За прехода от детство към зрелост в българското ранно Средновековие

Author(s): Nikolay Hrisimov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1-2/2016

Rituals of transition (so called initiations) are a characteristic part of the societies of archaic type. The presence of such rituals is probably not among the often examined features in the history of the Bulgarian Early Middle Ages, but still two Bulgarian scientists have proposed their existence and practicing. The variants and proofs of the two researchers do not seem very convincing though. However the presence of such practices should not be denied. Using the data from the traditional Bulgarian folk culture, similar rituals of transition from childhood to maturity are "koleduvane" for boys/men and "lazaruvane" for girls/women, but it cannot be assumed that they had kept their initial form. As a kind of initiation for men could be taken the belt and the ritual fastening of it, data for which is derived from ethnography, but also from the necropoleis of the Saltovo-Mayaki culture. Also it should be noted that initiations might not have affected the aristocracy. Indicative of this is the miniature in the Symeon's (Svetoslav's) Izbornik of 1073, where even the youngest member of the ruling family (at the age of approximately 8-9) is fastened with a belt just like any other male presented in the image.

Образът на детето и императора Михаил VII Дука в Хронография на Михаил Псел

Author(s): Simeon Antonov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1-2/2016

Emperor Michael VII Doukas (1071-1078) began his reign in the troublesome period after the battle of Manzikert. However he was co-emperor of his father Constantine X (1059-1067) from the beginning of his reign when Michael was about the age of ten. The paper follows the text of Michael Psellos. It presents the description of Michael Doukas in Psellos’ Chronographia in both his earlier days and at the time of his reign. Some of the ascribed features of the emperor include his legitimacy, some personal qualities (intellect, ruling abilities and understanding of the matters of power, justice and philanthropy), his handsomeness, etc. Besides that, the major historic events in Michael VII’s live and reign are briefly dealt with. Each effort to identify the image of Michael Doukas in Psellos’ Chronographia with the real Byzantine emperor is doomed to failure, despite the author’s attempts to justify his writings. What is obvious is that the image drawn by the Byzantine intellectual is of very hyperbolic nature, but nevertheless it can serve as a great example of а ruler’s panegyric.

Нов прочит на темата за Моравската църква

Author(s): Stilyana Batalova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2015

Kliment Velički oder Kliment Ochridski? Die Diskussion iiber seinen Bischofstitel und seine Jurisdiktion

Author(s): Angeliki Delikari / Language(s): German Issue: 3/2013

Saint Clement is known for his missionary work in the West Bulgarian State. The title given to Clement by the Patriarchate of Constantinople upon the request of the Bulgarian Tsar Symeon was that of bishop of Velitza as testified in historical sources. The title, though, through which he became widely known was Clement of Ohrid. It must be noted that during his era there was no archdiocese of Ohrid. Until the end of the 10th century (Notitiae), there existed only the diocese of Lychnidos. Due to the fact that the Byzantine state considered all territories conquered by the Bulgarian Tsar as potentially Byzantine and would never grant the title of a Byzantine diocese, the Patriarchate preferred to establish a new diocese, the diocese of Velitza. Nonetheless, it is not completely wrong to associate Clement with the archdiocese of Ohrid, because according to the sources his missionary work covered a large part of the later archdiocese of Ohrid with only few exceptions (in the Catalogue of archbishops of Bulgaria his jurisdiction is defined by the phrase “eforan kai to triton meros tis Voulgarikis vasileias egoun apo Thessalonikis, achris Iericho kai Kanninon etoi Tasipiatou”). The archdiocese of Ohrid came about after the dissolution of the state of Samuel by Basil II, who established two themata, the thema of Bulgaria with Skopje as its capital and the thema of Paristrion with Dristra as its capital. In the thema of Bulgaria he established an archdiocese with Ohrid as its seat (the old Lychnidos) under the title archdiocese of Bulgaria

Az Erdélyi Fejedelemség állama és politikai berendezkedése

Author(s): Teréz Oborni / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 03/2013

