Publisher: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület

"Itt van a` legvégső óltára Pallásnak"

Az Erdélyi Kéziratkiadó Társaság és az Erdélyi Magyar Nyelvmívelő Társaság története

Author(s): Péter Dávid / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2013

This work shows how the 18th century scientific societies were established in Transylvania. Furthermore, it deals with the aims, the works, the ideology and the texts written by these societies. My thesis introduces how it was possible in Transylvania to find this type of societies with the support of the then-governor of Transylvania, György Bánffy. These institutions had the chance to be self-led, which was very strange at that time, given that there weren’t any similar institutions in Hungary.The first chapter of my thesis deals with the political situation of Transylvania in the 1790s and also with the diets that gathered at that time. The reason for this is that these diets bring forward the main issues of the whole Transylvanian society providing the context for the scientific societies’ purpose. This part of the dissertation highlights some political questions which were negotiated in the diet. Later these issues gave topics to the Manuscript Publishing Society and the Language Protective Society as well. One of the crucial questions is the relations of Transylvania with Hungary and Austria. There were some opinions at the diet of 1790–91 – using the chaotic situation after the death of Joseph II – which reinterpreted the relations between Vienna and Buda, Vienna and Cluj and also Buda and Cluj. A part of the thesis aims at analysing the relationship between the three countries based on some Transylvanian leaflets.At the 1790s diets there were both innovative and conservative ideas. The conservative ideas came from the Szeklers and the Saxons who were against paying taxes and joining the military. They also wanted to have their old privileges restored.This was the period when the Romanians first appeared on the Transylvanian political stage. They handed in the Supplex Libellus Valachorum which required privileges for the Romanian nation also referring to their ancient rights. The Supplex Libellus Valachorum would have given wider political rights and religious freedom to the Romanians if it had been accepted. Unlike the Romanians, the Armenians were successful. The cities of Szamosújvár and Ebesfalva handed in a petition to the diet to give them the right of becoming free royal cities. The question of nationalities inside Transylvania was a crucial problem outside the diets as well. This work shows how the 18th century scientific societies were established in Transylvania. Furthermore, it deals with the aims, the works, the ideology and the texts written by these societies. My thesis introduces how it was possible in Transylvania to find this type of societies with the support of the then-governor of Transylvania, György Bánffy. These institutions had the chance to be self-led, which was very strange at that time, given that there weren’t any similar institutions in Hungary.The first chapter of my thesis deals with the political situation of Transylvania in the 1790s and also with the diets that gathered at that time. The reason for this is that these diets bring forward the main issues of the whole Transylvanian society providing the context for the scientific societies’ purpose. This part of the dissertation highlights some political questions which were negotiated in the diet. Later these issues gave topics to the Manuscript Publishing Society and the Language Protective Society as well. One of the crucial questions is the relations of Transylvania with Hungary and Austria. There were some opinions at the diet of 1790–91 – using the chaotic situation after the death of Joseph II – which reinterpreted the relations between Vienna and Buda, Vienna and Cluj and also Buda and Cluj. A part of the thesis aims at analysing the relationship between the three countries based on some Transylvanian leaflets. At the 1790s diets there were both innovative and conservative ideas. The conservative ideas came from the Szeklers and the Saxons who were against paying taxes and joining the military. They also wanted to have their old privileges restored.This was the period when the Romanians first appeared on the Transylvanian political stage. They handed in the Supplex Libellus Valachorum which required privileges for the Romanian nation also referring to their ancient rights. The Supplex Libellus Valachorum would have given wider political rights and religious freedom to the Romanians if it had been accepted. Unlike the Romanians, the Armenians were successful. The cities of Szamosújvár and Ebesfalva handed in a petition to the diet to give them the right of becoming free royal cities. The question of nationalities inside Transylvania was a crucial problem outside the diets as well. Famous Transylvanian historians and the members of the Language Protective Society will work on this topic.From the reports of the diets, leaflets, petitions and private letters emerges a very colourful Transylvania, with several religious cults, nationalities and political ideologies. Among these, Governor György Bánffy, tried to create a “unified Transylvania”. Bánffy’s idea is based on the Transylvanian traditions and laws. That is why Bánffy’s programme became Transylvania’s official ideology. The main argument for his theory is that it may have succeded in controlling the contrasts between the multiple nationalities and religions. Bánffy’s aim is to reach peace among the nationalities by trying to reach a network of compromises. The scientific institutions, which are supported by Bánffy, will use the same ideology in their texts. The second chapter of my dissertation deals with the Manuscript PublishingSociety. It follows the tradition of those treatises which have been written about this topic earlier. It centers on the description of the structure and the aims of the institution. This chapter has two significant results. On one hand, it interprets manuscripts which have never been analysed before. On the other hand, it deals with the paratexts of Schesaeus-epic, published by the society. From these texts we can extract elements of the “unified Transylvania” ideology.The third chapter is about the Transylvanian Language Protective Society. I start the description with the analysis of György Aranka’s leaflets and the problem of the Hungarian official language. Based on these leaflets we can discover the main aim of the society: to develop the Hungarian language and to make its use possible in both political and legal communication. Moreover, its objective was to spread it among the different nationalities that live in the country. The chapter also figures out why the researchers and politicians considered this theory possible. This chapter describes the structure of the society, the changes it went through and its most important members. It differentiates the institutions, firstly from a circle of friends who gathered in 1803, secondly, from a scientific society which was founded and supported by Farkas Cserey in 1806. And thirdly, it intends to separate the Language Protective Society from the group which gathered in 1818, leaded by Gábor Döbrentei. This segment studies the Aranka-correspondence as the primary source for revealing the relationship among the members of the society.In addition, it analyses the reports of the societies in order to discover the facts that caused some changes in the structure of the institution, dividing its work into six periods. This chapter also analyses the “colourful” publication of the institution called The First Work of the Hungarian Language Protective Society. The aim of this book was to show that Hungarian language is appropriate for assembling several types of writing (e.g.: review, comical poems or odes).With the help of new sources, my paper tries to explain the reasons which led to the end of the Language Protective Society’s work in 1801. The last chapter of the thesis is about two texts in which the members of the Language Protective Society were extremely interested. These texts are the following: the Szekler Chronicle of Csík and a description of Transylvania which used the Szekler Chronicle of Csík. This description was compiled as a response against August Ludwig Schlözer’s Kritische Sammlungen. From the analysis of these works it turns out that the Language Protective Society also followed the theory of the “unified Transylvania” and tried to create representative documents that show the Hungarian as an appropriate language for legal, political or scientific communication. The description of Transylvania, which was written for thise purpose, defines the situation of the Hungarian, Szeklers and Saxon nationalities on the basis of traditional historical view. Using the Szekler Chronicle of Csík it considers the Szeklers to be the aboriginals of Transylvania who even helped the Hungarians to find their new homeland in the 890s. Another innovation of this description is that it also regards the Romanian nationality as residents of Transylvania.In the last part of the third chapter readers can get acquainted with the societies which were formed later and which tried to pose as successors of the Language Protective Society. Although these societies and their texts were created on the basis of other political ideologies, they aimed to inherit the support and the collection of their predecessor. They wanted to define themselves as the pursuers of the work of the late 18th century society. However, they wanted to hide the idea of the “unified Transylvania” which was very significant in the life of the Language Protective Society.

A gyulafehérvári hiteleshely levélkeresői (1556-1690)

Author(s): Emőke Gálfi / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2015

