Servants of the Devil in Krupina

Author(s): Milan Majtán / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The flames of the Holy Inquisition illuminated the Christian Middle Ages. Faith in God could not exist without belief in the infernal powers. An irreconcilable and cruel battle with the devil and with people accused of making a pact with him and recognizing him as their supreme lord in place of God had to support faith and obedience. Flames and stakes with heretics, witches and other servants of the devil blazed across Europe. The ecclesiastical and secular authorities used them to get rid of inconvenient people, but especially they evoked fear and terror towards their power. Anybody could be accused. Torture easily forced confessions of such acts that human reason cannot believe. The former Kingdom of Hungary was no exception, although the witch-hunts here were organized later and did not reach the same dimensions as in Western Europe. In the region of present Slovakia, they tried, tortured, beheaded and burnt witches in Bratislava, Komárno, Šamorín, Trenčín, Trnava, Štítnik and other towns. The former free royal borough of Krupina in Slovakia holds the sad record for the number of trials, convictions and executions of victims. Witches were still burnt there in 1741 and inquisitors appointed by the magistrates in 1744 questioned a woman accused of witchcraft.

Magical Practices in the Books of Miracles

Author(s): Markéta Holubová / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Magical practices in the books of miracles represent an interesting research topic that has not received much attention in Czech historiography. The topic is closely related to problems of miraculous sites and religious pilgrimages. Using mainly the methods of historical anthropology, the paper focuses on the manifestations of magical practices connected with Baroque miracles and associated with Marian pilgrimage places of the Society of Jesus in the Czech Lands.

The Supernatural and Claims of Scientificity in Russian Popular Culture, 1875-1914

Author(s): Julia Mannherz / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Enthusiasm for science was widespread in the last decades of imperial Russia. So was the fascination with occultism, spirits of the departed and the supernatural in general. It was therefore not surprising that the sciences and the occult should meet in contested fields of scientific investigation and mystic experience.

Magic Elements in Slovak Romantic Ballads

Author(s): Irena Malec / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Interest in folk oral literature was a general European phenomenon in the period of Romanticism. The motifs of folk poetry penetrated into creative artistic writing in German, English, Polish and Czech literature. Romantic thinking in these literatures was based on the contrasts between nature and culture, emotion and reason, life and civilization, living and dead truths and laws. By returning to nature, Romanticism opposed Classical artificiality and a civilization based on rational consideration.

Thurzovci a počiatky reformácie

Author(s): Zoltán Csepregi / Language(s): Slovak Publication Year: 0

Pri vzostupe thurzovského rodu patria prvé desaťročia 16. storočia ku kľúčovému obdobiu. Z generácie príslušníkov rodu tohto obdobia pochádzajú hneď traja humanistickí biskupi: Ján Thurzo, vratislavský (Wrocław), Stanislav Thurzo, olomoucký a Žigmund Thurzo, veľkovaradínsky (Oradea) biskup. Toto obdobie rodu tvorí významné ohnivko v reťazci medzi meštiansko-podnikateľským životným štýlom, charakteristickým pre 15. storočie a veľkostatkársko-aristokratickým spôsobom života, ktorý začal súčasne s kariérou Alexeja Thurzu. Je zrejmé, že thurzovskí chlapci nedostali svoje prelátske stolce len vďaka svojim osobným kvalitám, ale predovšetkým hospodárskym úspechom svojich rodičov a ich politickému vplyvu, predsa však zostáva faktom, že vo svojich vysokých pozíciách obstáli veľmi dobre, najmä Stanislav, ktorý sa dožil vysokého veku a svoje biskupstvo riadil zvlášť dlhú dobu. Títo traja biskupi mohli byť ozdobou svojho rodu už len svojím životom, veď boli základnými piliermi nielen uhorsko-českej monarchie Jagelovcov, ale ako preláti olomouckej a vratislavskej cirkevnej provincie – z dôvodu spochybnenia verejnoprávneho statusu Českej Koruny – boli pokladaní za kniežatá aj v Nemecko-rímskej ríši a za pánov svojich provincií, aj keď nedostali priame hlasovacie práva na ríšskych snemoch. Je zrejmé, že ich činnosť stabilizovala pozície rodu a zvyšovala jeho prestíž, a samozrejme, nezištne urovnávala osobné kariéry ich bratov či synovcov.

