2013_2_Book Reviews

Book Reviews

A kalocsai érseki tartomány kialakulása [The Formation of the Archiepiscopal Province of Kalocsa].

By László Koszta. Thesaurus Historiae Ecclesiasticae in Universitate Quinqueecclesiensi 3 (Pécs: Pécsi Történettudományért Kulturális Egyesület, 2013). 534 pp.

Hungarian medieval research has always had its share of recurring topics that have preoccupied almost every generation since the emergence of modern historical research. The history of the formation of the Archbishopric of Kalocsa is undoubtedly just such a subject, having occupied the attention of Hungarian researchers since the nineteenth century. Three aspects of the Kalocsa question have always held interest for scholars. One of these involves the very location of the foundation, that is, why did Saint Stephen choose precisely Kalocsa to found an ecclesiastical center? Another is a closely related problem, itself embracing two major subtopics: when was the Bishopric of Kalocsa organized into an archbishopric, and why were two archbishoprics established in the Hungarian ecclesiastical province already in the earliest times? And in this connection the following question remains valid to this day: why was the ecclesiastical center relocated to Bács?

Answers to all these are given in the monograph to be reviewed here, which László Koszta, associate professor at the University of Szeged and a noted authority on early Hungarian church history, has produced. The author has been engaged in research on the emergence of the Archbishopric of Kalocsa since the beginning of the 1990s,1 and in the present work one can read in fact a summary of his work on the question elaborated over the past two decades and more. Koszta’s position on Kalocsa may be briefly summarized as follows: in his view, Kalocsa was organized as an archbishopric from the outset, though it did not possess an autonomous province but was rather only a titular archbishopric right up until the mid-twelfth century, when the jurisdictions of Esztergom and Kalocsa were demarcated.

A debate over this theory of Koszta has been ongoing for a long time in Hungarian medieval research. Among the representatives of the dissenting opinions, it is worth singling out first and foremost Gábor Thoroczkay, who in numerous studies has expressed an opinion contrary to that of the author on a number of questions.2 There is no need to present these in the present article, a decision which, beyond the fact that the present author does not feel qualified to weigh the various positions held by researchers in connection with the “Kalocsa question,” is justified on practical grounds as well: by reading László Koszta’s work everyone can gain a detailed overview of the earlier literature on the question, and through the footnotes can also obtain precise information on the various positions held on each subtopic.

Apart from the introduction the book itself contains the following major parts: a detailed description of all previous conceptions relating to the establishment of the archbishopric, covering the issue of Kalocsa’s central role; a separate chapter discussing the subject of the archbishopric without a province, that is, the conception advocated by the author himself; then a presentation of the establishment of the archiepiscopal province; and finally a broader overview of the decades of the jurisdictional dispute.

The author has approached the discussion of each subtopic using two basic processes. Having taken into account all the results achieved in Hungarian historiography, he consequently examined these in a very broad European comparison. The latter—in our view—was indeed indispensable. It requires no particular explanation to state that church history is not only a Hungarian historical phenomenon, and therefore the development of the medieval church organization as well as the question of its direction and transformation are inseparable from the general tendencies of ecclesiastical development in the West. On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that our ability to examine early Hungarian and East Central European history is quite seriously limited by the quantity and quality of the available sources, which virtually obliges us to examine every disputed question by placing it in a wider context, following European analogies. The consistent application of the comparative method is especially important with respect to the main issues treated in Koszta’s monograph, for example, in assessing whether two archbishoprics could have been established in Hungary at the start of ecclesiastical organization. Concerning this it must be pointed out that our knowledge of Kalocsa becoming an archbishopric derives in the first place from the Life of Saint Stephen, dating from the late eleventh century, which was authored by Bishop Hartvic and commissioned by the king of Hungary, Coloman the Learned (Könyves Kálmán, 1095–1116). It was already established previously that those parts of Hartvic’s work that do not follow the text of the two earlier Stephen legends reflect first and foremost the political interests of Coloman the Learned, thus their interpretation, too, is possible only within the framework of politics during his reign. This in itself justifies including other sources originating from beyond the bounds of Hungarian dynastic historiography and hagiography in examining the question. In addition to all this, the importance of the comparative method is also illustrated by the example of Hungary’s neighbor, the Polish monarchy: the first historian of the Piast dynasty recorded in the early twelfth century that during the reign of Bolesław I the Brave (992–1025) Poland had consisted of two archbishoprics.

In summary it may be stated that László Koszta’s work represents an important milestone both in the debate surrounding the formation of the archbishopric of Kalocsa and in the investigation of the earliest phases of Hungarian ecclesiastical organization. The book’s main strength is that it familiarizes the reader with the entire specialist literature on the topic: in addition to advancing the author’s own conception, it also presents all the scholarly opinions relating to Kalocsa, both authoritative and less authoritative. Because it contains a detailed bibliography, which incorporates the international specialist literature produced on the topic, it also provides the inquiring audience a kind of overview of older and newer scholarly results achieved in connection with the problems discussed in the book. We can therefore only hope that the work will serve as a starting point for further debates among historians and have a fruitful effect on the work of subsequent generations.

Translated by Matthew Caples

 

Dániel Bagi

Vásárok és lerakatok a középkori Magyar Királyságban [Markets and Staples in the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary].