After the secularization of the Catholic ecclesiastical institutions in 1556, a new era had begun in the history of the place of authentication of the Chapter of Transylvania, which resided in Alba Iulia. This period has been characterized by a specific and totally different evolution of this institution, which was no more under the control of the Church. For the purposes of conducting its charter issuing activity, lay letter searchers (requisitors) were appointed by the princes, who were also paying these office holders. The majority of the members of the Chapter have left the country together with the bishop Paul Bornemissza (who’s chair remained vacant for a long time), and those who remained in Alba Iulia were converted to Protestantism. They became the office holders of Queen Isabela and, after a while, of his son, prince Ioan Sigismund of Zápolya. The fact that some earlier members of the Chapter continued their work at the place of authentication proves that the state apparatus of the newly born Principality needed these intellectuals who had been previously educated by the Catholic Church. For almost 20 years, the place of authentication and its archives had been given very limited tasks. The institution didn’t dispose of a very important object used in the authentication process of the documents, namely the seal of the Chapter. This object has been probably taken by one of the canons, who left together with bishop Bornemissza. For this reason, the appointed office holders could only transcribe the documents kept in the archives of the Chapter. That’s why they were called requisitores, which means “letter searcher”. The reorganization of this institution took place in 1575, when the requisitors were granted all the previous tasks: a new seal was given to the place of authentication, which was similar to the earlier; the requisitors among transcribing the documents started to issue different charters and to fulfill external activities on the demand of the princes (entering into possessions, boundary inspections, etc.). Starting with 1556, the requisitors were appointed and paid by the princes and the character of the Chapter’s archive has changed as the time passed: not only the documents created by the place of authentication have been kept here, but also the Libri Regii, tax registers and legislative documents. As a result of these changes, the archive became the institution that preserved the most important documents of the Principality and at the same time the reputation of the office holders grew. So, it was natural that during the period of the Principality, the office holders of the place of authentication were chosen very carefully by the princes from the members of the Transylvanian intelligentsia, which had close ties both with the Unitarian Church and the Reformed Church. The first chapter describes the birth of the requisitorial office and the secularization of the Catholic ecclesiastical institutions. This chapter, based on the consulted documents, proves that the ecclesiastical estates (including the lands owned by the Chapter) were already given to Queen Isabela and his son in 1556, and they haven’t been returned to the Catholic Church, as one could suppose from the contradictory laws issued at the end of that year. The volume continues with the description of the period until 1575, when the appointed requisitors’ single task was to search and transcribe documents. The reorganization that took place in 1575, based on a detailed written instruction dated at the end of that year, made the charter issuing activity of the requisitors of this institution comparable with the activity of the Chapter before the secularization. These characteristics remained unchanged until the end of the period of Principality.The second chapter presents a detailed analysis of a group of intellectuals represented by the requisitors of the Chapter of Alba Iulia. The chapter starts with the presentation of this institution’s structure and also discusses both the way the requisitors were appointed by the princes, and their duties and privileges. This chapter emphasizes the fact that the institution needed well-qualified personnel, and the requisitors needed to be well-trained in matters of paleography, Latin and legal issues. Romanian or German language proficiency often constituted an important advantage. It seems to be proven that the majority of the office holders spoke one of these languages.Due to the fact that the prestige of the Chapters archive constantly grew, the requisitors have been entrusted with multiple new duties and responsibilities. In addition to these responsibilities, they were also granted some privileges.As regards the estates and other properties possessed by the requisitors, it became obvious that many of the office holders were given goods and possessions by the clients of the place of authentication, in return for their services. The charters granted property rights of movable assets and real estates, and these rights represented the evidence of ownership in trials. For the clients who were taking part in actions for the ownership of properties it was of great importance to find these documents in the Chapters archive and to obtain their transcripts. The services of the office holders were rewarded with different donations.It’s well-known that during the Middle Ages, the personnel of the places of authentication consisted of clergy members who studied at Western universities or at the chapter or monastic schools attached to the chapters or convents. After 1556, the place of authentication from Alba Iulia was no longer under the jurisdiction of the church, but the society, in which this institution functioned, still remained religious. During the first period after the secularization, the earlier members of the clergy were appointed as requisitors and they have worked there until the reorganization that took place in 1575. After that, the personnel consisted of lay intellectuals, many of them with theological training. We may say that the majority of them have received higher education and have studied at Western European universi ties. A good example is the carrier of the chronicler of the court Gáspár Bojti and the personal librarian of Gabriel Bethlen, Mihály Barsi.In addition to the above mentioned objectives, our purpose was to characterize the social class from which the requisitors originated, to describe their previous career and the time they served as a clerk at the archives. We concluded that before being appointed to this office, the clerks were often notaries of the princely chancellery and sometimes this office constituted a gift for different services rendered on behalf of the princes. It was also proven that every clerk became a noble at the end of his career as a result of his services rendered at the place of authentication on the request of the princes and other clients.The third, longest chapter presents the biographies of 37 requisitors. Among them there were important figures of the Transylvanian cultural history, such as the chronicler István Szamosközy and Gáspár Bojti.The volume presents the members of a group of intellectuals who worked in the probably most important charter-issuer institution during the period of Principality.To reveal the role and importance of these office holders, it is enough to have in mind the character of the Transylvanian society, based on the possession of estates. Nevertheless, the requisitors were members of an intellectual class that continued the heritage of the Medieval Era, they’ve had close ties with the Church, which supported their activity.

A kolozsmonostori konvent a fejedelemség korában

Author(s): Zsolt Bogdándi / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2012

On the territory of the developing Transylvanian principality there were three ecclesiastical institutions which took part in the issuance of authentic charters: the Chapter of Transylvania residing in Gyulafehérvár, the Convent of Kolozsmonostor and the Chapter of Várad. Their medieval history has been already partially studied, but in neither of these cases the research did not cover their activity during the Transylvanian principality. Only in the case of Várad we could refer to the lack of sources because, after the capture of the fortress, the Chapter’s archives perished, but even so someone could attempt, on the basis of the issued charters to reconstruct its activity (we already have such an example for the Convent of Szekszárd). Although truncated, the archives of the other two loca credibilia are reserved in the collections of the National Archives of Hungary, so any other scientific investigations are possible. The research of their early modern activity and the publication of a major part of the protocols remains an urgent and possible task of the historians. The publication of these sources would largely extend our knowledge of Transylvanian law and history of institutions, and they would generate a basic collection of sources for further research.The main aim of this book is to present the characteristics of the charter-issuing activity accomplished by the early-modern Transylvanian loca credibilia by examining the case of the authentication place of the Convent of Kolozsmonostor, where the majority of the protocols have been preserved. We attempt to answer the following questions: whether the reorganized and secularized Convent, which has preserved its designation and has been moved together with the archives to Kolozsvár, has met the expectations of the society in terms of preservation of the documents and issuing of charters? How did it work and what was its role in the Transylvanian society?After the establishment of the Transylvanian state, the loca credibilia that entered under its jurisdiction, underwent a peculiar transformation. On the same grounds as similar institutions from Hungary, a specific Transylvanian institution, the office of the requisitors came to life to satisfy the needs of the society for authentic charters and to ensure the conservation of the archives. After twenty years of uncertainty, during which the secularized institution issued copies from the Convent’s archives under the seal of the city, the time for reorganization has arrived. The appointed requisitors had the right to complete all the activities made earlier by the places of authentication, but because there number was small, other institutions (envoys of the voivodes, counties) have gradually taken their place in the external authentication activity. In this process, the articles of Approbatae presumably constituted a turning point. From the second half of the 1650s, the external authentication activity (inspection of boundaries, seisin of estates to new owners, inquiry, etc.) was likely to disappear.At the same time, the disasters that occurred in 1658, and the subsequent long term instability, caused such a break in the activity of the Convent that we could consider it as the end of the institution’s early-modern history. Thereafter the charter-issuing activity was more and more casual, the place of authentication became mere depository of charters and produced copies of the documents in his custody.One could say that it was the moment which marked the end of the institution’s history of and the beginning of the archive’s history. In the age of principality the archives of the Convent together with the sacristia of the Chapter from Gyulafehérvár and probable Várad as a result of the measures taken by the princes and the Orders have played the role of the state’s “National Archives”. Finally, in order to reflect on the activity of the Convent from Kolozsmonostor during the age of principality, we should compare László Papp’s point of view, based on the previous literature and law-articles, and the impedimentums listed in 1655 by one of the requisitors, István Pálfi with the “products” of the Convent’s activity: the registers (protocolla) and the charters. Both the quantity and the quality of the preserved archive materials prove that the reorganized Convent remained for a long time one of the major charter-issuing institutions of Transylvania.

A Szilágyság és a Wesselényi család (14–17. század)

Author(s): / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2012

This volume contains the edited texts of the papers presented at the conference "Sălaj (Szilágy) Region and the Wesselényi Family in the 14–17th centuries" held between 7 and 8 September 2012 in Cluj (Kolozsvár). The essays deal with the estate system and the political and economic history of the medieval Sălaj (Szilágy) region (Middle Solnoc/Szolnok and Crasna/Kraszna counties), as well as with the history of the Wesselényi family archives and the early modern history of the Wesselényi family.

Angolszász-magyar unitárius érintkezések a 19. században

Author(s): Sándor Kovács / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2011