Vzťahy olomouckého biskupa Stanislava I. Thurzu s Uhorskom

Author(s): Martin Rothkegel / Language(s): Slovak Publication Year: 0

Dňa 1. februára 1526, necelý polrok pred bitkou pri Moháči, napísal Jakob Piso, sedmohradský humanista a vychovávateľ na budínskom dvore (zomrel 1527), list svojmu starému priateľovi z čias spoločných štúdií v Taliansku, Erazmovi Rotterdamskému. V srdečnom liste Piso opisuje rozhovor s vratislavským biskupom Jánom IV. Thurzom a jeho bratom Stanislavom, biskupom v Olomouci, ku ktorému došlo niekoľko rokov predtým, počas návštevy oboch bratov na Budínskom hrade: „Pred ôsmimi rokmi, keď som ešte býval v kráľovskom paláci, prišli ma raz obaja navštíviť, ako je zvykom medzi učencami. Na stole ležalo zopár tvojich kníh (už neviem, ktoré to boli). A kým v nich listovali a podrobnejšie si ich pozerali, odrazu sa obaja súčasne spýtali, aký názor mám na Erazma. Ich otázky boli ešte naliehavejšie, keď zistili, že som s tebou kedysi strávil veľa času. O tom som im nielen porozprával, ale ukázal som im aj list, ktorý si mi raz poslal zo Sieny do Ríma a ktorý uchovávam ako zlatý klenot. Ten obaja veľadôstojní biskupi nielenže láskali svojimi rukami, ale dokonca aj bozkami, a stále znova ho s najväčšou horlivosťou čítali. Potom už vôbec nebolo ťažké prehovoriť ich, aby sa s tebou pustili do výmeny korešpondencie, čo po nie príliš dlhom čase aj urobili – a to takým veľkorysým spôsobom, aký by som sa im nikdy neopovážil pripisovať, lebo na teba pamätali nielen listami ale aj najrozmanitejšími darmi.“

Hospodárske pomery na thurzovských panstvách na prelome 16. a 17. storočia

Author(s): Tünde Lengyelová / Language(s): Slovak Publication Year: 0

Pre rod Thurzovcov, ktorý je mimoriadne bohatý na výnimočných ľudí, je charakteristickou vlastnosťou ekonomický talent. Vďaka nemu sa rod vyšvihol a celkom netradičnou cestou – dočasným opustením šľachtického stavu a prechodom k meštianstvu a potom opäť návratom do šľachtického stavu, ale už do aristokracie – sa dostal na najvyššie posty a v niekoľkých generáciách sa podieľal na politickej a hospodárskej správe krajiny. Okrem toho desať členov rodu a jedna žena boli županmi v stoliciach Pest-Pilišskej, Nitrianskej, Trenčianskej, Oravskej, Šarišskej a Spišskej. Okrem výkonu vysokých štátnických funkcií však spravovali aj svoje súkromné majetky a panstvá, od prosperovania ktorých závisela aj ich vlastná prosperita. V príspevku sa zameriame na panstvá a hospodárenie predposledných a posledných príslušníkov thurzovského rodu, ktorí žili a spravovali svoje majetky v prvej tretine 17. storočia, najmä na palatínov Juraja a Stanislava Thurzu a ich dedičov.

Dvorské poriadky na thurzovskom a esterházyovskom dvore

Author(s): Diana Duchoňová / Language(s): Slovak Publication Year: 0

Obdobie 16. a 17. storočia vnieslo do uhorskej spoločnosti nové impulzy v politickej, duchovnej, ale aj kultúrnej rovine. Medzi ne patrila aj sociálna disciplinizácia, ktorá spolu s centralizáciou a inštitucionalizáciou spoločenských štruktúr viedla k formovaniu absolutistického štátu. Jej duchovnými nositeľmi boli elity krajín, vďaka ktorým môžeme hovoriť o tzv. vertikálnej sociálnej disciplinizácii, ale ako je nižšie uvedené, nešlo len o jednosmerné presadzovanie záujmov zhora nadol.

