Hungarian literature of the Middle Ages

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The Nikolsburg Abc (1483),
today in the Hungarian National Museum

The Hungarian literature of the Middle Ages begins in the time of the Árpáden in the 10th century and continues into the Renaissance , the beginning of which in Hungary is closely linked to the name of King Matthias Corvinus . Since the majority, around 99%, of the medieval Hungarian codices have not survived , the richness of the literature of this period can only be reconstructed from isolated works. In the Middle Ages, the predominant written language was Latin . The first Hungarian-language texts go back to the 12th and 13th centuries.

Beginnings in the time of the Árpáds

Stone from the church in Vargyas with Hungarian runes. Probably a baptismal font

Preserved copies of old Hungarian script show that the Magyars already had a script before the conquest . Hence it is believed that there were also literary forms. The Latin alphabet was only during the reign of I. King Stephen introduced. The oldest surviving representation of the runes with a Latin equivalent is the Nikolsburg Abc (see Nikolsburg ) from the 15th century. Hungarian literary history begins in the 11th century. There are no surviving literary works from earlier times.

Legal and political literature

In the period after the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary , literary work was limited to those who knew Latin and was closely linked to the development of the Catholic Church . The medieval authors were mostly priests or belonged to Christian religious orders .

Hungarian literature also played a role at the first universities in Western Europe at the beginning of the 12th century . These were regularly visited by Hungarians, for example the universities of Padua and Bologna . They studied law , theology and philosophy , mainly using the scholastic method. Some, like Paulus de Hungaria , also taught themselves. At the beginning of the 13th century Paul was part of the canon of professors in Bologna. Alexander de Hungaria taught at the Sorbonne in Paris around 1300 .

In addition to priests and monks , there was a productive group of scribes who did not pursue clerical careers. These so-called deákok ( Deaken ) wrote legal and political documents, laws and documents . These are characterized by just as careful work, equipped with rhetorical means , as literary works of the same time.

Laws and Regulations:
The detectable Hungarian literature begins with the Libellus de institutione morum ad Emericum , one to 1015 I. by an unknown author in the name Stephen drafted rules for Duke Emmerich . Some important names in connection with documents and letters are:

Beginnings of historiography

The legend of Lehel in the Hungarian illustrated chronicle

The dominant genre at that time were the Gesta . In the 11th century there were possibly traditions of early Hungarian history in this form. The presumed content included the story of the origin of the Árpád house , the story of the miracle deer and the legend of the white horse from the time of the conquest.

  • The oldest surviving Hungarian historical work is the Gesta Hungarorum by an unknown author, now called Anonymus . The author was a notary at the Belas III court. or Belas IV. He probably completed his studies in Paris . There he got to know the genre of the narrative gesture, which he used as a model for his writings. The Gesta Hungarorum was probably made with the help of earlier records. With her, the history of the Hungarian nobility and the Nemzetség , an influential social group based on family ties, was preserved. It is also a source for folk poetry and for the so-called regösénekek (" Magic Christmas songs"), PDF .
  • Simon Kézai is known for another chronicle with the title Gesta Hungarorum , written around 1280 , which is a second important work in the history of this period. Kézai relied on foreign historical records as well as earlier Hungarian sources. It begins with the story of Hunor and Magor , a chant about the common origin of the Huns and Magyars . The first book deals with the history of the Huns up to the death of Attila and the collapse of his empire, the second book deals with the Magyars from their arrival in the Carpathian Basin up to 1280.
  • Carmen miserabile by Master Rogerius from the 1240s should also be mentioned as a historical work . It is a rhythmic prosaic tale of the Mongol storm .

Secular literature

A famous example of Latin poetry from the Árpád period is Planctus destructionis Regni Ungarie per Tartaros by an unknown author. The work was created around 1242 and probably comes from the area around Bela IV. During his flight to Dalmatia . The attacks by the Tatar hordes are interpreted as punishment from God. Thoughts from this work remained an integral part of Hungarian poetry until the time of Count Nikolaus Zrinski .