The theme of this thesis is the history of Anglo-Saxon and Hungarian Unitarian relations in the 19th century. For the last few decades scholarly research of Hungarian–English Unitarian connections has been almost completely neglected.The lack of academic interest could be explained, at least partly, by the insularity of both religious groups. The research material is scattered in the archives and libraries of Oxford, Manchester, and Kolozsvár. The author had the privilege of researching not just the libraries and archives of Kolozsvár (Transylvania), but also the Library of Harris Manchester College, Oxford, and the John Rylands Library, Manchester.The investigational method of the thesis could be labeled as late positivist, and I will agree with such a designation, although my thesis yields new evidence on the impact of Anglo-Saxon Unitarianism on Transylvanian theological thought and ecclesiastical-political life. I am aware that the rich field of English-Hungarian connections embodied in the two small religious denominations must be explored from other perspectives, too. As a Unitarian I might be prejudiced concerning the role this denomination played in 19th century society in England and Transylvania, but I am convinced that the results of my research are relevant to wider issues in the history of Anglo-Hungarian relations.During the preparation, I have read hundreds of pages of English and Hungarian correspondence, minutes, journals, and articles. As well as many Hungarian periodicals – including Keresztény Magvető (Christian (Seed-)Sower), Unitárius Élet (Unitarian Life), Unitárius Közlöny (Unitarian Bulletin) − I used the most important English and American Unitarian Journals: The Monthly Repository, The Christian Reformer, The Inquirer, The Christian Life, The Unitarian Herald, The Christian Register, The Christian Examiner and Theological Review, The Monthly Religious Magazine, The Unitarian Review, The Christian Inquirer, Old and New, Monthly Journal. I used a linear chronology in order to incorporate the overwhelming abundance of periodicals, miscellanies and minutes, as well as manuscripts in the thesis. This means that the backbone of the book is a historical chronology of the 19th century Transylvanian Unitarian Church which is fleshed out by the series of events proceeding from English-Hungarian connections..The content of the book is composed of three major parts. The first is entitled “The evolution of Hungarian–English–American Unitarian Relations from 1821 to 1848.”In this, I present a key document, a printed Latin text, sent to Kolozsvár from the Unitarian Fund on 30 April 1821 under the title Unitariorum in Anglia etc., and investigate how it traced the course of English–Hungarian Unitarian affairs. The detailed analysis of the Latin document and the reply written by the Transylvanian church throws new light on the history of the early relations between the churches, and the role of Bishop John Körmöczi. This enlightened cleric was the facilitator of these newly established connections, and he was the first translator into Hungarian of some parts of Theophilus Lindsey’s An Historical View of the State of the Unitarian Doctrine and Worship from the Reformation to our Own Times.Also in this chapter, I scrutinize John Bowring’s translations of Poetry of the Magyars, and investigate how, through his Unitarian acquaintances, he gleaned genuine information about Hungarian poetry and affairs. I point to the importance of Bowring’s denominational ties in presenting his very first translations, which appeared in a Unitarian periodical.The second chapter, under the title “English Unitarians in Transylvania, Hungarian Unitarians in England 1849-1869”, describes the consolidation of English–Hungarian relations, through the life and work of John Paget. In this section, I also present the first English visitors to Transylvania and their task as ambassadors of the Unitarian faith.The third, and longest chapter bears the title “English-American-Hungarian relations from 1870 to 1905”. It takes into account the lives of John Fretwell and John Kovács, an alumnus of Manchester New College, as two important figures in the third part of the 19th century. Through an examination of Fretwell’s life and career, new light is thrown on the translation of some of Jókai’s novels, and their reception in England.Under the title The English Conversation Club of Kolozsvár, I describe how English language, culture and politics were present in the heart of Transylvania. Through the history of the English Club, I cover the history of English-American-Hungarian Unitarian relations, too. I also describe the endeavours of Kovacs, the former Manchester New College student, and other alumni in spreading English culture and customs in Transylvania.The outcome of research. Conclusions1. The Latin document’s view of the opinions, history and institutions of the Unitarians of Great Britain should be considered the most important tract sent to Transylvania in the 19th century. There is no other theological, historical or literary work whose translation was circulated as widely as the above mentioned Brevis Expositio. At least 124 Hungarian copies were made available, and it is probable that the chief goal of the Transylvanian Unitarian elite was the development of a feasible strategy for co-operation with the English Unitarians. The examination of the reply proves that the Transylvanian Unitarian Church officially adopted and canonized the mythical account of the origins and identity of the Church put forward by János Tőzsér Kénosi and István Fosztó Uzoni, the authors of the Unitario-Ecclesistica Historia Transylvanica. Written in Latin in the last third of the eighteenth century, this work was used by the Unitarians of Transylvania to justify the very existence of their community.2. The role of John Körmöczi in establishing the new English–Hungarian connections must be re-evaluated. It is due to Körmöczi’s diligence that the Hungarian Unitarian elite had some knowledge of English Unitarianism before receiving the Brevis Expositio. Körmöczi’s translations of Planck and Wendeborn were in fact the transposition of Lindsey’s work. A printed Latin confession of the Transylvania Unitarians, found in the British Library, throws new light on Körmöczi’s efforts to clarify the dogmatic stands of the Transylvanian Unitarian Church. On the last sheet of the printed confession there is a handwritten letter addressed by Körmöczi to the English Unitarians. This could be considered as a first official reply from Transylvania.3. Sir John Bowring’s letter addressed to Körmöczi and the Transylvanian Unitarians proves once more the role of the Unitarian societies in literary matters.4. Sándor Bölöni Farkas was the first Hungarian Unitarian who travelled in Great Britain and North America. His reputation was widely recognized and acknowledged by his biographers, but they all neglected his role as an accredited diplomat of the Transylvanian Unitarian Church. Re-analyzing his reports as well as the minute records of the BFUA, I am convinced that Bölöni may have been financially supported by his friend and traveling companion, but he was spiritually and intellectually supported by the greater Unitarian community. 5. Similar things could be said about John Paget, one of the chief figures of Anglo-Hungarian relations. In my thesis I focus on his activity as a member of the Hungarian Unitarian Consistory, giving new data with regard to the establishment of the Hungarian Scholarship at Manchester New College.6. One subdivision of the thesis scrutinizes Louis Kossuth’s political activity and the use of his English Unitarian connections for purely political purposes. I point to the Kossuth articles found in the Inquirer as one explanation of the Unitarian propaganda.7. John Fretwell and Jókai Mór’s literary relationship was neglected by the biographers of Jókai. One Jókai novel was written about Transylvanian Unitarians and is entitled God is One. Reading Fretwell’s correspondence and articles I propose a new approach to the genesis of Jókai’s novel, and its English and American reception. It was Fretwell, who convinced the Hungarian novelist to take on the subject of Unitarians, and he is credited with translating abstracts of Jókai’s Unitarian novel into English as early as 1877. The translation and publication of Jókai’s novel Slinging-Stones in Edward Hale’s periodical, the Old and New, are also examined.8. The longest chapter of the thesis examines the role of the English Conversation Club of Kolozsvár in spreading English language, culture and customs in 19th century Transylvania. The history of the English Conversation Club was previously entirely unknown; this thesis is the first to reveal the significance of the Club and its visitors to intellectual life in 19th century Transylvania.Conclusions:• As a direct result of Anglo-Hungarian-American relations, the frozen theological thought of Transylvanian Unitarians, which was based on Szentábrahámi’s chief work, Summa Theologiae… (1787), started to melt. This stemmed from the availability of the translations of William Ellery Channing’s tracts. Step-by-step, the very dogmatic Transylvanian Unitarian theology embraced a more liberal, Christian humanist attitude.• Inspired by the English and American Unitarian periodicals, Bishop John Kriza founded in 1861 the very first Hungarian theological journal entitled Christian Seed-sower. This journal was, from its first issue, the chief organ of 19th century liberal theology, presenting such topics as the latest results of biblical criticism, the theory of Darwin about evolution, etc.• Following the pattern of English Unitarian Societies, George Boros founded the Francis David Society for propagation of Unitarianism, in 1885. The Society edited a monthly bulletin, held regular meetings and did much for the improvement of education and morals.• In the second part of the 19th century, Transylvanian Unitarianism re-discovered its founder, Francis David, and a process of rehabilitation took place, in which English Unitarian historians manifested much interest. The romantic view of Unitarian origins and identity helped English and American Unitarians to discover their forgotten roots.Due to the financial aid of English and American Unitarians, a successful Hungarian mission was conducted and many congregations were organized outside of Transylvania proper, the most important being the First Unitarian Church of Budapest.

Az aradi káptalan jegyzőkönyvtöredéke (1504-1518)

Author(s): Emőke Gálfi / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2011

Beginning with the end of the twelfth century, the most important cathedral and collegiate chapters had undertaken the task of compiling charters and diplomas concerning private legal transactions. During the middle ages the collegiate chapter from Arad was an important “place of authentication” in the southern part of the Hungarian kingdom. This institution was destroyed by the Turkish army in 1552.The archives of the chapter, which preserved the copies of diplomas issued usually in the form of volumes (protocolla), had been transported to Transylvania between 1556 and 1563 and were lodged in the archives of the cathedral chapter in Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia). Here, it was the task of the requisitors (“letter searchers”) of the secularized chapter to guard the remained registres from Arad. János Laskay, a humanist requisitor from Gyulafehérvár, wrote a preface to one of these volumes in 1580. This text and a few fragments from the register are the only remains of these archives. The volume begins with an introductory study about the life and activity of János Laskay and the charter-issuing activity of the place of authentication from Arad. The introduction is followed by the transcribed latin preface written by Laskay, which focuses on the role of the places of authentication as archives. The volume continues with the Hungarian abstracts (regesta) of the charters preserved in the medieval register and a list of the canons from this period. The Hungarian regesta contains among the juridical transaction all the important historical data, all the names (denomination of places and persons) and other details which could be useful for farther historical research.The index includes every personal name and all the toponyms, but it is also a register of subjects.

Az Arad-Temesvár vasútvonal története

Author(s): Árpád Jancsó / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2012