By Boglárka Weisz. Budapest: MTA BTK Történettudományi Intézet, 2012. 222 pp.

 

One of the important subjects of research on the Hungarian Middle Ages is economic history. The recently published volume by Boglárka Weisz, entitled Vásárok és lerakatok a középkori Magyar Királyságban (Markets and Staples in the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary), analyzes two important chapters in the history of trade as indicated by the title. The volume was published by the Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy’s Research Center for the Humanities in Budapest in 2012, as part of the series Magyar Történelmi Emlékek – Értekezések. The series editor is Pál Fodor, and the volume was proofread by Katalin Szende. The series offers the Institute’s researchers an opportunity to publish their scholarship in larger-scale volumes. The book fits organically into the works that have appeared thus far, presenting biographies of historical figures (Judge royal István Báthori of Ecsed,3 King Charles I of Anjou4) and cultural history (the Catholicization of the Transylvanian Armenians,5 the private life of aristocrats in the seventeenth century6). The professional biography found on the back cover briefly presents the author’s work thus far. As her research interests as a historian have continually broadened, she has dealt with the legal history of the medieval Hungarian Jewish community, the system of royal toll collection (eleventh–thirteenth centuries), the operation of the royal chamber, royal revenues obtained from the mining of precious ores (thirteenth–fourteenth centuries) and market privileges bestowed upon settlements during the eleventh–fourteenth centuries.

The present volume has two major topics. The first part deals with the medieval markets, while the second part analyzes the most important privilege connected to long-distance trade, the staple right and its use. The word “market” (Hungarian: vásár) in fact has a number of meanings, and could signify a market held in settlements one day a week, a multi-day fair held annually with royal permission and at times the urban staple right itself. In Hungarian historical scholarship basic research on the formation of markets and fairs and their legal dimensions was completed some time ago, but until now few have dealt with the problem of the staple right that evolved in the wake of long-distance trade, and with the functioning of the so-called “daily market.” In the first part of the book the author clarifies the concept of market, the rights of the market’s “holder,” the relationship of the markets to one another and their internal workings. The second part of the book analyzes in detail the theory and practice of the staple right. The staple operated according to international trade and on the basis of royal favor; it was one of the main sustaining forces of Hungarian towns, which evolved between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries and enjoyed their golden age in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The latter is the book’s most important and at the same time most elaborated part, which dissects the subject in exacting detail. Its significance lies in the fact that no one in Hungary has yet dealt with this subject in such depth since the first half of the twentieth century. The author avowedly does not deal with either the merchants themselves, or the kinds of goods, nor does she provide an outline for a more complete history of trade.

Boglárka Weisz’s book consists of a detailed elucidation of two subjects (markets and staples) and an appendix section. In the medieval Kingdom of Hungary the right to hold markets was bestowed upon the settlement by the king himself. The bestowal could be retroactive as well, since in many cases an already existing market received approval. The markets evolved either in larger settlements (ecclesiastical or lay administrative centers), or at busy crossroads and ferry crossings (though in these cases, too, in the vicinity of a settlement). The royal authorizations mentioned the day on which the market was held (e.g., Saturday), its liberties (e.g., protection of those attending the market, prohibition on collecting tolls) and the name of its holder. The earliest to evolve, the weekly market (forum sollempne, forum generale, Markt), referred to local trading, which was held on a specified day of the week. The annual fair (forum annuale, feria, Jahrmarkt) was generally tied to a specified day of the year, in general a church feast day (of the church’s patron saint) and was held around the feast day for a period of four to fourteen days. The daily market (forum quotidianum) presumably meant not the market in the classic sense, but rather a staple, which would later become a “distinct concept.” In fact in the charters they are mentioned generally in connection with long-distance trade. The expression forum liberum, that is, free market, in part meant that those hastening to the market were under royal protection, and in part meant that they were exempted from paying the market toll owed to the king. Apart from this, during the time of the market criminals could not be detained, though the market judge imposed punishments for crimes occurring while the market was in progress. In the earliest times (tenth–eleventh centuries) the markets were held on Sundays. The very meaning of the Hungarian word is the same (vasárnap, literally ’the day of the market’). Because of the frequent failure to attend obligatory Sunday mass, however, over the course of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the markets were held—varying from settlement to settlement—from Monday to Saturday. This applied naturally to the weekly market days.

The annual fairs in most cases were held on the feast of the church’s patron saint, or else on the day of the church’s consecration (e.g., Pentecost, St. Nicholas’s Day, feasts of St. Mary). At such times during the week before and after the feast day the merchants and buyers heading to the fair were under royal protection. The “right of the mile,” Bannmeilrecht, meant that no other market could be held within a one-mile radius of the given settlement. The market’s toll originally belonged to the king. If he made a grant of it, the person or institution so favored (landowner, church community, governing body of a town) was entitled to collect the toll. In early times the toll was a flat fee that was levied on the loaded wagon. It was later transformed into a tariff, which was collected on the transported units (barrel, quintal, bale), but often not in money but in pieces. By the late Middle Ages the ad valorem duty (poundage) had become general, when in every case a pre-determined sum of money now had to be paid on the volume of goods delivered to the market. At such times the quality and place of origin of the merchandise were also taken into account. The toll was collected at the gates in the towns, and at the sales stalls in settlements without walls. Weighing was allowed only with scales authenticated at the markets, or else the punishment was confiscation of goods or a monetary fine. The market’s secondary, though no less important, role was that it was the venue for community life as well. Certain legal judgments had to be announced by the so-called “three-market proclamation” (trineforensis proclamatio, háromvásáros kikiáltás), meaning they had to be made public at three nearby marketplaces. At times the punishment itself was carried out on the pillory set up in the market.

