History of Hungary

A nyulak-szigeti apácakolostor és a Duna. In: Mikó Gábor – Péterfi Bence – Vadas András (szerk.): Tiszteletkör. Ünnepi tanulmányok Draskóczy István egyetemi tanár 60. születésnapjára. Budapest: ELTE Eötvös Kiadó, 2012. 561–572.

by Vadas András

The nunnery of the Margaret Island (Budapest) and the Danube.

Az emberek titkai: A rejtjelezés társadalomtörténete Magyarországon (People’s Secrets, Towards a Social History of Cryptography in Hungary), Korall 43 (2011): 174–189.

by Benedek Lang

The State and Economic Development

by Nemanja Sukalo

Development of the Hungarian information society in the last decade

by Holczer Márton

A complex systems approach to the evolutionary dynamics of human history: the case of the Late Medieval World Crisis

by Johannes Preiser-Kapeller

Working Paper for the European Meetings on Cybernetics and Systems Research (EMCSR) 2012, Vienna, University Campus, April 10th 2012 (http://www.emcsr.net/symposium-b-evolution-throughout-the-sciences-and-humanities/) (Slides of the presentation here: http://oeaw.academia.edu/JohannesPreiserKapeller/Talks/78041/A_complex_systems_approach_to_the_evolutionary_dynamics_of_human_history_the_case_of_the_Late_Medieval_World_Crisis)

