The Kingdom of Hungary

2024/6/12 19:10 The Kingdom of Hungary - Renaissance and Reformation - Oxford Bibliographies
The Kingdom of Hungary

Szabolcs Varga
LAST REVIEWED: 29 JUNE 2011

LAST MODIFIED: 29 JUNE 2011
DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780195399301-0145
Introduction
The age of the Renaissance and the Reformation brought significant changes in the history of the Kingdom of Hungary.
The country had been a great power during the reign of Matthias I and under the Jagiellon dynasty, but the Ottoman
campaign of 1526 destroyed the medieval central administration. After the Battle of Mohács (29 August 1526), the kingdom
split into two parts. The western part was ruled by Ferdinand I of Habsburg, while its eastern territories came under the
rule of János Szapolyai (Zápolya). The latter part developed into Transylvania. As the capital city, Buda, was occupied by
the Ottomans in 1541, the central part of the Kingdom of Hungary became a border province of the Ottoman Empire. Thus,
the territory of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary split into three parts, and it became the buffer zone of two world powers.
However, the Kingdom of Hungary’s influence did not wear off, and the Hungarian systems of political institutions kept on
working under the control of the Habsburg dynasty. Belonging to the sphere of influence of the Ottoman Empire,
Transylvania could also be regarded as heir of the medieval Hungarian state; nevertheless, it had to operate in harsher
conditions. Apart from political events, Hungarian economy, society, and culture remained unified, where the impacts of all
the European intellectual trends (Renaissance, humanism, Reformation, and Catholic renewal) could be felt. Several
ethnic groups lived within the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, where different religions (Catholic, Orthodox, and Judaism)
could also be found. Some parts of the state (Transylvania, Slavonia, the Croatian Kingdom, Dalmatia) experienced a
certain autonomy, and thus the administration of the Kingdom of Hungary was of the nature of a composite state. The
Kingdom of Hungary in the 15th and 16th centuries developed close diplomatic relations with the Italian states, the
Habsburg hereditary provinces, and the Kingdom of Poland, whereas the weakened kingdoms of the Balkan became its
vassals in the late Middle Ages. The Hungarian state engaged in flourishing trade with Venice, the southern German
territories, and Poland. These connections survived well after the partition of the country.
General Overviews
Hungarian historical writing generally deals with the history of the Kingdom of Hungary in the 15th and 16th centuries
separately: the Battle of Mohács 1526 is considered an important dividing line. The first scholarly monographs were written
in the second half of the 19th century. The interpretation of social and intellectual changes started in the first half of the
20th century. In this period, single- or dual-authored works characterized history writing. Marxist historical writing
concentrated on economic history and the history of the peasantry, while several collections of studies were published as
well. Since the Hungarian change of regime (1990), historians have attempted to integrate the age of the Hungarian
Renaissance and that of the Reformation into a wider context: into both the history of the Habsburg Empire and that of the
Ottoman Empire.
Single- or Dual-Authored Works
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The first excellent overview of the Hungarian political history was a Protestant national work, Szalay 1853–1854. However,
Hóman and Szekfű 1935, which deals with Hungarian history from a Catholic point of view in a form of Geistgeschichte, is
more popular. Szakály 1990 abandons the traditional dividing line and offers a broad European context. Engel 2001 gives
an overall picture of medieval Hungary, while Kontler 2002 reveals the thousand years of Hungarian history. Eckhart 2000
treats the history of Hungarian law. Fichtner 2003 shows Hungarian changes from the perspective of the Habsburg Empire,
whereas Pálffy 2009 investigates these changes from a Hungarian point of view, integrating the 16th-century events into
the history of the monarchy.
Eckhart, Ferenc. Magyar alkotmány- és jogtörténet. 2d. ed. Edited by Barna Mezey. Budapest: Osiris Kiadó, 2000.
(History of the Hungarian constitution and law). Eckhart was a legal historian who wrote about the development of the
Hungarian administration and the change in the relationship between central and local public administration. The work is
still current and good for researchers.
Engel, Pál. The Realm of St. Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526. London and New York: I. B.
Tauris, 2001.
Deals with the history of the Kingdom of Hungary from the establishment of the Hungarian state. It stresses the spread of
the European intellectual trends in Hungary, and it also touches upon Hungarian peculiarities. Rich in information.
Fichtner, Paula Sutter. The Habsburg Monarchy 1490–1848: Attributes of Empire. Basingstoke, UK, and New York:
Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003.
A useful manual for both researchers and university students on the history of the Habsburg monarchy. The author
investigates the monarchy developing into a world power in this period as compared to England, Spain, and France, but he
also mentions the relations established with the different parts of the empire. As Royal Hungary was the strongest part of
the central European Habsburg monarchy, it is justified to analyze early modern Hungarian history from this perspective.
Hóman, Bálint, and Gyula Szekfű. Magyar történet. Vols. 2–3. Budapest: Magyar Királyi Egyetemi Nyomda, 1935.
(Hungarian history). A detailed study in which the authors use international works and sources. The period between 1458
and 1606 is written by Szekfű. It is indispensable for researchers and university lecturers and shows the spread and
impact of the Renaissance and Reformation, with the help of detailed social, economic, and cultural-historical analyses.
The author’s Catholicism can be clearly perceived, and he judges the Habsburg rule positively. The work was published
several times before the end of World War II.
Kontler, László. A History of Hungary: Millennium in Central Europe. London: Palgrave-Macemillan, 2002.
A general and impartial history of Hungary using international scholarly works. Reveals political, cultural, social, and
intellectual changes within a European context. It is a basic work for approaching Hungarian history and has been
published in the United States, the Czech Republic, and Russia.
Pálffy, Géza. The Kingdom of Hungary and the Habsburg Monarchy in the Sixteenth Century. CHSP Hungarian
Studies Series 18. Boulder, CO: Social Science Monographs, 2009.
The most recent synthesis of early modern Hungarian history. It was published before the Hungarian edition. After covering
late medieval conditions, the book focuses on the survival of Hungarian institutions. It also underlines the fact that the
Hungarian state had an important role within the Habsburg monarchy, as there was a mutual interdependence between the
two parties. Although there are not any church or intellectual historical analyses in the book, the author offers detailed
bibliographies on these topics.
Szakály, Ferenc. Virágkor és hanyatlás 1440–1711. Budapest: Háttér Lap- és Könyvkiadó, 1990.
(Heyday and decline, 1440–1711). A short, informative work written mainly for university students and teachers. It shows
international events as they relate to Hungarian events, which is something of a novelty. The author sums up the research
results, but he does not touch upon any problems.
Szalay, László. Magyarország története. Vols. 1–4. Leipzig: Geibel, 1852–1854.

(History of Hungary). The work is an overall introduction to Hungarian history that uses plenty of original sources. For the
Renaissance and the Reformation era: Volume 3 deals with the reign of Matthias I and that of the Jagiellon dynasty, while
Volume 4 concentrates on the period between 1526 and 1645. The work focuses on political history, and it is written from a
national point of view. Its facts are reliable, but the majority of its conclusions are out of date. It has been reprinted several
times.
Collections of Studies
The first collections of studies on Hungarian history were compiled in the 1960s. Formerly, single- or dual-authored works
had been popular, except for Domanovszky 1940, which reveals Hungarian intellectual culture. Studies in compliance with
the international trends are collected in Székely and Fügedi 1963, while Bak and Király 1982 contains studies devoid of
Marxist ideology. The massive overview of the factual material of in Pach 1985 was compiled by a study group, and the
English-speaking audience learned of its results from in Sugár, et al. 1990. Dávid and Fodor 1994 shows Hungarian history
in the mirror of the Habsburg-Ottoman diplomatic and military relations. Zombori 2004 focuses on the 15th-and 16th-
century history of central Europe. Kósa 2002 offers an overview on the whole of Hungarian intellectual culture. In
international collections of studies, Hungarian affairs are usually covered in a superficial manner.
Bak, János M., and Béla K. Király, eds. From Hunyadi to Rákóczi: War and Society in Late Medieval and Early
Modern Hungary. Boulder, CO: Social Sciences Monographs, 1982.
Contrary to the title, the book offers a general view of the history of the Kingdom of Hungary during the Renaissance and
the Reformation. Several studies reveal the course of the wars fought against the Ottoman Empire and their impact on
Hungarian economy and society. Many scholarly works cite this popular book.
Dávid, Géza, and Pál Fodor, eds. Hungarian-Ottoman Military and Diplomatic Relations in the Age of Süleyman the
Magnificent. Budapest: Loránd Eötvös University, Department of Turkish Studies, 1994.
The book reveals the main events of the history of the Kingdom of Hungary becoming the borderland of the Habsburg and
the Ottoman world powers. Many studies emphasize the military and foreign history of the Jagiellon era, the events
following the Battle of Mohács (and those of the Ottoman sultans’ campaigns), and the interrelation between national
defense and economy. A copublication with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of History.
Domanovszky, Sándor, ed. Magyar művelődéstörténet. 2 vols. Budapest: MTT, 1940.