An especially valuable part of the book is the presentation of the staple right (depositio mercium, Niederlage, Gret) of Hungarian towns. It was likewise out of royal or princely favor that certain towns received the right to stop the wagons of long-distance merchants and purchase their goods. The staple right was paired with additional regulations, such as the mandated use of legal roads and exemption from tolls. There were towns that obtained the staple right for the goods of foreign and/or domestic merchants that was valid for the entire territory of the country, but there were also those with a staple extending to only certain products (salt, wine). We find versions differing almost from town to town based on the charters. The rules could apply to both foreign and domestic merchants, or separately to each. Divergences can also be detected with regard to whether or not the merchant was allowed to move on with his leftover wares after the unloading and buying up of goods, as well as whether or not the number of days he was required to remain there was prescribed for him.

Within the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary the first town of this kind was Esztergom. Merchants already according to the laws of the first kings (Ladislaus I, Coloman I) were obligated to stop here and pay the toll on the shipment to the royal toll collectors. The right to collect tolls by the thirteenth century had gradually passed into ecclesiastical hands. The town of Buda, founded after the Mongol invasion (1241), in 1244 received the right to require the “ships and ferries navigating up and down as well as the carts” to stop in the town and hold a market. In addition, over the course of the Middle Ages Győr, Zagreb, Lőcse (Levoča, Slovakia), Bártfa (Bardejov, Slovakia), Pressburg, Sopron, Kassa (Košice, Slovakia), Brassó (Braşov, Romania), Nagyszeben (Sibiu, Romania) and Nagyszombat (Trnava, Slovakia) all obtained staple rights. Because of the ever increasing number of towns in the country possessing the staple right, and the conflicts arising therefrom, occasionally the rights had to be confirmed or amended by the kings. It was mostly the prohibition on merchants’ onward travel that was affected, since naturally they did not want to take their remaining goods directly out of the country but only to the next town with the staple right. At times “trade wars” would break out among the towns: because the towns availed themselves of their preemptive right, they bought up the better quality goods ahead of one another. Lőcse, Késmárk (Kežmarok, Slovakia) and Igló (Spišska Nova Ves, Slovakia), as well as Buda and Pest became embroiled in disputes with one another lasting centuries. At time merchants tried to travel through towns with the staple right without stopping, or perhaps even bypassing them, which brought with it the protest of the town concerned. In other cases merchants who had an exemption from the staple were compelled to unload their goods. In disputed questions the towns in several instances turned to the king for a solution to the problem.

The goods of the merchant arriving at the warehouse were unpacked by local workers, weighed and put on display for inspection by the local wholesalers. In Buda the transaction between the wholesaler (who possessed citizen’s rights) and the long-distance merchant or hauler took place in the presence and with the assistance of the intermediaries working in the warehouse. The warehouse itself was generally a large-size hall building, into which wagons could also be driven. The work taking place in the warehouse was coordinated and recorded by a manager with the help of his clerks. In the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary (according to the extant written sources) such halls stood in Buda, Lőcse and Kassa, though their existence can probably be assumed in the other towns (Pozsony, Sopron, Bártfa and Nagyszombat) as well.

There were privileges that went hand in hand with the life of towns exercising the staple right, though they could be obtained independently of the staple as well. Mandated legal roads (recta via, iusta via) obliged long-distance merchants to use certain designated “lawful roads.” Those using the road were “protected” by royal authority, that is, if they were attacked on the road, they were permitted to seek legal remedy. Those travelling on a “false road” (falsa via), on the other hand, could be punished by confiscation of goods. Naturally it was along the designated roads that the royal toll posts collecting the thirtieth tax also were set up. In the hope of less cost and avoiding payment of the toll it often happened that merchants took circuitous roads. The authorities “protected” against this by setting up branch thirtieth posts. The requirement to reload goods meant that some geographical hindrance forced the merchants to change the means of conveyance. The hindrance might be the meeting of a river and overland road, a royal free town or perhaps a country border. At such times generally it was the people of the settlement that received the transporting privilege who performed the hauling in the given territory. After arrival at the unloading site the weighing of the goods was permitted only with authenticated town scales. The scales (Stadtwag, Fronwag) were located either in a separate weighing house, or in one of the ground-floor rooms of the town hall, or at the warehouse.

