We kindly inform you that, as long as the subject affiliation of our 300.000+ articles is in progress, you might get unsufficient or no results on your third level or second level search. In this case, please broaden your search criteria.
The National Museum of Unification Alba Iulia holds within its patrimony a collection of decorations belonging to the order of Ferdinand I, an order instituted in 1929 in the memory of King Ferdinand I and those who contributed to the union of all Romanians. The record of the museum – Medal Collection – contains 78 such pieces (of all grades of the order: 23 knights, 17 Officers, 17 Commanders, 9 Grand Officers, 10 Grand Crosses and 2 Collars, inventory numbers from 1188 to 1263), a reasonable number if we consider that until the discontinuance of the award in 1937, 298 distinctions were issued. The expansion of heritage belonging to the museum from Alba Iulia with these 78 distinctions is connected to three personalities of the age: King Carol II, General Dănilă Papp, at that time royal resident of Mureș Province that had its residence in Alba Iulia and archaeologist Ion Berciu, manager of the museum from Alba Iulia. All decorations of the deceased persons had to be sent by the Chancery of Orders to the museum from Alba Iulia, for the preservation of which a special cabinet had to be made. Subsequently, in 1968 and 1970 other two decorations of the order Ferdinand were purchased, thus, the collection totalling 80 distinctions of the order.
More...
The 13th century has proved to have been a dynamic period in the history of the Hungarian realm, namely of Transylvania. The beginning of the century was marked by a territorial expansion towards the inner-Carpathian region through the annexation of the Burzenland. When analyzing the events developed over the span of the century, we are able to separate it into two stages divided by the Mongol invasion of 1241-1242. The realm’s territorial progress, as well as an attempt to cross over the Carpathian borders, were thus stopped by the catastrophic event that was the Mongol invasion not only for the Hungarian realm but also for Europe. This was to become the central point during the 13th century. The administrative-territorial situation of the Hungarian authority within Transylvania is to be depicted through the documents issued between 1201 and 1241, the year of the invasion. The administrative-territorial changes were emphasized by the development of new counties. On the one hand, counties such as Solnoc, Alba, Cluj and Dăbâca were developed during the 12th century and on the other hand, the first half of the following century had brought upon other counties, thus an administrative-territorial development.
More...
Medicine as science flourishes in the XVIIIth century. The Transylvanian area was familiar with this phenomenon, more and more young people of Transylvania being encountered studying in important university centres from Europe such as Vienna, Leiden, Göttingen, Trnava, Utrecht or Buda. Once returned to Transylvania medicine university graduates professed in this area, and following their personal experience subsequently have published specialised works on different subjects: plague, hepatitis, mineral waters, diet etc. There are analysed works of personalities of Transylvanian medical science such as Samuel Köleséri, Martinus Lange, Lucas Wagner, Francisc Nyulas, Samuel Pataki, Johann Hedwig, Iosif Szotiyori and Vasilie Popp.
More...
This paper debates again biography and activity of the priest and Orthodox protopope of Alba Iulia (or Bălgrad) Nicolae Rațiu (1750-1805). Firstly, we did that with the purpose of adjusting some opinions expressed by the authors of this paper, in a study from 2005, on the same subject, and also to address some new information that appeared in social and political journalism in this field, the same time with auction of the so-called handwritten Psalter of the above mentioned protopope, in the current year (2018). The respective Psalter was copied at the Mother of God Monastery, also named Afteia, from Plăișorul Ciorii (thus, located at the border of Cioara locality, whose current name is Săliște from Alba county), by the scribe Eustathie, executing the commission given to him by hieromonk Ioanichie, who bore the cost of making this handwritten copy, of great patrimonial value. The purpose of commissioning the copy, inclusively the binding, was that of giving the resulted volume to a certain priest Nicolae, likely his relative so that this to pray for the donor and also his salvation. The recipient of this gift was considered to be Nicolae Rațiu, the future protopope of Bălgrad, after 1787. Similarly, was also considered that this handwritten Psalter, on which Nicolae Rațiu made at least three handwritten ownership marks, was used by him also when Horea and Cloșca, leaders of the peasant revolt from Transylvania, from 1784-1785, took communion, before their execution, on the spot ”La furci”(Pitchforks’ Spot), from Alba Iulia, on 28 February 1785, fact that especially aroused the participants’ interest at the auction from 2018. We attempted to use all this historical information for a more thorough understanding of the biography of the future protopope of Alba Iulia. Additionally, we also considered the bibliographic contributions following 2005, on the given subject, especially those made by theologian Alin Albu. Although the biography and ecclesiastic activity of the protope are not fully known, we consider that by our comments we contribute to a more substantial historical foundation of the whole matter, to divert current and future researches to deepen and shed light on it, a direction by which also we, on the current occasion, took several steps forward.