„There are few theoretical approaches to which historian respond so negatively as to the explanation of historical... more „There are few theoretical approaches to which historian respond so negatively as to the explanation of historical processes by such theories“, the German historian Rainer Waltz states most accurately in his study on „Theories of Social Evolution and History“; there he also presents two main causes for this rejection: a moral one, the perversion of evolutionary thinking in so-called Social Darwinist theories in the 19th and 20th centuries, and a scientific one, the fear of a biologistic interpretation of human history by adopting evolutionary models (Walz, 2004). This distinguishes historical studies from other social sciences and humanities such as anthropology or sociology and even other historical disciplines such as archaeology, where evolutionary models have become part of the methodological toolkit (Renfrew & Bahn, 2008; for a rare example from the field of history of literature cf. Moretti, 2009).
Although most historians are reluctant to adopt evolutionary models (yet alone in their mathematized or sociobiologist form) for the interpretation of human past (respectively the larger or smaller period of time they are specialised in), terms such as “evolution” and concepts of evolutionary thinking such as “adaption” or “selection” are used in numerous descriptions of historical events and processes, albeit often in a metaphorical way (Walz, 2004). At the same time it is evident that major developments in human history such as the emergence of the human kind itself, of human culture and of complex social structures such as states as well as phenomena of long duration (up to the scale of “Big History” from the Big Bang until present times as it has been attempted in the last decades, Spier 2010) cannot be explained without the help of evolutionary concepts (cf. Blute, 2010; Voland, 2009); but again, these subjects refer mainly to the fields of evolutionary biologists and psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists or (prehistoric) archaeologists (cf. Yoffee, 2004). Some specialists from these disciplines have also tried to adapt such concepts for the entire human history beyond its “beginnings”, but have equally found mixed reception among historians, especially if they try to demonstrate some kind of progress in the development of humanity as for instance Steven Pinker has done most recently in his study on “Why Violence has declined” (Pinker, 2011; see also Atran, 2002; Boyd & Richerson, 2005; Morris, 2010).
In contrast to this (non)-use of evolutionary concepts for historical studies, we intend to demonstrate the benefit of a complex evolutionary approach for the analysis of a specific period of late medieval/early modern history between 1200 and 1500 CE, which has been attributed central importance for the so-called “Rise of the West”, since it saw the beginning of European overseas expansion at its end (cf. Goldstone, 2009; Morris, 2010).
In the “calamitous” 14th century, as Barbara Tuchman called it (1978), the medieval world entered a period of severe crisis in demography, economy, politics and religion. This crisis took hold in all regions, ranging from China in the East to England in the West. Even before the catastrophic pandemic of the Black Death (1346-1352), deteriorating climatic conditions had ended the period of demographic and economic expansion that began in the 10th century (Behringer, 2007; Atwell, 2001; Benedictow, 2004; Brook, 2010).
The local and regional impacts and consequences of these general crisis-laden conditions may have differed; outcomes ranged from actual societal collapse to the emergence of powerful new polities. But these conditions provide a framework for global perspective on this period and allow us to use the 14th century-crisis as a field of “natural experiments of history”, as Jared Diamond and James A. Robinson have called them (Diamond & Robinson, 2011); accordingly, we analyse how similar crisis phenomena influenced the development of societies with different (or similar) traditions, religions, institutions, geographies or ecologies (cf. also Borsch, 2005). In particular, we will analyse and compare five polities in the “Old World”, England, Hungary, Byzantium, Egypt and China, of which three disappeared around the end of this period due to the expansion of the most successful newly emerged Ottoman Empire (Byzantium in 1453, Mamluk Egypt in 1517, Hungary in 1526/1541; cf. also Preiser-Kapeller, 2011).
In order to be able to capture variations and complexities within this sample, we adopt concepts and tools provided by the field of complexity science. We understand complex systems as large networks of individual components, whose interactions at the microscopic level produce “complex” changing patterns of behaviour of the whole system on the macroscopic level. In the last decades, historians and social scientists also tried to use concepts of complexity theory for the description of phenomena in their own fields, but again often only in a “metaphoric” way (Gaddis, 2002; Hatcher & Bailey, 2001). Less frequently, though, historians have tried to make use of the mathematical foundations of complexity theory or of quantitative tools provided by this field (Kiel & Elliott, 1997; Preiser-Kapeller, 2012). Recent scholarship has implemented some of these tools especially for the construction of macro-models of socio-economic development (Goldstone, 1991; Turchin, 2003; Turchin & Nefedov, 2009).
In addition, we combine complexity theory with the analytical framework of “systems theory” developed by the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann (1927-1998) in order to capture the interdependencies between politics, economy and religion within a polity and with the political, economic and ecological environment (Luhmann, 1997; Becker & Reinhardt-Becker, 2001; Becker, 2004). Luhmann´s theory is valuable for our analysis in various aspects; it makes us aware of the reduction of environmental and social complexity which is reflected in our historical sources, and it provides a framework to approach complex mechanisms within and the dependencies between various social spheres and their environment. Its evolutionary aspects have also been analysed by Walz (2004). In addition, we employ methods and tools of network analysis, which allow us to capture, analyse and model linkages and cause-effect correlations in society, economy, politics and religion on the macro- and micro-level down to groups and individuals (Gould, 2003; Lemercier, 2005).
Overall, our analytical approach allows us to capture the “diversité véritable” without losing track of essential commonalities (the “strange parallels”, as Victor Liebermann has called them, 2009) with regard to the transformation of polities and societies and their adaption to this “first world crisis”. Thereby, the value of a framework of evolutionary dynamics for the exploration of human history will be demonstrated