The volume is supplemented by an Appendix, the first chapter of which is the Gazetteer. This lists the market places of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary—preserved in written sources—with a breakdown by county. After the name of the settlement can be found the type of market (weekly market, fair), the day it was held (e.g., Friday, or September 29) and the archival reference number for the first written mention of it, or the source of the published charter. This database will greatly facilitate the work of researchers dealing with the subject. However, the gazetteer is not complete–as the author herself emphasizes—as it does not contain the mentions in sources after 1526 (the defeat at Mohács), as well as the data collections and analyses previously published by other authors (Jenő Major and Ferenc G. Szabó). The second chapter of the Appendix is a list of the sources and specialist literature consulted, from which researchers interested in the subject will be able to profit. The third chapter is an (unfortunately) very brief English summary of the book. In the fourth chapter she has collected the personal and geographical names cropping up in the study, indicating the page numbers (where they occur).

Both the overall series and the volume reviewed here are characterized by an uncluttered style. The structure of the table of contents allows one to follow the author’s train of thought. The book is supplemented by a map insert. The title of the large-size sheet map is: “Markets in the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary” (Vásárok a középkori Magyar Királyságban). The place names of the weekly markets and annual fairs listed in the volume are marked on the map and inserted into the county borders of the late fifteenth century. The map was designed by Béla Nagy based on Boglárka Weisz’s scholarly research. The volume maintains the uniform appearance of the series, with only the small-size illustrations in the three cartouches changed. It is an easy-to-read, medium-sized handbook, with a matte-finished cover and glued boards. The cover design is the work of Gergely Böhm. The internal lack of ornamentation (Palatino font, size B/5 pages, 10- and 8-point font sizes) almost “delight” the eyes, allowing the reader to concentrate on the content.

It may be stated in summary that Boglárka Weisz’s study makes useful and at the same time enjoyable reading, both for experts dealing with medieval trade history and non-professional readers. Her narrative is clear and easy to follow, relating, for example, the history of the lawsuits the towns brought against one another, in a readable style. Having analyzed most available sources, she has striven to draw the scholarly conclusions and attempted to provide a contemporary answer to problems already raised in earlier times. It is a fitting addition to the specialist literature published both in Hungary and abroad.

Translated by Matthew Caples

 

Judit Benda

A Szapolyai család Oklevéltára/Documenta Szapolyaiana I. Levelek és oklevelek/Epistulae et litterae (1458–1526) [The Archives of the Szapolyai Family I. Letters and Diplomas (1458–1526)].

Edited by Tibor Neumann. Monumenta Hungariae Historica, Diplomataria. Budapest: MTA BTK Történettudományi Intézet, 2012.7 592 pp.

Research into late medieval Hungarian history was enriched late last year by an imposing source publication. Tibor Neumann, a researcher at the Institute of History in the Hungarian Academy’s Research Center for the Humanities, has edited the first volume of documents from one of the era’s influential families, the Szapolyais, making it available to medieval studies and the inquiring general public. The publication fits organically into Hungarian research that has gathered strength in recent decades and is associated first and foremost with the name of András Kubinyi (†2007).8 In the forefront of this research stand the ages of Matthias Corvinus (1458–1490) and, especially, the Jagellonian kings (1490–1526).9 For years Tibor Neumann has been systematically examining the history of the Jagellonian era, as a result of which numerous authoritative studies have appeared.10 In recent years his interest has focused on the history of the Szapolyai family, and he has already published several of his partial findings thus far.11 The family, which provided the country with two palatines (Imre 1486–1487, István 1492–1499) and a Transylvanian voevode (János 1510–1526), was elevated to the highest level of power with the election of János as king (1526). All this sufficiently explains why a number of scholars have dealt with certain segments of the family’s history previously.12 Nothing illustrates the topicality of the subject better than the fact that a Szapolyai conference was organized in the Institute of History not long ago.13

The present collection makes available 636 sources from the period between 1458 and 1526. The published material does not offer a reconstruction of the Szapolyais’ former archives, but instead contains nearly one third of the diplomas and letters issued by the family members. The editor – in a very practical manner – has not published the complete diploma corpus, which number over two thousand, since a significant portion of these sources is made up of legal papers related to the family members’ status as high dignitaries of the kingdom, largely irrelevant from the point of view of the family’s history and the country’s political history. The documents of cases heard before the court of both the palatine and the Transylvanian voevode have therefore been omitted from the volume, as have been the documents relating to ecclesiastical government issued by Miklós as bishop of Transylvania (1462–1467). The volume contains the material of five major types of sources: 1) letters (missiles); 2) charters issued to towns and settlements in the family’s possession (especially Késmárk [Kežmarok, Slovakia] and Debrecen); 3) economic documents concerning the family’s domains (primarily the estate centers); 4) charters (primarily those concerning appointments) connected to the right of patronage (ius patronatus); 5) sources of a civil law nature (donations made to familiares and ecclesiastical institutions). Nevertheless the collection of materials may be called complete only with respect to the Medieval Database of the Hungarian National Archives.14 At the same time, because of the careers and international connections of the family members, it is indisputable that in the future the unearthing of the Szapolyai charters and letters likely located in foreign archives must also be carried out, which the editor likewise considers an important task.