More...
During the historical evolution of two thousand years of Christianity, the Holly See represented a point of reference with many meanings and roles for Romanians; the political and diplomatic aspect is not absent and becomes ever more present and obvious in the modern period. The concern manifested by the Romanian political elites in providing these relations with a systematic and institutionalized character is shared in parallel with the birth of the modern Romanian national state and its need to be recognized and stand out in the international arena. It is obvious that going down this path the signing between the Kingdom of Romania and the Holy See of the Concordat on the 10th of May 1927, represented the highest point in some developments that had been preceded by a long period of approach between the Romanian state and the center of the Catholic Church. Thus, in 2017 we have celebrated the venerable age of 90 years since the achievement of an international agreement, unique in its way at least for that period: the signing of a Concordat between the Catholic Church and a predominantly Orthodox country. This has offered us the opportunity for some reflections and notes we present in this article.
More...
The Burning Bush were a spiritual and cultural group in 1940s’ Romania that offered the solution of inner resistance to communism through religion and culture. Representing a heterogeneous lay-monastical community, they aimed to discover a more profound dimension of Orthodoxy. Due to their preoccupations of Orthodox mystic, their social impact as well as their anti-communist views, they became targets of the communist repression, being arrested and imprisoned by the communist regime in 1958. The present paper proposes to reconstruct fragments from the history of their intellectual circle, with the help of oral history sources.
More...
Next to valuable collections of archaeology, history or art, the National Museum of Unification Alba Iulia also takes great pride in its important reference library. The holdings of the library include both contemporary copies and old books. Of almost 1 000 copies of old book from the original holdings, the Old Library, draw attention the copies printed in Transylvania, such it is the case of Approbatae constitutiones regni Transsylvaniae et partium Hungariae (Oradea, 1653). One of the main roles of a museum is that of enriching its heritage, either through discoveries in the case of archaeological artefacts or through donations or purchase when we refer to historical objects. Such a case is represented by a copy from the second edition of Approbatae constitutiones (Cluj, 1677) recently purchased by the museum from Alba Iulia. The volume is even more important as it was held by members of the Bánffy family, one of the former owners being Bánffy György II, governor of Transylvania at the end of the XVIIIth century and beginning of the XIXth century.
More...
This paper puts forward a fragment of Romanian printing with Cyrillic letters from the VIth volume of the translation made by Ioan Barac, O mie și una de nopți. Istorii arabicești sau Halima (A Thousand and One Nights. Arabian stories or Halima), translation did after a German edition and printed in 8 volumes, in Brașov, between 1836 and 1848. In 1915, the mentioned fragment of printing was in Valea Dosului (nowadays Izvoru Ampoiului), Alba county. Translation of Ioan Barac represented a renewal as regards the Romanian cultural projection, an attempt to channel the preferences for the Romanian audience to universal literary values, the way they were known in the European central-western cultural environments. We tackled the presence of this modern typographical modern fragment, in the mentioned village, in 1915, as pretext to set up some aspects of local history, not mentioned by anyone before, revealing, rather indirectly than directly, the opening of this mining environment, preoccupied with exploitation and processing of gold and mercury, towards laicity and its wish for innovating literary products. Interest for such a modern reading maintained quite alive, at least in Valea Dosului, until the beginning of the First World War, despite using Cyrillic letters in writing the text.