Religious literature

hagiography

University lecture in a representation from the 13th century

The lives and deeds of saints were mostly recorded in the form of legends . The most famous works come from the bishops Hartvik and Mór .

  • The legends of Saint King Stephen:
The legend about Stephen I exists in three versions: "The little legend of King Stephen the saint", the "The big legend of King Stephen the saint" and "The legend of King Stephen the saint of Bishop Hartvik" . Only the author of the third variant is known. Hartvik wrote the legend down at a request from Koloman . He processed the two existing texts that were written for the canonization of the king in 1083. The great legend of 1077 does not yet contain the canonization. The little legend, on the other hand, can only be found after 1083 at the time of its creation.
  • The legend of Saint Emmerich:
The font was created after 1083, as can also be seen from the text. The author appears in the legend as the Deak Fulko. Fulko moved to Constantinople in 1108 or 1116 with Duke Álmos . There is a section that indicates that Bishop Hartvik knew Emmerich. The focus is on Emmerich and the son of Saint Stephen.
  • The legend of the Holy Bishop Gellért
  • The legend of the Holy King Ladislaus
  • The legend of the blessed Ilona
  • The legend of St. Andrew and Benedict

Theological works

Paulus de Hungaria, the professor from Bologna, became a supporter of the Dominicans and returned to Hungary, where one of the first Dominican centers of expansion was. On behalf of the founder of the order, he wrote the Summa de penitentia , a confession manual, in 1221 .

liturgy

Most of the liturgical chants by Hungarian authors belong to the genre of the sequence and the hymn . There are hymns about the Saints Stephan, Emmerich and Ladislaus, but also about many others, like Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia and Saint Margit of Hungary , both of which came from the House of Árpád.

A separate genre plays a special role in Hungarian hymn poetry, the Historia rythmica . This form is associated with so-called zsolozsma - masses that were held outside of churches. The word zsolozsma (pronounced: scholoschma ) is of Slavic origin and means "service". The texts sung during these masses, including hymns, antiphons and responsories , were given the overarching name Historia rythmica . They are not real epic poems, but typically contain narrative elements and are related in terms of content through reference to a common theme. In a similar way, large-scale compilations were made about some Hungarian saints, mostly stenciledly emphasizing holy and heroic passages from their lives. Isolated elements were transferred into the new forms in the course of the Gregorian wave. In Hungary, hymn poetry grew far beyond the area of ​​ecclesiastical liturgy and provided form and framework for other poems.

Original text of the funeral oration from the Pray Codex (12th century, others from the early 13th century), now in the Hungarian National Museum
Lamentation of Mary in the Codex of Leuven

Another important liturgical work is the Corde, voce, mente pura , the story of Stephen in verse. It was probably written under the pen of an Augustinian monk and commissioned by Bishop Lodomerius. It tells of the human features of the king, but particularly emphasizes the victory over the Gentiles and depicts Stephen as a powerful holy personality.

Beginnings of religious literature in Hungarian

  • The briefly as grave speech called Halotti beszéd és könyörgés ( "grave speech and sermon ") is the oldest surviving work of literature in Hungarian. It is recorded in the Pray Code , a sacramentary written between 1192 and 1195 in both Hungarian and Latin. The text of the speech consists of two parts. The first part is a free translation from Latin made up of 26 lines. In the book, the translation is on the page following the original. The six-line sermon, on the other hand, is precisely translated and a few pages before the Latin text. A total of 190 Hungarian words from this period have survived. Both texts are copies of an already existing written version of unknown origin. The funeral oration is now kept in the National Széchényi Library.
  • The oldest surviving poetry in the Hungarian language is Ómagyar Mária-siralom ("Old Hungarian Lamentation of Mary") from around 1300 . It is a translation of a Latin hymn from France . The artistic language and poetic means indicate that this is not a stand-alone work, but that it was in the context of other lyrical works. A comparable level of poetry can only be found in Hungary in the circle of Renaissance poetry of the 16th century. The text is in the Code of Leuven (or Code of lions ). After an exchange of medieval documents between the Catholic University of Leuven , the original is now also in the Hungarian National Library.