"Theatrum Nobilitatis Hungaricae”. Genealogické výskumy Mateja Bela so zvláštnym zreteľom na rod Thurzo

Author(s): Gergely Tóth / Language(s): Slovak Publication Year: 0

Práce, ktoré sa venujú dejinám genealógie, sa ani len nezmieňujú o tom, že aj významný historik 18. storočia Matej Bel patril medzi genealógov, a to napriek tomu, že Bel mal od začiatku naplánované, že v Notitiách, v historicko-geografickej práci, predstavujúcej uhorské stolice, sa bude venovať aj dejinám šľachtických rodov. Tento svoj plán – aj keď medzerovito a zlomkovito – aj splnil. Výsledky jeho práce genealógovia 18. storočia akceptovali, neskôr sa však bádatelia na ne odvolávali už len zriedkavo. Zhromaždené údaje bratislavského vedca, resp. jeho rozhodné predstavy v tejto téme si bádatelia, zaoberajúci sa dejinami tohto vedného odboru v 20. storočí nevšimli, možno pre encyklopedický charakter Notícií, ktoré sú na prvý pohľad tematicky dosť neprehľadné, a tiež možno aj pre ich nedokončenosť. V tejto štúdii by sme chceli napraviť toto poľutovaniahodné zanedbanie. Najprv preskúmame, v akej forme sa chcel Bel zaoberať dejinami rodov, a aké uhorské, alebo zahraničné diela a vplyvy ho podnietili k takýmto výskumom; potom prehľadne z celých Notícií – nielen z tlačených častí, ale aj z tých, ktoré zostali v rukopise – predstavíme výsledky jeho výskumov, resp. ich ďalšie využitie a citovanie v 18. storočí. V druhej časti štúdie sa budeme venovať analýze histórie rodu Thurzo z Belovho pera – čo je v skutočnosti dielo v diele, veď v opise Oravskej stolice, kde sa nachádza, zaberá takmer polovicu textu. Zároveň budeme venovať pozornosť aj metódam práce Mateja Bela, mož- nostiam a hraniciam ním prevedeného výskumu.

Zusammenfassung

Author(s): Tünde Lengyelová,Géza Pálffy / Language(s): German Publication Year: 0

Oravský hrad patril medzi dôležité opevnené sídla rodiny Thurzovcov v období 16. a 17. storočia.Napriek tomu, že sa nezdržiavali na ňom rovnako často, ako napr. v Bytči, alebo na hradeLietava, patril k dôležitému centru rozsiahleho Oravského panstva. Dôsledkom jeho významubola skutočnosť, že Thurzovci sa postarali o jednu z najvýznamnejších prestavieb Oravskéhohradu. Zároveň môžeme povedať, že ich iniciatívou nadobudol hrad pôdorys a takú objemovúskladbu objektov, aká sa zachovala do súčasnosti. Prakticky zavŕšili stavebný vývoj hradnéhoareálu, pretože mladšie úpravy hradu súviseli s odstraňovaním následkov tragického požiaruv roku 1800. O význame thurzovských prestavieb svedčí skutočnosť, že renesančná „thurzovská“podoba hradu, bola prijatá v 50. až 70. rokoch 20. storočia za základnú východiskovúmetodickú ideu pri Generálnej obnove hradného areálu.

Összefoglaló

Author(s): Tünde Lengyelová,Géza Pálffy / Language(s): Hungarian Publication Year: 0

A kora újkori arisztokrácia vizsgálata a 20. század második felében Közép-Európában – egyedül Ausztriát kivéve – nem tartozott a kedvelt és támogatott kutatási témák közé. A 16–18. századi Magyar Királyság életében egykor oly meghatározó szerepet játszó főúri famíliák Magyarországon, Szlovákiában, Ausztriában, Horvátországban és Romániában fennmaradt levéltárait így a Vasfüggöny összeomlása előtt sem szlovák, sem magyar kutatók nem vizsgálták szisztematikusan. Míg a 19. század második felétől majd egy évszázadon át alapvető forráskiadványok és monográfiák sora látott a legmeghatározóbb famíliákra és családtagjaikra vonatkozóan napvilágot, az 1940-es évek vége utáni mintegy bő három évtizedben egyedül a gazdaságtörténet szentelt nagyobb figyelmet a főuraknak. Az 1980-as évek közepe tájától ugyanakkor ismét több alapvető monográfia, tanulmánykötet, kiállítási katalógus és forráskiadvány jelent meg horvát, magyar, német, és szlovák nyelven, amelyek elsősorban a főúri udvartartásokat és mecenatúrát, az arisztokraták házasodási és öltözködési szokásait, valamint étkezési és könyvkultúráját, illetve peregrinációját tárgyalták.