The preface (in Hungarian and English, pp.7–28) is followed by the abbreviations (pp.29–37), and then the sources (pp.39–532). The source texts, which the editor—not including, obviously, those known only from mention of their content elsewhere and three copies (transsumptum)—has published in extenso, observe the following structure: 1) document number; 2) date (in Hungarian); 3) a brief extract of the contents with the most important information; 4) the apparatus related to publication (material, type of seal, comments on the condition, original archival reference number, information on publication); 5) the text itself; 6) the critical apparatus below the text. Use of the edition is made significantly easier by the fact that the critical apparatus is not located in the notes but rather correspond to the numbered lines running alongside the main body of the text. The standardizations effected in the body of the Latin text (e.g., sew – seu, gwerra – guerra, wlgari – vulgari) likewise assist the user. In addition to the collection’s overwhelmingly Latin-language sources, due to the family’s wide-ranging connections, the location of their estates and the family members’ status as high dignitaries, a few Czech- (e.g., nos. 166, 282, 340, 371) and German-language (e.g., nos. 189, 194, 197) sources are also to be found.

Undoubtedly one of the most important parts of source material publications is the suitably structured index, since it is this that determines the utility of such publications. In the case of the present volume the editor’s painstaking work may be assessed in the compilation of the indices (index locorum et personarum, pp.535–70; index rerum, pp.571–87; index vocum vulgarium, pp.588–89) as well. The Latin-language index of names is quite detailed, as it displays the most important data concerning the individual persons and settlements, and the origin and meaning of Hungarian words cropping up in the texts. Thus, for example, we learn that Benedictus de Görgő was tricesimator, i.e., collector of the thirtieth tax, of Kassa (Košice, Slovakia) (1491), castellan of Tokaj (1493) and canon of Szepes (1496) (p.545), and that the weapon called hoffyncza can be traced back to the Czech houfnice and the German Haubitze (p.588). The tastefully produced volume is completed by sixteen color plates, on which high-quality color reproductions can be seen of charters and letters issued by family members, the seals used by them, and their manu propria.

With respect to their content the sources are exceptionally variegated, and consequently they also offer a wide range of possible uses. Because the Szapolyais occupied high offices of the kingdom during these seven decades, the published sources offer important information about the general history of the period as well. In addition to all this, their bearing on economic and social history and the history of mentalités is not negligible either. By its very nature a review can undertake only to direct the readers’ attention to the new work; consequently I shall highlight below only two areas researchable on the basis of the sources – indicative mostly of the present reviewer’s interests.

The collection offers an extremely rich resource for research into military history. Numerous sources report about the battles of the 1460s in northeastern Hungary (e.g., nos. 12, 19–26, 38, 45, 54), which were fought mostly against the foreign mercenary troops ravaging the territory. This goes without saying, since both Imre (1460–1463) and István (1460–1465) as supreme captains of the Upper Parts (partes superiores, Felső Részek) directed military operations there.15 In connection with the preparations for the sieges of fortresses (Sáros [Šarišky hrad, Slovakia], Rihnó [Richnava, Slovakia], Újvár [Hanigovce, Slovakia] – nos. 14–16, 20–24) our sources inform us of the mobilization, the types of troops, weapons and ammunition alike. In July 1461 the people of Bártfa (Bardejov, Slovakia) had to hasten to the siege of Sáros cum curribus ac gentibus et bombardis vulgo ’felsepathanthee’ (no. 20). To the chief gunner (pixidarius) in Késmárk Imre Szapolyai promised to send brass, which was needed for pouring the cannons (pixides fundere) (no. 124). István Szapolyai made a promise to free the foot soldiers (pedites) raised by the town of Eperjes (Prešov, Slovakia), who had fallen into captivity (no. 84). A number of sources (nos. 320–22, 325–26) inform us about the Hungarian–Austrian War of 1506 as well, providing information for interpreting this less studied event. The published sources also report on the various military operations of the peasant rebellion led by György Dózsa in 1514 (nos. 391–97, 404–06, 406–08, 410). The anti-Ottoman campaigns, mobilizations and reports of the period also crop up in numerous charters and letters. Stephen Szapolyai informed the town of Bártfa of the successful Bosnian campaign of his brother Imre, governor of Bosnia, and King Matthias (1464, no. 65). Parallel to the Ottoman threat, growing from the 1510s on, reports and warrants dealing with battles along the southern border (1515–1516: e.g., nos. 417, 421, 431–32; 1521–1522: e.g., nos. 538–40, 543, 558; 1526: nos. 615, 617–18, 623–24, 626, 628, 631, 634) multiply.