The flowering of medieval literature (Anjou period)

Since the 14th century, books (codices) have spread rapidly. The parchment was replaced by cheaper paper . In addition, the Gothic script became common. In 1367 that opened the University of Pécs , at the instigation of the Five Kirchener Bishop Vilmos Koppenbachi . The university continued to operate for several decades.

Rhetorical literature at court

In the context of courtly rhetorical literature, the following documents should be mentioned:

Chronicles

Page in the Hungarian illustrated chronicle : Andreas III. comes to Hungary (14th century), today in the Széchényi library
  • The Chronica Hungarorum (or A magyarok krónikája , dt .: "The Chronicle of Hungarians") was created around 1358. It is one of the most important sources of Hungarian medieval history and records events up to the time of Charles I. Five handwritten copies are included. The most famous is the Hungarian Illustrated Chronicle , which is adorned with valuable illustrations .
  • The Chronicon de Ludovico brisk , the life of Ludwig I was written by János Küküllei , a royal notary, in the years 1364 and 1365 and around 1390. The content is the rule of Ludwig I, which emerged from circles of knights. The work is composed of two parts. The first, carefully worked out part describes the first years of the rule. From Ludwig's coronation onwards, he accompanies every event with detailed descriptions. He also paid attention to a carefully composed style. Küküllei wrote the second part at the end of his life, between 1387 and 1394. Events were included here, some of which the author had witnessed as an eyewitness. Further sources of information were documents from the royal chancellery. This part is of far less care. For example, he does not mention the campaigns of the 1370s. The style is more nostalgic and less chosen.
  • The work of an unnamed Franciscan from 1363–1364 , known in Hungarian as névtelen minorita , also tells of King Ludwig. The content relates to events between the years 1345 and 1355. Only fragments of this work that have been incorporated into the text Kükülleis have survived. The surviving parts are in the Cronica de gestis Hungarorum (or Dubnici-krónika ) from 1479, which also comes from the hand of an unknown author.

There are several assumptions about the author's question. According to Gyula Kristó , a 20th century Hungarian historian , there are two authors. The first was András Anjou , who belonged to the Neapl district (see Younger House Anjou ). His work was later expanded by a Hungarian minority monk . Several researchers suspect the name Abbot János, the confessor of Elisabeth of Poland , who appears several times in the work , as the second author. However, the name Dénes Lackfi can also be found. The chronology is historically incorrect. On the one hand, it is based on the experience of eyewitnesses, but on the other hand it is partly based on sources that are not credible. The work is typical of the kind of Franciscan historiography: the information is not always exact but the way it is presented is very lively.

Non-Hungarian authors of important historical works about Hungary:

  • Lorenzo de Monazis wrote the story of Charles II of Hungary around 1390 ( II. (Kis) Károly története )
  • Eberhard Windeck was King Sigismund's court clerk.
  • Helene Kottannerin (birth name: Hvendler Ilona, ​​Hungarian name: Ilona Kottaner, in later sources also: Ilona Hvendler) was a servant of Queen Elisabeth , who played a role in favor of Elisabeth in a conspiracy in the context of the succession dispute.
  • Henrik Mügeln wrote the Chronicon rhytmicum Hendrici de Mügeln in 1352 and translated the work into German in 1360.

Secular literature

Beginnings of secular literature in Hungarian

  • There were also Hungarian translations of the epic poems about Troy , Alexander the Great , Tristan and Isolde, and the Roland song , which are popular throughout Europe . Songs and ballads on historical subjects were also written in Hungarian, as well as about Hungarian personalities and heroes. Examples are works about Felicián Zách , Lőrinc Tar and Miklós Toldi . The documents of Hungarian court literature have not survived. Later poets used the material for their own works. This includes Péter Selymes Ilosvai , who in the 16th century wrote a story about Toldi in verse based on oral tradition.
  • The form of the hymn poem was modified and provided with entertaining secular content. There were also sharp anti-clerical satires of Deaks traveling through Western Europe (see chapter: Legal and political literature), so-called vagantes ( vágánok ). The Hungarian word vágány "(track)" is etymologically derived from this term. The earliest Hungarian-language work of vagante poetry , the Planctus clericorum, dates from the 14th century. In it the papacy is criticized. It contains revelations about how the Pope finances his luxurious lifestyle with high taxpayers' money.