The two citys of Arad and Temesvár/Timişoara, being both rivals and sister-castles at times, were connected to the European railway network at one year’s difference. The Szeged–Temesvár/Timişoara section of the Imperial and Royal Privileged Society of Austrian National Railways (StEG) was inaugurated on 15 November 1857, and the Arad– Szajol section of the Pest–Arad railway of the Tisa Region Railway Society (TVV) was opened on 25 October 1858.The two large neighbouring cities, Arad and Temesvár/Timişoara, situated at only 55 km distance from each other, had no direct railway connection.Several attempts were made to build a railway between the two cities, but remained uncompleted due to the lack of funding.After the 1867 reconciliation and the foundation of the dualist state of Austro-Hungary, the laws which prevented economic development and the industrialization of the area were abrogated; the Vienna court had previously used this area as a supplier of cheap resources and an agrarian territory. As a result, industry began to thrive, and railways enmeshed the country, offering transportation means for various goods. The new circumstances raised once again the issue of constructing a railroad between Arad and Timişoara. The city council of Timişoara used heavy lobby for this purpose.One of the promoters of the project was the legendary 1848 General György Klapka, originating from Timişoara, who returned to the country after a long period of emigration, during which he had the possibility to get acquainted with the role of the railroad in the development of Western countries.Klapka requested and received the approval for the initiation of the preliminary procedures. The hardest job he had to face was again the raising of the necessary funds. Klapka turned to several financial institutions in the country and abroad. With great difficulties, he managed to convince the General Hungarian Credit Bank, the Imperial and Royal Privileged Institute of Industrial and Commercial Credit, the Darmstadt Bank for Commerce and Industry, the Sultzbach brothers from Frankfurt am Main, and Cramer Klett from Nuremberg. Klapka and his partners presented their request for the authorization of the construction works.The first two banks changed their mind, therefore the authorization was issued for the following names: the Darmstadt Bank for Commerce and Industry, the Sultzbach brothers from Frankfurt am Main, György Klapka, and Cramer Klett from Nuremberg. The authorization was granted by law no. XXXVII signed at Buda on 3 December 1868 by His Majesty Franz Joseph Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, etc. and Apostolic King of Hungary, and by Count Gyula Andrássy, Prime Minister (We, considering it correct, pleasant and accepted both this law and everything contained in it, both as a whole and in its details, we approve of it by our royal power, we enforce it and sanction it, respect it, and oblige all our subjects to respect it”). The law was voted in the Parliament at Pest, on 5 December in the Lower House, and on 5 December 1868 in the Upper House.The law stipulated that the Hungarian state granted interest guarantee for the construction of the Arad–Temesvár/Timişoara railway, which started from the Arad railway station of the Tisa Region Railway Society and ended in the Timişoara railway station of the StEG society. The following stations would be built on the route: Újarad/Aradul Nou, Németság/Şagul, Vinga, Orczyfalva/Orţişoara, Merczyfalva/Merţişoara, and Szentandrás/Sânandrei. A condition imposed by the law was that the beneficiaries of the authorization should start the construction works within three months at latest after the enforcement of the law, and finish them within a year and a half, after which the railroad must become operational.The law stipulated the way of expropriations that had to be done on the expense of the beneficiaries of the authorization, and provisioned the methodology of the expropriation of lots of land needed in the case of double lines. The beneficiaries had the obligation to guarantee the observation of technical conditions and the deadlines for the completion of the works. The projects had to be approved by governmental institutions as well. The state also offered a guarantee: in case the net profit would not have reached 39,500 silver florins per mile over a year, the state obliged itself to pay the difference over the whole period of the authorization (this way, until its nationalization, the state paid around 4 million florins for the railway society). The authorization period was established for 90 years, with the possibility for the state to buy it back after 30 years.The beneficiaries had to prove they possessed 30% of the investment capital. The Ministry of Public Works and Commerce and the Ministry of Finance were empowered to supervise the fulfilment of the legal conditions.On the basis of the article in the establishment act the beneficiaries of the concession for the construction and operation of the Arad–Temesvár/Timişoara railroad founded the corporation “Arad–Temesvár Railway”.The statute of the society was approved “at the highest instance” on 3 March 1871, and confirmed by order no. 4061 of 23 March 1871 of the Hungarian Regional Ministry of Public Works and Transport.Before starting the construction works, according to the legislation an administrative reambulation was needed. The representatives of all parties concerned took place in it, and an official report was drawn up which contained all problems of common interest. The reambulation took place on 20 March 1869. Afterwards, the Minister of Public Works and Transport issued the authorization for building. Since the military authorities asked for the replanning of a section next to the castle of Arad and its being moved at a distance longer than the range of a cannon shot, the authorization was given except for this section. Consequently, the route of the railway between Arad and Aradul Nou had to be replanned for a new location. This was indeed done, and in October a new administrative reambulation of this section took place, after which the authorization for this section was also issued. The works started very enthusiastically, but soon the military authorities came up with new pretences. As a result of misunderstandings and disagreements with the military authorities, the works were paused. The government ordered the establishment of a mixed committee formed by the representatives of civil and military authorities, which would clarify all problems and disagreements raised at the site. The delay lasted quite long. So, although the works started in April 1869, because of the obstacles of the military authorities, they were only completed 11 months later than it was imposed in the authorization of concession. Finally, after the works were finished, the Arad–Temesvár/Timişoara railroad became operational and was solemnly inaugurated on 6 April 1871. The government took into account that the delays were caused by the unfriendly attitude of the military authorities and returned the guarantee of 300,000 florins. The construction company chosen by the society was Schwarz and Fleischmann from Pest.6 steam engines, 19 passenger coaches and 79 freight cars were used for the operation of the railway.For a short period of time the railway services were offered by the company “Alföld–Fiumei Vasút Rt” (Alföld–Fiume Railway Corporation), then by TVV. After the nationalization of TVV in 1880 and its incorporation into the Hungarian State Railway Company (Magyar Államvasúttársaság, MÁV), this company took over also the operation of this railroad.The Arad–Timişoara line connected the lines of two rivalling private railways. Both of these societies wanted to control this line. The battle was won by StEG, which managed to buy the majority of the shares, gaining thus control in the general assembly of the shareholders. Once all the lines of the Imperial and Royal Privileged Society of National Austro- Hungarian Railways, which lay on the territory of Hungary, were bought back by the state, the Arad–Temesvár/Timişoara line became the property of the Hungarian Railways. MÁV made a series of modernization works: the rails were replaced with heavier ones, several bridges were rebuilt, and the over-structures were made of cast steel, the old metal bridge of Arad was replaced by a new metal bridge.Three other railroad lines were later connected to the Arad–Temesvár/Timişoara line: the Timişoara–Lovrin line (in 1895), the Szentandrás/Sânandrei–Varjas/Variaş line (in 1908) and the Varjas/Variaş–Arad line (in 1910).After WWI the Arad–Temesvár/Timişoara line was moved to the patrimony of the Romanian state. The administration, operation, and maintenance of the line was taken over by the Romanian Railways (CFR). In the period 1945–1948 another reconstruction took place, followed by others between 1967 and 1968.At the restoration of the Timişoara–Şagu line (1979–1980), rails of 60 and 65 kg were used. Such works were also conducted on the section between Arad and Aradul Nou in the period 1986–1987.After 1990 the old over-structure of the bridge over Maros/Mureş river was also replaced.The book is an exhaustive presentation of the history of the construction of the Arad–Timişoara railway, and it is based on the research of original documents and plans. Naturally, materials published in various monographs, books, or periodicals have also been used. The book contains very many copies of documents previously unpublished, maps, and photographs.Written by an expert in the field, but in a widely accessible language, the book is addressed both to the wide audience interested in the history of technology and transportation, or in local and regional history, and to experts who may find a plethora of very accurate technical data, gathered from documents of the age, and preserved in various archives.

