Preparation for the afterlife of the Hungarian nobility according to the preserved medieval testaments
Preparation for the afterlife of the Hungarian nobility according to the preserved medieval testaments

Summary/Abstract: The current study is devoted to the efforts of the medieval Hungarian nobility to ensure a peaceful afterlife for themselves and their families. This was hoped to be achieved through donations to the church and religious orders serving in the area. The paper begins with a brief focused on donations to the church that members of the nobility made during their lives and the actions they expected from the church or individual clergymen in return for such pious contributions. Following is a reference overview of pious donations and the form of requiem Masses desired, taken from the preserved medieval testaments of Hungarian nobility throughout the period of the Hungarian Middle Ages. The result is an enumeration of the diversity of testators (men, women, members of lower and higher nobility), the variety of donations (whole villages or clothes), as well as creative ideas on how to ensure a smooth transition to eternal life and the salvation of a soul in the best possible way.

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