Kriminalita žien v poľských mestách v 16.-17. storočí

Author(s): Andrzej Karpiński / Language(s): Slovak Publication Year: 0

The paper tries to estimate a women's share of criminality in Poiand and their position in the world of professional criminals. The author focuses on the big cities of the Polish kingdom: Krakow, Poznan, Lwow, Gdansk, Lublin and Warsaw. The paper is divided into several parts that deal with various specific types of crime. Rather unusual crime category for women was the one where crimes such as conspiracy, rebellion and treason were included. Violation of regulations was more frequent. Robbing corpses that were victims of epidemics were usual charges brought against women. Women were also members of vagrant and beggar groups, which participated in various street-disturbances and misdemeanours. In the category of religious misdemeanours, women were found guilty mainly of prohibited activities such as witchcraft and magic. It was in the end of the 17th and the first half of the 18th centuries that Poland was most affected with the prosecution of witches. There were 115 women under the investigation and 78 out of them were taken to court during 150 years in the abovementioned cities. Murders committed by women were rare. Research has shown that only 40 women were charged with murder in these five big Polish cities from the end of the 16th until the 18th century. The city of Gdansk is a special case, because women formed as many as 40 % of all the murderers. Murder was punished by capital punishment without exception. On the other hand, women predominated in cases of infanticide. Among offences against marriage, we can find prostitution, procuration, adultery and bigamy. Women, especially prostitutes, were often accused of several offences simultaneously. Prostitutes came from various social strata. About 20 % of them came to a city from the countryside, the others came from artisan urban families. Exceptionally, even noble women who were hard up tried to earn some extra money by prostituting. Prostitutes were predominantly single women. Ten percent of prostitutes operated in brothels that were run by executioners. Official brothels in charge of executioners could be found almost in all the above-mentioned cities. The employees of the brothel were usually some shady prostitutes who came under surveillance of a town executioner following their public punishment. It was on the peripheries of a city that illegal brothels run by procurers and procuresses were to be found. Town magistrates knew about them, but tolerated their activities. A brothel of such kind employed about 3-5 prostitutes, sometimes as many as 10. However, among places were prostitutes operated were also public houses, inns, public baths, flats of clients and rented rooms. Street prostitutes represented the lowest rank of the hierarchy and offered their services in bushes or directly in the street. Again, it was women who dominated in the procuration business. Over 70 % of the accused of adultery were married women, who abandoned their husbands and lived in an illicet relationship. Thefts formed majority of town courts agenda. Majority of female thieves were artisans' daughters. Apart from them, there were daily labourers, peasants from nearby villages and wives and daughters of city servants for whom stealing was a chance to improve their circumstances. The main object of interest for female thieves were buildings and rent house, but also streets and market areas. Street thieves were usually specialised, some were shoplifters stealing from small stalls, other were pickpockets and cutpurses. Thefts occurred also in winebars, inns, churches and brothels. Many women were involved in theft-boot, handling stolen goods and profiteering. The age, family status, long time contact with a city and contacts to the underworld were other important determinants of criminal activities of women. It was not only young single girls from the poor families, who commited crimes, but also married women with children, for whom these activities formed additional income.