Religious literature

The religious literature of the Anjou epoch is similar to that of the Arpad period. On the one hand there were legends and sermons addressed to secular believers, on the other hand theological works, dogmatic and canonical works, biblical commentaries and scholarly sermons written for priests .

Latin church literature

Theological authors usually did not write original works, but expanded and interpreted earlier texts. The most important genres were the legend and the sermon. The rules of this art, the ars predicandi , were recorded in textbooks. There were two main types of preaching: the sermo ad clericos , addressed to priests, and the sermo ad laicos, addressed to secular believers. The former were characterized by more demanding content and scientific arguments. They were presented to a learned audience and often dealt with difficult theological questions. The latter were models for the sermons in the believers' mother tongue. In vivid descriptions of instructive stories, efforts were made to make abstract religious topics generally understandable. Copies of both types have survived that were written by Hungarian scribes or put together in collections.

  • The Sermones sacri from the pen of a Franciscan brother are examples of this genre. They originated in the 1310s. Its meaning is based on the verse form, which is important for Hungarian literary history.
  • The Sermones compilatae in Studio generali Quinque Ecclesiensi in Regno Ungariae , speeches written at the University of Pécs, are a collection of theological and philosophical subjects by a Dominican scholar. The sermons were probably given on various festivals of Hungarian saints at the university. The collection contains five sermons about Stephan, four about Elisabeth, two about Ladislaus and one about Emmerich, which are based on the local legends of the saints concerned. In their statement, however, they do not differ from the other theological statements.
A page from the Jókai Codex: The Legend of Francis of Assisi

Religious literature in the Hungarian language

  • The legend of St. Francis of Assisi is the oldest text in Hungarian-language epic literature. A copy is preserved in the Jókai Codex , the first known book to be written entirely in the Hungarian language. This is a translation from Latin in which the life of Francis is dealt with.
  • The legend of St. Margit is also an important linguistic monument. However, there is only one copy from the 16th century. This comes from Lea Ráskay , a Dominican nun in the monastery on Margaret Island . The legend tells the life of the king's daughter Margit and her miracles. In addition to the linguistic historical value, it is an important document of the history of the medieval kingdom and also of art historical importance.

Literature of the Late Middle Ages and the Pannonian Renaissance

Historiography and Legal Literature

  • The Budai Krónika ("Chronicle of Buda", original title: Chronica Hungarorum ) from 1473 was the first book printed in Hungary. It was made in the Buda printing house by Andreas Hess and deals with the history of the Hungarian people since the time of Matthias Corvinus . The unknown author processed the chronicles of Márk Kálti from the Anjou period, the work of the Minorite János and the curriculum vitae of King Louis I from the pen of János Küküllei.
The first page of the Thuróczy Chronicle
  • Johannes de Thurocz (Hungarian János Thurócz ) (* around 1435; † 1489) was a secular scholar. From 1467 he was a notary at the royal court. His chronicle from 1488 also bears the original title Chronica Hungarorum . It summarizes the medieval historiography of Hungary. In addition to the earlier chronicles, he used various non-Hungarian geographical and historical works and documents from collections of letters. He decorated the facts with his own imagination. The part dealing with the period from 1386 to 1458 can be regarded as Thuróczy's original story. The chronicle was printed in Brno and Augsburg with illustrative colored woodcuts . This edition was also the second historical work printed in Hungary.
  • Important authors of legal literature were János Izsó Kékesi and János Magyi . The latter was a notary in Buda in the second half of the 15th century. Its importance is based among other things on the document collection "Stylus curiae regiae". With his own code he set one of the oldest verse memorials in Hungarian literature. [1]

