A „nyitott határ” – egy hadtörténelmi paradoxon hatása. Néhány gondolat a Magyar Királyság 16–17. századi oszmánellenes védelmi rendszerének sajátosságairól

Author(s): István Czigány / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 4/2018

Thoughts about the characteristics of the Kingdom of Hungary’s defense system against the Ottoman Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries. After the advance of the Ottoman Empire halted at the middle of the Kingdom of Hungary in the late 16th century, the Habsburg Empire, bearers of the Hungarian crown at the time, and the Ottoman Empire both built their own defense systems. The two empires created thousand kilometers long, similarly structured castle systems. The opposing defense lines were balanced in terms of power. Both sides had a force of approximately 20,000 soldiers. The upkeep of this kind of military force was a significant burden on both empires, and they could only secure their system of strongholds, but couldn’t close the border down. The Treaty of Adrianopole (1568) didn’t draw a clear border, it only aimed to determine the affiliation of the border settlements and the part of the populace that paid taxes to both sides. While the Ottomans ruled over the Christian border area, the Kingdom of Hungary partially reorganized state presence in Ottoman Hungary (royal, palatine, and county rights, and the way noble’s lands were managed) with the help of the military of the border castles and landowners. A peculiar, “open” border area was created, the size of which depended on how large an area the Hungarian and Ottoman border castles collected taxes from. This system of shared rulership (condominium) and the resulting tax structure became the main reason behind the skirmishes, raids, and the constant state of border war. The Treaty of Zsitvatorok (1608) regulated taxation by the Hungarian and Ottoman parties in the border area, sometimes even allowing the presence of the other side’s armed forces within their dominion. This became the norm not only in the border area at this time, but in entire Ottoman Hungary apart from the Temesköz and Szerémség regions. During the early 17th century, due to the Bocskai uprising (1604–1606), and the Western engagements of the Habsburgs, the role of the Hungarian political and military elite, and the armies of the Hungarian aristocracy grew stronger in the governance, financing and military structure of the kingdom’s border areas. Despite the deficiencies of the border castle system, the balance of military power remained intact on the Ottoman border. An important aspect of this was the Hungarian taxation in Ottoman Hungary, and the presence of the soldiers of the border castles.

A Life on the Marches: The Career of Derviş Bey

Author(s): Géza Dávid / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2001

The life-story of Derviş bey can by reconstructed with unusal accuracy. He come from an influential family, the Yahyapaşazade clan of Albanian origin. His father Küçük Bali had a house in Jagodina. Derviş must have born around 1500 since he is mentioned as a timar-holder in the sancak of Zvornik as early as 1519. When his father became the beylerbeyi of Buda in 1542, Derviş was appointed commander of the Danube flotilla, a nem post created specifically for him. When Szeged was taken early in 1543, he was elected to be the first district governor there. On 28 najuary 1545. he was nominated sancakbeyi of Székesfehérvár (Istolni Belgrad). In late 1547 he was sent to administer the liva of Mohács. He held this office for almost 10 years, an exceptionally long period. His many duties can be illustrated by several hitherto unknown orders which were sent to him. At the same time, he did not forget Jagodina where he had a cami built and where – as Hans Dernschwam reported – he also settled some Hungarians. This is shown by a defter od Szendrő (Smederovo), in which several individuals with Hungarian names were registered. On February 1557, he was appointed to Avlonya, partly as a punishment for the unsuccesful siege of Szigetvár in 1556. Four days later, however, he was allowed to return to Szeged. As in Pécs, he was again charged whit the preparation of the new cadastral surveys of some of the Hungarian sancaks. Derviş bey vanishes from sight around 1560/1561. in all likelihood he died either in Hungary or on his way to Jagodina.

A magyarországi obszerváns ferencesek 1499. és 1518. évi konstitúcióinak prológusa

Author(s): Balázs Kertész / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 04/2016