(History of Hungarian culture). This outstanding work concentrates on the changes in church, intellectual, and social
history. Several thorough studies deal with the history of different ethnic groups and the spread of European intellectual
systems. It is easy to follow and full of data. Volume 2: Magyar Renaissance (Hungarian Renaissance); Volume 3: A
kereszténység védőbástyája (Bulwark of Christianity).
Kósa, László, ed. A Cultural History of Hungary. Budapest: Corvina Kiadó, 2002.
The relevant chapters are written by Iván Bertényi and István György Tóth. A wider concept of intellectual culture is
considered, and historical ecology and ethnic history also appear in the book. Its advantage lies in its diversity, but the
chapters are not unified and thus the book is eclectic. This book is less detailed than its predecessor, Domanovszky 1940.
Pach, Zsigmond Pál, ed. Magyarország története 1526–1686. Vol. 3, Magyarország története tíz kötetben. Edited by
Zsigmond Pál Pach and Ágnes R. Várkonyi, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1985.
(The history of Hungary in ten volumes. Vol. 3, The history of Hungary, 1526–1686). The work presents a synthesis of
Marxist historical writing and earlier results in two volumes, in a total of 1,800 pages. The volumes dealing with the period
before 1526 are still missing, thus it cannot provide a complete picture. As a result of its length and approach, the book is
difficult to use, but the chapters on economic history written by Vera Zimányi are still acceptable. A chronology and a
bibliography are helpful here.
Sugár, Peter F., Péter Hanák, and Tibor Frank, eds. A History of Hungary. Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
1990.
Studies written by Hungarian authors that sum up the results of Pach 1985. Its early modern chapters are really useful.
Due to its readable style, it is very popular, and there are several editions. Good for researchers and university students.
Székely, György, and Erik Fügedi, eds. La Renaissance et la Réformation en Pologne et en Hongrie. Budapest:
Akadémiai Kiadó, 1963.
Delves into issues of intellectual culture, the relationship between urbanization and the Reformation, and economic and
social history. The studies mostly neglect political events. Readers should ignore some Marxist terminologies appearing in
the work. It does not offer a unified picture but introduces new research fields.
Zombori, István, ed. Fight against the Turk in Central-Europe in the First Half of the 16th Century. Budapest:
Magyar Egyháztörténeti Enciklopédia Munkaközösség (METEM), 2004.
Based on modern results, with the cooperation of leading Polish and Hungarian historians, this book shows the preliminary
actions, the course, and the impacts of the conflict with the Ottoman Empire in central Europe. Reveals the similarities and
differences between Polish and Hungarian events. Unfortunately, it is difficult to obtain, but it is useful for researchers and
university lecturers.
Reference Works
The territory and the names of the larger areas of the Kingdom of Hungary changed several times in history, and Bak 1997
sums these up. Different political regimes considered the Renaissance and the age of the Reformation in different ways, as
evidenced in Vardy 1976. A precise chronology is the basis of most good research, and the first of these is Benda 1981.
Following World War I, the new states forming in the territory of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary also investigated their
medieval and early modern history, and Kosáry 2000–2008 deals with this particular history. For the chronology of the most
important historical figures’ lives, see Fallenbüchl 1988, Oborni 2002, and Szvák 2003. Engel 2001 shows the
computerized reconstruction of medieval Hungarian settlement structure, and that of the estate structure.
Bak, Borbála. Magyarország történeti topográfiája: A honfoglalástól 1950-ig. Budapest: MTA TTI, 1997.
(Historical topography of Hungary: From the conquest to 1950). Assists the work of university seminars dealing with the
historical geography of the Carpathian Basin with maps and practical exercises. The maps indicate the changes of the
church and lay public administration. It is an excellent educational aid and has several editions.
Benda, Kálmán, ed. Magyarország történeti kronológiája 4 vols. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1981.
(Historical chronology of Hungary). An in-depth manual listing the dates of the most important Hungarian events up to
1970. The first volume (Kezdetektől 1526-ig). contains the dates of the battles, peace treaties, and reigns up to the Battle
of Mohács, while the second volume (1526–1848) covers up to the revolution in 1848. The significant works of art are also
mentioned at the end of each year. Several dates are questionable, but it is usable in its entirety.
Engel, Pál. Magyarország a középkor végén: Digitális térkép és adatbázis. CD-ROM. Budapest: Térinformatika,
2001.
(Hungary at the end of the Middle Ages: Digital map and database). The names of the settlements found in medieval
charters have been written on maps, and next to the settlements their privileges, owners, and church infrastructure have
also been shown. Users can search for estates or noble families with the help of the easily usable program.
Fallenbüchl, Zoltán, ed. Magyarország főméltóságai, 1526–1848. Budapest: Maecenas Kiadó, 1988.
(Highest dignitaries of Hungary, 1526–1848). Collects the most important archontological data on the leading characters in
Hungarian political life and the members of the Royal Council advising the king. It is useful for research on family history
and administration.
Kosáry, Domokos. Bevezetés Magyarország történetének forrásaiba és irodalmába. Budapest: Osiris Kiadó, 2000–
2008.
(Introduction into the sources and literature of the history of Hungary). A basic manual for any research. Attempts to show
the places where researchers can find sources on the history of the different periods and areas. Good for an immersion in
the field. Also contains a precise bibliography of historical works.
Oborni, Teréz. Erdély fejedelmei. Budapest: Pannonica Kiadó, 2002.

(Princes of Transylvania). After the Battle of Mohács, Transylvania was developed in the eastern part of the Kingdom of
Hungary. It was controlled by the prince, who was elected from the area’s great landowners. This book contains their
modern biographies. An essential manual for research on modern Transylvania.
Szvák, Gyula, ed. Magyarország uralkodói. Budapest: Pannonica Kiadó, 2003.
(Rulers of Hungary). Scholarly manual with many interesting facts. Recognized authorities of certain eras summarize the
rulers of the Kingdom of Hungary from a Hungarian perspective. It cannot replace the detailed monographs on the rulers
but provides readers with a modern overview.
Vardy, Steven Bela. Modern Hungarian Historiography. Boulder, CO: Eastern European Monographs, 1976.
Although it is not the most updated work, this book is better than some historiographies written recently in Hungarian.
Provides an excellent basis for any research, as it rightly shows how ideas changed about the history of early modern
Hungary.
Primary Sources
Using primary archival sources is indispensable for basic research. The documents written before 1526 have been
organized into one large series. The majority of it is now on the database A középkori Magyarország levéltári forrásainak
adatbázisa. Many of the documents published after 1526 are in MHHD 1857–1948, MHH IIIa 1874–1917, and MHH IIIb
1875–1898. Another important source group is the works of historians, including the two most significant ones: Bonfini
1568 and Isthvanfi 1622. The lesser works are published in MHHS 1857–1906. The acts of the Hungarian Parliament (CJH
1899) are also part of the most important documents of the era.
A középkori Magyarország levéltári forrásainak adatbázisa.

(Database of archival documents of medieval Hungary). The database on the website of the National Archives of Hungary
is an important aid. Users can search among hundreds of thousands of charters on the basis of keywords. Several
documents in the constantly enlarged system can now be read in full. Free to use, it is recommended for researchers with
paleographic and Latin language skills.
Bonfini, Antonius. Rerum Hungaricarum Decades. Basel, Switzerland, 1568.

The work of a Humanist historian who wrote the history of Hungarian people from the beginning to 1496, at the request of
the ruler. It is the most important narrative source of the age of King Matthias I. It has become a guideline in latter periods.
Has a German translation, and several parts of it are published in Italian, too.
Corpus Juris Hungarici (CJH). With explanatory notes by Dezső Márkus. Budapest: Franklin, 1899.
Volume 1: Magyar törvénytár (Corpus Juris Hungarici) 1000–1526. Volume 2: Magyar törvénytár (Corpus Juris Hungarici)
1526–1608. Publishes the acts introduced by the Hungarian diets. An important source for researchers of political,
administrative, and military history.
Isthvanfi, Nicolaus. Historiarum de rebus Ungaricis libri XXXIV. Coloniae Agrippinae: Sumptibus Antonii Hierati,
1622.
The continuation of Bonfini’s work. The author wrote the history of Hungary between 1490 and 1613 on the basis of his
own research. It is very detailed and usually accurate. It has several editions and has also been translated into Hungarian.
Monumenta Historiae Hungarica I: Diplomataria (MHHD) I–XLII. Pest-Budapest, 1857–1948.
The series compiled on the basis of the German Monumenta Germaniae Historica publishes diplomatic documents relating
to medieval and early modern Hungarian history in original transcription.
Monumenta Historiae Hungarica II: Scriptores (MHHS) I–XXXVIII. Pest-Budapest, 1857–1906.