In the 16th and 17th centuries the Principality of Transylvania, a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, functioned as a state with limited sovereignty. The Hungarian kings considered Transylvania to be an integral part of the Holy Crown of Hungary, and thus never relinquished their claim to it. This special relationship was acknowledged in the Treaty of Speyer, concluded in 1570 by János (John) Sigismund, son of János I Szapolyai, and king Maximilian I (r. 1564-76) of Habsburg. In this treaty, John Sigismund renounced his title of “elected king of Hungary” (electus rex Hungariae) and contented with the title of Prince of Transylvania and of the Adjacent Parts of Hungary (Princeps Transylvaniae et partium regni Hungariae eidem annexarum). He also acknowledged that Transylvania was part (membrum) of the Hungarian Crown and that the Hungarian king was his sovereign. According to a right, which became a law in 1567, the Transylvanian princes were elected by the Transylvanian estates from 1571 onwards. This paragraph of the Law of 1567 named ’libera electio’, that is free election, was repeatedly acknowledged by the Ottoman Porte. The Porte always required pre-election negotiations regarding the person of the future prince, or on occasion ordered its troops to bring a new prince to the Transylvanian throne as was the case of Gábor Bethlen in 1613. The choice of the Transylvanian estates had to be confirmed by an ahdname of the Sultan in all cases. The prince's position became only legitimate with this document. The Estates of Transylvania had to take an oath of allegiance (a homagium) to the new prince. Following the election, the estates made the new prince accept and sign the conditions of the election, which included the Estate’s rights to limit the princely authority. Among the conditions we find the maintenance of the right of the Estates to elect the prince, free practice of the four accepted denominations, the preservation of the laws of the country as well as of the liberties of the nobility, and, furthermore, the right of free speech at the Diets. It was the Prince who summoned the lords of the Princely Council and decided the matters of discussion. The first of the councillors was the head of the government, the chancellor. The Prince also commanded the army, decided in matters of war and peace as well as diplomacy, and in matters concerning the treasury and finances. The prince nominated the magistrates who led the government and were responsible to him. The most important office of governance was the Chancellery, which, however, acted as an executive body of a strong princely power. Under Princes Bethlen and the Rákóczi, the chancellors were the personal clerks of the ruler. The prince was also the chief justice, and judgements passed in the court of justice reflected the prince’s personal and economic interests. The Transylvanian estates gathered in an archaic and unicameral Diet, which could only be summoned by the prince. The Diets were usually led by a president, nominated by the prince. In the diet it was the propositions of the prince that the estates discussed. The power that was concentrated in the hands of the Prince is even more conspicuous with regard to the sphere of authority of the Diet. In fact, that the prince's power could hardly be limited by the estates. The estates of Transylvania were the Szekelys, the Saxons and the Hungarian nobility. At that time, Romanians living in Transylvania had no constitutional rights that meant that they had not been able to participate in the Diets, and they had no common privileges. The three estates of Transylvania formed alliances (unio) from the 15th century onward in order to defend their common interests.

Małżeństwo Włodzimierza Igorewicza z córką chana Konczaka. Przyczynek do badań nad wpływem małżeństw mieszanych na relacje rusko-połowieckie

Author(s): Michał Michalski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 6/2018

An important problem in the history of 11 th –13 th century Rus’ were the family relations of the Rus’ and Polovtsians aristocracy. The mixed marriages between the representatives of these people influenced political relations, culture and led to the rapprochement of both groups. One of the marriages contained between Rus’ and Polovtsians influential families was the wedding of Vladimir Igorevich with the unnamed daughter of Konchak Khan. Vladimir Igorevich did not play a great role in the history of Rus’, but his marriage had some influence on the historical situation of the turn of the 12 th and 13 th century. The prince guaranteed the allied agreement concluded by his father – Igor Svyatoslavich with Konchak khan. A marriage with the daughter of a khan gave Vladimir the opportunity to receive support from nomads during the war for control the Halych.

Sociálne a hospodárske väzby medzi bardejovskými mešťanmi a mešťanmi Malopoľska a Sliezska v prvej polovici 15. storočia

Author(s): Mária Fedorčáková / Language(s): Slovak Issue: 6/2018

This article describes social and economic relations between the burghers from Bardejov and the burghers from the Polish Kingdom (Lesser Poland) and Silesian towns. The author emphasizes the role of trade routes and frontier position as factors, which influenced the growth and development of the town in the Middle Ages. Connection with towns in Polish-Hungarian borderland created social and economic networks. The author explores different types of relations between burghers of Bardejov and those from Lesser Poland and Silesia, based on the two sources – the register of new burghers and the book of town judiciary (Iuditium bannitum). The most significant role in these relations played the burghers from Cracow. As the author points out, building social networks from the side of Cracow burhers was not accidental, but part of a wider strategy.

