Ignaz Joseph Martinovics
Ignaz Joseph Martinovics (Hungarian: Ignác József Domonkos Martinovics , Croatian: Ignacije Dominik Martinović ; born July 22, 1755 in Pest , † May 20, 1795 in Buda ) was initially a Franciscan with the religious name Dominikus. Later he was a professor of experimental physics in Lemberg , a secret employee of Leopold II and a police spy. In 1794 he was the organizer of the Hungarian Jacobin Conspiracy , for which he was executed.
Life
Martinovics came from an originally South Slavic family who moved to Hungary at the end of the 17th century . The father was an innkeeper. Ignaz Joseph entered the Franciscan order early on. He studied in Buda from 1775. In the same year he was ordained a priest. He received his doctorate in 1779 as a doctor of theology and philosophy and, according to other data, mathematics . Br. Dominikus was very interested in mathematics and science. First he taught at the Franciscan School in Buda. After conflicting with his superiors, he was sent to the Brod convent . He left this without permission and became a field chaplain of an infantry regiment. In 1782 the order excluded him.
Martinovics had meanwhile become a Freemason . Through the mediation of some like-minded people, he became a professor of experimental physics at the new Lemberg University . He published scientific papers and made experiments with balloons, and he also constructed a mower. He also wrote a textbook on experimental physics and published various articles in the Chemischen Annalen . These included the production of flash gold and the investigation of Galician mountain oil.
In a pamphlet published anonymously in 1788, he advocated atheist views. After the death of Emperor Joseph II , he wrote a political pamphlet in which he opposed the privileges of the nobility and the power of the church. He gave up his position in Lemberg and tried in vain for a new job. Instead he became an agent in the secret circle of employees around Leopold II. He supported this with various writings and the emperor appointed him court chemist and made him titular abbot of Szászvár in 1792 .
Martinovics was also ready to support the anti-Enlightenment course of the new Emperor Franz II . He worked with police minister Johann Anton Pergen until autumn 1793 with partly falsified spy reports. It is not entirely clear whether the police grew tired of his fantasy products or whether he did not feel properly recognized. In any case, his work for the authorities ended.
He went back to Hungary, now turned to the revolutionary forces and was the main organizer of the Hungarian Jacobin conspiracy. It is also unclear whether he actually achieved their goals or whether he wanted to denounce his supporters later. He founded two secret societies in order to first detach Hungary from the Habsburg monarchy in a two-phase revolution and in a second step to implement a political and social revolution. The “Society of Reformers” was supposed to absorb reform forces from the Hungarian nobility. Their main goal was to use force to pull Hungary out of the Habsburg monarchy if necessary. This had no idea of the existence of the second group. The “Society of Freedom and Equality” made up of radical democrats should push for revolutionary changes. The first group was supposed to fight for Hungary's independence, but was only intended to support the second group. After a victory, this should take power, abolish the rights of the nobility and proclaim a republic.
Among other things, he succeeded in actually winning followers in a short time with what was probably an invented commission from the French National Convention . Their number varies in the literature between 50 and 200 people. The sympathy for revolutionary France, which was widespread among intellectuals, made this easier. He frequented Vienna with Johann Hackel and Aloys Blumauer from the circle of the German Jacobins . He was arrested there in 1794.
In the investigation that followed, he admitted his plans for a revolution in Hungary and gave the names of his supporters. As a result, about fifty Hungarian Jacobins were arrested and charged with high treason . He himself was handed over to the Hungarian authorities. A number of death sentences were imposed on the conspirators in the area of the Habsburg Monarchy, eighteen of them in Hungary. Seven judgments, including the one against Martinovics, were carried out. Before he was executed by beheading on May 20, 1795, he was expelled from the priesthood.
literature
- Constantin von Wurzbach : Martinovics, Joseph Ignaz . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 17th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1867, pp. 50–55 ( digitized version ).
- Denis Silagi: Jacobins in the Habsburg Monarchy . A contribution to the history of enlightened absolutism in Austria. Herold, Vienna / Munich 1962 (= Viennese historical studies , volume 6).
- Denis Silagi: Martinovics, Ignaz Joseph. In: Mathias Bernath, Karl Nehring (Hrsg.): Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Südosteuropas . Oldenbourg, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-486-48991-7 , Volume III. L-R , p. 110.
- Helmut Reinalter: Martinovics, Ignaz Joseph. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-428-00197-4 , p. 307 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Jacobin. In: Edgar Hösch u. a. (Ed.): Lexicon for the history of Southeast Europe . UTB 8270, Stuttgart, ISBN 978-3-8252-8270-7 ; Böhlau, Vienna a. a., ISBN 978-3-205-77193-7 ; Oldenbourg, Munich 2004, ISBN 978-3-486-56104-3 , p. 315.
Individual evidence
- ^ Robert W. Rosner: Chemistry in Austria: 1740-1914. Vienna u. a. 2004, p. 31.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Martinovics, Ignaz Joseph |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Religious clergyman (Franciscan), freemason, experimental physicist and organizer of the Hungarian Jacobin conspiracy |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 22, 1755 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | pest |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 20, 1795 |
| Place of death | Buda |