A faithful and critical publication of the lesser sources of Hungarian history. It includes works of historians from the first
sources to the end of the modern period. They are worth using together with charters and scholarly works.
Monumenta Historiae Hungarica IIIa: Monumenta comitialia regni Hungariae I–XII. 1526–1606. Edited by Vilmos
Fraknói. Budapest, 1874–1917.
The collection of sources created during the operation of the Hungarian Estates Parliament. It is useful for those interested
in public administration and governance history. Short regesta are attached to the mainly Latin sources, and the editor
writes a note on each parliamentary session.
Monumenta Historiae Hungarica IIIb: Monumenta comitialia regni Transsylvaniae I–XXI. 1540–1699. Edited by
Sándor Szilágyi. Budapest, 1875–1898.
The most important work on the state formed in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Includes data in the field of
governance, diplomacy, military, and social history. Recommended for researchers.
Journals and Series
There are no journals dealing with Hungarian history in the Renaissance or the Reformation. Of the many journals,
Századok, Hadtörténelmi Közlemények, Történelmi Szemle, Aetas Történettudományi folyóirat and Fons Forráskutatás és
Történeti Segédtudományok deserve attention. One can find studies on the Renaissance and Reformation periods in all of
them. In addition, several lesser journals might contain significant writings. Of the periodicals, Humanizmus és Reformáció
is the most important, as it publishes monographs on these periods.
Aetas: Történettudományi folyóirat. 1985–.

(Aetas: Journal of History and Related Disciplines). The journal published by the lecturers of the University of Szeged.
Publishes four issues a year. Often focuses on the 15th–16th centuries. It is recommended for those interested in the
history of Ottoman Hungary.
Fons Forráskutatás és Történeti Segédtudományok. 1994–.

A journal created by young archivalists, where plenty of various source publications and case studies are published
concerning the particular periods. It is extremely useful for understanding certain issues. It is mainly recommended for
researchers.
Hadtörténelmi Közlemények. 1888–1897, 1910–1943, 1954–.

The scholarly journal of the Military History Institute and Museum. Publishes four issues a year. It has played an important
role in the development of Hungarian military history writing. Volumes from 1997 to 2003 can be accessed online.
Humanizmus és Reformáció. 1973–.

(Humanism and reformation). Publication forum of the Renaissance Research Workshop formed within the Institute for
Literary Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Publishes the monographs and treatises on Hungarian
Renaissance, humanism, and Reformation. The volumes are very different thematically, but most of them concentrate on
intellectual history and culture, with special attention on the trends of Reformation and the heresies following them.
Századok. 1867–.
The official journal of the Hungarian Historical Society and the most-cited Hungarian journal. Issued six times a year.
Those who subscribe can read all the issues on the website with the help of a search engine. The second and fourth
through fifth issues of each volume contain writings dealing with the age of the Renaissance and that of the Reformation.
Történelmi Szemle. 1958–

The main subject of the Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences is Hungarian history, mainly in the
medieval and early modern period. Publishes four issues a year. It mainly contains the works of the institute’s researchers.
It is not widely available electronically, only some issues from the years of 1997–1999 can be read online.
The Hungarian State in the Renaissance
There are only a few works that give a broad overview of the period, as the historians regarded the age of King Matthias I
(1458–1490) as different from the Jagiellon era (1490–1526). Thus, mostly the great syntheses, such as Hóman and
Szekfű 1935, offer a unified overview of the Renaissance. From 1945 to 1990, there were not any monographs written in
Hungary. Bak 1973 reveals the relationship between the Hungarian nobility and the royal power. Engel, et al. 1998 deals
with a wider chronology, Engel 2001 focuses on the Middle Ages, while Tringli 2003 interprets the events of the era until
1541.
Bak, János M. Königtum und Stände in Ungarn im 14–16. Jahrhundert. Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1973.
Focuses mainly on the relationship between the Hungarian nobility and the king, and shows the estates’ attempts to
increase their privileges. Also deals with the era following the death of King Matthias. The most important sources can be
found in the appendix.
Engel, Pál. The Realm of St. Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526. London: I. B. Tauris, 2001.
The work is a result of decades-long research and useful for both lecturers and researchers. Focuses on political and
economic history, and the chapters on intellectual culture are short. Offers a modern picture of the Hungarian Middle Ages,
mainly of the changes in administration. The author compares Hungary to the other European states on the basis of this
change. It also reveals the Western elements and the Eastern traditions of the realm.
Engel, Pál, Gyula Kristó, and András Kubinyi. Magyarország története 1301–1526. Budapest: Osiris Kiadó, 1998.
(History of Hungary, 1301–1526). A didactic university coursebook with a modern approach. The part focusing on the
Jagiellon era is written by Kubinyi and mostly deals with political history. There is also a short chapter on intellectual
culture. End-of-chapter bibliographies can help those who are interested.
Hóman, Bálint, and Gyula Szekfű. Magyar történet. Vol. 2. Budapest: Magyar Királyi Egyetemi Nyomda, 1935.
(Hungarian history). Szekfű authors the relevant chapters. Rich in information, but the author’s statements are often
exaggerated. He overestimates the reign of King Matthias I but shows the Jagiellon era very negatively. Good information
here but not totally trustworthy.
Tringli, István. Az újkor hajnala: Magyarország története 1440–1541. Budapest: Vince Kiadó, 2003.
(Dawn of the modern age: History of Hungary, 1440–1541). A scholarly educational work whose typography helps readers.
Concentrates on the relationship between the nobility and the royal court. Several common public beliefs are refuted in a
special chapter, as the author takes an objective approach to the era. He regards the Jagiellon era as a positive period and
supports his view with much relevant data.
Politics and Governance
The first book aimed at showing all the aspects of the reign and administration of King Matthias I is Lukinich 1940. Kubinyi
1999 and Kovács 2008 alter the positive picture of his reign on the basis of recent research. Kubinyi 1991 deals with the
fights for the throne following the death of Matthias. An example of the negative evaluation of the politics of the Jagiellon
era is in Fraknói 1886, which is rebutted by Kubinyi 1992. The last years of the era (1521–1526) are treated completely
differently by Réthelyi 2005, and the causes behind the behavior of the Hungarian nobility are revealed in Kubinyi 2006.
Fraknói, Vilmos. Ungarn vor der Schlacht von Mohács (1524–1526). Auf Grund der päpstlichen Nuntiaturberichten.
Budapest: Wilhelm Lauffer, 1886.
Reveals the state of the Kingdom of Hungary using the reports of papal envoy Antonio Burgio. However, Burgio was
biased against the Jagiellon dynasty, especially against Mary of Austria. Moreover, it was a typical humanist attitude to
criticize royal courts. Thus, Fraknói’s statements should be accepted only with skeptcism.
Kovács, Péter E. Mátyás, a reneszánsz király. Budapest: Officina, 2008.

