middle ages

The period after the battle of Mohács saw significant migration movements from southern towards northern and north-western parts of the country. The research is delimited to the area bounded by the newly formed border - approximately in the line of the counties of Zala, Veszprém (Weißbrunn) and Komárom (Komorn). Areas behind this line served as a basis for recruitment of new effective troops for the battles against the Ottomans. Landlords in order to be able do protect their property and at the same time to fulfil their duty to defend the country, organised their own armies.

The church or liturgical calendar was the crucial factor that influenced differentiation between everyday and festive days in the whole Christian Europe. Religious service divided a day into separate sections; feasts of the church did the same within a year. The church calendar has an ultimate influence on the way how medieval men would spend their days.

Medieval nobility of Hungary comprised about 4 to 5% of the country's total population. From the great part it was represented by lesser nobles with modest property. Among lesser nobles prevailed nobiles unius sessionis, i. e. nobles possessing only one "session" - piece of land. This group is often mistakenly considered as a separate social group and at the same time the lowest strata of nobility. From that reason they are frequently characterised as impecunious, poor or peasant nobles.

The paper analyzes formation of nobility as an independent social group in the early Hungarian kingdom. The first mention of the term "noble" (nobilis) appears in the sources of Hungarian origin in the Law 3 of the king Ladislas I. Persons designated in the contemporary society as nobles were people born into upper class and wealthy families, forming a group which would be nowadays termed "aristocracy". The appearance of the term "noble" is connected with social changes in the 70´s of the 11th century, when a group of extra privileged was extolled from previously compact group of freemen.

The article provides an overview of the current research on the notion, idea and perception of dynasties in medieval Europe. It deals with a variety of studies and books that focus on dynasty and dynastic historical writing within Central Europe, as well as outside this region. The main goal is to provide a selection of examples of how the notion of dynasty can be used in current historiographic discourse. First and foremost, dynasty in medieval studies seems to be (to a certain extent) another intellectual construct applied to the period in question.

The study deals with the topic of tithes from the county of Somogy, given to the monastery of Pannonhalma during the reign of king Stephen I. The first purpose of this article is to present an overview of the studies of medievalists dealing with the subject of monastic tithes and the letter of privilege for the Monastery of St. Martin on the ”holy mount of Pannonia“, and to summarize their opinions about the circumstances under which the tithes from Somogy county were donated to the monks of Pannonhalma.

This study focuses on the Chronica Boemorum by Cosmas of Prague, which is one of the most important narrative sources for Czech history in the era of the Přemyslid dynasty. An analysis of this literary work attempts to address the question of how the chronicler worked with the category of fidelity that is nowadays considered to be one of the fundamental ideas and widespread legal forms through which the medieval society expressed its hierarchical order.

In the Middle Ages a good relationship between the ruler and his people was built on loyalty (fidelitas). Loyalty to the king was also very important for the political order and preservation of the power of the ruler as well as his people (magnates, mounted warriors, bishops, abbots and provosts). The oath of personal fidelity, devotion and loyalty was a part of the ritual in strengthening the relationship between the lord and his man. In Medieval Latin the words fides and fidelitas had originally a religious meaning – believer, a Christian, and Faith.

The present paper studies and compares the beginnings of the Bohemian (Moravian), Polish and Hungarian Christianity. From the above-mentioned peoples Christianity must have reached the Bohemians (Moravians) and the Hungarians as a result of the missionary activity supported first by the Carolingian empire, and after its fall by the Eastern Frankish Kingdom. With the Bohemians (Moravians) it meant direct contact and conversion, however, the Hungarians were only indirectly influenced by Christianity (with the occupation of the Carpathian basin).

This study deals with changes and reversals in Hussite Wars´ interpretations which have been presented by the Slovak historiography since the 1960s until now. The Hussite Wars and their influence have been one of the most important topics of both Czech and Slovak national histories, either based on a nationalistic or class viewpoint. These wars were incorporated in both socialistic and nationalistic narrative.