The Hungarian Observant Franciscan vicary, established in 1448, underwent a thoroughgoing reorganization at the end of the 15th century. The chapter (capitulum vicariale) held in 1499 at the monastery of Atya (today Šarengrad, Croatia), accepted constitutions which determined in detail the organisational structure and functioning of the vicary. These, in fact, are the earliest known decisions of the vicary. The author of the regulation was Osvát Laskai, much better known as a writer of sermons, who was three times elected for the two year vicarial office (1497–1499, 1499–1501, 1507–1509). The long work consists of two parts: while the first defines the offices of the superiors, that is, of the vicar, the custodes, the guardians and the visitors (visitatores), the second regulates the everyday life of the friars through an explanation of the Franciscan rule. The constitutions of Atya are not available in a modern critical edition, its only edition of 1827 being based on one single manuscript. That important milestone in the history of the Franciscan Order, the Roman capitulum generalissimum of 1517, and Pope Leo X’s Bull of Ite vos in vineam meam, naturally effected considerable changes in the life of the Hungarian vicary as well. For instance, the Hungarian vicar also became a minister, and the area under his supervision was consequently called a province. In reaction to the changes, the friars of the new province gathered in 1518 for an extraordinary chapter, under the leadership of provincial minister Albert Dereszlényi, at the tomb of Giovanni da Capestrano at Újlak (Ilok, Croatia). The importance of the constitutions of Atya is reflected by the fact that in 1518 the regulation of 1499 was merely updated in accordance with the new conditions. Among others, the necessary terminological modifications were carried out: vicary was changed to province, vicar to minister, and capitulum vicariale to capitulum provinciale. The text of the constitutions of Újlak has never appeared in print. The two sets of constitutions are thus closely connected to each other. The present study offers the description and edition of their respective prologues, a preliminary to the forthcoming critical edition of the two regulations.

A manuscript fragment of Vincent de Beauvais’ Speculum historiale in Romania (Sibiu, National Archives, U. V. 1926)

Author(s): Adinel-Ciprian Dinca / Language(s): English / Issue: 17/2019

Die Identifizierung eines fragmentarisch erhaltenen Textes aus dem Speculum Historiale, das von Vincent de Beauvais um die Mitte des 13. Jahrhunderts zusammengestellt wurde – eine im Mittelalter überall sehr geschätzte historiographische Arbeit – könnte eine Diskussion über den Wert der Geschichtsschreibung innerhalb der Lesepraxis im vormodernen Siebenbürgen anregen. In vorliegendem Aufsatz wird versucht, auf verschiedene Aspekte einzugehen, in erster Linie auf Fragen der Datierung und der Lokalisierung dieses Fragments. Es wird dann weiter argumentiert, dass die beiden noch vorhandenen Blätter ursprünglich Teil einer Handschrift waren, bislang die östlichste Rezeption des Textes in dieser Form darstellt; die Handschrift war bereits um 1500 im Besitz eines Siebenbürgers.

A mezővárosi ingatlanforgalom szokásjoga a 14−16. századi Zemplén megyében és környékén

Author(s): László Szabolcs Gulyás / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 01/2016

The purchase, exchange, mortgage, alienation and bequest of real estate, as well as their offer to ecclesiastical institutions as pious donation was a general phenomenon in late medieval Hungarian market towns. Free disposition of various pieces of property – plots, houses, arable, mills, pasture, and before all vineyards – was an everyday and widely accepted occurrence. Supervision of real estate trade was a basic duty of the town council, a task it discharged on the basis of the town’s own customary law. It was the same body which put such matters to writing, and, although the ensuing real estate contracts were meant to have a limited, local degree of authenticity, practice proves that their legal binding force was in fact acknowledged by extensive social groups, both local and outsider. The present study explores the content of this customary law and its practical application in the market towns of northeastern Hungary in the late middle ages. Some of the legal institutions applied in such transactions were known throughout the country, and can thus be regarded as parts of national (noble) law. As examples can be cited the procedure employed at depositions, standing as guarantee, frivolous prosecution, or the taking into account of the right of pre-emption by kinsmen, but also demonstration by charters or witnesses in lawsuits. Other legal customs, however, were either restricted to certain areas, or otherwise common nationwide, but limited to the peasantry. Such was, for instance, pledging by drinking toast, the previous lodging of the estimated value of a piece of property in case of litigation, or, in the region of the Hegyalja, the sealing of land transactions with a delay of a year and three days, a practice evidently introduced with a view to prevent problems connected to the right of pre-emption. In forming this customary law the peasantry could rely on several legal sources. Part of the consuetudo no doubt filtered down to the local custom of the market towns from national law through the mediation of the literacy pursued by the so-called places of authentication (loca credibilia) and public notaries. Another such source may have been the legal practice of the free royal towns, which resembled parallel practice in the market towns in several points. Moreover, the dispositions of the letter of privilege granted to the town (if there existed one) were also respected. But there also existed procedures which had evidently emerged among the peasantry in the course of past centuries. By the late middle ages these different legal customs had frequently merged in distorted forms, and thus created the various customary laws which were proudly referred to in the charters of local communities (ius, mos, libertas, consuetudo etc.).