(Matthias, the Renaissance king). Shows the rise of the Hunyadis, the early youth of Matthias, his ascension to the throne,
his reign, and the humanist statesman with European intellect. Because of its readability, it is a popular scholarly work
intended for a wide audience.
Kubinyi, András. “Két sorsdöntő esztendő (1490–1491).” Történelmi Szemle 33 (1991): 1–55.
(Two crucial years, 1490–1491). A summary of the problems of the succession to the throne following the death of King
Matthias. Reveals the motivation and support of the different candidates. It points out that the Hungarian political elite
properly refused the claim of Matthias’s son, János Corvinus, and chose the stronger Jagiellons instead of the Habsburgs.
The book clears up many misunderstandings and helps evaluate the events.
Kubinyi, András. “A Jagelló-kori Magyarország történetének vázlata.” Századok 126 (1992): 288–317.
(Draft of the history of Hungary in the Jagiellon era). Reveals the conditions of late medieval Hungary, using a broad
context. It also shows the relationship between politics, economy, and society. Readers learn about the erosion of royal
power and the limitations of the political activity of the nobility. Its shortness hinders in-depth explanations, but a rich
bibliography helps further research.
Kubinyi, András. Matthias Corvinus: Die Regierung eines Königreichs in Ostmitteleuropa 1458–1490. Herne,
Germany: Verlag Tibor Schäfer, 1999.
Summarizes Kubinyi’s decade-long research. Deals with the rise of the Hunyadis and their internal and foreign policy.
Outstanding in that it reveals the problems of succession and offers the most updated information. Also useful for
researchers.
Kubinyi, András. “Az 1505. évi rákosi országgyűlés és a szittya ideológia.” Századok 140 (2006): 361–375.
(The Diet of Rákos in 1505 and the “Szittya” ideology). This study shows the formation of the identity of the Hungarian
nobility with the help of the events of the diet. The anti-German attitude started during the reign of King Matthias made the
subordination to the Ottoman Empire easier. However, the author acquits the Hungarian political elite of the responsibility,
and he does not blame them for the fall of the state. The work is indispensable for understanding the issue of noble
mentality.
Lukinich, Imre, ed. Mátyás király: Emlékkönyv születésének ötszázéves fordulójára. Vols. 1–2. Budapest: Franklin,
1940.
(King Matthias: A book in honor of the 500th anniversary of his birth). The collection of studies written with the most
sources so far. Focuses on political history, but it deals with all the issues of the period. The depiction of the king is more
positive than the one accepted nowadays.
Réthelyi, Orsolya, et al., eds. Mary of Hungary: The Queen and Her Court, 1521–1531. Budapest History Museum,
30 September 2005–9 January 2006. Slovenská národná galéria, 2 February–30 April 2006. Budapest: Budapest
History Museum, 2005.
Mary of Austria arrived at the Hungarian royal court in 1521, which changed the political situation in many respects. The
author claims that 1521 was a sharp dividing line, as several reforms started with the arrival of the queen. The studies and
the descriptions of the exhibits deal with the politics and representation of the last years of the Jagiellon court.
Particularism
Transylvania, led by the voyvode, and Dalmatia, Croatia, and Slavonia, all controlled by the ban, had special legal status
within the Kingdom of Hungary. These territories were also ruled by the king of Hungary and the Royal Council, but they
enjoyed considerable jurisdictional and public administrative autonomy. For a summary, see Mályusz 1940. Transylvania is
mainly dealt with by Hungarian researchers (Mályusz 1988, Kubinyi 1988), and Köpeczi 2001 is a useful mongraph. A
recent work on Transylvanian history is Oborni 2004. The South Slav territories were mostly written about by Croatian
historians, and such writings can be found in Klaić 1982 and Beuc 1985. These territories’ role within Hungary has been
recently dealt with in Pálosfalvi 2009 and Varga 2008.
https://www-oxfordbibliographies-com.3178.top/display/document/obo-9780195399301/obo-9780195399301-0145.xml?rskey=RzNvBr&result=… 10/43
Beuc, Ivan. Povijest institucija državne vlasti Kraljevine Hrvatske, Slavonije i Dalmacije: pravno-povijesne studije.
Zagreb, Croatia: Zrinski, 1985.
(History of the state power organization of the Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia). A summary written for legal
historians. It helps reconstruct the middle level of Croatian public administration, but the description of their relationship
with the central administrative units is superficial and in many places inaccurate.
Klaić, Vjekoslav. Povijest Hrvata od nastarijih vremena do svršetka XIX stoljeća. Vols. 4–5. Edited by Trpimir
Macan. Zagreb, Croatia: Nakladni zavod Matice hrvatske, 1982.
(History of the Croats from the origins to the end of the nineteenth century). So far the most wide-ranging summary of the
history of Croatian people. It uses plenty of sources, and its information is still reliable. It overemphasizes the
independence of the Croatian state, thus its administrative historical conclusions are sometimes wrong.
Köpeczi, Béla, et al., eds. History of Transylvania. 3 vols. Boulder, CO: Social Sciences Monographs, 2001.
The part dealing with the Middle Ages is written by László Makkai. General summary of the history of Transylvania that
uses a rich collection of scholarly works. A long chapter deals with church and intellectual culture. Romanian historians
criticize the work for nationalist political reasons.
Kubinyi, András. “Erdély a Mohács előtti évtizedekben.” In Tanulmányok Erdély történetéről: Szakmai
konferencia, Debrecenben, 1987. Október 9–10. Edited by István Rácz, 65–77. Budapest: Csokonai Kiadó, 1988.
(Transylvania in the decades before Mohács). A paper from the Studies on the History of Transylvania Professional
Conference, Debrecen, 9–10 October 1987. Explains the status of Transylvania within the Kingdom of Hungary,
particularly in comparison with Slavonia. The local political elite included Saxons, Székelys, and Hungarians, but the
Romanians were not represented among the estates. A main characteristic of the Transylvanian public administration was
the wide authority of the voyvode.
Mályusz, Elemér. “A Magyarság és a nemzetiségek Mohács előtt.” In Magyar művelődéstörténet. Vol. 2, Magyar
Renaissance. Edited by Sándor Domanovszky, 105–125. Budapest: MTT, 1940.
(The Magyars and the nationalities before the Battle of Mohács). The Kingdom of Hungary had many ethnicities within its
borders: apart from people of Turkish origin, Romanians, Saxons, Slovaks, Ruthens, Serbs, Croatians, and Slavonians
also lived here. The book shows the history of these ethnic groups, and much of its information and conclusions are still
reliable.
Mályusz, Elemér. Az erdélyi magyar társadalom a középkorban. Budapest: MTA TTI, 1988.
(The Hungarian society in Transylvania in the Middle Ages). Completed in 1947, this is the unabridged and elaborate
version of the Transylvanian sections of the original 1940 monograph. Compares Transylvania’s characteristics with those
of the Hungarian estates institution. A precise summary of Transylvanian noble society.
Oborni, Teréz. “From Province to Principality: Continuity and Change in Transylvania in the First Half of the
Sixteenth Century.” In Fight against the Turk in Central-Europe in the First Half of the 16th Century. Edited by
István Zombori, 165–181. Budapest: METEM, 2004.
A short description of the development of the Transylvanian state in the late Middle Ages. The territory controlled by the
voyvode was part of the Kingdom of Hungary: at that time it was not an independent state. The partly independent
Principality of Transylvania formed in the second half of the 16th century as a result of external causes.
Pálosfalvi, Tamás. “Bajnai Both András és a szlavón bánság (Szlavónia, Európa és a törökök, 1504–1513).” In
Honoris causa: Tanulmányok Engel Pál tiszteletére. Edited by Tibor Neumann and György Rácz, 251–301.
Budapest: MTA TTI-Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem Bölcsészettudományi Kara, 2009.
(András Both of Bajna and the Banate of Slavonia [Slavonia, Europe, and the Ottomans, 1504–1513]). The work shows
the opportunity for Slavonia’s independent political activity in an international context. It is an analysis based on sources
that also deals with public administration and military affairs. It also underscores the fact that independent Slavonian and
Croatian kingdoms did not exist in the Middle Ages.
Varga, Szabolcs. “Az 1527. évi horvát-szlavón kettős királyválasztás története.” Századok 142 (2008): 1075–1135.
(The history of the double royal election of 1527 in Croatia and Sclavonia). Analyzes the status of Slavonia and Croatia
within the Kingdom of Hungary and the relationship between the two provinces. Also shows the developmental peculiarities
of the two territories and the early nature of their relationship with the Habsburgs from a new perspective. According to the
author, Ferdinand I of Habsburg became the ruler of Croatia as a result of his being the king of Hungary, and therefore an
independent Croatian state did not exist.
Foreign Policy and Military History
The relationships with the Ottoman Empire, Italy, and the other kingdoms of central Europe are the most important issues
of foreign policy in the period. Fraknói 1902 deals with the relationship between the papal court and the Hungarian kings,
Nehring 1989 shows the background of the Austrian campaigns of King Matthias, while Kosáry 1978 reveals the foreign
policy of the Jagiellon kings. Rúzsás 1986 and Rázsó 1990 offer a complex picture of the relationship between national
defense and diplomacy. Király 2002 provides readers with more modern analyses. Szabó 2009 is the newest military
historical explanation of the fall of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary.
Fraknói, Vilmos. Magyarország egyházi és politikai összeköttetései a római Szent-Székkel. Vol. 2, 1418–1526.
Budapest: SzIT Tudományos és Irodalmi Osztálya, 1902.
(Hungary’s Ecclesiastical and political relations with the Holy See). The relationship with the papacy was an important
factor in medieval diplomacy, and the Hungarian kings had particularly strong connections with the Holy See. The popes
often interfered in Hungarian internal fights, and they also helped with the organization of the defense against the Turks.
The book deals with these issues, but it is difficult to read, as the author often gets lost in the details.
Király, Béla K., and László Veszprémy, eds. A Millennium of Hungarian Military History. Boulder, CO: Social
Sciences Monographs, 2002.
Shows the logistic background of the campaigns and the difficulties of mobilizing the Hungarian Army. Also deals with the
costs of national defense and emphasizes the fact that Hungarian resources were not enough to fight the rising Ottoman
Empire.
Kosáry, Domokos. Magyar külpolitika Mohács előtt. Budapest: Magvető Könyvkiadó, 1978.
(Hungarian foreign policy before the Battle of Mohács). One of the few works dealing with modern diplomatic history. It
reveals the deterioration of the international conditions in the Jagiellon era, the change in the interest of the Ottoman
politics, and the central European impact of the Habsburg-Valois conflict.
Nehring, Karl. Matthias Corvinus, Kaiser Friedrich III, und das Reich: Zum hunyadisch-habsburgischen Gegensatz
im Donauraum. 2d ed. Munich: Oldenbourg, 1989.
One of the most important foreign political aims of King Matthias was to form a central European empire following the
conquest of Austria and Bohemia and obtain the title of Holy Roman emperor. Thus, he wanted to establish peace with the
Ottoman Empire, and he even cooperated with the empire on certain matters. Nehring effectively fleshes out this
complicated situation.
Rázsó, Gyula, and László V. Molnár, eds. Emlékkönyv Mátyás király halálának 500. Évfordulójára. Budapest: Zrínyi
Kiadó, 1990.
(A book in honor of the 500th anniversary of King Matthias’s death). Of these nine studies, three deal with foreign policy.
Gyula Rázsó reveals the Turkish connections and Matthias’s defensive efforts along the southern border. Josef Macek
shows the stages of the struggle for the Czech royal title, while Zsuzsa Teke analyzes the relationship between Matthias
and the Italian city-states. Will help readers to understand Matthias’s diplomatic aims.
Rúzsás, Lajos, and Ferenc Szakály, eds. Mohács: Tanulmányok a mohácsi csata 450. évfordulója alkalmából.
Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1986.
(Mohács: Studies commemorating the 450th anniversary of the Battle of Mohács). The eleven studies in this volume deal
with the foreign policy and military history. They reveal the late medieval phases of the Turkish-Hungarian wars, the
strengthening of the Ottoman Army, and the role of the Habsburgs in the defense of the area before 1526. Readers learn
about the interrelation between the Persian and the European theaters of war and the course of the Battle of Mohács. The
conclusions of the articles form the basis of modern syntheses.
Szabó, János B., and Ferenc Tóth Mohács 1526. Soliman le Magnifique prend pied en Europe centrale. Paris:
Economica, 2009.
A detailed analysis of the campaign of 1526 and a presentation of all the most updated related scholarly works. It acquits
the Hungarian military leadership of the responsibility for the defeat. It almost neglects the relationship between national
defense and economy but reveals the military characteristics of the period.
Economy and Society
Relatively few works deal with the history of late medieval economy and society apart from the history of the elite. The
lower social layers started to draw the historians’ attention only in the 1930s. The results of the research started at that
time are shown in Szabó 1975 and Fügedi 1986. For the literate Hungarian intellectuals, see Bónis 1971. Kubinyi 1998
offers an in-depth analysis of some important issues and a summary of the research results. Rady 2000 deals with the
structure of the Hungarian noble society, while Neumann 2003 attempts to find answers for the crisis phenomena of the
Hungarian economy. One of these answers is the stagnation of the population, clearly seen in tax lists, as Kubinyi 2001
claims. Draskóczy 2000 places the issue within an international context.
Bónis, György. A jogtudó értelmiség a Mohács előtti Magyarországon Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1971.
(Intellectuals trained in law in Hungary before Mohács). There are few sources on Hungarian literacy; thus, it is difficult to
reconstruct the groups of learned intellectuals. Bónis identifies the church and lay intellectuals trained in law who worked in
public administration. Many of them did not attend universities but rather studied in Hungarian schools.
Draskóczy, István. A tizenötödik század története. Budapest: Pannonica Kiadó, 2000.