Život rané novoveké šlechtičny v českém království (právní limity a skutečné možnosti)

Author(s): Marie Ryantová / Language(s): Slovak Publication Year: 0

The position of women was under the strong cultural influence. One of the factors that to a large extent determined lives of many women was the law. The law, however, reflected the division of society into classes or estates. There are obvious differences between legal position of men and women in the Roman, German, Slavic and that means also in Czech law. The fact that women had restricted rights was a consequence of the exercise of the rights of her father, husband or guardian and did not stem from the fact that she was a woman. The canon law was another factor that strongly influenced the life of a woman. According to the canon law the man was the head of the family who decided about children and was legally responsible for crimes committed by his wife and children. It was out of question that a woman should hold an office. The Czech law recognised three forms of guardianships: 1) natural (a relative or a guardian by statute), 2) appointed by the father and recorded in land registers or in authorisation Setter, 3) commissioned by the king. Restricted legal competence of women was most obvious in the sphere of contracting marriages. A woman or a girl, unless she was a widow, could not make a choice of her future husband, but fully depended on the decision of her relatives, mainly father, brothers or her male guardians. Property rights in Czech lands were based on an old institution of the indivisible part of patrimonial property. The father of the family was in charge of this indivisible part. The only situation when a woman could be in the same position was when there was a lack of male relatives. There were, however, differences in the rights of sons and daughters to this indivisible part of patrimonial property. Once married, a woman did not loose her legal competence, nevertheless her property rights were restricted and subordinated to her husband. Originally the entire woman's possession that she brought to the matrimonial home became her husband's property, but she could allot herself some part of it as her own. She had at her disposal three kinds of property: 1) dowry (dos), trousseau, a gift from her husband after the wedding night (dotalicium) - these were given to her as her share of patrimonial property and as a portion that she was entitled to in case of her husband's death, 2) other property that she was either given or inherited and 3) property that her husband allotted to her. The legal limits for women were the most striking in the area of hereditary rights. It was not so much discrimination as the old family tradition in the old Czech law, i.e. to maintain the indivisible patrimonial property in the family. It was necessary to restrict a woman's birthright after she married to avoid reduction of the family property. Single woman or a widow could act in front of court independently as accuser or accused without a guardian. Procedural competence of a married woman was limited and she was considered 'a prisoner of her husband'. She could not administer the property and therefore was not able to sue anybody. There were several rights that women in the Czech kingdom were not denied and according to the law they could use them in the same way as men. Moreover, in some instances their position was more advantageous than that of men. It was the result of the general attitude to women as 'the weaker sex' and their supposed lack of experience and ignorance. Some of these rights, however, were granted to women just theoretically, either because they could be exercised only under exceptional circumstances or because women were not aware of their rights or did not dare to lodge their claims.