Secular literature

Development of secular poetry in Hungarian

Several historical chants, deaken chants and lyrical verses have survived from the late Middle Ages . From these works it can be concluded that the oldest known meter is a dimeter with a free number of syllables, whereby the line endings have rhymes . In medieval poems, the so-called Hungarian stressed metric is typical. In this metric system, stressed and unstressed syllables alternate regularly. The reason for this distinction from the quantifying metric lies in the nature of the Hungarian language. Basically the first syllable of a word is stressed. In addition, the length of the words in Hungarian exceeds the word length in other languages ​​such as German or Latin. A measure consists of three to four syllables, while quantifying metrics only have two or three syllables. Here is an example from a poem by Sándor Petőfi from the 19th century, a six-server line (six syllables in total) with two-bar:

Reszket a / bokor, mert /
| + | - | - | / | + | - | - / | 3/3
Madárka / szállott rá. /
| + | - | - | / | + | - | - / | 3/3

The accenting metric corresponds better to natural language and its rhythm. Therefore it can be found especially in Hungarian folk poetry. However, the quantifying metric from the Greek and Latin tradition also occurs in Hungary. Here the length and shortness of the vowels do not necessarily coincide.

A typical expression in Hungarian poetry of the Middle Ages is the "antiquating stressed metric" ( antikizáló hangsúlyos verselés ), a hybrid form that contains elements from both systems. Over time, the style of rhymes in Hungarian poetry also evolved.

Historical epic:

  • The Daltöredék Jajca megvételéről (" Jajcer Fragments of the Song of the Buying of the City") come from an unknown author.
  • Szabács viadala ("Battle of Šabac ") is the oldest surviving and longest song in the Hungarian language. Thematically, it processes one of the famous acts of King Matthias with the credibility of an eyewitness report. It was written around 1476. The author probably performed the song at the king's table with instrumental accompaniment. The natural style, the content consistency and the rhythm make the work easy to read even today. The lines usually consist of ten syllables.
  • Gergely éneke Jaksics Demeter veszedelméről ("Gergely's song of the dangerousness of Demeter Jaksics ") is a song composed of seven stanzas from the time before 1490. The Vajda Demeter Jaksics, who on behalf of King Matthias undertook a successful mission to the Turkish sultan and on the Died walking home fighting outnumbered Turkish attackers.
  • The Pannóniai ének ("Pannonian Chant ") also came from the hand of an unknown author .
Gyöngyösi code: " Néhai való jó Mátyás király ... "

propagandistic deaken songs:

  • Mihály Szabatkai
  • Geszti László éneke (“Gesang László Gesztis”) by an unknown author

Grave inscriptions :

  • János Lászai
  • Hunyadi epitáfium , unknown author
  • De sancto Ladislao , unknown author
  • Ének László királyról ("Song about King Ladislaus"), unknown author
  • The Gyöngyös Codex contains the Mátyás király halálára való emlékdal (“ Song of Remembrance of the Death of King Matthias”). The beginning of the text reads Néhai való jó Mátyás király ... (free translation: Once upon a time there was the good king Matthias ... ). In all likelihood, the song was written in 1490, right after the ruler's death. The code was part of the library of the Franciscan monastery in Gyöngyös . It is currently owned by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences .

Rekordáló énekek were chants performed by students and addressed to adults. They not only had religious content, but sometimes also dealt with political issues. The authors were mostly schoolmasters.

The Vagantendichtung reached its peak with the spread of secular literature. Based on Latin models such as the Planctus clericorum from the 14th century, many examples of vagante satire in the Hungarian language were created during this time. This includes the Codex of Magy , a place in Northern Hungary, and the Cantilena of Franciscus Batto de Apati . The author was born at the beginning of the 16th century. He wrote the Cantilena between 1523 and 1526. Little facts are known from his life. It is known, however, that he was enrolled at the University of Pécs and that he did not pursue a church career but served noble families.

So-called Virágénekek ("flower songs") are a form of lyrical love songs that were very popular at the time. The typical stylistic device of these chants is the cipher . They are about love and eroticism . The name is derived from the symbolism of the euphemistic "flower language". The songs were considered low literature and their distribution was prohibited. Therefore, the rare surviving specimens are only available in fragments. The earliest known pieces are the Soproni virágének (" Sopron Flower Chants ") from 1490. The oldest fragments are the Körmöcbányai táncszó (" Kremnica dance word") and the Zöldvári ének ("Zöldvár Chants").