A mohácsi csata (1526)

Author(s): Lajos Négyesi / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 03/2019

On 29 August 1526, in the battle that took place south from Mohács, Suleiman I triumphed over the armies of the Hungarian Kingdom, which also lost its king, as Louis II drowned in the flooded Csele stream while trying to escape. Posterity associates the loss of the Hungarian kingdom with this tragic event, although it would probably still have taken place due to the political processes. Nevertheless, many historians regard this battle as a fateful clash that the Hungarian army had no chance of winning due to their lack of expertise and preparation. The careful analysis of the contemporary sources reveals that the fight was not already lost from the beginning, but due to the lack of military preparedness.

A nagybányai önkormányzati testület szerkezete a 16–18. században

Author(s): Kálmán Zsolt Sütő / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2018

The aim of the study is to present the structure of the local government of Baia Mare. During the 16th–18th centuries the free royal mining town of Baia Mare was led by an inner and an outer council. The outer council was made up of sixty members. They elected the judge and the twelve jurors of the inner council. The first and the second juror were called consul jurors, they acted as the judge’s substitutes. From the end of the 17th century the central power was trying to narrow the self-government of the town.

A nagyszombati kalmárcéh szabályzata 1547/1604-ben

Author(s): László Fülöp / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2/2020

The linguist's recent paper examines a merchant guild in Nagyszombat (Trnava), specifically its 16th-century statutes. He mentions by name the merchants of the town and the guild master in charge of the guild. It explains the order of the daily operation of the guild.

A nonadorantizmus két kelet-közép-európai módozatáról a 16. században (Martin Seidel és Szymon Budny)

Author(s): Mihály Balázs / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2-3/2017

The international literary history focusing on the antecedents of the enlightenment era has a particular interest in nonadorantism, the most radical branch of antitrinitarianism. This article focuses on research about Martin Seidel (?–?, 16–17th century) and Szymon Budny (1533–1593). In Seidel’s case new documents have been discovered in the archives which reveal new relations and connections in his work life which make it possible to date the origins of nonadorantism to a significantly earlier time. The article sums up the English, German, Spanish, Polish and Italian papers, and while doing so, Budny and Seidel are repositioned on the Eastern-Central European religious map. The article sketches the relations between the works of Budny and Seidel, as well as those of Francis David (Dávid Ferenc) (1510?–1579), Jacobus Palaeologus (1520?–1585) and Matthias Vehe-Glirius (1545?–1590).

A Pécsi Disputa útja nyugatról keletre. Erdélyi–baranyai unitárius érintkezések a 17. században.

Author(s): Dávid Szigeti Molnár / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 3/2019

This article focuses on Unitarian relationships between Transylvania and Baranya in the 17th century. It presents relevant new data, for example, it comes to light that at the synod of Kolozsvár in 1609, the Unitarian bishop Máté Toroczkai (1553–1616) delegated four ministers to Baranya. Maybe this is related to the passage of exemplars of the Disputation of Pécs from west to east, from Baranya, the western periphery of the Unitarian Church to its eastern periphery (where the Sabbatarians lived). Th e article interprets a 1632 letter from Valentinus Radecius (cca 1550–1632) to the ministers of Baranya together with other historical documents, and concludes that Baranya had more freedom in the 17th century than Transylvania. The ministers in Baranya were not bound by Transylvanian dogma and the indifference of Transylvanian Unitarians contributed to the freedom experienced there.

A procancellariusi tisztség a Báthoryak korában (1571–1602)

Author(s): Tamás Fejér / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2016

The aim of this paper is to present the office of procancellarius of the Transylvanian princely chancellery during the Báthory era on the basis of archival sources. This new office appeared at the end of the year 1575, and first was held by Márton Berzeviczy, previously princely councilor and secretary of the chancellery. Then it was taken over by Ferenc Sulyok, formerly protonotarius, respectively by the cubicularius Miklós Bogáthi. Since this solution was used to coordinate the activity of the chancellery only when the office of chancellor was vacant, the office did not become a permanent one. Usually the duties of procancellarius were similar to those of the chancellor’s. Based on the examined charters and other sources my research revealed that they fulfilled tasks concerning diplomatic correspondence, countersigning documents, verification of princely mandates, opening letters of report, and supervising the libri regii.

