Szatmár egykori vártemploma
The Erstwhile Church of the Fortress of Satu Mare/Szatmár

Summary/Abstract: During the 16th and 17th centuries the possession of the fortress of Satu Mare (Szatmár), situated on the border between Transylvanian Principality and the Hungarian Kingdom, alternated fairly often between die two slates. Under the rule of the Protestant princes of the 17th century - Gabriel Bethlen, George Rákóczi I and George Rákóczi II - these changes always generated confessional conflicts about the possession of the church in the fortress. In 1665 the complaint of the Protestants about the illegal occupation of the church reached the government. The latter ordered witness hearings in this matter. After sketching the history of the church between 1569 and 1703, the author analyses the testimonies from 1665. Besides the ecclesiastical reference of the text, she also emphasizes the importance of the document from the point of view of an art historian: one can find interesting data about the craftsmen and different phases of the building of the church in 1648. Among the craftsmen mentioned by the testifiers the most important seems to be Jakab Révkomáromi Asztalos, who made the wooden ceiling and the pulpit of the church for a considerable sum of money. The author then publishes the text of the testimonies.

• Details
• Contents