References
Atran, S. (2002). In Gods We Trust. The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Atwell, W. S. (2001). Volcanism and Short-Term Climatic Change in East Asian and World History, c. 1200–1699. Journal of World History 12/1, 29-98.
Becker, F. & Reinhardt-Becker, E. (2001). Systemtheorie. Eine Einführung für die Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften. Frankfurt, New York: Campus Verlag.
Becker, F. (Ed.). (2004). Geschichte und Systemtheorie. Exemplarische Fallstudien. Frankfurt, New York: Campus Verlag.
Behringer, W. (2007). Kulturgeschichte des Klimas. Von der Eiszeit bis zur globalen Erwärmung. Munich: C. H. Beck.
Benedictow, O. J. (2004). The Black Death 1346–1353. The Complete History. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer Inc.
Blute, M. (2010). Darwinian Sociocultural Evolution. Solutions to Dilemmas in Cultural and Social Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Borsch, St. J. (2005). The Black Death in Egypt and England. A Comparative Study. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Boyd, R. & Richerson, P. J. (2005). The Origin and Evolution of Cultures. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Brook, T. (2010). The troubled Empire. China in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Cambridge (Mass.), London: Harvard University Press.
Diamond, J. & Robinson, J. A. (Eds.). (2011). Natural Experiments of History. Cambridge (Mass.), London: Harvard University Press.
Gaddis, J. L. (2002). The Landscape of History. How Historians map the Past. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Goldstone, J. A. (1991). Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Goldstone, J. A. (2009). Why Europe? The Rise of the West in World History, 1500–1850. New York: Mcgraw-Hill Higher Education.
Gould, R. V. (2003). Uses of Network Tools in Comparative Historical Research. In: J. Mahoney & D. Rueschemeyer (Eds.). Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences (p. 241-269). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hatcher, J. & Bailey, M. (2001). Modelling the Middle Ages. The History and Theory of England´s Economic Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kiel, L. D. & Elliott, E. (Eds.). (1997). Chaos Theory in the Social Sciences. Foundations and Applications. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
Lemercier, Cl. (2005). Analyse de réseaux et histoire. Revue d’histoire moderne et contemporaine 52/2, 88-112.
Lieberman, L. (2009). Strange Parallels. Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830. Vol. 2: Mainland Mirrors: Europe, Japan, China, South Asia, and the Islands. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Luhmann, N. (1997). Die Gesellschaft der Gesellschaft. 2 Vols., Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag.
Moretti, F. (2009). Kurven, Karten, Stammbäume. Abstrakte Modelle für die Literaturgeschichte. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag.
Morris, I. (2010). Why The West Rules For Now: The Patterns of History and what they reveal about the Future. London: Profile Books.
Pinker, S. (2011). The Better Angels of our Nature. Why Violence has declined. London: Viking.
Preiser-Kapeller, J. (2012). Complex historical dynamics of crisis: the case of Byzantium. In: A. Suppan (Ed.). Krise und Transformation (in print). Vienna: Austrian Academy Press (pre-print online: http://oeaw.academia.edu/JohannesPreiserKapeller/Papers/506625/Complex_historical_dynamics_of_crisis_the_case_of_Byzantium).
Preiser-Kapeller, J. (2011). (Not so) Distant Mirrors: a complex macro-comparison of polities and political, economic and religious systems in the crisis of the 14th century. In: A. Simon (Ed.). Proceedings of the International Conference "The Angevin Dynasty (14th Century)" in Târgoviște (Romania), October 21st-23rd 2011 (forthcoming). Vienna: Peter Lang (working Paper online: http://oeaw.academia.edu/JohannesPreiserKapeller/Papers/506595/_Not_so_Distant_Mirrors_a_complex_macro-comparison_of_polities_and_political_economic_and_religious_systems_in_the_crisis_of_the_14th_century)
Renfrew, C. & Bahn, P. (2008). Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice. London: Thames & Hudson.
Spier, F. (2010). Big History and the Future of Humanity. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Tuchman, B. (1978). A Distant Mirror. The calamitous 14th Century. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Turchin, P. & Nefedov, S. A. (2010). Secular cycles. Princeton, Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Turchin, P. (2003). Historical Dynamics. Why States Rise and Fall (Princeton Studies in Complexity). Princeton, Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Voland, E. (2009). Soziobiologie. Die Evolution von Kooperation und Konkurrenz. 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.
Walz, R. (2004). Theorien sozialer Evolution und Geschichte. In: F. Becker (Ed.), Geschichte und Systemtheorie. Exemplarische Fallstudien (p. 29-75). Frankfurt, New York: Campus Verlag.
Yoffee, N. (2004). Myths of the Archaic State. Evolution of the Earliest Cities, States, and Civilizations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Cruzada y dinastía: Las mujeres de la Casa de Austria ante la larga guerra de Hungria