Średniowieczne pogranicze w Karpatach – refleksje nad informacjami Jana Długosza

Author(s): Jerzy Rajman / Language(s): Polish Issue: 6/2018

The research aim the author placed before himself was to present the meaning of Jan Długosz’s relation for the research on the medieval Carpathian border, dividing the kingdoms of Poland and Hungary. All of the Długosz’s works were included, the most important of which are the Roczniki czyli Kroniki Królestwa Polskiego, but much valuable information is also hidden in Liber beneficiorum diocesis Cracoviensis. The author used the so-called Długosz autograph, stored in the Archives of the Krakow Chapter. The physiographic description of Długosz and the geographical nomenclature used in his times, mentions on the forests and climate conditions were analyzed. Attention was put on his information on the border signs used, monarch summits and the presence of border courts, changes to the borders (the issue of Spiš), or the legend of the gold hidden in the Carpathians. The works of Długosz bring valuable information on castles, monasteries, armed conflicts, roads leading through the mountains and the means of communication. Among the most interesting are archives on closing roads by blocking them with fallen trees. Furthermore, Długosz includes valuable data on the Vlach’s population, and also partially on the religious interrelations. His description of the development of colonization, descriptions of the border cities or the characteristics of extraordinary lords fall a little bit weaker compared to the rest. The information on trade or the brigands lurking on both sides of the border is fragmentary, but important. Długosz revealed a detailed, albeit not always strict, knowledge on geography and geographic nomenclature. His works are an extraordinarily important source for nearly all aspects of the Carpathian borderlands functioning.

Parafia małego miasta w Małopolsce XV–XVI w. Zasięg i wewnętrzne zróżnicowanie

Author(s): Dorota Żurek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 6/2018

The article is focused on the problems related to functioning of parish towns of Little Poland in the late Middle Ages and early modern times. The subject of the analysis is a group of 57 towns and their parish districts. Main goal of this article is to show the role and impact of parish upon the parishioners life. The study covers such issues as distance from the parish church, size of the parish district, which was dependent on the number of villages included in its composition and also changes of the borders of parish. Generally, most of the researched parish districts, had mixed urban-rural character. They collected representatives of all social groups: gentry, peasants and townsmen.

To Ethnic Situation and Immigration in Prešov Until the End of the 16 th Century (Selected Issues)

Author(s): Marcela Domenová / Language(s): English Issue: 6/2018

An article presenting the issues discussed in the reconstruction in Prešov (until the end of the sixteenth century). He draws attention to the presence – the influx of foreigners, the coexistence of many nationalities (Germans, Hungarians, Poles, Czechs, Roma, Jews and others), but also Slovaks, presenting toponymy, references, the importance of ethnonyms, onomastics, etc. Particular attention was given to three nationalities – the dominant among Prešov residents – Germans, Hungarians, Slovaks, what found itself in its spatial space – topography, but also in denominational relations, i.e. in the connection of the so-called preachers of nationality as part of the Roman Catholic religion, and later also (after 1531) as part of the Protestant Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession. ‚e surveys made it possible to determine the nature of the newly adopted duties – their origin, activities and dealing in wine trade. An important condition for these problems are enterprises that keep tax / accounting accounts.

Zapotrzebowanie na energię krakowskiego przemysłu piwowarskiego w XVI i 1 połowie XVII wieku w świetle kwerendy archiwalnej i symulacji procesu spalania w piecach bezkominowych

Author(s): Sławomir Dryja,Mirosław Janowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 6/2018