A university textbook dealing with the entire 15th century. Its chapters on economy and society are rather informative. Due
to the research field of the author, the book also covers Hungarian salt and precious metals mining and trade.
Fügedi, Erik. Kings, Bishops, Nobles and Burghers in Medieval Hungary. Edited by J. M. Bak. London: Variorum
Reprints, 1986.
Contains writings dealing with the history of the Hungarian elite, the middle nobility, and the burghers. The aristocrats were
also involved in the leading of the country, and thus the careers of certain families can be useful in analyzing social
mobility. The book makes obvious that there is a correlation between urbanization and the appearance of mendicant orders
in Hungary, and that the burghers had a strong relationship with noble society.
Kubinyi, András. König und Volk im spätmittelalterlichen Ungarn: Städteentwicklung, Alltagsleben und Regierung
im mittelalterlichen Königreich Ungarn. Herne, Germany: Verlag Tibor Schäfer, 1998.
Helps readers to acquaint themselves with the participants of the central administration as well as the significant members
of the ecclesiastical society. The chapters on Hungarian urbanization are particularly important. The author considers
market towns with village status as the major driving force of Hungarian social and economic development. The work also
reveals that the Hungarian political crisis arising at the end of the Middle Ages intensified the already existing economic
and social crisis.
Kubinyi, András. “A késő középkori Magyarország történeti demográfiai problémái.” In Történeti Demográfiai
Évkönyv. Edited by Tamás Faragó and Péter Őri, 105–119. Budapest: KSH, 2001.
(Historical demographic problems of late medieval Hungary). A fundamental issue of medieval Hungarian social history is
the exact population. As there are not any exact sources, the estimates vary between 2.3 and 4 million. Kubinyi thinks the
number of the population was 3.3 million, and this study supports his view.
Neumann, Tibor. “Telekpusztásodás a késő középkori Magyarországon” Századok 137 (2003/4): 849–884.
(Heathing in late medieval Hungary). Heathing in Hungary started in the second half of the 15th century. As a result of the
increasing tax burdens, families often shared a single household, and the lands of the deserted villages were used for
animal tending. This change led to the decrease of tax bases and royal revenue, and the expansion of the Hungarian
peasants also stopped. This led to social and economic crisis.
Rady, Martyn. Nobility, Land and Service in Medieval Hungary. Basingstoke, UK, and New York: Palgrave, 2000.
This book analyzes the composition, financial status, and the retainer relationship of the county nobility participating in the
diets. As they formed the body of the estates institution, they constituted one of the most important social groups
threatened by the economic crisis at the end of the period. Published in association with SSEES, University College
London.
Szabó, István. A magyar mezőgazdaság története a XIV. Századtól az 1530-as évekig. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó,
1975.
(History of Hungarian agriculture from the 14th century to the 1530s). The majority of the population of the Kingdom of
Hungary was villein and worked in agriculture. The monograph deals with the space structure and operation of Hungarian
villages, such as the relationship of the communities with the land. One of the most important activities is wine making,
which leads to capital production and the formation of a rich civic-peasant layer that adopted different intellectual trends.
The Church and Intellectual Culture
Pásztor 1940 was the first Hungarian church historian to show the existence of zealous social religiousness in the
Kingdom of Hungary at the end of the Middle Ages. Szűcs 1974 also supports this idea when showing the spiritual
influence of Observantist Franciscans on peasant movements. Andrić 2000 shows folk religiousness with the help of the
cult of John of Capistrano. Using abundant sources, Mályusz 1971 reveals the socialization, self-image, and tasks of the
ecclesiastical society. His work was further complemented by Köblös 1994, which investigates the clergy of four chapters.
Kubinyi 1999 gives some examples of aristocratic religiousness, analyzes the careers of high priests, and broadens our
knowledge on everyday religiousness. Kovács and Szovák 2009 investigates the careers of late medieval humanists from
the aspect of intellectual culture. Török 2006 is an excellent overview on church organization, liturgy, and the history of
religiousness. Good for university students.
Andrić, Stanko. The Miracles of St. John Capistran. Budapest: Central European University Press, 2000.
John of Capistrano was one of the most popular Franciscans of his age. He participated in the defense of Belgrade in
1456, and following his death he was buried in Ilok on the bank of the Danube. Several miraculous healings happened at
his grave, which were listed during the process of his canonization. The author analyzes these reports from a social and
social-psychological perspective, and from the point of view of the history of religious orders.
Köblös, József. Az egyházi középréteg Mátyás és a Jagellók korában: A budai, fehérvári, győri és pozsonyi
káptalan adattárával. Budapest: MTA TTI, 1994.
(The middle layers of ecclesiastical society during the time of King Mathias Corvinus and the Jagiellos: With the database
of the chapters of Buda, Székesfehérvár, Győr, and Pozsony). The members of the chapters formed the spiritual elite of
the medieval society. Köblös investigates the members of the four most important chapters, compiles an archontology,
analyzes their careers, and shows their most important stages.
Kovács, E. Péter, and Kornél Szovák, eds. Infima Aetas Pannonica: Studies in Late Medieval Hungarian History.
Budapest: Corvina, 2009.
A collection of thirteen studies dealing with late medieval Hungarian intellectual culture. It includes works on Franciscan
and Pauline writers, the famous library (Corvina) of King Matthias, and the libraries of certain dioceses. The book does not
provide the readers with a comprehensive picture of Hungarian intellectual culture but offers several case studies.
Kubinyi, András. Főpapok, egyházi intézmények és vallásosság a középkori Magyarországon. Budapest: METEM,
1999.
(High priests, church institutions and religiosity in medieval Hungary). Twenty-two studies deal with the relationship
between the church and the state, the significant members of the clergy, church institutions, and late medieval religiosity.
The bishops’ residences and other church institutions influenced urban development. Relating to the appointment of the
priests, Kubinyi proves that the principle of cuius region eius religio was not applied in Hungary, as the patrons let the
communities choose their priests.
Mályusz, Elemér. Egyházi társadalom a középkori Magyarországon Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1971.
(Ecclesiastical society in medieval Hungary). The author identifies the different groups of Hungarian clergy and those of
intellectuals. The work also charts the changes in intellectual life, careers, and self-image in the 14th–16th centuries. It
proves convincingly that one cannot speak about the secularization of the clergy, but that personal religiousness became
the basis of the Reformation.
Pásztor, Lajos. A magyarság vallásos élete a Jagellók korában. Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, 1940.
(Hungarian religious life in the Jagiellon era). Late medieval religious life is shown in the mirror of shrines, pilgrimages,
religious foundations, and fraternities. In compliance with European trends, personal religiousness spread in Hungary,
which was controlled by the Observantist Franciscans. The results of the work can hardly be found in any scholarly works,
as the book was banned in the Communist era.
Szűcs, Jenő. “Ferences ellenzéki áramlat a magyar parasztháború és a reformáció hátterében.” Irodalomtörténeti
Közlemények 78 (1974): 409–435.
(The Franciscan oppositonist current in the background of Peasant War and the Reformation). The Peasant War in 1514
was not a movement of the poor. Szűcs proves that the richest civic-peasants formed the spine of the peasant army, and
their spiritual leaders were Observantist Franciscans preaching strong social criticism.
Török, József. A tizenötödik század magyar egyháztörténete. Budapest: Mikes Kiadó és Tanácsadó KFT, 2006.
(Ecclesiastical history of Hungary in the fifteenth century). An important work that fills a gap in scholarship, mainly for
university students studying church history. It offers an overall picture of the 15th century, the religious orders, and their
role in education. It is not really thorough, but it analyzes the late medieval Christian Church comprehensively, from a
Catholic perspective.
Primary Sources
The most significant source publications were issued in the 19th century. Among these one can find charters (Kukuljević
1862), diaries (Sanudo 1879–1903), and envoy reports (Fraknói 1884). In the 20th century, scholars aimed at better text
publication regarding charters (Döry, et al. 1898) and literary works (Olahus 1938). Bak, et al. 2005 enables an
international audience to learn about the most important Hungarian legal historical source.
Bak, János M., Péter Banyó, and Martyn Rady, eds. The Customary Law of the Renowned Kingdom of Hungary: A
Work in Three Parts Rendered by Stephen Werbőczy (The “Tripartitum”). Idyllwild, CA: Charles Schacks Jr., 2005.
The work, originally published in 1517, is a collection of the formerly existing customary laws. Offers insight into the legal
background of public administration and the legal privileges of the society. The collection was valid until 1848. The book
has gone through many editions, and it has a Hungarian edition as well. It is the basis of all legal historical works.
Döry, Franciscus, György Bónis, Géza Érszegi, and Zsuzsa Teke, eds. Decreta regni Hungariae: Gesetze und
Verordnungen Ungarns 1458–1490. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1989.
A critical publication of the acts and regulations introduced under the reign of King Matthias I. It is useful for the
researchers of Hungarian administration, state structure, and estates institutions.
Fraknói, Vilmos, ed. Monumenta Vaticana historiam regni Hungariae illustrantia. Ser. 2, Vol. 1, Relationes oratorum
pontificorum 1524–1526. Budapest: Franklin, 1884.
The reports of the papal envoy staying in Buda on the Hungarian conditions. The court intricacies are detailed, but there
are plenty of claims that cannot be justified. As a result of his criticism of the royal court, the Hungarian royal power is
weaker in the description than in reality.
Kukuljević, Joannes, ed. Jura regni Croatiae, Dalmatiae et Slavoniae. 2 vols. Zagreb, Croatia: Typis dris. Ludovici
Gaj, 1862.
A collection of the privileges of medieval Dalmatia, Croatia, and Slavonia. Serves as an informational foundation that forms
the basis of the works of later generations. The text is reliable, but the selection is not complete. Useful when used with
other sources.
Olahus, Nicolaus. Hungaria: Athila. Edited by Colomannus Eperjessy, and Ladislaus Juhász. Budapest: K. M.
Egyetemi Nyomda, 1938.
The work of the humanist high priest is the description of Hungary in the Jagiellon era. Olahus wrote it in the Low
Countries. It is primarily a literary work, but the author, as an eyewitness, offers precise characterizations. Contains
important information concerning the characterization of certain towns and regions as well as agricultural production.
Sanudo, Marino. I diarii di Marino Sanuto. Edited by Rinaldo Fulin, Federico Stefani, Nicolo Barozzi, Guglielmo
Berchet, and Marco Allegri. 58 vols. Venice: F. Visentini, for the Deputazione veneta di storia patria, 1879–1903.
Due to the vivid diplomatic connections between Venice and Buda, there is plenty of information relating to Hungary in this
diary that was also published in Hungarian professional journals. The diary offers an insight into the history of central
Europe and that of the Mediterranean at the beginning of the 16th century.
The Age of the Ottoman Domination (1526–1606)
The era of the Reformation boasts a wide body of scholarly literature, and the majority of the works focus on the events of
the war against the Ottomans. Of the early works, Salamon 1887 was ahead of its time, as it characterized the Ottoman
system rather precisely. Acsády 1897 investigates the era from the aspect of national independence and disapproves of
Habsburg measures. The two long syntheses written in the 20th century (Hóman and Szekfű 1935, cited under Single- or
Dual-Authored Works, and Pach 1985, under Collections of Studies) pay much attention to the era, but the former is
biased against the Habsburgs, and the latter is difficult to use due to its faulty structure. The most reliable book at the time
is Bárdossy 1943. Several monographs have been published since 1990. Ágoston 1992 is the shortest, and Pálffy 2000 is
a didactic work with a logical structure. Szentpétery 1999 is a collection of more extensive studies, and Fazekas 2001
covers Hungarian history within the empire. Winkelbauer 2003 also deals with the relationship between the Hungarian
estates and the court within the history of the Habsburg monarchy.
Acsády, Ignácz. Magyarország három részre oszlásának története, 1526–1608. Budapest: Athenaeum Irodalmi és
Nyomdai Részvénytársulat, 1897.
The author regards the 16th century as the age of the loss of Hungarian independence. He considers the Habsburg
system to be harmful, and because of the author’s anti-German sentiment, the book focuses on royal Hungary. Offers
plenty of good information, but its opinions are old fashioned.
Ágoston, Gábor. A hódolt Magyarország. Budapest: ADAMS Kiadó, 1992.

