Fortified Settlements of the 9th and 10th Centuries ad in Central Europe: Structure, Function and Symbolism
The structure, function(s) and symbolism of early medieval (9th–10th centuries ad) fortified settlements from central Europe, in particular today’s Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, are examined in this paper.
Natural conditions in the Carpathian Basin of the middle ages
The analysis of natural conditions is a new field in Hungarian medieval research. This field could only come into existence with the spread of new sources of research, and with the need of drawing the most realistic picture of medieval living conditions with the help of more – previously ignored – data and facts. This field of research may have a special meaning as according to sources of the age, the Carpathian Basin was one of the natural Paradises of Medieval Europe.
The medieval social topography of Szeged
As the name historical social topography implies it comprehends the ancient location and distribution of particular groups and layers of inhabitants in a settlement.
Life in the Pauline Monasteries of Late Medieval Hungary
The Pauline order emerged in the second half of the thirteenth century and became one of the most popular religious communities of medieval Hungary.
Manuel II Palaeologus in Paris (1400-1402): Theology, Diplomacy, and Politics
The end of the fourteenth century found the Byzantine Empire in a critical state.
Floods and weather in 1342 and 1343 in the Carpathian Basin
Concerning weather, weather-related extremes and catastrophic consequences, 1342 was an extraordinary year in most parts of Central Europe, even in such an extraordinary decade as the 1340s. Accounting with the seven flood events (including one Danube flood) mainly of great magnitude, at present 1342 is the most important known flood year of medieval Hungary.
Reconsidering Agatha, Wife of Eadward the Exile
The antecedents of Agatha, wife of Eadward the Exile and ancestress of Scottish and English monarchs since the twelfth century and their countless descendants in Europe and America, have been the subject of much dispute…
How to Steal the King’s Crown: Helene Kottanner’s tale of a theft from the year 1440
In the year 1440, a servant woman named Helene Kottanner is given the task of stealing the crown of the King of Hungary. Helene tells us how she did it.
Janos Hunyadi: Preventing the Ottomans from Conquering Western Europe in the Fifteenth Century
By using his experiences gained in the condottiere wars in Italy and in the Hussite Wars in Bohemia, he was able to defend the Hungarian borders, and successfully attacked the Turks on their territory
Understanding Pestilence in the Times of King Matthias
Even if medieval medicine was revealed to be powerless by the mass-scale epidemics of the mid-fourteenth century, the Black Death was far from ending the career of university-trained physicians or the continuation of their art.
Health and Illness in the Angevin dynasty of the Hungarian Kingdom
‘All the dresses were soaked wet by the sacred blood spilled, inasmuch it resembled an immense overflow of water. He even didst show us apart from these the cut four fingers of her royal highness and the locks of their beloved sons, which were parted from their bodies by Felicián’s sword.’
Hungary and the Second Crusade
The aim of the present study is to survey and analyze the role played by Hungary during the Second Crusade and through this scholarly goal it is to bridge the gap which can be observed in Hungarian historiography.
My kingdom in pledge : King Sigismund of Luxemburg’s town pledging policy, case studies of Segesd and Bartfa
This thesis strives to present a small part of this huge and complex topic by analyzing one of the most interesting aspects of Sigismund’s pledging policy, namely, pldeges of the towns.
The Morosinis in Hungary under King Andrew III and the two versions of the death of the Queen of Hungary Tommasina
In reality, Charles Robert’s predecessor, the last Arpád, Andrew III, called the Vene- tian, was already a foreigner on the throne of Hungary.
Princess Salomea and Hungarian – Polish Relations in the Period 1214 – 1241
It is necessary to say at the beginning that almost all works devoted to Salomea come from the pens of Polish historians. Slovak and Hungarian historiography has devoted little attention to her, in spite of the fact that she played a part in the history of the Kingdom of Hungary.
The Chronicle of Ulrich Richental as an Exceptional Source for the History of Slovakia
One of the most interesting testimonies is the work of a burgher of Konstanz Ulrich Richental, who gave a straight forward account of everyday life in the city during the council, of things he saw, heard or learnt directly from participants in the council.
Reading “The Revelations of Elizabeth of Hungary” as a Devotional Text
In this thesis I would like to move beyond the discussions of authorship for The Revelations and begin to examine the text itself. In fact, I neither attempt to question the arguments for Elizabeth of Töss’s role as the visionary in the text, nor do I deny that someone in the community acquainted with Elizabeth, either first-hand or close to it, wrote her visions down.
Fools, Devils, and Alchemy: Secular Images in the Monastery
The fool is one of the most popular and stable character types throughout cultures and times. This is especially true of medieval Europe. The fool, sometimes a jester, sometimes a clown or a trickster, is always recognizable through his abnormal appearance.
A diplomat in the service of the Kings of Hungary: The activity of the Bishop of Nitra Antony of Šankovce at the end of the Middle Ages
According to this medieval handbook, the work of the diplomat includes: ‘honouring the Church and the Imperial Crown, protecting the rights of the kingdom, strengthening obedience and friendship, agreeing peace, removing the possible causes of future unpleasantness reprimanding tyrants, making rebels obedient…’
Transylvanian Identities in the Middle Ages
Identity has become a subject of historical exploration as it is also one of the themes examined from the perspectives of various disciplines belonging to the social sciences such as sociology, psychology or anthropology.
The Hospitallers in the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary, c. 1150–1387
The origins of a military-religious Order under the spiritual patronage of St. John can be sought in a pilgrim-hospital which was founded in Jerusalem by the 1080s.
Noble and Urban Family-Structures in the Late Middle Ages in the Hungarian Kingdom
The everyday life of the clan people was filled with disputes over small plots, since it was the main duty of each generation to preserve and enlarge the lands of the clan. It was also the basic interest of the members of the clans to secure the survival of the clan by marriages that were fertile in every sense. It was a sign of the strength of the clan that the members had to consult before taking decisions in questions of marriage, inheritance.
The Amber Trail in early medieval Eastern Europe.
The standard method employed in characterization studies of amber, namely infrared spectrography, can discriminate roughly between Baltic amber and amber from other European sources…
The Origins of the Tale of the Blood-drinking Hungarians
The Hungarian tribes, arriving in the territory of present-day Hungary in 895 A.D., were received with a fair amount of antipathy by European public opinion.
Some weather events from the 14th century
This paper discusses the different kinds of allusions to weather events which can be found in various 14th century written sources in Hungary