Literature in the monasteries

Latin monastic literature

  • The work Sermones tredecim universales (“13 general speeches”) by a Dominican monk was popular throughout Western Europe in the 15th century. Strictly following the scholastic method, but still application-oriented, the speeches contain instructive examples on ruling, serving, death and similar subjects. The well-read author knew not only the church fathers and the great medieval theologians, but also classical ancient literature.
  • The blessed Pelbárt of Temesvár (* around 1435 in Temesvár , † on January 22, 1504 in Buda) was a Franciscan, scholastic scholar and preacher. He wrote numerous Latin works, v. a. Sermon collections. Some well-known works are the Stellarium Coronae Mariae Virginis (Hagenau, 1498), the Pomerium ( Sermones Pomerii, I - III. , Hagenau, 1499) and Expositio libri Psalmorum . The first two works mentioned were of European influence.
  • Osvát Laskai was a younger friar from Pelbárt. His name is also associated with the stellarium and the pomerium . But he differs from Pelbárt in his views. In his sermons he was mainly concerned with the education of the common people. He criticized the aristocratic circles and wanted to strengthen the self-confidence of the poor and that of his friars. Laskai also represented an early form of national consciousness, according to which he saw Hungary as a protective shield of Christian Europe. He worked on the continuation of the Chronicle of the Franciscans and dealt with John of Capistrano . [2]
  • The poet Albertus Chanadinus (or Albert Csanádi ) lived from 1492 to 1512. From his handwritten works the following have survived: "speeches in honor of the holy hermit Paul ," the "Life of St. Paul", a description of the suffering of Jesus and a “Hymn for the Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord ”. Few details are known from the author's life. He was a follower of the Pauline Order . He mainly created his work in Latin.
Jordánszky Codex, the first Bible in the Hungarian language

Hungarian monastic literature

Bible translations:

  • The first translation of the Bible is the most extensive and therefore most important language monument of the Hungarian Middle Ages. There were different translations. The Hussite Bible , also known under the older name of the Franciscan Bible , dates from the middle of the 15th century. It is only partially preserved in various other codes.
  • The Jordánszky Codex from 1516 to 1519 contains the second largest translation of the Bible. It has been handed down in full and comes from the pen of an unknown monk.

Sermons and Prayers:

  • The author, known as the "Unknown Carthusian " ( Karthauzi Névtelen ), was one of the most important Hungarian translators of the late Middle Ages. A copy of his work is included in the Érdy Codex . It includes sermons for the whole year as well as the legends of the 90 most important saints of the church year, including some Hungarian saints. The Code of Székelyudvarhely (see Székelyudvarhely ) contains copies of Franciscan prayers and meditations of the Carthusian monastery. This is not a translation, but the first surviving theological work in Hungarian.
The legend of Barlaam and Josaphat

Religious stories:

  • Epic Legends
    • The legend of Barlaam and Josaphat is preserved in the Kazinczy Codex from the beginning of the 16th century. It is a Christian reappraisal of the ancient Indian history of Buddha . Josaphat, a prince who was taken prisoner by India, and Barlam, a hermit, are at the center of the plot. The two become friends when Barlam helps Josaphat on his escape. He also brings Barlam to the Christian faith. The prince later renounces his throne and joins Barlam in the desert.
    • The legend of Makarius is a story enriched with secular elements. It is recorded in the Teleker Codex from the years 1525–1531. The code is believed to have originated from four authors. Three of them were therefore nuns in the Order of the Poor Clares in Neumarkt am Mieresch . The fourth author is said to have been a Franciscan from Sankt Georgen . A collection of Latin legends served as the source for the work. There are also influences from the Alexander novel, which was popular at the time . The protagonists are three wandering religious who are looking for the gate of heaven. On the way, they experience fairytale and fantastic adventures. They do not reach their goal, but they get to know the hermit Makarius, who reveals the truth to them.
    • Other important legends are the Elek legend, the legend of Saint Anne , the legend of the Holy Cross and the legend of Saint Catherine.
  • Parabolas
    • A világ asszonya ("The woman of the world")
    • A tanyán zsolozsmázó szerzetesek
    • The parable A verembe esett ember (“Of the man who fell into my pit”) is woven into the story of Barlaam and Josaphat. It is about a whoring person who, pursued by a unicorn , jumps into a pit. There he clings to a bush whose roots are gnawed by a black and a white mouse. He knocks his legs into the wall of the pit. There are three holes in the wall from which four poisonous snakes come out. At the bottom of the pit sits a fire-breathing dragon . When honey flows from the root of the bush, the person forgets about the danger he is in and begins to lick the honey. Now Barlaam explains the parable to Prince Josaphat as follows: the pit is life, the dragon is hell, the white mouse is day and the black mouse is night. The two mice age people, the snakes represent physical ailments and the honey represents the worldly pleasures that tempt people and keep them from seeing danger.
  • Apparitions
    • Stories about devil apparitions include the Visio Filiberti and the Visio Tungdali .
    • Engelhard's exemplum mirabile is one of the heavenly visions .