More...
This study looks at the evolution of the National Museum of Union Library during the period 1887-1949. In its first decades of existence, this section of the museum has developed under the close supervision of Adalbert Cserni, custodian, and then director of the museum during 1887- 1916. Relying on the idea that research in any field needs a solid foundation, specialized treatises, synthesis works, etc., Adalbert Cserni will really be concerned about the creation of a functional library specialized in history and archeology. His efforts regarding this problem materialized in the emergence of a fund composed of important books and specialty magazines of the time, Adalbert Cserni coming in contact, through correspondence with specialists from Transylvania and Europe. In 1916, the year of Cserni's death, a total of 4,634 books were recorded in the inventory of the museum. As a result, the library was enriched in 27 years by approximately 3,600 volumes. From 1938, the Museum will be led by Ion Berciu, also concerned with the development of the museum library. Being aware of the new editorial appearences, the director of the museum was involved in the creation of a specialized library, the proof being the numerous addresses and letters sent to the libraries, publishers and editors of the magazines in the country and abroad, kept in the archives of the museum library. Despite the difficulties, the lack of adequate storage space and the lack of a librarian (only in 1945 a librarian is employed), the library is growing at a rapid pace, so in the year 1941 it reached about 6,000 volumes, arranged in a few cabinets in the director's office. Until 1949, when all the museum's staff were dismissed, and the museum was sealed due to sociopolitical transformations, the library knew the same constant development. This year, 1949, is the end of one of the most important stages in the evolution of the museum and, implicitly, of the library. The destiny of the books gathered here with so much passion and perseverance by the two directors, Adalbert Cserni and Ion Berciu, took a dramatic turn. Many of the books were destroyed, and in the library began to be recorded books reflecting the communist ideology.
More...
Fur coats hold an extremely important place in the composition and in the structure of the traditional costume. They are worn both by men and women, especially during the cold seasons. Fur coats evolved in close connection with the natural environment, particularly with the climate, their primary purpose being to warm up the human body during the cold autumn and winter days, but they also had the role of defining the social status of the bearer. In the Campulung Moldovenesc area, fur coats have developed into a specific local style, their components acquiring unique structural features, with self-contained symbolism and appeal.
More...
This paper is intended to be a model for organizing the change of location of a mobile cultural goods warehouse. It is written by an accredited conservator and only tackles the protection of goods.
More...
Eine prähistorische Fundstelle mit neo-äneolitischen und bronzezeitlichen Überresten wurde 2002 in der hügeligen Region nördlich von der Ortschaft Oarţa de Sus auf dem südlichen, sanften Hang des Hügels Dealul Stremţului entdeckt. Dieser Hügel befindet sich in der Nachbarschaft des Hügels Ghiile Botii, wo eine besondere Kultstätte der Wietenberg-Kultur fungierte. Das wichtigste Ergebnis der 2003 und 2004 durchgeführten Kontrollgrabungen ist die partielle Freilegung eines ebenerdigen Hauses mit zwei inneren Feuerstellen, das zur Phase Suciu de Sus II gehört. Auch zwei Keramikfragmente der Wietenberg-Kultur wurden von der Oberfläche gesammelt. Der Zufallscharakter dieser Fundstücke lässt keine neuen Schlussfolgerungen auf die Beziehungen zwischen den Wietenberg- und Suciu de SusKulturen zu. Die bronzezeitliche Siedlung auf dem Hügel Dealul Stremţului wird sehr wahrscheinlich in eine frühere Etappe der Suciu de Sus II-Phase eingereiht, eventuell in eine Zeitspanne sofort nach der Verlassung der Kultstätte auf dem Hügel Ghiile Botii von der Wietenberg-Bevölkerung. Von Oarţa de Sus - Dealul Stremţului stammt ebenfalls eine kleine Anzahl von mittelneolitischen (Pişcolt-Gruppe) und frühäneolitischen (Tiszapolgár-Kultur) Keramikfragmenten.
More...