Az erdélyi Csákyak

Author(s): Klára Papp / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2011

The monograph gives an overview of the Transylvanian branch of the Csáky family from the mid-seventeenth century up to 1742, the extinction of the male line and examines the efforts of the female line, until the Csákys’ possibilities to preserve their name, rank and landed estates are traceable, that is, the middle of the nineteenth century. The first chapters of the volume discuss the great seventeenth-century predecessors of the Csáky, who moved from Transylvania to the Kingdom of Hungary and established, then strengthened their landed possessions and political authority. Especially, István Csáky, remembered as „Great” in family tradition, who was a General of the Principality of Transylvania and Captainin-Chief of Prince István Bocskai, as well as his sons, two talented politicians, István Csáky, Lord Chief Treasurer and László Csáky, Lord Chief Justice, both belonging to the circle of Lord Palatine Esterházy, who based the prestige of the Kingdom of Hungary branch.The family correspondence describes the relationship of Lord Chief Treasurer as contradictory with his children, of whom he had a good opinion of only the middle son of the same name, István, the elder son, Francis, and the younger, László turned against him. Concerning their political views and relations all the three young gentlemen went off the path set by their father, the two older ones maintained good relations with Miklós Zrínyi, the younger held together with the opponent of the father, György Rákóczi II.The Transylvanian branch marks the third son of István Csáky, Lord Chief Treasurer, László and his descendants, who returned to the Transylvanian lands, and wished to found their future upon farming and their estate revenues. One of the basic tasks of the research was to explore the history of the Transylvanian branch. Historical literature has so far much neglected the denominator László Csáky and his political and military role, furthermore, the fate of the descendants, their functions in Transylvanian political life, and the situation of the family holdings has almost never been seen in historical scholarship. László Csáky could not administer his Transylvanian estates for long since he lost a good part of his holdings because of his role in the Béldiconspiracy against Prince Apafi, and was only able to return from his Turkish captivity through Poland and Vienna during the great anti-Ottoman war of the end of the century, taking on a military task on the side of the Habsburgs. Contemporary diary entries show how deeply he was resented by the Transylvanians, which he was only able to change working hard for long years. István, the son of the Transylvanian László Csáky was appointed Főispán (sheriff) of County Kolozs in 1699, after the death of his father.Together with his younger brother, László he was striving to regain their Transylvanian holdings. It is now unanimous that in the War of Independence led by Francis II Rákóczi the sons of the Transylvanian László Csáky both László (who died in 1708) and István – who had formerly been a follower of Imre Thököly – supported Prince-Governor Rákóczi, from whom they hoped for and did in fact receive landed donations.Of the two Csáky brothers taking part in the War of Independence it was the elder, István who was to strengthen the influence and possessions of the family. The lord, who retained his power and authority even after the War of Independence, had really substantial properties.Beyond the lordships of Almás and Buza in County Doboka he obtained that of Szurdok, moreover, regarding the Bihar County holdings (Köröszszeg and Adorján) ha could come to an agreement with László Csáky of Tata from the Kingdom of Hungary branch.The fate of the two sons of the főispán of Kolozs, Zsigmond and Imre Csáky largely affected the eighteenth-century history of the family. While the son of the late seventeenth-century Lord Chief Justice, István Csáky, Cardinal Imre Csáky was addressed by Ödön Málnási as „Széchenyi of the 18th century”, his name-sake nephew, Imre of the Transylvanian branch was suffering in the captivity of the Gubernium.It is justified by the correspondence and litigation record that Zsigmond Csáky was to made all effort to gain the estates of his brother imprisoned by the Gubernium. The younger Csáky, keeping his household in Szurdok himself gave a handle to take an action against him since he did not administer his estates in a way that could be expected at the time but treated his villein tenants ill which created a general uproar throughout Transylvania. He was condemned by the Gubernium and had him taken into home custody in Kolozsvár as well as had his estates put under the control of Zsigmond Csáky. It was definitely the elder Csáky brother that was concerned to keep the whole of the holdings, of which he also wished to give his two daughters a share. However, in 1735 he unexpectedly died, therefore the Mikola-kindred was able to achieve to set Imre Csáky free.Imre, who died at the 1742 plague, was naturally to make contacts and come on to good terms with the Kingdom of Hungary branch against his own Transylvanian relatives pushing him to the background. He corresponded with Lord Chief Treasurer Zsigmond Csáky and György Csáky, and finally in his will bequeathed all his goods and chattels to them. After the extinction of the male line of the Transylvanian Csákys (1742) the members of the Hungarian branch entered into a long lawsuit – lasting up until the third decade of the nineteenth century – to regain the Transylvanian possessions, which resulted in a total victory of the Transylvanian kindred, and they managed to preserve their estate holdings for their own descendants only. In investigating the reasons for the quarrel and the process of the litigation it was not only the motives of the descendants of Lord Chief Justice István Csáky that were important but also the interest relations of the Transylvanian family members. For the female off springs wedded from aristocratic families, having a decisive role in eighteenth-century Transylvanian history – Bornemissza, Haller, Bethlen, Jósika – who gave them a most explicit backing so as to preserve the familiar holdings.After the death of Zsigmond Csáky it was in the first place his widow, Kata Haller and his elder daughter, Mrs. György Haller who managed family affairs. It seems justified that the widow favoured Borbála Csáky, holding the Gorbó lordship, thus the couple gained a considerable influence. After the death of Imre Csáky, upon the order of György Haller his grain and livestock were carried to Kaplony and Oláhfenes, his money and jewelry chests to their Kolozsvár house. In 1759 the Haller couple also obtained the mortgage rights of the Bihar Csáky estates. Lease contracts justify that they took up smaller-bigger loans from many persons at many different places in Transylvania, thus they were consciously striving to regain their Bihar possessions, the reason for which being their high productivity.The sources made it possible to examine the ways of farming efforts of the two sisters, Borbála and Kata to manage, gain and preserve estates. The Transylvanian Csákys successfully kept on maintaining their estates along their seventeenth-century patterns. István Csáky, Főispán of Kolozs took a primary part in regaining lands and reorganizing the estate management. Zsigmond Csáky and his wife had great results in the administration of the substantial Transylvanian and Bihar County lands. His elder daughter, Borbála relied in the first place on his husband’s help in estate management, but the younger one, Kata did it on her own. She endeavoured to have her fully powered commissioners and court judges under close control as well as demanded and did in this way receive regular reports from them. She made inquests upon any complaints into any possible abuse, and rightfully recovered the amounts missing in the accounts embezzled by her bailiffs.The basis for Kata Csáky’s independent management was the landed property inherited from his father, Zsigmond Csáky, which guaranteed to make a living on her own even when she was not provided for by his husband. The survived suit records, agreements and commissions however prove that beyond the estates of Szurdok, Almás and Buza the noblewoman did herself wish to increase her wealth. She got hold of Sajókeresztúr and took steps to redeem a part of Sárfalva, near Branyicska in County Hunyad owned by her grandmother. She bought a house in Kolozsvár in 1775, to which she had the neighbouring merchant house owned by Ábrahám Ábrahám attached, what is more, in the spring of 1780 did even purchase another town house on the northern side of the outer Magyar street. She used the mortgaged vineyards between the Bihar County Lüki and Kohány, near the Érmellék wine-district. The composition of the acquired possessions demonstrate that the countess either added to the ancestral lands raising its value in this way (for instance, taking in pledge and appending and smaller part of another estate and its tenant holders to it), or, bought vineyards particularly in good wine-growing regions producing quality wine, which could increase the profitability of the estates. The profits were thus occasionally much greater, especially in years to come, for the descendants than the amounts paid out for the holdings or put out on loan. Kata Csáky’s efforts to make her own living was strengthened by the fact that her second daughter, Rozália Bethlen was born, and her husband, after their first years of marriage tried to keep her under control even more strictly and rudely. In this situation it seems natural that the young noblewoman – relying on her own landed revenues – did all her best to be able to stand on her own legs, and grounding upon her relations secure good education and envisage favorable marriage for her daughter. The husband became also worn out by the 1773 visit of the Emperor in Szeben, and since Joseph did not form a good opinion of the mental capacities and achievement of Miklós Bethlen. It was to be expected that he would be put out of the way, which did occur in a few years.The couple stayed together mainly because of their common interests. The fate of their daughter, Rozália, the scheme, then the realization of her marriage, serving family concerns, with János Csáky of the Kingdom of Hungary branch brought forward a long-lasting community of interests. Rozália Bethlen had three children, and could rightfully hope that she would be able to preserve the Bethlen and Csáky wealth in Transylvania.The family correspondence makes it clear that both branches wished to make use of the marriage to improve their property positions. The Transylvanian branch, with the aid of the father of Rozália, Miklós Bethlen earned a főispán position in County Kolozs for János Csáky, who took up a – according to the Vienna Court disputable – role in suppressing the Horea-revolt. The deterioration of the marriage however put an end to the hopes of Countess Kata Csáky to bring the suit between the two branches into a standstill by way of her daughter’s marriage.Since Borbála’s son, János Haller died childless, his widow’s, Zsuzsanna Nemes’ inheritance, for the most part after her death, passed on to Kata Csáky’s daughters. The seigneurial and villein tenure farming of the lordships, the conflicts in the practice of service and the possibilities of peasant labour are discussed until the death of the younger daughter of Kata Csáky, Rozália Bethlen, or, the division of landed estates that followed it. It is important to see how women were able to take over the management of farming and administer lordships on their own. It is primarily the efforts of the resolute woman of reason, the grandmother, Kata Csáky and Rozália Csáky Mrs. Jósika following her path that can be traced upon, considering them as very peculiar women.Kata Csáky took responsibility for the running of her lordships and had sound economic programs, which went far beyond contemporary conceptions. She did not only make her stewards aware that she found it important to sow wheat in the seigneurial economy and have a most profoundly designed, purposeful production, providing a survey of wholesale marketing opportunities, but also had an active role in running the economy in a utilitarian way, taking into account productivity.The countess took great responsibility in farming, and did even receive new ideas. Her manor houses everywhere had appurtenant kitchen-gardens and orchards, where she had from time to time planted seeds bought from Vienna or Szeben, and employed several (Romanian, German, Hungarian) gardeners, who raised plants in hotbed. However, the progressivism of her economic methods are not only shown by the orange and lemon trees or the fishponds dug near to her manor houses, but also the rich, high quality wheat crops in Almás, but the so called Turkish wheat of Branyicska reserved for wholesale markets, and the number of cattle, sheep and pig recorded in the „Red Book” inventory for sale.After the 1826–1827 land division the Csáky holdings gradually became incorporated into the lordships of the two branches of the Jósika family, and only a small proportion, that of Nagyalmás remained in the hand of the squandering József Csáky, entangled in loan transactions.Of the descendants of Countess Csáky it was Rozália who unanimously became a landholder woman prepared for economic tasks and capable of running farming in a utilitarian way, who, after 1820 wished to initiate reasonable and progressive changes in her Búza estate. Differently from her brother, József Csáky, who traveled to Paris, Rozália got aware of the reforms that could be utilized for her estates, and what she could, she did put into practice. The social position of the countess was a favorable starting point regarding the establishment of the sugar manufacture and the several other initiatives. The wife of the Transylvanian governing body could discover the possibilities of enterprise so much the more than the majority of her contemporaries, if she had enough openness, common sense, initiative and resilience. It seems the concordance of chances and capabilities furthered the successes of the countess. Her letters also reveal the obstacles of the newly launched enterprise: the lack of credit possibilities, the use of loans traditionally available only from Jewish merchants, the setbacks of Transylvanian conditions like the aversion and incomprehension of the villeins of the lordships, the forces taking effect against cooperation, the difficulties of marketing etc.The efforts to regain, increase and run family estates elevate Borbála, but so much the more Kata Csáky, urging utilitarian economy next to the significant estate-managers of the eighteenth century (István Csáky, főispán of Kolozs, Zsigmond Csáky, Gubernium Councillor). The daughter of Rozália Bethlen, Rozália Csáky, brought up by her grandmother, Kata Csáky followed the traditions of the family. Her education, intelligence and ambitions for reform, mainly through the sugar manufacture ranks her amongst the greatest reformer figures of Transylvania. The noblewoman is rightfully seen as the initiator of social policy in Kolozsvár, since she organized an „Association for Noblewomen” that maintained a nursery school for the poor as well as established a hospital at her Gorbó estate. She had her grandmother’s breviaries, and bequeathed a significant botanical collection and library to her descendants. Despite the fact that the contemporaries did not judge Rozália Bethlen well, yet she left behind much less concrete results and personal achievements than her strict but very active and self-ironical mother, Kata Csáky, who was all her life working hard to regain the family holdings, or, her younger daughter, Rozália Csáky, who acknowledged the guiding role of masculine society but was always constantly aspiring for reform and at the same time wishing to change the role of women.The volume devotes a separate chapter to the villein farming of Transylvanian estates and the changes in villein services. Appendices of source excerpts, lists of measurements, sources and bibliography as well as an index are also provided at the end.

