelte 80. születésnapját, de lassan a cannes-i is 65 éves lesz), s jobb helyen „mindössze” annyi a szerepük, hogy összegyûjtsék a legjobbakat, legszebbeket és legtehetsé- gesebbeket, díjazzák õket, vért pumpáljanak a nemzetközi filmes piacba. Kevésbé jó helyen sokkal elementárisabb szerepük van: megpróbálják életben tartani a mozizás kultúráját, amelynek tá- jainkon nem nagyon kedvezett a huszadik század vége. Az elõzõ rendszerben ugyan „élt és virágzott” a mozikultúra Romániában is, a forradalom után viszont a mozihálózat egységes koncepció hi- ányában és a most már egész nap nézhetõ televí- ziómûsor miatt elkezdett összeomlani. Hiába jöttek át a határon végre-valahára a legfrissebb nyugati filmek, az embereket hirtelen jobban kezdte érdekelni a színes tévé által nyújtott kényelem: nem számított, ha régebbi filmeket vetített, hiszen jócskán volt, amit bepótolni.
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