(Hungary under Ottoman rule). This short political historical overview concentrates on the course of the Ottoman conquest.
It summarizes briefly the changes in the life of the civil population and touches upon the presence of the Muslim culture in
Hungary.
Bárdossy, László. Magyar politika a mohácsi vész után. Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, 1943.
(Hungarian politics after the disaster at Mohács). This is a study of the period between 1526 and 1551, written mainly on
the basis of diplomatic documents. It reveals the Hungarian impacts of the French, Spanish, Ottoman, and Venetian
foreign political aims and proves that the region moved on a forced path, between the politics of the two world powers.
Fazekas, István, and Gábor Ujváry, eds. Kaiser und König. Eine historische Reise: Österreich und Ungarn 1526–
1918. Ausstellung im Prunksaal der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek. 08. März – 01. Mai 2001. Budapest:
Collegium Hungaricum, 2001.
This catalog explains the role of the Kingdom of Hungary within the Habsburg monarchy. Treats the Habsburgs’ Hungarian
politics in a wider context and emphasizes the international nature of the royal court.
Pálffy, Géza. A tizenhatodik század története. Budapest: Pannonica Kiadó, 2000.

(History of sixteenth-century Hungary). Written for university students, this book covers the rise of the Habsburg and
Ottoman administrations, as well as the secession of Transylvania. Also mentions the spread of the Reformation and the
attendant ethnic changes.
Salamon, Franz. Ungarn im Zeitalter der Türkenherrschaft. Leipzig: H. Haessel, 1887.