Az Erdélyi Nemzeti Múzeum Érem- és Régiségtárának története

Author(s): Béla Pósta / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2013

The present volume is a delayed edition of a manuscript which was born one hundred years ago, on the Collection of Coins and Antiques of the Transylvanian Museum Society (TMS).Founded in 1859, the TMS was conceived as a replica of the Transylvanian Hungarian society against the neo-absolutist regime, established following the defeat of the Hungarian revolution and fighting for freedom of 1848–1849. Its objective was the salvation, conveyance to the public and scientific analysis of natural and inherited man-made treasures. This noble intention was marked by the establishment of a library, a natural collection, and also a collection of coins and antiques.On the fiftieth anniversary of the TMS, Béla Pósta, professor at the archaeology department of the university and also the manager of the collection of coins and antiques, was asked to present the history and background of the collection he was entrusted with. The invitation was sent at the beginning of 1909 and a year later the manuscript, together with its addenda, was ready to be printed. The publication did not take place however, initially because of a lack of funds and later because of the start of WWI and the political changes that followed this. The manuscript was recently discovered in the archives of the TMS and brought to the attention of those who were interested by Professor Csetri Elek. Although delayed, the publication of the manuscript is motivated by the fact that it is the most comprehensive presentation of the collection and is therefore a reference work for those who are going to come into contact with the past of the museum movement of Cluj and of Transylvania.The history of the collection, which takes up more than half the manuscript, is divided into three shorter periods. Although the initial offers and donations arrived later, the first period (1862–1872) is calculated from the time when Henrik Finály was elected custodian of the collection of coins and antiques; he was charged with organising the collection, which in the meantime became independent. The 25 year long second period, which lasted from 1872 to 1898, was dominated by the takeover of the management of the collection by the recently established university, though this did not compromise the TMS’s ownership of the collection. From that moment on, the pieces of the collection were used in the educational process as well as in obtaining new sources of income, which were used to enrich the collection.The re-housing of the collection, caused by the start of construction work on the ornate new university building, and the death of Finály in 1898 threatened the double collection with a Cinderella-like destiny, but the third period, the next 10 years (1899–1909), which began with the appointment of Pósta, marked the renaissance of the collection. This was a decade of growth and spiritual excitement, its benefits increased vertiginously in the next five years, until the start of WWI. The second half of the manuscript is richly illustrated and presents the objects of the collection in historical order and also catalogues them according to where they came from. Among the acquisitions of the Finály period a number of pieces stand out; the Zsófia Torma collection from Turdaş followed by the Greek helmet discovered at Uioara, the Roman funeral statue (mother and child) from Potaissa, appendages from the princely tomb (Omharus) in Apahida and Albert Bíró’s collection of majolica. During the Pósta period the collection grew constantly by buying valuable new objects (the little bronze statue of Venus from Potaissa, tankards, the altars from Jimbor and Guşteriţa and oriental carpets), and thanks to donations and deposits (vestments and paintings by Hungarian contemporary artists).However, thanks of their scientific value, the most important additions were the acquisitions that came from the archaeological excavations initiated by the new curator (at Iclod, Balsa and Sântana de Mureş), as well by ethnographic collections (fishermen’s tools, embroideries). Among the most recent acquisitions the manuscript mentions are the bronze finds from Uioara, bought in 1909, and the contents of the tombs which came from the migration era cemeteries of Târgu Mureş, excavated in 1909–1910. The Egyptian mummy, which was received in December 1909, was omitted from the list, perhaps because it was not possible to include it with the monuments of Transylvanian history, the basis of the collection. It is clear that the discoveries made in 1910–1911 at the Turdaş, Valea Nandrului, Cioclovina and Cluj excavations, and which substantially modified knowledge of the Paleolithic and Neolithic in Transylvania, and also the period of the Hungarian establishment, remained out of the presentation.The description of the coin collection is missing from the manuscript. István Kovács, Pósta’s disciple, was asked to write this since he was assigned to supervise the collection. The title of the mentioned study appears in a contemporary enumeration of his speciality works, but only an extract of it was published, being the introduction of an article in which is described the jubilee plaque of the TMS. The original manuscript did not come down to us.In the present publication, in the annex of Pósta’s work, one can find Kovács’s article, and thus the reader can get a fairly accurate image of the double collection a hundred years ago. A second annex offers another unpublished manuscript by Pósta, which has the text of the conference dedicated to the presentation of the above mentioned plaque. Most of the pictures are publications of the images selected by Pósta, though a few missing photographs were replaced from other sources. Included in this category is a published image of the plaque, as well as two photographs of some pages from the manuscript dedicated to the double collection.The original manuscripts, and also most of the pictures in the present publication, are in the National Archives, Cluj County Department. After the dissolu tion of the TMS, at the start of the communist regime, its collections were taken to different state run museums in Cluj, but the most valuable pieces were taken to Bucharest. Following the collapse of the dictatorial regime, the Transylvanian Museum Society is still waiting for the restitution of those spiritual items it was deprived of in dark times.

Az Oravica-Anina hegyi vasút története

Author(s): Árpád Jancsó / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2013

The book presents the history of the mountain railway between Oraviţa (hung.: Oravicabánya) and Anina (hung.: Anina).At the beginning of the XIXth century, the interest towards the exploitation of coal deposits in the Anina coal field grew. But the main impediment was the lack of a transportation route. The only available solution was the construction of a railroad that linked Anina to Oraviţa. From Oraviţa to Baziaş (hung.: Báziás), the port on the Danube a railroad was just opened in 1856, the first railroad on the territory of today’s Romania.The difficult terrain forced the designers of the railroad to implement a large array of engineering works: embankments, excavations, 14 tunnels, 10 viaducts, bridges, culverts, and a minimum radius of the curves measuring 114 m. The railroad’s characteristics required the designing of special locomotives, whose planning and execution sparked the interest of the field’s specialists. For the circulation on this railway, a special propelling system was drawn up.The railroad between Oraviţa and Anina was among the first mountain railroads in Europe, the first of its kind in what was then Hungary and the first mountain railroad on today’s territory of Romania. Due to its technical specifications it is often compared with the mountain railroad in Semmering, Austria.The volume discusses in detail the conditions of its design, the planning, the construction, its administration and service from its commissioning to our days. Because of its curves’ small radiuses and large terrain declivities, up to 20‰, special locomotives were designed and manufactured. A whole chapter is dedicated to their analysis. The author also conducted an extensive research in archives and re-traced many times the route of this railway.The book is richly illustrated with unpublished reproductions of documents and drawings of the initial plans, with images and old pictures, to which the author added its own photographs.This document-book is the most extensive monograph on the mountain railroad Oraviţa-Anina.

Az Osztrák–Magyar Monarchia első vicinálisa

A Valkány–Perjámos–Varjas-vasútvonal története

Author(s): Árpád Jancsó / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2017

On the current territory of Romania there is a secondary railway that links Timişoara/Temesvár to the border village of Valcani/Valkány. Few people know that this rail- way was built in three phases by two different companies. The railway Valcani/Valkány-Periam/Perjámos was put in service in 1870. It was constructed by the Imperial Royal Privileged Austrian State Railway Company (StEG) with the aim of connecting the grain-producing villages from north-western Banat/Bánát to the main rail line Vienna-Pest-Szeged-Timișoara/Temesvár-Baziaș/Báziás. To that date, only the very expensive main lines were built (with a „luxury budget”). The need to collect and direct the traffic towards the main railway lines was a necessity of the times. The low traffic could not sustain the costs for building railways at the main lines standards. After long debates, the technicians and funders came to the conclusion that the main rail line needs to be complemented by secondary networks (named local or vicinal lines). To expedite their construction and to save costs, it was decided that a series of compulso-ry technical and safety standards were to be given up. In horizontal plan the minimum radius of the curves were reduced, it was allowed a thinner, weaker infrastructure, built from materials with lower strength, mostly local ones, sleepers from softer wood, superstructure with lighter rails and less costly engineering works. Special projects were designed for the service buildings. By chance, the railway Valcani/Valkány-Periam/Perjámos was the first of this kind in the entire Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy.The experience gained in construction and exploitation of this railway was later used in building the subsequent local rail networks and the conclusions were taken in to account when a law for local railways was conceived. The StEG wanted to extend the line Valcani/Valkány-Periam/Perjámos and to link it to the Arad/Arad-Timişoara/Temesvár line, but were only able to finalize a short * romanian/hungarian name extension until Variaş/Varjas only in 1888. The connection with Timişoara/Temesvár was finalized only in 1908 by another railway company.After the end of the First World War and the establishing of the new borders, the railway station Valcani/Valkány with a short rail section became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and the rest of the line became part of Kingdom of Romania.The book analyses in detail both economic aspects regarding local railway lines and their technical details. Based on the author’s research, in various archives, the book thoroughly documents both the administrative steps undertaken and the pure technical details of the railway line. A separate chapter is focused on the extension of the railway to Variaş/Varjas, with a short presentation of its connection to the Timişoara/Temesvár line. There are separately presented the infrastructure, superstructure, engineering works and service buildings of the railway. Traction is also presented in a separate chapter, where the reader has the opportunity to be acquainted to the locomotives that to wed the trains over the decades and will gain familiarity with their grading and notations.Aspects of the railway in the post-Trianon period and socialist age are separately presented.Thanks to the in-depth archival research, the author was able to find a large number of reproductions after the original projects and other inedited documents, which support and enhance the author’s conclusions. These documents add a special documentary value to the author’s inquiry.

Certamen

Frequency: 1 issues / Country: Romania

CERTAMEN is the yearbook of the Letters, Linguistics and History Department of the Transylvanian Museum Society from Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár/Klausenburg). Founded in 2013, the periodical publishes papers in Hungarian literature, literature-history, linguistics, ethnography, history, archeology and art-history, presented on the annual conference of the society called the Day of the Hungarian Science in Transylvania. It’s aim is to gather and to involve in the academic debate both young as well as experienced Hungarian speaking researchers from inside and outside Transylvania. For a more prolific international scientific discourse all studies have abstracts and keywords in English and Romanian languages, too.