Testamenty aristokratických žien v Sedmohradskom kniežatstve

Author(s): Ildikó Horn / Language(s): Slovak Publication Year: 0

The study is a part of a bigger research project that aims to publish all preserved last wills of princes, aristocracy, middle and lower nobility, burghers and other city-dwellers and churchmen. The contents and the form of last wills depended on the law customs and traditional phrasing and therefore represented a highly formalised genre. In many cases, apart from a testator, there were other people, especially lawyers who influenced the style and wording of the last wills. Therefore, the question arises whether wills could possibly be an indicator of a testator's personality and whether there are any special characteristics of the last wills of women. The author addresses the problem of how many times and at which occasions women would draw their wills, what supplements they added to them and what reasons led them to do so. Testators all around Europe rationalized making their last wills by the same reasons: men are mortal, but no one knows the time of his death and therefore decisions about the division of the property should be made beforehand so the bereaved can peacefully get their share. Nevertheless, most last wills were drawn while in danger of death, during serious illness, plague epidemics or in the war times. It was only in the last third of the 17th century under the influence of baroque piety that the tendency to make a will while still alive and well started to grow. Women would often draw a last will in the time of their pregnancy as many of them died while in labour. Another reason for women was their new marriage as they tried to provide for their children from previous marriages. Amongst burghers and other city dwellers, it was usual for a married couple to make a joint last will in a ceremonious manner. Apart from the questions when and how many times, question how is also interesting. The last wills of prominent men fall into two basic categories. Most of them made a long, detailed, stylistically complex will with the help of lawyers. The second group includes wills made in danger. These are exceptionally short and concise, drawn before awaited war conflict or during acute illness, but most frequently, they are changes of previous last wills. With women, it is not possible to set up similar categories, because the practice of making women's wills was extremely diverse. Unrelated to the amount and value of bequeathed property, women's wills vary enormously in length. The contents of wills, division of property, requests of testators on their bereaved, and experiences and advice they wanted to hand out to them, form the most interesting questions of the analyses. It is surprising that just few wills contain wishes about the burial place, burial ceremony and its expenses. Requests for a final resting-place were usually related to three other aspects - religion, burial expenses and tombstone engravings. The practice of women that had experienced unhappy marriage or married several times is quite interesting. In fact, it was not always a widow's last husband who she wished to be buried next to. Wills often contain a short resume, an evaluation of marriage, but there are substantial differences between men and women . Men were usually more critical and openly spoke about problems. Women were more reserved in the assessment of their marriage. Typically, they were critical only of the fact that their husbands spent their money and did not provide for their living. However, it is a telltale sign if a woman did not wish to be buried next to her husband, used her maiden name or did not mention her husband in her will at all. Analyses of the relation to one's children revealed that mothers forgave much more easily. There are numerous examples of cases, when a father disinherited a child from acquired estates, whereas there is only one case when a mother did so. Women had more positive attitude also towards their other relatives. Distributive parts of last wills are valuable not only for disclosing quality of relationships in a family, but also for often being the only complete evidence about a woman's property. Women from rich aristocratic circles showed a leaning for charity. Hospitals, poorhouses were under their patronage and they took care of the disabled, the poor, orphans and deprived widows. Another thing is, however, how wills were executed in practice. To a considerable extent, last wills fulfilment depended on the relation of a testator to his or her relatives and on conscientiousness of wills executors. Testators were aware of such difficulties and tried all the possibilities provided in the law to secure their last wills. Moreover, it was a usual custom - and according to our findings, it seems that it was used much more by women than men - to add blessing and cursing formulas against those who would and those who would not comply with their wills. It seems as if women believed more in blessing and cursing than secular justice.

Cudzinky v úlohe manželiek uhorských veľmožov v 16.-17. storočí

Author(s): András Koltai / Language(s): Slovak Publication Year: 0

Hungarian aristocracy had universally adopted a critical attitude towards "foreign nations" in the 17th century. Nevertheless/ Hungarian aristocrats could not, but also did not want to prevent poli¬tical, business and even marital relations with the aristocracy from other countries of the Hab¬sburg monarchy altogether. It is necessary to know marriage strategy of Hungarian aristocracy to be able to understand the position of their foreign wives, in this respect, a note written by Friedrich von Teuffenbach is rather enlightening. He summed up his ideas about his future wife into ten points, out of which only the first one - that the girl should be pretty - was connected directly to the girl herself. The other nine were related to social and economic advantages expected to be gained by marrying her. On the one hand, beauty was not always a prerequisite of a marriage, but on the other hand, it was not enough that a girl came from a rich and prominent family. By proper behaviour and con¬duct, she was expected to represent her family in the new home in a respectable way and thus contribute to the authority of her husband. It was only after the ascent of the Habsburgs to the Hungarian throne that the Hungarian elite started to realise the importance, advantages and consequences of foreign marriages. The country got under the common rule with the Czech kingdom and neighbouring Austrian lands. Hungarian aristocrats had to share high offices with the Austrian and Czech nobility and they were further disadvantaged by the fact that the royal court and central offices were permanently outside the territory of Hungary. That was the reason why only few aristocratic houses from Hungary joined "royal court aristocracy”. Court aristocracy held the most prominent court and governmental positions and at the same time, multiple family ties interconnected their members, if one of the Hungarian families succeeded in penetrating into these circles, it could have positive effect on future carriers of their members. Nevertheless, apart from the Pálffys, only few noblemen succeeded in becoming established members of the court aristocracy. None of them improved his career by marrying foreign wife in any significant way. In the 17th century, the estates tried to preserve their national and traditional characteristics. However, towards the end of the 17th century it was becoming more and more obvious that the future of Hungary was the Habsburg monarchy and its common aristocracy. After the liberation from the Ottoman occupation, many foreign noble houses were donated esta¬tes in Hungary. By the late eighties of the 17th century, mixing of Hungarian nobility with court aristocracy and marrying foreign women had become commonplace. Foreign marriages of Transylvanian princes form a special category from several diverse rea¬sons. These marriages were first of all of crucial importance for the foreign policy and therefore brides came from the most prominent aristocratic houses. Foreign wives did not only bring the higher prestige and new useful connections, but also their own customs and numerous entourages. It would seem that the trickiest question would be a common language for communication, but in fact, it was not such a big problem. Actually, Hun¬garian aristocrats usually knew German or Italian languages and some of the foreign brides understood Latin. Only occasionally would a husband need an interpreter for talking to his wife. As for the dresses, there was not much difference in comparison with Hungarian women. What affected the lives of foreign wives most, were usually cultural differences and alien traditi¬ons. Many of them adjusted to the Hungarian lifestyle only with difficulties and tried to preserve their usual habits. They longed for the security of their old home especially in difficult situations such as labour or after the deaths of their husbands. Because their position as widows was not particularly desirable, many of them decided to return to their homeland. Fates of foreign wives throw some light on aims, options and boundaries of the Hungarian or central European aris¬tocracy in the early modern period.