The volume offers abundant data concerning the family’s devotion, which is inevitable during any complex examination of late medieval aristocratic religiosity.16 Among the monastic orders the Szapolyais supported in particular the Paulines and the Carthusians. The donations for the redemption of the soul (pro salute et refrigerio animarum nostrarum) made to the Hungarian-founded Paulines are in keeping with the practice of the period’s Hungarian aristocrats, nobles and burghers (nos. 93, 105, 134, 136, 287, 346, 354, 441, 503).17 It is noteworthy that of the six medieval Hungarian Carthusian monasteries three (Menedékszirt [Klaštorisko, Slovakia], Lehnic [Lechnica, Slovakia], Lövöld) were supported by the Szapolyais (nos. 332, 342, 517). In addition to the close geographical proximity of the family estates and the monasteries endowed, naturally personal devotion also played an important role when it came to making pious donations. István Szapolyai’s widow, Duchess Hedvig of Teschen, was one of the most important patrons of the Monastery of Saint John in Menedékszirt (no. 342).18 Based on Beáta Vida’s presently ongoing research, it also appears likely that several of the family members were members of the order.19 Among the manifestations of religiosity we may list the donations made to charitable institutions. The family aided the hospital established in Késmárk,20 as Imre Szapolyai explained in connection with his pious donation, ut pauperes in eodem hospitalem degentes comodius in eorum necessitatibus supportentur (no. 96). In addition to their patronage of ecclesiastical institutions, the family, in keeping with the customs of the age, also funded private masses, with which they attempted above all to promote the salvation of the deceased forbears.21 Among these the instructions composed for the clerics of the Corpus Christi Chapel, founded in the family’s burial place at Szepes (1510), stands out. According to this a solemn requiem mass was to be sung for Imre and István Szapolyai every day; and on every day of the week Holy Mass was to be offered for the following intentions: on Sunday in honor of the Holy Trinity; on Monday a requiem mass; on Tuesday for the sainted Prince Emeric; on Wednesday for sinners; on Thursday in honor of Corpus Christi; on Friday in remembrance of Christ’s ordeal; and on Saturday for the Virgin Mary (no. 347).

In summary it may be stated that the charter collection published by Tibor Neumann represents a great boon to medieval studies, which researchers dealing with the history of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary (Hungarians and experts from the neighboring countries alike) will certainly consult with profit. I recommend this publication to the attention of interested readers in the hope that the next entry in this large-scale undertaking will appear as soon as possible.

Translated by Matthew Caples

 

Tamás Fedeles

The Parish and Pilgrimage Church of St Elizabeth in Košice. Town, Court, and Architecture in Late Medieval Hungary. (Architectura Medii Aevi 6.).

By Tim Juckes. Turnhout: Brepols, 2011. XII + 292 pp., 224 figs.

In recent years, western scholars have shown a much welcome interest in the art of medieval Hungary. In the past the vast majority of studies were published by Hungarian scholars in Hungarian only, thus having little influence beyond the Hungarian-speaking world. Recognizing the problem, art museums in Hungary some time ago began publishing works in at least one other language besides Hungarian – a relevant case in point is the catalogue of the 2006 Sigismund-exhibition, published in German and French versions as well. Recently, more and more monographic works have been published in English or German – primarily by Hungarian, Slovak and Romanian scholars, but also in increasing number by people for whom this is not native territory. The most recent sign of this is the monograph of Tim Juckes on the church of St Elizabeth in Kassa (Košice, Slovakia), which is based on the author’s doctoral dissertation defended at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. He has already published a number of studies about the subject, but now the results of his research are published by a major publisher in the form of a monograph of 292 pages.22 Hopefully, this publishing activity—including the future work of Tim Juckes as well—will eventually lead to a point where this part of Europe will no longer be a terra incognita on the map of medieval Europe.

One of the challenges in Hungarian medieval art history is the fragmentariness of the evidence. To get a clear picture a considerable amount of reconstruction is needed. The term “reconstruction” applies in every sense of the word, as much of medieval Hungary and its built heritage were obliterated by the occupation of a large part of Hungary by the Ottoman Turks in 1541. Even greater destruction took place at the time of the sieges of re-conquest in the seventeenth century and during the rebuilding and modernization that took place thereafter. Although the Church of St Elizabeth in Kassa escaped the destruction of the Ottoman wars, the original monument was profoundly transformed during the late nineteenth century purist renovation. Thus even here, the first task of the art historian is to virtually reconstruct the original building – this time back to its true medieval stage, which was quite different from that constructed in 1877.

There is no question that the church of St. Elizabeth, the second building of the parish church of Kassa, is one of the most important surviving medieval churches in the Kingdom of Hungary. The importance of the church has been long recognized: it was the subject of the first book ever written on Hungarian medieval art: Imre Henszlmann’s 1846 study on the medieval churches of Kassa.23 When Henszlmann first wrote about the building, the late Gothic style of its construction period was seen as an aberration from the classical Gothic standards or, at best, as a preparatory phase for the Renaissance. This led to two mistakes: an early dating of the building which had very little to do with historical reality, and also a drastic rebuilding at the end of the nineteenth century, according to “true principles of Gothic architecture” (1877–1896). This view of late Gothic art changed only in the early twentieth century with the recognition of the autonomous development in Northern art and with the emergence of the concept of the Sondergotik in German–Austrian scholarship. At this time Kassa, which in 1920 ended up outside the borders of modern Hungary, also received more and more attention, as one of the better preserved medieval urban centres, by both Hungarian and Slovak scholars.

However, the period of King Sigismund (1387–1437) did not enter the focus of research until 1937, when Henrik Horváth completed the first extensive intellectual and artistic history of the age of Sigismund.24 After World War II, large-scale excavations and reconstruction work carried out in medieval towns such as Sopron and Buda demonstrated the cross-border connections that existed between various Central European centres. Examples include the role of members of the Prague Parler workshop on the church of Our Lady and the royal castle at Buda, or the influence of Viennese ateliers in towns in north-western Hungary like Pressburg and Sopron. It was only in the 1970s and 1980s that the importance of the Sigismund period was truly recognized. At that time, more and more attention was paid to Kassa’s international connections as well. Although the church and its history has been the subject of a lot of research, the medieval building of the church has never been treated in a monograph until the present work by Juckes. Closest to a monograph is the series of studies by Ernő Marosi, which, however, never appeared in a book form.25 The selection of this topic by Juckes—likely suggested by the advisor of his dissertation, Paul Crossley—is thus much welcome.