The work looks at the era as it was affected by the changes in public administration. It deals with the Ottoman system
thoroughly, but Transylvania and royal Hungary slip into the background. Its conclusions are still accepted as relevant.
Szentpétery, József, ed. Cross and Crescent: The Turkish Age in Hungary (1526–1699). Budapest: Enciklopédia
Humana Egyesület, 1999.
These studies cover the most important issues of 16th- and 17th-century Hungarian history. The work deals with all the
three parts of the country in detail and mostly concentrates on social history and intellectual culture. Available on CD-ROM.
Winkelbauer, Thomas. Ständefreiheit und Fürstenmacht: Länder und Untertanen des Hauses Habsburg im
konfessionellen Zeitalter. 2 vols. Vienna: Ueberreuter, 2003.
The intertwining of the power of the estates and that of the king took place similarly in all the provinces of the Habsburg
Empire. The Hungarian political elite also had a word in imperial decision making, and the Hungarian nobility also took part
in the control of royal Hungary.
The Course of the Conquest
Contrary to the ample body of scholarly literature, there does not exist a monograph on the course of the conquest. Szántó
1980 collects data, while Kruhek 1995 shows the military events of the territories south of the River Drava. Pálffy 1999
reveals the history of one of the administrative units of the Habsburg defense system, but summaries of the other units
have not been written yet. Perjés 1989 offers a peculiar theory on the causes of the Ottoman conquest, while Korpás 2008
shows the international context through the Hungarian politics of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Finkel 1988 reveals the
events of the Long War closing this period. Nagy 1961 offers an insight into the rising led by Transylvanian prince István
Bocskai. Dávid and Fodor 2000 is a modern collection of studies on the operation of border defense and the connection
between war and society.
Dávid, Géza, and Pál Fodor, eds. Ottomans, Hungarians, and Habsburgs in Central Europe: The Military Confines
in the Era of the Ottoman Conquest. Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 2000.
Reveals the construction and operation of the Christian and Ottoman border fortress system. Touches upon the financial
background of the war and its impact on society. It offers a complete picture of the events of the 16th century.
Finkel, Caroline. The Administration of Warfare: The Ottoman Military Campaigns in Hungary, 1593–1606. Vienna:
Verband der wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaften Österreichs, 1988.
The Long War was the first modern war in the Carpathian Basin where logistics and supply were important issues. It
influenced the development of military and central administration. Unfortunately, the work does not deal with the years
before 1593, although the campaigns started earlier.
Korpás, Zoltán. V. Károly és Magyarország (1526–1538). Budapest: Századvég Kiadó, 2008.

(Emperor Charles V and Hungary, 1526–1538). For Charles V, the Carpathian Basin was a secondary theater of war, and
apart from the campaign in 1532, he hardly helped his brother, Ferdinand I. As Charles V did not help his brother, the
Ottoman Empire could conquer more land in the region.
Kruhek, Milan. Krajiške utvdre i obrana Hrvatskog kraljevstva tijekom 16. stoljeća. Zagreb, Croatia: Institut za
suvremenu povijest, 1995.
(Border fortresses and defense of the Croatian Kingdom in the 16th century). A precise monograph on the military
operations of the border area south of the Drava. Touches upon the issues of the supply of the castles and the control and
the development of military technology.
Nagy, László. A Bocskai szabadságharc katonai története. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1961.
(The military history of the war of independence of István Bocskai). The Habsburg treasury was empty by the end of the
Long War, and thus the government asked further favors of the Hungarian nobility. Transylvanian prince István Bocskai
managed to get the support of those discontented with the situation and invaded royal Hungary when the military
operations had been launched against the Ottomans. The uprising brought a quick end to the Long War. This book
contains the history of the war of independence.
Pálffy, Géza. A császárváros védelmében: A győri főkapitányság története 1526–1598. Győr, Hungary: Győr-
Moson-Sopron Megye Győri Levéltára, 1999.
(In the defense of the Imperial City: History of the border defense system around Győr against the Ottomans, 1526–1598).
Shows the construction and the operation of the most important Hungarian border defense system, the one defending
Vienna, using archival sources. Though Germans dominated its control, the Hungarian estates also had an important role
in its maintenance. The conquest of Transdanubia can be reconstructed precisely on the basis of the work.
Perjés, Géza. The Fall of the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary: Mohács 1526–Buda 1541. Boulder, CO: Social
Sciences Monographs, 1989.
In this veteran writer’s opinion, Süleyman I did not want to occupy Hungary, as he realized he could not pacify it because
of its distance from Istanbul. However, it is now obvious that the Ottoman political decisions were brought about for
different reasons (see Fodor 2000, under Ottoman Hungary). However, Perjés reconstructs the events of the first fifteen
years accurately.
Szántó, Imre. A végvári rendszer kiépítése és fénykora Magyarországon 1541–1593. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó,
1980.
(The development and zenith of the border fortress system in Hungary, 1541–1593). The author writes the history of the
castle wars on the basis of the most important scholarly literature. The events are not interpreted thoroughly, and
sometimes there are errors of fact. However, the work fills a gap. Should be used with caution, however.
The Habsburg Administration in the Kingdom of Hungary
There were two important novelties in the 16th-century history of the Kingdom of Hungary. While two-thirds of the territory
of the country was lost, in the remaining part the royal court sitting abroad began modernizing with the participation of the
Hungarian nobility. It was not a rapid change; rather, the medieval structure changed slowly. Ember 1946 charts the slow
development of public administration. Fuchs, et al. 2005 focuses on the system created by Ferdinand I. For the changes in
military leadership, see Pálffy 2001; and for the reorganization of financial administration, read Edelmayer, et al. 2003 and
Rauscher 2004. Gecsényi 2003 explores the Hungarian official elite. Habsburg rulers preserved Hungarian traditions even
in the field of representation, as Pálffy 2007 explains while considering the coronations. At the end of the 16th century,
Rudolph II wanted to change his relationship with the Hungarian nobles, as Vocelka 1985 describes.
Edelmayer, Friedrich, Maximilian Lanzinner, and Peter Rauscher, eds. Finanzen und Herrschaft: Materielle
Grundlagen fürstlicher Politik in den habsburgischen Ländern und im Heiligen Römischen Reich im 16.
Jahrhundert. Munich and Vienna: Oldenbourg, 2003.
Investigates the tax income of the provinces of the 16th-century Habsburg Empire and reveals the composition of the
expenditure. It is obvious that royal Hungary provided the treasury with significant income, and the labor of the people
living here was inevitable in acquiring this income. The book is very useful for its broad perspective.
Ember, Győző. Az újkori magyar közigazgatás története Mohácstól a török kiűzéséig. Budapest: MOL, 1946.
(History of the Hungarian administration in the modern period, from the Battle of Mohács until the expulsion of the Turks
from Hungary). A basic work on Hungarian public administration. Discusses the fields of administration from the central
governmental institutions to the county level. It also touches upon the privileged communities and areas. However, its main
value is its demonstration of the joint control of the estates and the ruler.
Fuchs, Martina, Teréz Oborni, and Gábor Ujváry, eds. Kaiser Ferdinand I: Ein mitteleuropäischer Herrscher.
Münster, Germany: Aschendorff, 2005.
A collection of studies offering works on Ferdinand I’s central reforms, the integration of the Hungarian nobility in Vienna,
and the conceptions of Transylvania. Invites comparison with the Czech and Austrian examples.
Gecsényi, Lajos. “A döntést előkészítő hivatalnoki elit összetételéről: A Magyar Kamara vezetői és magyar
tanácsosai a 16. században.” In Magyar évszázadok: Tanulmányok Kosáry Domokos 90. születésnapjára. Edited
by Mária Ormos, 100–113. Budapest: Osiris Kiadó, 2003.
(The composition of the decision making administrative elite: The leaders and counselors of the Hungarian Chamber in the
16th century). The Hungarian Chamber sitting in Bratislava was the center of the Hungarian financial administration. It
maintained its role as the representative of Hungarian interests all through the period, while it operated as executive of
royal power. People working here became members of the Hungarian administrative elite and played an important role in
preparing the country for modernization.
Pálffy, Géza, ed. Gemeinsam gegen die Osmanen: Ausbau und Funktion der Grenzfestungen in Ungarn im 16. und
17. Jahrhundert: Katalog der Ausstellung im Österreichischen Staatsarchiv 14. März–31. Mai 2001. Budapest:
Collegium Hungaricum Wien, 2001.
The most important task of the 16th-century Habsburg administration was the building up of an effective border defense
system against the Ottoman Empire. The leadership successfully overcame this problem and created a system thousands
of kilometers long in Hungary. Pálffy presents its formation and structure and proves that the Hungarian estates could have
a say in how things were operated.
Pálffy, Géza. “Krönungsmähler in Ungarn im Spätmittelalter und in der Frühen Neuzeit: Weiterleben des
Tafelzeremoniells des selbständigen ungarischen Königshofes und Machtrepräsentation der ungarischen
politischen Elite. Teil 1.” Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung 115 (2007): 85–111.
Covers the survival of the medieval Hungarian royal ceremonies in the early modern age. Proves that the Habsburg rulers
attempted to preserve Hungarian traditions and that the Hungarian royal title had a favored place in their titulature. The
second part of the article is published in MIÖG 116 (2008): 60–91.
Rauscher, Peter. Zwischen Ständen und Gläubigern: Die kaiserlichen Finanzen unter Ferdinand I. und Maximilian
II. (1556–1576). Munich and Vienna: Oldenbourg, 2004.
After they had been challenged militarily, the Habsburg rulers attempted to make their institutions, like their financial
administration, more effective. This was the basis of a successful defense policy and the modernization of public
administration. The reform was successful in the Austrian provinces, where the nobility continuously lost its influence
against the strengthening royal power. Due to the vicinity of the front, the Hungarian estates preserved their positions.
Vocelka, Karl. Rudolf II: Und seine Zeit. Vienna: Böhlau, 1985.
A monographic work on the ambivalent reign of Rudolpf II of Habsburg. Analyzes the deeds of the deeply Catholic ruler
from an Austrian and Czech point of view. Rudolph II lived for the expulsion of the Ottomans from the Carpathian Basin.
However, his instruments were inadequate, and his fall was inevitable. The Hungarian estates also had an important role,
but the book largely neglects this fact.
Croatia, Slavonia, and Transylvania
The provinces (Slavonia and Transylvania) and the partner state (Croatia) of the Kingdom of Hungary developed differently
in the era of the Reformation. The territories of Croatia and Slavonia almost collapsed, and they had a common internal
public administration; for more on this, see Guldescu 1970. Their military defense and military administration were
controlled from Vienna; for more on this topic see Rothenberg 1960. Pálffy 2002 studies their relationship with the Kingdom
of Hungary. For society, economy, and intellectual culture, see Budak 2008. Transylvania eventually became an
independent state, and Barta 1979 reveals the stages of its formation, while Feneşan 1997 looks at it from a Romanian
perspective. However, its territory changed constantly (see Lukinich 1918). Arens 2001 looks at the relationship between
Transylvania and the Habsburg dynasty.
Arens, Meinolf. Habsburg und Siebenbürgen 1600–1605: Gewaltsame Eingliederungsversuche eines