Religious Poetry:

Hymn of Bernard of Clairvaux in the Czech Codex
The 169th page of the Peer Code
  • Translation of hymns and prayers in poetry
    • The preacher Antal Tatai headed the Pauline monastery of St. Lawrence near Buda , the ruins of which are now in the 2nd district of Budapest. Since 1487 he was the only founder of the Hungarian order. He wrote the hymns about Paul of Thebes around 1476.
    • The “Master of Ten Lines ” ( Tíz-sorosok mestere ) was an unknown religious follower and the first poet with his own style in the Hungarian language. He is considered to be the author of four translations of hymns that can be read in the Winkler Codex , a handwritten book from 1506. Asztalnak szent dícsérete (“Holy praise of the table”), Jó és gonosz szerzetesnek dícséreti és szidalma (“Praise and abuse of good and bad religious”), Szent ének, ki dícséri Szíz Máriáhre the saint Virgin Mary and Her Holy Son ”) and Istenes élet regulái (“ Rules of the Divine Life ”).
    • Among the translated hymns, the “Hymn of St. Bernard to the crucified Christ” in the Czech Codex from 1513 is also worth mentioning. It is not a literal translation. Rather, the author brought numerous own inspirations into the free processing of the material.
    • The Franciscan András Vásárhelyi is the author of one of the most important pieces of religious Hungarian poetry, the Vásárhelyi András éneke a Szűz Máriához (“Singing to the Virgin Mary by András Vásárhelyi”). It appeared in the Peer Codex in 1508 . The code is currently kept in the Hungarian National Library.

Early forms of drama:

  • The early dramas go back to dances of death that spread in the 14th century during the plague . They are about the fact that in the last seconds of a person's life, death calls for a final dance while telling the called-to the story of his damnation. The dance of death emphasizes the universality of death, which makes no difference to social status. A Hungarian work is the Elmegyek meghalni (“I go to die”) contained in the Példák Konyve (“Book of Examples ”) from 1510 . It presents the characteristics of contemporary society.
  • The vetélkedés was a kind of medieval polemic . Examples of such translations from the beginning of the 16th century are the treatises on body and soul, on life and death, and on the soul, as well as on the apostles and the quarrel between angels and devils. The texts were written in monasteries. There they were read out with text passages that were divided among each other.
  • “Three Christian Girls” ( Három körösztény leány ) is the first surviving dramatic work in the original Hungarian language. The handwritten record can be found in the Sándor Codex , published around 1520 . Originally the piece was a German mystery play from the 10th century. The translation was made around 1501. The piece was not intended to be performed on a stage. Latin dramas were often rendered into an epic form when translated into Hungarian. In terms of content, it is the story of three girls who are captured by the Turks and brought before the Sultan. Since they do not renounce Christianity, they are thrown in prison. The prison guard takes her home, but they refuse him. From then on the story takes on a fairytale style. The girls turn the guard into a devil. He wants to put the girls on the torture rack, but his plans are thwarted by further miracles. The Sultan also hears of the events and the girls are subjected to cruel trials again, with divine miracles helping them again. Finally they rise up into the sky before the astonished Turks.