In this new monograph, Tim Juckes first surveys the documentary evidence and the historiography of the church of St Elizabeth, before embarking on a new analysis of the building and its history. The structure of the book is clear and logical: it helps us to understand the medieval building, virtually restoring it from beneath the layers of nineteenth-century transformations. The first chapter provides an overview of the nineteenth-century rebuilding of the church as well as a brief survey of previous scholarly literature and opinions on the structure. After this the time machine is turned on, and we travel back to the fourteenth century, to study the history of the town and its parish church, based on a careful analysis of written sources, urban topography, patronage and building lodge. We then start to move forward, following the chronology of construction.

The monograph analyses the phases of construction in chronological order, spanning the century from the beginning of the work during the last decades of the fourteenth century until the completion of the main altar and the sacrament house in the 1470s. Most attention is given to the early phases of construction: the time when the key decisions, determining the entire building, were made. Juckes—as most authors before him—identifies three major phases of construction. In the first phase construction of the new church commenced with building the outer walls around the old church, starting with the southern aisle walls, and on the northern side. Although work on the new sanctuary had not started yet, the outline of the ground plan—including the western towers, the transept and the diagonal chapels at the end of the aisles—was established in this first phase. This construction must have started around 1390. In the second phase, which commenced at the very beginning of the fifteenth century (coinciding with the papal bulls issued in support of the construction in 1402), the old church was demolished and the interior plan of the church—including all the inner supports of the new structure—were established and built. This second phase was crucial for the appearance of the entire church: decisions about the vaults and the configuration of the portals date from this period. One of the most significant parts of the church, the south transept ensemble—including the porch and the portal, as well as the southern gallery and the double spiral staircase leading up to it—was built in this phase. The completion of this phase can be dated on the basis of a painted inscription inside the church, which indicates that the rebuilding must have been completed by around 1440. Juckes also identifies a third phase, which saw the completion of the large new sanctuary of the church, as well as the building of the western towers.

As far as the sanctuary is concerned, while there is a marked stylistic difference with regard to the rest of church, there is also evidence of continuity with the second phase. Ultimately, it is not certain whether the eastern end of the church was also completed by around 1440, or only some time later, by the early 1450s. As Sándor Tóth emphasised in an earlier study, there is no need to suppose a much extended construction period on this part of the church.26 This is a very significant shift compared to earlier theories, when the eastern end of the church was dated much later, on the basis of the assembly of the main altar (1474–1477). On the other hand, work continued well into the 1470s on the western façade and the towers (the entrance of the south tower is dated to 1462, while on the northern tower the post-1469 arms of King Matthias can be seen), which were never completed to their intended height. Finally, in this third phase a series of private chapels were built and the church was furnished.

In every chapter, Juckes also surveys the documentary evidence for each phase in question, and conveniently includes the most important documents at the end of the book. In each chapter, he analyzes the stylistic connections of each phase and attempts to identify the key figures of construction. On the basis of available sources, the author examines the key players: the Kirchenvater responsible for moving construction along and the master masons in charge of the actual works, including Master Nicholas, who was mentioned in a royal source in 1411 and in the early 1420s was active in Vienna, and Master Stephan, documented in Kassa and Bártfa [Bardejov, Slovakia] in the late 1460s and 1470s. The central European connections of the workshop responsible for each phase—including the south-German orientation in the first phase, connections with the Prague Parler workshop as well as with the Vienna lodge in the second phase—are all analyzed in great detail. The author dedicates considerable attention to the Vienna lodge and the most important construction activities in Vienna contemporary with those at Kassa. However, quite inexplicably, one name is not mentioned at all: Michael Chnab, an important master of the Vienna lodge, documented at Maria am Gestade. His influence was often emphasized in previous literature – it is hard to see why he is not mentioned here at all.

Juckes makes considerable effort to emphasize the central role of the Kassa workshop and discusses its influence on the art of Central Europe: the spread of masters from the workshop to Northern Hungary and Transylvania (Segesvár [Sighişoara, Romania], Kolozsvár [Cluj-Napoca, Romania] and Brassó [Braşov, Romania]) as well as to Lesser Poland (Krakow-Kazimeerz) are all examined. The book thus takes the first step towards a wider study of late gothic architecture of medieval Hungary.