A small region in Transdanubia under Ottoman rule: Bonyhád and its surroundings in the 16th century

Author(s): Géza Dávid / Language(s): English / Issue: 1-2/2008

The Ottomans occupied Bonyhád and its surroundings probably during the imperial campaign of 1543. The first survey of the region was made in 1546, followed by three additional ones during the 16th century (1552, 1570 and 1579). The territory under investigation first belonged to the sancak of Mohács, later to that of Pécs. Nearly all studied settlements could be found in all four defters . Thus some 20 places were categorised according to various criteria. It turned out that as far as population, the amount of taxes paid and wine-production are concerned, the market town ( oppidum ) Nádasd was the most significant. Though only a village at the time, Bonyhád also ranked among the first in several respects. The examination of settlements with mills, fairs and markets and of the number of priests yielded new results, modifying in part our knowledge of the Middle Ages.

A szászok és a fejedelmi tábla a 16. században

Author(s): Zsolt Bogdándi / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2019

This study analyzes the relationship between the Transylvanian central court of law, the so-called Royal/Voivodal/ Princely Table (Tabula) and the privileged Saxon community of Transylvania in light of the archival sources. The Princely Table adjudicated the cases appealed from the Universitas Saxonum, which resided in Szeben (Sibiu, Hermannstadt). The Saxons did not have their own court session, their cases were determined by the Table during the congregations of the Transylvanian estates, held on different locations. From the Princely Table their actions could be transmitted to the court of personal presence (personalis presentia). Cases between Saxons were appealed rarely to the Table, in most of the cases one of the litigants came from the nobility of the neighbouring counties or from the Székely community.

A székelyudvarhelyi Jézus-kápolna

Author(s): András Sófalvi / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: VIII/2013

The Jesus Chapel is located at the south entrance of the town Odorheiu Secuiesc. This ecclesiastical building belongs to the group of four-lobe chapels with analogies in the west and north of the Carpatian-basin and Transylvania. Traditional belief dated the building of the Jesus Chapel to the 13th century. The chapel was mentioned in the written sources for the first time in 1602. There are no carved stone elements in its structure. The special technical components of its altar date from the end of the 17th century – beginning of the 18th century. The central picture of the altar, representing Jesus with His bleeding heart and the lamb, are strongly connected with the Jesuit order which appeared in Odorhei at the end of the 16th century. The painted wood ceiling was made in 1677, originally the chapel was probably vaulted. The archaeological researches made in 1973 and 2011 have also given postmedieval dating. Stratigraphical data proved the building of the chapel post quem the middle of the 15th century. The stone and brick crypts discovered in the centre of the building are directly linked to the foundation of the chapel, which was probably a miraculous healing. Although it has been used later as a burial chapel, there are no written documents concerning the founder’s person or their family. The chapels in Gheorgheni (Szent Anna/Saint Anne Chapel) and Sânzieni (Szent István/Saint Stephen Chapel) are in Szeklerland the closest architectural analogies of the Jesus Chapel. Their newest research dated them to the 17th century and marked them as being votive or private chapels.

A szigeti Bartos család: társadalmi felemelkedés az erdélyi fejedelmi hivatalnokság alsó rétegében a 16–17. század fordulóján

Author(s): László Glück / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 0

The service of the king played a particular role in upward social mobility in premodern Hungary, as the monarchs – thanks to the specific sovereign rights – had opportunities not comparable with that of the other members of society to reward subjects dear to them. Many commoners also managed to acquire nobility or seigneurial rights in the 15th and 16th centuries, thanks to their erudition (literacy and proficiency in Latin) which made it possible for them to be employed in the monarchic administration. The government of the Principality of Transylvania, a new state that emerged in the eastern part of Hungary in the mid-16th century, played a similar role. The present study gives the history of a family as an example of this.The father lived in Sziget, a small town in the north-eastern region of Hungary, and his profession possibly was that of a saddler. His sons were given an education. Péter started working at the Princely Treasury as an auditor (rationista), György supposedly served in the Princely Chancellery as a scribe, and István had been the private secretary to lords, and then worked as a scribe of the Princely Chancellery. The father already had been ennobled by a charter (this was usual among craftsmen from the end of the 16th century), and his sons were granted exemption for their plots in Sziget by the Prince. After the untimely death of the two elderly brothers, only István remained alive; he was awarded with estate donations as well by the Prince, and then entered into a marriage with a noblewoman from a well-to-do seigneurial family, inheriting landed properties by his marriage as well. After all, he used the cash from his father’s heritage or his court service to purchase the landed properties from different landlords being in difficulties. He attached great importance to good farming on the acquired landed properties. Old seigneurial families immediately accepted him, the homo novus, as one of them: this is clearly shown by the marriages of István and his children.