The XVI century Cracow-based malting and brewing industry was at the peak of its development, in line with the European trend in the industry’s development. It is no coincidence then, that the period is called the “golden age of beer”. Around the middle of the century nearly 140 breweries had operated in Cracow, furnished with normalized equipment which enabled the production of 4680–4770 liters of beer from a single brewing batch. In Cracow from 130 to nearly 270 hectolitres of beer were produced annually (and that is discounting Kazimierz and Kleparz, which at the time were separate municipal entities). We know relatively much regarding the units of measure and magnitude of Cracow’s brewing industry during that period, however due to gaps in sources the issues related to the trading of timber (trade measures, trade organization, demand), essential to beer brewing, has not been discussed thoroughly. This article intends to fill this particular gap. Due to the aforementioned gaps in sources, the estimated amount of timber consumed in brewery production has been calculated based on a simulation of the stack-less furnace combustion process. For that purpose, experiments conducted by heat engineering specialists at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow have been used. Timber was ra‚ed to Cracow via the Vistula River, from areas located in its upper section or larger tributaries. The congregation of Cracow drafters had the monopoly on rafting and trading wood. Rafted timber was stored at the royal timber garden, at the foot of the Wawel hill. In 1570 nearly 70 thousand timber logs were rafted to Cracow. The measuring units for rafting during the modern period have been developed by Jerzy Wyrozumski, however the trading measures remain almost unknown. The unit of measure for rafted wood was simply a timber log. Trade timber (heating timber) was calculated according to spatial units of measure. It seems, however, that a correlation occurs between both these systems (the common term of “plet” and “dziesiątek” or “tenth”). It has been adopted that a “dziesiątek” consists of six clusters or eighteen wagons. The load capacity of a wagon has been assumed at 600 kg. This corresponds to a volume of 1,2–1,3 cubic meters of beech or oak timber (such timber was burnt in Cracow’s breweries). In comparison to normative volumes for those tree species, we can observe that one wagon corresponded to half a log, a‚er cutting, lumbering and drying (to a level of 15–18%). The calculated values served to the purpose of comparison with the results achieved from calculating the stack-less furnace combustion process simulation. For the calculations a boiler capacity at a level of 5000 liters and its permanent embedding has been assumed. This is because a typical furnace at the time was a stack-less structure with an embedded boiler, fired by hard, non-coniferous timber (oak, beech). Three stages of production have been distinguished: boiling of water, boiling of the wort and sustaining the boiling of wort (during the assumed time from 1 to 2,5 hours). It has been observed, that the first two stages of the studied process have the same energy demand in every given variant. The difference is related to the brewing time of the wort. Energy expenditure increases at this stage proportionally to extension of the boiling time. The fuel demand is a direct result of the process efficiency, and an indirect result of the energy efficiency (caloric value) of the fuel. The results allow to present several significant conclusions. Brewing beer was a highly energy-consuming process. Brewers based their process on highly caloric non-coniferous timber. In furnaces with an embedded boiler (without a slot) boiling of water was associated with a constant energy expenditure corresponding to burning 0,9 to 1 cubic meter of timber. The energy demand of the wort boiling process (brewing) was dependent on the length of the process. The energy expenditure corresponded to burning 1 to 1,15 cubic meters of timber. The total consumption, therefore, was 1,9 to 2,5 cubic meters of timber (which corresponded to – 1300 kg). Comparing this to a wagon’s load capacity (with an adopted average of approx. 600 kg), we can observe that the portion for a single brew corresponded to 1,5 to 2 wagons. It would seem, that for further studies it is recommended to conduct model tests. A 1:1 scale is not a necessary requirement. A 1:3 scale model appears sufficient, therefore with a boiler volume of no less than 1500 dm 3 . Model tests would allow to verify the adopted assumptions and adjust any possible errors. The historical source verification method based on a theoretical analysis of the combustion process simulation adopted in there article may find applications in other crafts which incorporate furnaces of different designs based on burning wood (brewers, bakers, coppersmiths, blacksmiths, etc.), which in consequence would allow for a comprehensive assessment of Cracow’s (or other urban centers’) energy demand in the modern era.

Hylzenowie, Platerowie i Tyzenhauzowie. Szlachta Inflancka i jej rola w życiu politycznym osiemnastowiecznej Rzeczypospolitej

Author(s): Łukasz Wróbel / Language(s): Polish Issue: 6/2018

After the Treaty of Vilnius (1561), the process of gradual inclusion of Livonian nobility to the administrative and political structures of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth began. With the creation of the Inflanty Voivodeship in 1677, the Livonian nobility of German origin began to Polonise / Lithuanise and return to Catholicism. The bond between the Livonian families and the Polish-Lithuanian state began their great careers and political activities at the central level. The participation of “Teutonic” families in the public matters in the 18 th century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was measured through the senate offices and the legations. The greatest number of senators in the 18 th century came from the Plater family, followed by Hylzen, Tyzenhauz, Zybergs and Grothuz families. Among the Livonian deputies, members of the Plater and Tyzenhauz family dominated, while the rest of the families gained much less seats.

The transformation of the Grand Tour of Czech and Austrian Nobility in the First Half of the 18 th Century: A New Recipe for Staying Powerful

Author(s): Jiří Kubeš / Language(s): English Issue: 6/2018

The article deals with the fundamental transformation of the Grand Tour of the nobility from the Czech and Austrian Lands during the first half of the 18th century. The author shows they moved from the thorough mastering of the aristocratic habits to the extensive education mainly in the field of public law in order to be able to participate in the activities of central and provincial bureaucratic institutions of the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy. The Catholic nobles started to study law at the universities in Protestant countries (mainly in Leiden and Leipzig), the attractiveness of the United Provinces, the Duchy of Lorraine and Imperial area (instead of Italy and France) increased significantly and the young nobles shortened the time dedicated to the noble exercises. At the end, the author tries to compare this situation with the Grand Tours of the Polish nobility.