Throughout his analysis, the author presents a number of new theories concerning the building, including the suggestion that the Last Judgment relief of the northern portal was perhaps originally intended for the western portal. Its reuse here would explain its more conventional style (p.121). A very interesting section is dedicated to the original function of certain parts of the building (p.149–54). The southern transept was most likely where the famous relic of the Holy Blood was displayed, while a small space inside the southern tower, embellished with a wall niche, may have provided a secure storage place for the same relic. In this section the motivations of the patrons, the burghers of Kassa, also emerge, and certain choices made during the construction of the church (such as the insertion of a double spiral staircase) become more understandable. At this point the author perhaps should have stepped outside the boundaries of the topic a little bit, to include a more detailed analysis of the wall paintings, altars and liturgical furnishings of the church (liturgical manuscripts, chasubles, goldsmith works).27 Such elements (for example the monumental Calvary group of the south transept) are only mentioned and discussed as chronological markers (p.149). A more complex analysis might further our understanding of the function and significance of the medieval church. However, the thematic focus of the book is clear: it deals with the architecture and questions of chronology, style, function, patronage, representation and the connections of the workshop and masters. Less attention is given to iconography, which could have been explored in connection with the portal sculpture. The author probably felt that a discussion of the iconography or of the liturgical furnishing of the church would have distracted from the clear focus of his monograph.

As I mentioned, throughout the book, Juckes analyses the original form of the building as it stood before the late nineteenth-century rebuilding directed by Imre Steindl. As much as possible, the illustrations were also selected from the material available before 1877. Luckily, the author included a series of plans showing the building at three different levels, as well as a number of sections of the structure showing it before the rebuilding. Similarly, the book contains a rich and useful series of photographs showing the original configuration of the structure (some dating before 1858, and thus representing the earliest phase of Hungarian architectural photography). Juckes also uses a large number of new photographs (most of them taken by the author himself) of the original, late-medieval forms surviving in the building and of comparative material. Overall, the 224 black and white figures in the book illustrate every part of the building and all aspects of the content of the monograph.

Commendably, the author relies not only on English and German language publications on Kassa, which are few and far between anyway, but also on a large number of publications in both Hungarian and Slovak. The choice for treating the place names is also acceptable—the current form is used throughout, and historical variants—including the historic Hungarian names preferred by Hungarian authors—are given the first time a place is discussed. An index of places (including other historical forms, in particular the German names) is also provided. The ample documentation—the illustrations, including the plans, elevations and sections of the building, the compilation of original sources, the bibliography and the very useful indexes—make the book an indispensible reference on the subject.

Finally, a few minor remarks should be made. To the network of towns in north-eastern Hungary, one more settlement needs to be added: the town of Nagybánya [Baia Mare, Romania]. As recently demonstrated by Szilárd Papp, the former parish church of Nagybánya (now largely demolished) was an important building erected during the third quarter of the fourteenth century, and, based on its carvings, had close connections with Prague.28 Nagybánya may have played a role in transferring architectural ideas from Kassa further to the east, to the Transylvanian towns. But given the chronological situation, Nagybánya may have even provided the inspiration and the source for certain architectural solutions not only for Kolozsvár and Brassó, but perhaps even for Kassa. The Parler connections of Nagybánya (especially with Cologne) also need to be studied, particularly in relation to the two magnificent relief fragments surviving from the church. In fact, these carvings may be more relevant for the evaluation of the Kassa portal reliefs than another fragmentary sculpture discussed by Juckes: the Körmöcbánya [Kremnica, Slovakia] relief fragments. Here I would like to point out that the high level of realism of the Körmöcbánya figures might indicate a later date, probably the period of King Matthias.29 The comparison made by Juckes is with the west portal carving of God the Father at Kassa – a relief which is today badly worn. However, if we compare the Körmöcbánya fragment with the head of Christ on the upper relief (Veronica) of the west portal, the difference becomes quite pronounced.

One further monument should be brought into the analysis of the Kassa portals: the damaged portal of the Garai chapel inside the church of Our Lady at Buda. Remains of this chapel came to light (and were dismantled) when Frigyes Schulek rebuilt the entire church at the end of the nineteenth century. The structure of the chapel’s two-sided portal—which opened from the north side of the sanctuary into the chapel—followed a model established by late works of the Parler workshop. The decoration consisted of superimposed niches of various sizes, with sculpted figures inside them. What little remains of these figures indicates that their style was comparable to contemporary works at Buda, commissioned by King Sigismund. Dating from between 1412 and 1433, this portal represents a very important stage in the development of the complex portal structures with figural decoration, although it is probably not directly related to Kassa. In any case, its inclusion would have provided a fuller picture of the local (Hungarian) context of the Kassa portals.

Despite such minor details—the likes of which will be debated by art historians for a long time—the book achieves its stated goals admirably. The monograph is the most important new addition to the growing literature on the art of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary published in a major western language. It treats a monument of central importance, sketches its local and regional context and thus puts late medieval Hungary in the focus. The language of the book guarantees that it will be used by Hungarian and Slovak scholars alike, as well as any western researchers interested in Late Gothic art of Central Europe.

Zsombor Jékely

 

Notes on Contributors

 

Bagi, Dániel (University of Pécs), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Benda, Judit (Budapest History Museum), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Csikós, Veronika (Landesstelle für die nichtstaatlichen Museen in Bayern, Munich), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Fedeles, Tamás (University of Pécs), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jékely, Zsombor (Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Klaniczay, Gábor (Central European University, Budapest), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Lucherini, Vinni (Frederick II University, Naples), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Rácz, György (Hungarian National Archives), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Skorka, Renáta (Institute of History, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Weisz, Boglárka (Institute of History, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Zsoldos, Attila (Institute of History, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.