The Vatican Library has recently made available as part of is mass digitization program, a set of beautiful manuscripts from the renowned Hungarian Renaissance King Matthias Corvinus. The world famous Bibliotheca Corviniana, the library of Matthias Corvinus (1458-1490), rivaled only the Vatican collection with 2000-3000 volumes of exquisite examples of humanist works, Greek, and Latin texts…
Tag: Hungary
A Distant Corner of the Eastern Front, 1914
Two Jews stand disconsolately among the ashes of wooden houses burnt to the ground in their Galician town in 1914, only brick chimney stacks left standing. A photograph that was probably taken in August or September during or shortly after what was known as the Battle of Galicia, which ended in a crushing Russian victory…
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956: The Event that Shook the World
The events surrounding the 1956 Hungarian Revolution are closely linked to my family. My grandparents and my father fled Hungary after the revolution to settle and build a new life in Canada. The events in Hungary demonstrated to the world the true face of communist oppression in Eastern Europe, and ripped a hole in the…
Sopron, Hungary: the picnic that changed the world
Twenty-five years ago, a diplomatic picnic helped bring down communism in Eastern Europe. Who would have thought that in the end the Iron Curtain would be brought down not with a bang, but with basketfuls of sandwiches and hot dogs? And yet that is what happened. On August 19, 1989, at the instigation of the Austrian Euro…
After 450 Years, Archaeologists Still Hunting for Magnificent Sultan’s Heart
Was the Ottoman sultan’s heart buried on a battlefield in Hungary nearly 450 years ago? Archaeologists are trying to find out. In the summer of 1566, Szigetvár was the site of a bloody siege that French diplomat Cardinal Richelieu would later call “the battle that saved civilization.” For five desperate weeks Szigetvár castle, the garrison of…
Historic Video: West Germany Win the 1954 World Cup
Video: West Germany Win the 1954 World Cup | History Today This year marks the 60th anniversary of Germany’s first World Cup win, as the country (then known as West Germany) defeated a fancied Hungarian side in Switzerland to lift the Jules Rimet trophy. You can watch highlights from the match above, including rarely-seen colour…
Tomb of Vlad the Impaler may have been found in Italy
Tomb of Vlad the Impaler may have been found in Italy Vlad III was Prince of Wallachia at times between 1448 and 1476. Because of his reputation for excessive cruelty and sadism, Vlad was given the nickname the Impaler and would later become the inspiration for the character Dracula. In the fall of 1476 he…
800 Years of Ják Abbey
Medieval Hungary: 800 Years of Ják Abbey This year mark the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the Benedictine monastery of Ják (pronounced yak). It is known that the monastery was established by Márton “the Great” comes from the Ják kindred some time before 1223 (when its abbot was first mentioned). Circumstantial evidence puts the…
94th Commemoration of the Treaty of Trianon (1920-2014)
Today marks the ominous and tragic anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon. Ninety-four years ago, in the turmoil and chaos of post-war Europe, the Treaty of Trianon (signed June 4, 1920) forever altered the regional ethnic structure of Central and Eastern Europe. A treaty designed for peace destabilized a continent already mired in violent historical…
Hungary 1956 revolt: Bela Biszku jailed for war crimes
BBC News – Hungary 1956 revolt: Bela Biszku jailed for war crimes A former Hungarian interior minister has been found guilty of war crimes over the suppression of the October 1956 uprising against communist rule. Bela Biszku, 92, was convicted of ordering security forces to open fire on civilians, killing 49 people. The anti-communist revolt toppled…
Part of the Seuso Treasure Recovered by Hungary
Part of the Seuso Treasure Recovered by Hungary Hungary unveiled today seven pieces of the famed Seuso-treasure, the most significant late Roman find of goldsmith works ever found in excavations. The seven decorated pitchers, platters and bowls were unveiled by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán today in the Parliament of Hungary. It was announced that this…
Exhibition – MATTIA CORVINO E FIRENZE
Exhibition – MATTIA CORVINO E FIRENZE 10 October 2013, the year of Italian culture in Hungary and of Hungarian culture in Italy, will mark the inauguration in the Museo di San Marco of an exhibition focusing on the figure of Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary from 1458 to 1490, and the ties that bound the king to Humanism and to Florence, its…
Celebrating a Bond Between Hungary and the Medicis – NYTimes.com
Celebrating a Bond Between Hungary and the Medicis – NYTimes.com Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary from 1458 to 1490, formed an unusually close relationship with Lorenzo de’ Medici, the head of the Medici clan from 1469 until his death in 1492. This special bond, which made Hungary one of the first states north of the Alps…
Hungarian announcements from the First World War | europeana
Hungarian announcements from the First World War | europeana In 1915, the Hofbibliothek (or Imperial Library; today known as the Austrian National Library) began to create its war collection. Since it had good links with the library of the Hungarian National Museum, it is not very surprising that the War Collection of the Austrian National…
BBC News – The search for Suleiman the Magnificent’s heart
BBC News – The search for Suleiman the Magnificent’s heart Later this month a team of Hungarian researchers will publish a report on the whereabouts of the heart of one of Ottoman Turkey’s most famous sultans. But why has this become such an important historical riddle to solve?
Budapost » Transborder Hungarians on Băsescu’s harsh words
Budapost » Transborder Hungarians on Băsescu’s harsh words
The Power of Weak States in International Politics: Eastern Europe in the 20th Century
“Weak states can be both policy takers and, occasionally policy makers,” argues Laszlo Borhi in a presentation examining weak states in East Central Europe in the 20th century. Focusing on several case studies, Borhi looks at three periods: the aftermath of World War I and World War II and the post-1989 era. Borhi maintains that…
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