Középkori interregnumok nemzetközi összehasonlításban

Author(s): Gábor Barabás / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2021

Interregna im mittelalterlichen Europa. Konkurrierende Kräfte in politischen Zwischenräumen. Hrsg. von Norbert Kersken – Stefan Tebruck. Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung, Marburg, 2020. 291 oldal

Laus Terrae: Praising the Homeland in the Oldest Central European Historiographic Monuments

Author(s): Adrien Quéret-Podesta / Language(s): English Issue: 55/2023

The term laus terrae (praise of the land) refers to a very positive description of the homeland which appears frequently at the beginning of medieval historiographic works. The paper analyzes the composition of such texts in the oldest known extensive Polish, Czech, and Hungarian chronicles. The three works in question give very similar descriptions of the homeland, which is presented as a wealthy land abounding in various natural resources, whose qualities are also underlined in a similar manner. The existence of those analogies is not surprising as the authors of those works were clearly influenced by the same literary motifs. Their choice to present the homeland as a locus amoenus (pleasant place) was of course related to their intention to emphasize the position of the country whose past they related as well as the power of the current and previous rulers of this territory.

A középkori magyar királykoronázás összeurópai kontextusban

Author(s): Ráhel Gloviczki / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 3/2022

The paper explores the medieval Hungarian royal coronations and the ordines that were used on these occasions. The coronation ritual was fixed everywhere in Europe: the procedure is revealed by the coronation ordines. At first, the 82 extant European coronation ordines are examined comparatively, and secondly the coronations of the individual kings of Hungary are examined in the context of the ensuing results as well as in the light of the previous scholarly literature. It is the coronation ordines of Kings Stephen, Solomon and Louis I that are analysed in detail; for in these cases new perspectives and possibilities emerged in the wake of the examination of the ordines.

A nádori közgyűléseken közreműködő hiteleshelyek a kezdetektől 1435-ig

Author(s): András Ribi / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2022

Since the 19th century it has been accepted by the scholarly literature as solid fact that the palatinal congregations were also regularly attended by the delegates of the collegiate chapter of (Székes)fehérvár as official testimonies. Yet research into the charter material has revealed several pieces of evidence attesting that the testimony present at the congregation and sent on mission therefrom was by no means always a member of the Fehérvár chapter. Indeed, a case-based research has demonstrated that such exceptions were far from scarce up to the end of the fourteenth century. The paper accordingly explores the causes of such cases, and analyses the practice as it had developed by the first third of the fifteenth century, seeking connections with the emergence of the chapter of Fehérvár as a place of authentication of national competence.

Markets and Staples in the Medieval Hungarian Kingdom

Author(s): Maria Pakucs-Willcocks / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2023

Markets and Staples in the Medieval Hungarian Kingdom. By Boglárka Weisz. Budapest: Research Centre for the Humanities, 2020. 258 pp.

STAREA MATERIALĂ A CLERULUI DE MIR DIN ȚARA ROMÂNEASCĂ ÎN SECOLELE XV-XVII

Author(s): Liviu Luca / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 22/2023

Not all the secular clergies had the same material condition. There were significant differences between the clergies from the rural area and those from the urban area. The secular clergies didn’t receive any payment nor monthly remuneration, and they had to earn their living through their own work. Those from village earned their living by practicing agriculture, gardening, cropping grapevine and fruit trees, animal breeding, beekeeping and so on. The clergies who didn’t own land, or the parishes that didn’t have land properties, had to work on the boyar estates. The documents show us that many secular clergies managed to buy land properties. Those who managed to purchase land properties, were ministers in the villages of the wealthy peasants and those from urban area. The situation was not equal among the priests from the rural area because some of them could only buy fields, whereas the others could get estates. The clergies from the urban area bought land properties, especially in the suburban areas, then, they also had the chance to buy estates in the villages. The secular clergies couldn’t buy land properties, they had to learn and practice different crafts such as: building wooden churches, church painting, wood carving, calligraphy, bookbinding, printing and so on.

Hit, térítés, terjeszkedés

Author(s): Gábor Barabás / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 3/2023

Paul Srodecki ‒ Norbert Kersken (eds.): The Expansion of the Faith: Crusading on the Frontiers of Latin Christendom in the High Middle Ages. Brepols, Turnhout, 2022. 350 oldal