A Szilágyság és a Wesselényi család (14–17. század)

Author(s): / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2012

This volume contains the edited texts of the papers presented at the conference "Sălaj (Szilágy) Region and the Wesselényi Family in the 14–17th centuries" held between 7 and 8 September 2012 in Cluj (Kolozsvár). The essays deal with the estate system and the political and economic history of the medieval Sălaj (Szilágy) region (Middle Solnoc/Szolnok and Crasna/Kraszna counties), as well as with the history of the Wesselényi family archives and the early modern history of the Wesselényi family.

A sződi uradalom 1517/1518. évi számadásjegyzéke (Adatok a Gersei Pető család dél-alföldi birtoklásáról)

Author(s): Elek Szaszkó / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 04/2017

As medieval sources of the southern Great Hungarian Plain are scarce and limited, every little crumbs of information should be cherished by the researcher. This is especially true, when one stumbles upon an especially rare type of medieval source related to the region, which, in our case, is the registry of the revenues and expenses of the Sződi manor in Arad County obtained by Gersei Pető János and György from 1506/07. The luckily survived document from 1517/18, according to which the castellan of the manor was able to record 335 forints of revenues, provides a great insight into the nature of the incomes and the forms of revenue utilizations ranging from Pető János and his family’s personal expenses, through the costs of running the manor, the cookhouse, the salary of the retinue and other military expenses to the purchases of various types of simple clothes. The analysis of the registry is preceded by the summary of how the Gerseis gained a foothold in the region which intends to highlight the steps and the circumstances of the acquisition of the possessions known as the former Pósafi estates. Also, while investigating the actual size of the Sződi manor and the southern assets, the study attempts to examine the Gerseis’ relationship with their lay and clerical, prestigious and less significant local neighbors as well.

A szülejmáni béke. A magyarországi oszmán adóösszeírások és a magyar– oszmán békekötések összefüggései

Author(s): Éva Sz. Simon / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 4/2018

Starting from the second half of the 15th century, the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire were separated by the natural border of the rivers Sava and lower Danube, fortified with border castles. With the capture of Belgrade, Zemun, and Sabac, the army of Suleiman I punched through this functional, formally established defense line, which led to the creation of the 150-year-long Ottoman rule in Hungary. During the more than 150 years following the Hungarian-Ottoman peace treaty of 1519, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire came to a peace agreement fourteen times. However, while the treaties of 1503 and 1519 specifically established the border settlements on the Sava-lower Danube line, as did the double committee sent out after the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, the treaties between these never specified border castles or specific border marks. In the 16th century, on the western border of the Ottoman Empire the Ottomans used a unique, one might say genius method not used in other parts of the Empire to legitimize their rule in a region even before conquering it by force. They did not only utilize their army, but their diplomacy and administration as well, to subjugate these regions. The author of this study examines the correlations between the Ottoman-Hungarian peace treaties and the sanjak censuses appraising the taxability of the population, as well as their roles in the border negotiations. Furthermore, the study puts the findings of previous studies regarding the making of sanjak censuses in a broader context and provides a new foundation for these findings.

A Taste of Diplomacy: Food Gifts for the Muscovite Embassy in Venice (1582)

Author(s): Laura Mesotten / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2017

A vital factor governing early modern diplomatic relations was the practice of hospitality. To assure that the embassy began amicably, ambassadors had to be received with generosity. The nature and extent of diplomatic hospitality differed according to the host state, but it often included the offer of housing and victuals. This critical edition of a primary source aims to shed new light on the characteristics of diplomatic hospitality by carefully examining a list of expenses drafted by the Venetian office of the Rason Vecchie. This archival document provides a detailed account of all the food that was supplied to host a Muscovite delegation that visited Venice in 1582. In the first place, the article unravels the qualities and dynamics of Venetian food gifts by contextualising and comparing the source with additional Venetian records. Furthermore, it argues that the type of foodstuffs offered, the amount of money spent on them, and the splendour of festive banquets all communicated strong symbolic and political messages. By focusing the analysis on lists of expenses, the relevance of these documents for the study of diplomatic practices is illustrated. Overviews of financial transactions might seem static and dry accounts at first sight, however, when analysed closely, they reveal a great deal about the day-to-day operation of early modern diplomacy.

A Territory of Grace: Lampedusa during Early Modern Times

Author(s): Simon Mercieca,Joseph Muscat / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2013