Alžbeta Rákócziová a Juraj Erdódy - príbeh strastiplného manželstva z prelomu 17. a 18. storočia

Author(s): Borbála Benda / Language(s): Slovak Publication Year: 0

Bad and problematic marriages were not rare in the early modern period. Elizabeth Rákóczi was orphaned at the age of ten. She was the only owner of the numerous lucrative estates and manors. She was not even 14 when she married Adam Erdődy. Nevertheless, only couple of weeks after her wedding the husband was fatally injured in a battle with the Ottomans. Several of her husband's relatives immediately claimed their right to her property and so she had to marry as soon as possible. George Erdődy, the cousin of her late husband, seemed a— suitable suitor. He had been studying law in Vienna and starting his career that was later to culminate in his position as a judge royal, one of the highest court officials of the realm. For the house of Erdődy the marriage was prom ising because they would be able to keep many lucrative Rákóczi's estates in the family. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was not too eager to marry George; she was waiting for a better suitor, probably for Paul Esterházy. In the end, however, she did marry George Erdődy. Their marriage can be divided into three visibly different stages. Decisive are the years when Elizabeth left her husband. He asked for the mediators and though the conflicts between them were settled, their relationship cooled off. George was often in debts and the profits from his estates were not enough for his living standard. Living in Vienna he usually used his wife's estates yields to cover his expenses. Moreover, he pawned and even sold some of her property without her knowledge. In the first years of their marriage, he limited her freedom, would not take her with him and did want her to go to and be entertained at courts of neighbouring nobles. Perhaps out of jealousy he did not let her go to Sintava where Paul Esterházy was holding a ball. George's servants, who did not listen to her orders, further worsened their marital relationship. Moreover, George's servants denounced and complained about her to him. In the time of revolt of Imrich Thököly, the insurgents occupied her manors and captured her. Eventually she was able to run away to Poland with her valuables. Elizabeth had the feeling that her husband did not support her in these hard times. Later, when the property was returned to her, she tried to restore her as well as her husband's estates. George stayed in Vienna, though. This led to further conflicts. George addressed mediators again and accused her of "turning her back to him." This situation repeated itself several times. In the autumn of 1703, she had to flee to Novigrad in Croatia where she lived until her death. Nevertheless, Croatia remained a foreign country to her. Household management was only substitute activity so she would not think of her lost property. Despite seemingly peaceful state, Elizabeth suffered a lot in her marriage. Several problems would show repeatedly in their marriage. Elizabeth was thrifty and prudent whereas George Erdődy was always making debts. They had different interests too: Elizabeth was fond of hunting she used to send some of the killed animals to her husband. Erdődy if ever interested in hunting he would send his servants instead of going himself. Elizabeth wanted to live her own life, administer her property and amuse herself without her husband. Erdődy wished to spend more time with her wife. We do not know why Elizabeth disliked her husband, but the fact was that she often avoided him.