Debreczeni Márton, az „egyetlen" erdélyi bányász műszaki öröksége

Author(s): Enikő Bitay / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2016

Márton Debreczeni (1802–1851), mine engineer and inventor, was the rejuvenator and the road-opener of Hungarian mining and metallurgy science in the 19th century Transylvania, leading personality of his contemporary Transylvanian intelligentsia. His activity encompassed the reformation on scientific principles of Transylvanian mining, the reorganization of its financial administration, doubled by a rich literary activity.Through his technical creations, Márton Debreczeni revived and reformed on modern principles the Transylvanian mining and metallurgy. He envisaged the importance of scientific progress, and, through experiments and calculus, found technical solutions to make the mining and metallurgical industry of Transylvania more economical. His abilities – the extension of the knowledge he accumulated in various positions, the leadership role he undertook due to his management abilities – had a determinant effect on the development of the technical field in the 19th century. His innovations were also been implemented in other countries, ensuring his international acclaim. Nevertheless, even with all these accomplishments, Márton Debreczeni was to die in the same dire misery he was born.The present volume illustrates the technical legacy this illustrious personality left behind: his inventions, his written contributions and technical dictionaries.The first chapter shows the life of Márton Debreczeni and his studies at Mănăstireni, Cluj and at the Mineralogy Academy in Selmecbánya (Banská Štiavnica). He started his mining apprenticeship in 1825. After a short time, he becomes a Smelting Deputy Foreman at Rodna mine, there after working in almost every mining basin in Transylvania. Meanwhile he marries Teréz Láhner, whose family he met at Selmecbánya. They had a harmonious relationship, raising their eight children. He later worked at Certej, Hunedoara County as Forge Deputy Inspector, then, starting with 1829, they move to Zlatna where he becomes Forge Chief Inspector, Mine Judge and, at age 36, director of all the mines and forges in Zlatna. The last part of the chapter contains a series of testimonials his contemporaries wrote about him, after his death, that were sent afterwards to Imre Mikó.The second chapter presents his engineering accomplishments, his technical innovations and inventions, together with his miscellaneous technical notes. The chapter also features the structure, function and use of the “spiral blower”. In addition, Debreczeni attempted to find a solution to re-use the slag material resulted from the mining/smelting processing.The third chapter attempts to reassemble a broader image on the building of the Hungarian technical language, showing the part Debreczeni played in its inception. The start and the evolution of the Hungarian technical language were influenced by 3 factors: 1. The introduction of technical specialized education and foundation of technical-specific institutions; 2. the founding and dissemination of technical-focused scientific publications in Hungarian; 3. Editing and publication of technical dictionaries. Debreczeni’s name and contributions appear in all these three areas of technical sciences’ development. The chapter presents his contribution in the struggle for starting the professional training for mining and metallurgy in Hungarian, together with his scientific papers and dictionaries, all of which have unfortunately remained in a manuscript form.The fourth chapter defines position and contribution of Márton Debreczeni’s technical legacy in the digital database Erdélyi Digitális Adattár maintained by Transylvanian Museum Society.The book’s Annex contains the description and illustration of Márton Debreczeni technical patrimony.

Dolgozatok az Erdélyi Múzeum Érem- és Régiségtárából. Új sorozat

Frequency: irregular and other / Country: Romania

Erdélyi Múzeum

Frequency: 4 issues / Country: Romania

Short description

The most important periodical of the Transylvanian Museum Society was founded in 1874 and lead by Henrik Finály, professor of linguistics and history on the University of Cluj. The journal has mainly published studies in social and human sciences and several articles in the field of natural science. Since its existence the Transylvanian Museum assumes two aims: to present the activity of the society's departments and research institute and publish studies written by domestic and foreign authors. The publication acts like a forum offering specialized information that combines European and Transylvanian tradition. Link to the journal archive: http://eda.eme.ro/handle/10598/2516

Fegyverek és múzsák

Erdély művészete az első világháború idején

Author(s): Jenő Murádin / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2016

The events from a hundred years ago, the centenary commemorations about the 1st World War make especially timely the revelation of that age’s cultural history. The society of Transylvania was sorely tried because of the events and in the meantime it illustrated the sufferings endured as a reflection in a mirror by its spiritual, value-creating power. This thesis is the first summary of the history of art’s references of the four war-time years concerning us. It presents the works of art of the creators who made a service in the field revealing the backgrounds of their genesis. There is distinct chapter joining all these which flashes the fates of the P.(O.)W. camps’ Transylvanian survivors on the basis of a manuscript unpublished so far.

Hiisi szarvasától a csodaszarvasig: a Kalevala magyar fordításai

Author(s): P. Ildikó Varga / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2010

The Finnish epic Kalevala has been translated into Hungarian five times in the time span of over a century, as follows (in chronological order, mentioning the names of the authors): Ferdinánd Barna 1871, Béla Vikár 1909, Nagy Kálmán 1972, István Rácz 1976, and Imre Szente 1987. Fragments of the epic were translated by Antal Reguly, Pál Hunfalvy and István Fábián in the 19th century, as well as by Géza Képes and Domokos Varga in the 20th century. In my book I am going to deal only with the complete translations. The choice of my topic was mainly motivated by the absence in Hungarian Kalevala research and literature of studies focusing on the comparative study and analysis of the translations of the epic employing a translation studies framework.The aim of this book is to locate these Hungarian texts in the Hungarian literary polysystem through a comparative study of the five complete Hungarian translations, investigating these translations both linguistically and in their cultural historical context.The present analysis uses Itamar Even-Zohar’s polysystemic theory, further developed by Gideon Toury´s Descriptive Translation Studies, and by José Lambert and André Lefevere´s works as well.The two literary systems I am dealing with, the Hungarian and the Finnish, occupy a peripheric position in the (Western)European macrosystem, the main reason being the “isolation” of the two languages in (Western)Europe. Both are Finno-Ugric languages, and this fact leads further than the simple scheme of “two kindred languages”; in different ages it is the attitude towards each other based on the affinity of languages that determines the mode of the approach to translations.The analysis is based on the relations that may have influence on the reception of the translations: the context in which the source text and the target texts were born (the strategies followed by Lönnrot, the compiler/author and by the Hungarian translators in the creation of the texts) and the critics. This is followed by the comparative analysis of the source and target texts, examining the translators’ solutions regarding the form of the epic: rhythm, metre, schemes (alliteration, parallelism) and the translators’ interpretation of the text as regards the Kalevala as original myth, as well as the emphasis laid on the transmission of tradition from one generation to the other and on popular motives and features. I introduced the notion of a “Finno-Ugric network” as a main means of constructing an individual character.The network itself implies the existence of text systems (all texts written in a Finno-Ugric language) and of a conceptual grid (a tool of identification, it concentrates on similarities that may be necessary for its creation, as well on differences emphasizing those “alterities” that differentiate the Finno-Ugric network from the concepts determined by the Western network).The study revealed that the existence of the Finno-Ugric network was crucial in the reception of the first two Hungarian translations. The intentions of Ferdinánd Barna were to fill in the gap generated by the absence of a national epic from the Hungarian literary system, under the flag of Finno-Ugric affinity. He tried to show how a major Hungarian national epic could be created using poetic means borrowed from the Finnish epic. This attempt failed for several reasons. First, the cultural centre in Hungary at the end of the 19th century did not consider the epic poem to be an adequate genre for a major national epic work. Second, the translator was inconsequential by sustaining the conceptual grid only in the Notes-part of the edition and also having the idea to reconstruct a Finno-Ugric mythology. The second translator, Béla Vikár, saw the Kalevala as a genre pattern and as a starting point for tracking down a Finno-Ugric mythology that could serve as a basis for a conceptual grid, but without the idea of reconstructing this mythology.The success of Vikár’s translation in the 1930s and the following years was due to the joint effect of several factors. Vikár combined in his text archaistic language with a dialectical one and used a domesticating strategy regarding the formal solutions, translating or transcribing Finnish names into Hungarian and adapting the Kalevala-metre and rhythm to Hungarian accentual verse of 4/4 rhythm with end rhyme. With a sense for the literary politics of his age the translator chose Dezső Kosztolányi, a well-known poet in the centre of the literary system, to write an introductory essay for the 1935 edition of his translation at the time of the Finno-Ugric movement, where personal and semi-official Hungarian–Finnish relations turned into official relations. The cult towards the translator also had a key-role in the succes of the translation and in gaining a central position in the Hungarian polysytem.The situation started to change in the 50s along with the change of paradigm in translation studies. Instead of domestication the maintenance of the foreign sonority, for example through formal solutions, was considered acceptable. Archaistic and dialectical language was also criticized.The first re-translation, Kálmán Nagy’s, uses the common Hungarian idiom of the 70s. The translator’s person led to an ambivalent reception for this work. As a Romanian Hungarian he was unknown to critics in Hungary, and his early death, which preceded the publication of his work in the communist Romania, made his person and life stand in the centre of attention. His translation received only meagre critical response. Kálmán Nagy’s translation may be considered as centring on the source culture and also on the text by being loyal to the distinctive forms of the Finnish epic. He emphasized a distant attitude towards the text by preserving the foreign sonority, that is the Finnish orthography of names. He did not wish to borrow the genre as a pattern or to create some kind of a Finno-Ugric network. In his interpretation the Kalevala is the original history of the Finnish people, a product of the Finnish collective subconscious and of Lönnrot at the same time. The language used by the fourth translator of the Kalevala, István Rácz, is close to Nagy’s language. His methods had the aim of domesticating the source-text, following Vikár’s example in formal solutions, and he also translates or transcribes Finnish names into Hungarian.The last complete Hungarian Kalevala, Imre Szente’s translation, which was published twice during past decade in Hungary, may also be considered to be domesticated due to the fact that its vocabulary includes notions borrowed from the Hungarian cultural sphere. The textual analysis partly confutes this, since it proves the use of Finnish orthography (thereby the preservation of the foreign nature of the text) contrary to the domesticating intention.Vikár´s translation held its central position for decades, but was gradually peripheralized by the new re-translations. Even if in the hypothesis I stated that this position could only be taken by a text based on a totally different concept, after analysis I reached the conclusion that it was Rácz`s translation that has occupied this place. The reason why this may be the case is the employment of a translation strategy in many forms similar to Vikár’s, as well as the translator’s original view on poetics: the creation of a Hungarian Kalevala based on alliteration.