by Rubén González Cuerva

Hasta hace apenas una década, el reinado de Felipe III se había caracterizado historiográficamente como una “inmensa... more Hasta hace apenas una década, el reinado de Felipe III se había caracterizado historiográficamente como una “inmensa laguna” de la que afortunadamente se está saliendo. Una de las facetas de esta época que ha merecido atención ha sido la influencia política desempeñada por las mujeres de la Casa de Austria en el entorno del Rey Católico, superando una visión tradicional que condenaba a las reinas del Antiguo Régimen a ser meras figuras piadosas y reproductoras al lado de sus esposos e hijos . Muy al contrario, llegaron a alcanzar un papel de gran relevancia en las decisiones regias, si bien desde unos cauces más discretos e indirectos que, obviamente, la documentación oficial no recoge pormenorizadamente . En este estudio vamos a analizar la mediación de la esposa, la abuela y la tía de Felipe III, a saber, la reina Margarita de Austria, la emperatriz madre María de Austria y su hija la infanta Margarita de la Cruz, en un caso muy poco tratado pero con una trascendencia nada desdeñable: la participación española en la Larga guerra de Hungría (1592-1606) .

Mellőzött magyarok? Hadikonferenciák ülésrendjei 1660–1662-ből és 1681-ből [Omitted Hungarians? War Conference Sittings from 1660–1662 and 1681]. In: Levéltári Közlemények, 75. (2004) 1. sz. p. 47–63.

by Géza Pálffy

Omitted Hungarians? War Conference Sittings from 1660–1662 and 1681. It is a recurrent topic of Hungarian... more Omitted Hungarians? War Conference Sittings from 1660–1662 and 1681. It is a recurrent topic of Hungarian historiography to describe the Viennese imperial court as distrustful of Hungarian aristocrats, and omitting them when taking the most important decisions concerning Hungary. It is especially since the second half of the 19th century that the suspicion and mistrust towards the Hungarian political elite is expressed almost with no exception. The study below strives to prove — by presenting war conference sittings — that the opinion of the most influential members of the Hungarian political elite (loyal to the imperial court, of course) and — in case of economic matters — of Hungarian financial institutes was almost always taken into consideration. The “omission-theory” of Hungarian Romantic historiography, surviving until our days even in the historical conscience, is not based properly on sources and lacks ground in the light of recent investigation. The author would like to draw attention to the complexity of the problem and to the future tasks with the present source publication.

Várfeladók feletti ítélkezés a XVI–XVII. századi Magyarországon (A magyar rendek hadügyi jogkörének kérdéséhez) [Administering Justice on Soldiers who had given up Border Fortresses in the 16th and 17th Century Hungary (Contribution to the debate concerning the importance of the Hungarian estates in military jurisdiction)] In: Levéltári Közlemények, 68. (1997) 1–2. sz. p. 199–221.

by Géza Pálffy

Administering Justice on Soldiers who had given up Border Fortresses in the 16th and 17th Century Hungary... more Administering Justice on Soldiers who had given up Border Fortresses in the 16th and 17th Century Hungary (Contribution to the debate concerning the importance of the Hungarian estates in military jurisdiction): Just as in the other parts of Europe the independent military jurisdiction evolved within the central European Habsburg Monarchy on the Hungarian seat of war against the Ottomans in the 16th century. The dispensation of justice to those soldiers who had given up a border fortress, however, developed in a special way. The German mercenary soldiers just as in other areas of operations in Europe was judged in a court-martial, deputed by the War Council of the Viennense court (Wiener Hofkriegsrat). On the Hungarian soldiers, however, judgement was passed by a special court of the Hungarian Diet (dieta). This special system of jurisdiction consolidated as the result of long ongoing struggle fought in the bipolar state structure between the Hungarian estates and the War Council, the central government office representing the kings in military matters. The goal of the struggle was to maintain, at least partially, the political and military influence the Hungarian estates enjoyed before the Battle of Mohács (1526).