Dievčenské vzdelávanie v Uhorsku

Author(s): Ewa Kowalská / Language(s): Slovak Publication Year: 0

The paper is based on the analysis of the state of girls education in Hungary in the 18th century. Different gender roles and cultural consequences of diverse confessional development resulted in different perception of the role of girls education. As long as her husband or some other legal personal representative accompanied a woman, she was in no need to prove her identity in writing and therefore literacy as one of the basic elements of formal education can not be taken for granted. Though the social importance of literacy was rapidly increasing among aristocracy, this development lagged behind in case of girls and women and was almost non-existent among the lower classes. The change was brought in with the efforts for intellectual and social revival that resulted in creation of Jansenism and Pietism movements. Also, a complex of state governed reforms contributed to the amendment of the situation. It promoted a new understanding of the role of girls education that led to foundation of specialised schools and institutes. The paper looks at their curricula and points out the structural change in education that took place on the break of the 19th century.

Slovenská žena v Spojených štátoch amerických na konci 19. a začiatku 20. storočia

Author(s): Marta Dobrotková / Language(s): Slovak Publication Year: 0

In the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century women were increasingly becoming a part of the working process in industry, cultural sphere and services. In 1900, about one fourth of women was paid labourers and out of them around 90% worked in agriculture, while the rest 8 % in domestic production and trade. Working women had to face lower wages and bad working conditions. Before the mass migration to America in the end of the 19th century/ men used to go and work to other parts of Austria-Hungary or elsewhere in Europe for shorter periods. Women took over responsibility over households for a longer time. Mass migration of men from Slovakia resulted in a decrease of the number of men. The changed demographic situation affected lives of single women in the villages. In the United States, women had much better life conditions and opportunities. American women enjoyed such respect that was unheard of in other countries. American girls working in the factories had several better job options opened to them. Poor women from big cities or wives of immigrants came to their places. The language barrier restricted their opportunities. At first, however, Slovak women did not enjoy such respect as American women. It stemmed from the fact that they came from poor social classes of agricultural workers, daily labourers who worked in mining, metallurgical and engineering industries. Apart from domestic chores, women would help their husbands with their hard work in mines. American public looked with interest at this beha¬viour, but it degraded position of Slovak women. Contempt for Slovak community stemmed from their poor housing habits. The Slovaks called it the burder system, the name originated from boar¬ding houses, hostels of Slovak immigrants. They were wooden one-storey small houses where mar¬ried workers lived on the ground floor and so-called burden or hurdingosi on the first floor. They occupied several rooms without any other furniture but beds. Several or them would sleep on one beds, that were in fact simple wooden bunks. Why did women start to migrate over the ocean? The reason is simple: they did not have anybody to marrv, because all suitable men from their village region, especially from the counties in eastern Slovakia left for the States.American women did not have the best reputation as housewives, therefore they liked to hire maids and servants for domestic works. Hundreds of Slovak girls were employed in textile facto¬ries. First, fraternal and supportive societies and associations were created, followed by national societies and Slovak woinerťs organizations. There were men behind foundation of the first wo¬men’s beneficial societies such as V. P. Rovnianek and Š. Furdek. Slovak women in the USA had deep social empathy and attempted to improve education of their women. By social work they even tried to help the poor in Slovakia. It was also Slovak women religious orders that showed merit in improvement of education of Slovaks in the States, as well as their cultural and religious life. Slovak women in the States felt inadequate and admired representatives of Živena, the Slovak womens beneficial society in Slovakia. They wanted to resemble women from Živena and did not realize that it was also their activities that left significant trace in the life of Slovaks in the United States.

The Past as Part of a City’s Identity

Author(s): Krzysztof Bierwiaczonek,Tomasz Nawrocki / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Dialog kultur — kultura dialogu. Rossica i polonica w polskiej i rosyjskiej przestrzeni publicznej

Author(s): Izabela Nowak / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The article concerns the borrowings from the Russian and Polish languages which can be observed in contemporary public discourse between Russians and Poles. The question about the role that these units play in communication space is crucial. The conducted observations indicate that the adapting of foreign cultural values for communication is not random. The collected material allows the conclusion that Russian and Polish borrowings used in social space serve communicating particular intentions and realizations of specific communicative goals. It is significant from the point of view of cultural comparative studies that the Polish-Russian relations are asymmetric from this aspect.