Cruciferi domus hospitalis per Hungariam et Sclavoniam… A johanniták Magyarországon a 14. század végéig
Cruciferi domus hospitalis per Hungariam et Sclavoniam...The Hospitallers in Hungary up to the End of the Fourteenth Century

Summary/Abstract: On the basis of a currently running doctoral project, the present study aims at outlining the history of the Hospitallers in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary – on the basis of written sources – from their appearance in the realm up to the end of the fourteenth century. The first Hospitallers arrived to Hungary, similarly to Austria and Bohemia, around the mid-twelfth century, most probably for the call of Queen Euphrosine, wife of King Géza II who, along with her daughter, quite often practiced the virtue of caritas. As a Central European characteristic, royal support proved to be long-lasting in the development of the military-religious orders, since they lacked private donations throughout the Middle Ages. In the case of the Hospitallers in Hungary, royal generosity helped to establish some twenty commanderies by the end of the thirteenth century. After the acquisition of the houses of the dissolved Order of the Temple, this number reached three dozens. However, by the end of the fourteenth century, it fundamentally decreased and slackened. The compound of the leadership of the Hungarian–Slavonian Priory and that of the personnel of the commanderies clearly shows that this province was an integral part of the international network of the Order. Until the end of the thirteenth century, the common feature of the Hungarian–Slavonian priors was their supposedly foreign, admittedly nonidentifiable, or rather obscure, origin. Presumably, most of them arrived from France, and later from Italy. Their provenance became more transparent during the early fourteenth century. At least two dozens of Hospitallers of Italian origin can be identified in Hungary between 1315 and the 1340s. Most remarkable of them are perhaps the Italian Gragnanas or the Provençal Cornutis and Beaumonts. From the late fourteenth century onwards, on the basis of an agreement enacted in 1373, the priors were elected alternately from the langues (linguae) of Italy and Provence. It seems that disregarding the period of the Great Schism (1378–1418), the agreement was in operation well into the fifteenth century.

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