British View of the First Vienna Award

by Andras Becker

A magyar korona megjelenése a kora újkori képzőművészetben. [The so-called Holy Crown of Hungary in Early Modern Art.]

by Kees Teszelszky

Published in: Művészettörténeti Értesítő, 60/1 (2010), 1-10.

The so-called holy crown of Hungary has been one of the most important elements in early modern Hungarian political... more The so-called holy crown of Hungary has been one of the most important elements in early modern Hungarian political thought, which resulted in countless images from medieval till modern times. This article treats the connection between the various crown images and descriptions of the exterior of the crown and the change of the political meaning of the crown between 1572 and 1665. Using a constructivist method of research, an attempt is made to answer the question of how the crown was depicted in art, what was the function and meaning of this depiction, how this image and function of the crown changed, and how this change can be explained. The focus of the author is on the political developments around 1608 in Hungary, in which the crown, its meaning and image played a dominant role. The function of the crown changed between 1572 and 1608 from a symbol of legitimacy of royal Habsburg power to that of the political claims of the estates of the Kingdom of Hungary. This can be observed in the work of István Illésházy, Elias Berger, János Jessenius, Lucas Kilian, Wolfgang Kilian, Péter Révay, Christoph Lackner, Márton Schödel, Hieronymus Ortelius and others. The change of use, image and meaning of the crown can be explained by the “visual turn”, which according to Peter Burke occurred in the beginning of the 17th century. The attention of historians of that period was drawn to artefacts and images of the past which were used as sources of political legitimacy and incorporated in political thought. The change of the image and meaning of the crown in Hungary was thus a part of a European development in the history of art and political thought.

Vlad Popovici, Ovidiu Iudean, The Elective Representation of the Romanians in the Hungarian Parliament (I) 1869-1892

by Vlad Popovici

Egy firenzei szomszédság a Zsigmond kori Magyar Királyságban (Neighborhood and Migration in 15th-century Florence. The Borgo degli Albizzi and Florentines in the Kingdom of Hungary)

by Katalin Prajda

A város és társadalma. Tanulmányok Bácskai Vera tiszteletére, ed. Árpád Tóth- István H. Németh- Erika Szívós, Budapest 2011. pp.441-449.

A lakóhely mikrotársadalomformáló szerepét a Firenze városából a Magyar Királyságba induló népességmozgás és a... more A lakóhely mikrotársadalomformáló szerepét a Firenze városából a Magyar Királyságba induló népességmozgás és a kereskedelmi kapcsolatok szempontjából is érdemes vizsgálni. Ezeknek a kapcsolatoknak a motorja az 1403/4 és 1426 közötti időszakban minden kétséget kizáróan a Scolari család és ezen belül is Ozorai Pipó, azaz Filippo di Stefano Scolari (1368/69–1426) volt. Ebben az időszakban a Magyar Királyságban megtelepedő firenzeiek mindegyike, akik ismertek a kutatás számára a Scolari család társadalmi, politikai és gazdasági szövetségese volt. Ennél természetesen jóval többen voltak azok a firenzei polgárok, akik elsősorban gazadasági szálakon kapcsolódtak a Magyar Királysághoz, de állandó lakóhelyüket továbbra is Firenze városában tartották. Közülük néhány kereskedőcsalád nemcsak a Scolarik üzletfele, hanem nőági rokona, mitöbb szomszédja is volt. A jelen tanulmányban egyrészt vizsgálni szeretném a Scolari család által lakott utcák elhelyezkedését Firenze városában, az ő példájukon keresztül bizonyítani a rokoni, valamint a gazdasági és politikai kapcsolatok szerepét a lakóhelyválasztás kérdésében, s rámutatnék a lakóhely, mint mikroközösség szerepére egy, a Magyar Királyságba irányuló migrációs csoport formálódásában.