Hivatalnok értelmiség a kora újkori Erdélyben

Author(s): / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2017

This volume contains the texts of the papers presented at the conference "Officialdom in Early Modern Transylvania" held in October 2015 in Cluj (Kolozsvár). Written on the basis of archival sources the essays particularly deal with the lives, careers and competences of the clerks of the central government of the Transylvanian Principality.

Kicsinyítő képzők az erdélyi régiségben

Author(s): Borbála Zsemlyei / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2011

The analysis of diminutive suffixes and the diminutive derivatives has been marginalized in the linguistic descriptions.Diminutive suffixes form a special group of denominal nominalizing suffixes. Their primary role is not the creation of new words but the expressions of semantic nuances, and that is why they cannot be considered typical suffixes. Their formation, their apparition is rooted in the attitudes of the speakers, in the linguistic ambition to avoid plainness in phrasing. The most important characteristic of diminution lies in its playfulness.As a result of this, diminutive suffixes have significantly spread in the different languages, nevertheless their frequency, productivity, their systemic nature differs in all these languages. In English, for example, there are relatively few diminutive suffixes in comparison with other European languages (Spanish, Italian, Russian), while in the Swedish language except for some lexicalized derivatives there are no diminutives at all. On the other hand there are differences in complexity of the systems between the different languages. In the Hungarian and German languages there are only a few formants available to the speakers (‑cska/‑cske, -ka/-ke; -lein, -chen), while in Russian diminutives form a complex system, and speakers can choose the most appropriate one according to their semantic and pragmatic features (Bronislava 1987, Dahl 2006: 594).The category of diminutive suffixes shows a certain kind of consistency throughout the history of the language: although during the periods of the history of the language some new elements appeared to express diminution, their group thus being enlarged, their meaning basically stayed the same, the modifications add nuances only. Another particular characteristic of this group of suffixes is that the ancient formants have not disappeared, they still exist in a few derivatives and in some dialects. The function of -csa/-cse from the second half of the Old Hungarian period was limited to the creation of pet names (e.g. Ancsa, Borcsa, Julcsa), in the Slavonian dialect this was the most frequent diminutive at the beginning of the 20thcentury (e.g. aprócsa, egércse, küszöbcse), moreover it was not rare in adverbs, either (e.g. nagyszerűcsén) (Zsilinszky 2003: 181).The subject of this research was the analysis of the 16–19th century diminutives in the Transylvanian Hungarian Historical Dictionary (THHD), as well as that of the diminutive derivatives (which may be lexicalized). I chose this particular subject because as an editor of the THHD I realized that this dictionary provides extremely rich linguistic data. The analysis of the determined period and region based on the marked data constitutes an organic part of other researches in language history, completing them, as such an extensive analysis has not been carried out on this group of the denominal nominalizing suffixes.The analysis of diminutive suffixes represents a small fraction of the linguistic research, in connection of which – mainly based on the bibliography – one cannot say much. Nevertheless during the more thorough analysis it became obvious that applying several aspects we can get a detailed picture of the use of diminutives in the Old Hungarian language in Transylvania. The results of the analysis refer to the Transylvanian regional standard of the period stated above (from the point of view of language history the Middle and New Hungarian period), because as the title of the THHD suggests, it contains the linguistic data of the Eastern Hungarian speech area.Due to the specific nature of the subject it was a requirement to perform a thorough analysis from as many perspectives as possible. As a result of which I enlarged the traditional description of diminutives – which is based on morphological aspects –, and I took into consideration their sociolinguistic determination, pragmatic character, geographic distribution.The research was not extended to the present day diminutives (from the Transylvanian or Hungarian dialects), nor to other denominal nominalizing suffixes.The aim of this work is the presentation of the diminutive suffixes used in the Old Hungarian language in Transylvania (16–19th century), as well as the description of their connection rules, morphological, syntactic, morphopragmatical, semantic features, their sociolinguistic determination and geographic distribution.

Kide, a kőből épült település

Author(s): Enikő Bitay,László Márton,Tibor Sándor Nagy,János Talpas / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 2015

The present book is a result of intensive research conducted by the members of the section of technical sciences of the Transylvanian Museum Society. It is the 8th volume of a series, which focuses on the technical history of a small settlement, Chidea.With a history of more than 800 years, Chidea is one of the places where the number of inhabitants is continuously decreasing. The number of people living there used to be close to 800, nowadays there are not more than 140 inhabitants who have permanent residence in the village.Chidea is located in Cluj county, in the valley of the Chidea creek, one of the branches of the Borsa stream. The origin of the name of the village is unknown, it might come from one of the noble men once ruling in the Dabaca region. The first written document mentioning the name of the village, spelled Kyde dates back to 1332, it is a certificate that proves ownership.In the 13th century, the years of the tartar invasion, the fortress of Dabaca and the settlement of Chidea were partially destroyed and the population that couldn't take refuge, was killed.After the withdrawal of the tartars, life went on its course, and the village was trying to recover. To overcome the severe lack of population following the tartars' atrocities, a few dozens of families were brought to the village from the Eastern Region of Transylvania (Hungarian people called Székely) and they took over the defence of the fortress of Dabaca.In Chidea and in its region people have developed a specific craft of shaping the local volcanic (tuff) rock. This rock is relatively easy to work with, and it can be used as building material. Almost everything in Chidea - houses, side buildings (barns, store rooms, warehouses, stables) and even fences have been built of this carved stone.The diverse usage of the stone brought a good name to the local builders and masons who were esteemed even outside the borders of the settlement, throughout Transylvania.Education in the village dates back to the 18th century. Schools were run and supervised either by the state or by the church. Today, after more than 200 years of continuous activity, there isn't any school in the village, owing to the lack of children. The state owned school building was gradually deteriorating, which led to its demolition in the end.In terms of religion, the people from Chidea belong to five denominations. The majority of the population are Reformed, followed by Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Unitarians and Neo-protestants. There are very few parishioners, however each denomination has its own church, or a house of worship. The oldest is the Reformed church, first used by Catholics, then in the 16th century, the period of Reformation - by different protestant denominations. The church was built by the Roman Catholics, as it used to be the religion of the inhabitants in the period.The church was built after 1241, the first tartar invasion, when the previous building was destroyed. The first church of the village was supposedly built about a century before the tartars came.Throughout the years, the church was renovated, repaired and extended several times; the present steeple was raised in the 19th century. Due to some architectural components it is categorized as a medieval church, built in late Gothic style with some Romanesque elements. It is the oldest church in the area.The Orthodox, former Greek Catholic church is built of wood and could be seen as a gem of popular architecture. The church was initially built in a different location, and was pulled on sled to its present place. The church was built at the end of the 18th century.The Unitarian church was built in the 18th century, and the Roman Catholic in the 19th century.The four churches have two bells each, located in the steeples. The oldest of the eight bells is the one in the Reformed church, the so-called Polish bell. According to its inscription, this bell was cast in a town in Poland in 1560 and it was brought (for reasons unknown) to Chidea by Polish refugees, probably after Poland was divided in the 18th and 19th centuries.In the steeple of the Reformed church one can also see a clock, built in 1896 by Szabó József, the mechanic of the Baron Bánffy Ernő from Borsa. The clocks in Borsa and Cristorel - in the valley of Borsa - are also his works. Each clock was engraved with his name and the year of manufacturing. Out of these three, only the one in Chidea is still functional.The mechanic, who made these clocks used innovational techniques in the procedure. Thus he used a pinwheel escapement instead of the Clements regulator, which has a series of advantages in the assembly process. Another peculiarity of the clock is that it uses a snail wheel in the kinematic chain of the clock in order to reduce the number of the cylindrical gearwheels.Another name, the name of the stone carving master Sipos Dávid should also be mentioned. He worked here in Chidea, thus contributing to the fame of the village.He was a true artist with a peculiar choice of ornamental elements, unique in the art of stone carving in Transylvania. Even if his works are singular, they belong to the late Transylvanian Renaissance.His works are found in two of the churches in Chidea, namely a stone carved pulpit in the Roman Catholic church, and a liturgical table in the Orthodox church.There are also stone pulpits presumably from his workshop or disciples in the Unitarian and Reformed churches. This master has carved more than 20 pulpits throughout Transylvania, and also noble coats of arms, emblems, tombstones, door and window arch-ornaments in Cluj, Gherla, etc.In the present book one can read a description of the mill that probably belonged to the writer Nyírő József, a Catholic priest, who - assigned to Chidea - suspended his ministry and worked as the miller of the community for a short while. In the same chapter, one can also read about the manual grounding machines used by the locals for grinding the grains for their animals. It is an important detail that these grinders are handcrafted here in the village, from a rougher type of the same tuff stone, found also nearby.According to its subject the present book could be classified as a work of technical history. In result of the research conducted in the field, the exploration of archive material, and the study of the specific literature we have a more complex image of the village than historians, archaeologists, art historians have formed so far. One could get a full picture of the culture and civilisation of the region only by analysing its diverse complexity.