Monastic Codes

The legend of Saint Margit in Lea Ráskay's code

Most of the religious works mentioned so far in the Hungarian language, but also secular literary works, are preserved in the monastery's codices. A total of 46 late medieval Hungarian codes are known. The most important of these are:

Code of Érsekújvár (1529–1531), Thewrewk Code (1531)

The first humanists: Matthias Corvinus and the Jagiellonians

The humanistic spirit spread outside Italy , first in Hungary. The Middle Ages in Europe gradually ended with the Renaissance. However, the transitions are fluid. Therefore, some important personalities are listed here who can already be clearly assigned to the Renaissance literature. Hungarian and Latin coexisted.

  • Johann Vitez (* 1408; † 1472), founder of the Universitas Istropolitana
  • The Carthusian Andreas Pannonius (* 1420, year of death unknown) was the most independent medieval Hungarian thinker. Although he was primarily connected to the scholastic tradition, fundamental questions of humanism also moved into the focus of his work. His work, e.g. B. the Expositio super Cantica canticorum Salomonis also gained attention in international theological literature.
  • Janus Pannonius (* 1434; † 1472)
King Matthias in the Thuróczy Kronik
  • Scholars around Matthias Corvinus:
    • Galeotto Marzio's work “About the extraordinary, wise, entertaining sagas and deeds of King Matthias” ( Mátyás király kiváló, bölcs, tréfás mondásairól és tetteiről , 1485) contains anecdotes about events in Hungary in the context of humanism.
    • Pietro Ransano (* 1428; † 1492) wrote the "Yearbook of All Times" ( Minden idők évkönyvei ). Although the author worked on this book all his life, it remained incomplete. His goal was to work through the entire history of the world from the perspective of religious humanism. At that time, Ransano used current works on world history as well as new contemporary literature as sources. It also contains parts of Hungarian history such as the story of Johann Hunyadi and the Battle of Varna .
    • Antonio Bonfini (* 1427; † 1505) wrote "Hungarian History" ( Magyar történet ) on behalf of Matthias. He received a ten-year stipend from the royal treasury for this.

The Jagiellonian Age

  • Stephanus Taurinus : Stauromachina
  • Márton Nagyszombati : "To the Princes of Hungary" ( Magyarország főuraihoz )
  • IstvánWerbőczy (1460–1541) wrote the tripartite text published in 1517 . It defends the feudal legal system in the interests of the Hungarian nobility. The collection of laws was never given legal status. Nevertheless, the work had a demonstrable influence on the Hungarian legal system until the 19th century.
  • István Brodarics (1470–1539) is the author of the "True Story" ( Igaz történet , De conflictu Hungarorum cum Solymano Turcorum imperatore ad Mohach historia verissima ) about the battle of Mohács (1526) , published the year after the battle in 1527. The work is of both art historical and literary value. It is also an important historical source.

András Hess's print shop

Matthias Corvinus brought one of Gutenberg's first students , András Hess, who was probably of German origin, from Rome to Buda, where he opened his workshop in 1472. On June 5, 1473 the first book appeared in Hungary, the already mentioned Buda Chronicle ( Budai krónika , original title: Chronica Hungarorum ). Hungary was the sixth country to start printing . It is unusual that the first printed work is secular literature. The first copies were sold out quickly. The number of copies is estimated at 240. Numerous handwritten copies were made of it later. Ten copies are still preserved today. In addition to the Buda Chronicle, two Latin translations of Greek works have been published in the Hess printing house: “On Reading by Poets” by Basil the Great and the Apology by Xenophon . After Hess' death, the print shop was no longer operated.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gábor Klaniczay: Holy Rulers and Blessed Princesses. Dynastic Cults in Medieval Central Europe. Translated by Eva Pálmai, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2002, ISBN 0-521-42018-0 , p. 191 .
  2. ↑ metric
  3. ↑ Rekordáló énekek
  4. ↑ Vagant poetry