A Cápa Utolsó Tangója

by Andras Szekfu

Research papers on Hungarian media during the Communist dictatorship. Written between 1976 and 1984, some of them hitherto unpublished.

A cápa utolsó tangója

(médiaszociológiai tanulmányok a félkemény diktatúrában)



A... more A cápa utolsó tangója

(médiaszociológiai tanulmányok a félkemény diktatúrában)



A szerző 1969-től (a megalakulástól) 1990-ig (majdnem a megszűnésig) a Tömegkommunikációs Kutatóközpont munkatársa volt, kezdetben kiadói szerkesztőként majd kutatóként. A jelen kötet ebben az időszakban írott tanulmányaiból, kutatási eredményeiből ad egy csokorra valót.

A korabeli anyagot két visszaemlékezés egészíti ki. A Függelékben pedig a szerző közli Hans Magnus Enzensberger a maga korában nagy hatású tanulmányát: „Építőkockák egy médiaelmélethez” címmel, Dalos György korabeli fordításában. A tanulmányt a szerző szerette volna kiadatni a Kutatóközpont kiadványsorozatában, azonban ez akkor nyilvánvaló politikai okokból nem sikerült. (Köszönet a Suhrkamp Verlag-nak a jelen kiadáshoz megadott díjtalan kiadási jogért.)

A kötet tanulmányainak többsége csak belső sokszorosításban „jelent meg”, nyilvánosan most olvashatók először.

Elektronikus Kommunikáció és Esélyegyenloség Magyarországon-: Történeti áttekintés 1847-Töl Napjainkig II. = Equal Opportunities In Communication In Hungary: a …

by Andras Szekfu

A tanulmány második része

Elektronikus Kommunikáció és Esélyegyenloség Magyarországon-: Történeti áttekintés 1847-Töl Napjainkig I.= Equal Opportunities In Communication In Hungary: a …

by Andras Szekfu

A tanulmány első része.

Elektronikus Kommunikáció és Esélyegyenloség Magyarországon-: Történeti áttekintés 1847-Töl Napjainkig I.= Equal Opportunities In Communication In Hungary: a …

by Andras Szekfu

A tanulmány első része.

The Habsburg Defense System in Hungary Against the Ottomans in Sixteenth Century: A Catalyst of Military Development in Central Europe. In: Warfare in Eastern Europe, 1500–1800. Ed. Brian J. Davies. Leiden–Boston : Brill, 2012. (History of Warfare, 72.) p. 35–61.

by Géza Pálffy

http://www.brill.nl/warfare-eastern-europe-1500-1800

Unions of Interest. Florentine Marriage Ties and Business Networks in the Kingdom of Hungary during the Reign of Sigismund of Luxemburg

by Katalin Prajda

Marriage in Premodern Europe. Italy and Beyond, ed. Jacqueline Murray, CRRS, Toronto, 2012, pp. 147-166.

In the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, it was usual for Florentines to make marriage alliances within... more In the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, it was usual for Florentines to make marriage alliances within their own social strata, even in their own neighbourhood. While several studies have drawn attention to endogamous marriages ties which existed among Florentine merchant families, little has been said about exogamous marriages bound with outsiders to the Florentine merchant society. There has also been less analysis of the effects of the matrilineal extension of Florentine merchant families on the composition of business networks, which might explain why several of Florentine merchant brothers bound endogamous marriages meanwhile others were seeking to marry woman outside of their social strata or business network. As we will see, the importance of parentado, as an extension of the agnatic consorteria, is well-reflected in several cases of Florentine merchant families who found trustworthy allies in the families of their in-laws concerning business, social and political life. Florentine merchants seeking to integrate into the local society of the Kingdom of Hungary very often used their marriages in order to obtain social advantages, such as a new parentado, local rights or citizenship. This present work therefore is an attempt to reconstruct the close relationship which existed between exogamous ties that developed between Florentines and subjects of the Hungarian crown and their settlement in the Kingdom of Hungary and similarly to reconstruct the relationship between endogamous marriages patterns among Florentine merchant families and their participation in long distance trade with the Kingdom of Hungary during the reign of Sigismund of Luxemburg (1387-1437). The period with which this essay is concerned, that is, the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries coincides with the late republican times in Florence, dominated by the oligarchic regime and expands from the ciompi revolt until 1434, Cosimo de’ Medici’s return to the city.

Levelező üzletemberek. Firenzeiek a Zsigmond korban. Men of Letters, Men of Business. Florentines in the Kingdom of Hungary during the Reign of Sigismund

by Katalin Prajda

Századok 144 2010/2 

A közelmúltban megjelent publikációk, amelyek a Firenzei Köztársaság és a Magyar Királyság közös történetével... more A közelmúltban megjelent publikációk, amelyek a Firenzei Köztársaság és a Magyar Királyság közös történetével foglalkoznak kivétel nélkül a firenzeiek távolsági kereskedelemben betöltött szerepét tárgyalják. Vannak olyan forráscsoportok, amelyek vizsgálata elengedhetetlen a kutatók számára, ilyen például az 1427. évi Catasto, az első részletes firenzei adóösszeírás. Annak ellenére, hogy a Catasto használata egy társaság üzletvitelének elemzésére bevett gyakorlat a gazdaságtörténészek körében, ezeket az adatokat mégis legtöbb esetben a társaságok után fennmaradt egyéb iratok, így számadáskönyvek és üzleti levelezések párhuzamos vizsgálatával igazolják. Az ilyen típusú iratok értelmezéséhez jelenthetnek hasznos segítséget az üzleti- és magánlevelezések, amelyek vizsgálatával lehetőség nyílik árnyaltabb képet felvázolni arról, hogy a firenzeiek hogyan intézték üzleti ügyeiket és miként működtek az általuk alapított társaságok, betekintést nyerhetünk kereskedelmi csatornáikba, miként folytattak egymással levelezést és egyáltalán, miért volt hasznos gazdasági és társadalmi szempontból a rendszeres információáramlás a kereskedők között. Ezen hiányt betöltendő a jelen munka kísérletet tesz arra, hogy részletekbe menően bemutassa és néhány szempontból elemezze a Magyar Királyság történetével kapcsolatban előkerült levelezéseket, amelyek ezidáig nem képezték egyetlen munka gerincét sem. Talán erősen sérült állapotuknak is köszönhető, hogy az iratok több esetben hibás néven kerültek besorolásra a Magyar Országos Levéltár Diplomatikai Fényképgyűjteménybe, s a levelek egyike sem jelent meg a Zsimond kori Oklevéltár vonatkozó köteteiben.

Fra Filippo Lippi's Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement

by Katalin Prajda

Metropolitan Museum Journal, 2013 (forthcoming article)

Almost a century ago Joseph Breck proposed that the two sitters depicted in Filippo Lippi’s landmark portrait in The... more Almost a century ago Joseph Breck proposed that the two sitters depicted in Filippo Lippi’s landmark portrait in The Metropolitan Museum could be identified as the Florentine-born Agnola di Bernardo Sapiti accompanied by her husband Lorenzo di Rinieri Scolari. Breck’s identification was based on his reading of the coat of arms on which the male sitter rests his hands; he believed they belonged to the Scolari family. Remarkably, aside from Dieter Jansen’s counter proposal that the coat of arms was that of the Ferrero family of Piedmont, the premise of Breck’s hypothesis has never been put to the test. It is the aim of the present article to do just that, reviewing what we know of the Scolari family on the basis of archival information and reading the details of the picture in terms of the emerging evidence.