ostmitteleuropäischen Fürstentums in einen frühabsolutistischen Reichsverband. Cologne: Böhlau, 2001.
Following a short overview, the book analyzes the causes of the Habsburg-Transylvanian conflict arising at the end of the
Long War. Uses archival sources and international scholarly literature. Publishes the most important sources at the end of
the book. Unfortunately, the book’s maps are inaccurate.
Barta, Gábor. Az erdélyi fejedelemség születése Budapest: Gondolat Kiadó, 1979.

(The making of the principality of Transylvania). Follows the formation of the principality of Transylvania, born as a result of
political chance. As an example of popular literature, it does not contain accurate citations, but there is a short bibliography.
A well-balanced work.
Budak, Neven. Hrvatska i Slavonija u ranom novom vijeku. Zagreb, Croatia: Leykam International, 2008.
(Croatia and Slavonia in the early modern age). A monograph showing the administration and everyday life of the South
Slav provinces in the 16th century. Although the part on public administration is sometimes inaccurate, the chapters on
economic and social history are very useful.
Feneşan, Cristina. Constituirea principatului autonom al Transilvaniei. Bucharest, Romania: Editura

Enciclopedică, 1997.
(The making of the independent principality of Transylvania). Treats the 16th-century history of Transylvania on the basis of
archival sources. Mostly reliable but overemphasizes the similarities with the neighboring Romanian principalities.
Guldescu, Stanko. The Croatian-Slavonian Kingdom, 1526–1792. The Hague: Mouton, 1970.
Offers a general picture of the history of the two provinces. Information is reliable, but the book is a bit superficial. It does
not chart the course of state development and considers the province as a unified nation-state.
Lukinich, Imre. Erdély területi változásai a török hódítás korában 1541–1711. Budapest: MTA, 1918.
(Territorial changes of Transylvania in the age of Turkish expansion, 1541–1711). The territory of the Principality of
Transylvania extended over a part of eastern Hungary called Pertium. As a result of the Ottoman invasion, some of its
southern areas, such as Timişoara and its environs, were lost in the 16th century, but it could enlarge its territory in the
northwest at the cost of royal Hungary. The book offers reliable maps and data that clearly show the territorial changes.
Pálffy, Géza. “Horvátország és Szlavónia a XVI-XVII. századi magyar királyságban.” Fons (Forráskutatás és
Történeti Segédtudományok) 9 (2002): 107–121.
(Croatia and Slavonia within the 16th–17th-century Kingdom of Hungary). This study explains the role of Croatia and
Slavonia within the Kingdom of Hungary, the forms of relations, and the mechanism of central administration on the basis
of new sources. Despite their wide autonomy, the two provinces were part of the Kingdom of Hungary in the era of the
Reformation, and they had a special relationship with the central Hungarian institutions and the Hungarian Parliament.
Rothenberg, Gunther Erich. The Austrian Military Border in Croatia, 1522–1747. Urbana: University of Illinois
Press, 1960.
Ferdinand I of Habsburg offered constant military aid for Croatia and Slavonia from 1522. Many local nobles served as his
troops, who had stronger and stronger connections with the Austrian provinces. The author shows the numbers and
salaries of soldiers serving in this territory, using central sources. However, the book neglects the use of local resources.
Primary Sources
Of the sources of the period, Gévay 1840–1842 is the earliest diplomatic document. Its continuation is Nehring 1995.
Takáts, et al. 1915 and Bayerle 1972 publish the correspondences of the Pashas of Buda, who were considered the
military leaders of Ottoman Hungary. These are great sources relating to the everyday military connections and the course
of the conquest. Thury 1893–1896 is a collection of the Ottoman narrative sources. Pálffy 1995 is a study on the
maintenance costs of the border defense system. The most useful sources on the relationship between the Habsburgs and
the princes of Transylvania are the contracts between the two parties (see Gooss 1911). Šišić 1912–1918 is indispensable
for the South Slav changes, as it contains the documents of the Croatian and Slavonian provincial assemblies.
Bayerle, Gustav. Ottoman Diplomacy in Hungary: Letters from the Pashas of Buda (1590–1593). Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1972.
The continuation of Takáts’s work (Takáts, et al. 1915), which reveals the local preliminaries of the Long War. The Christian
military successes triggered the attack of the Ottoman Empire trying to overcome internal problems, which caused intense
suffering for the civil population.
Gévay, Anton von. Urkunden und Actenstücke zur Geschichte der Verhältnisse zwischen Österreich, Ungern und
der Pforte im XVI. und XVII. Jahrhunderte: Aus Archiven und Bibliotheken: Gesandtschaften König Ferdinands I.
an Sultan Suleiman I. 3 vols. Vienna: Schaumberg, 1840–1842.
Contains the diplomatic documents written from 1526 to 1541. Offers information on all the important issues of the period,
and is also useful for the relationship between the Habsburg brothers and an understanding of Venetian and French
foreign policy.
Gooss, Roderich. Österreichische Staatsverträge: Fürstentum Siebenbürgen (1526–1690). Vienna: Adolf

Holzhausan, 1911.
A collection of agreements between the principality of Transylvania and the Habsburg monarchy. It is extremely useful for
those interested in central European foreign policy. The smaller shifts in the Habsburg-Ottoman connections can also be
learned from this book.
Nehring, Karl, et al., eds. Austro-Turcica 1541–1552: Diplomatische Akten des habsburgischen
Gesandtschaftsverkehrs mit der Hohen Pforte im Zeitalter Süleymans des Prächtigen. Munich: Oldenbourg, 1995.
The continuation of Gévay 1840–1842. Contains the reports of the diplomatic missions between Vienna and the Porte.
Offers important information on diplomatic and military history and explains the motivation of certain decision-making
lobbies.
Pálffy, Géza. “A magyarországi és délvidéki végvárrendszer 1576. és 1582. évi jegyzékei.” Hadtörténelmi
Közlemények 108 (1995): 114–185.
(The registers of the Hungarian and Croatian-Slavonian border fortresses of 1576 and 1582). Relates that there was a
strong relationship between military and financial administration, and a successful defense depended on the amount of
resources available. The Court Council of War managed to survey the necessities and costs of the maintenance of the
Hungarian border fortress system successfully, and tried to plan an effective defense.
Šišić, Ferdo. Hrvatski saborski spisi/Acta comitialia regni Croatiae, Dalmatiae et Slavoniae. 5 vols. Zagreb,
Croatia: Dionička tiskara, 1912–1918.
A collection of the documents of the assemblies held by the fusion of Croatian and Slavonian estates, 1526–1630. It is
useful for issues of public administration, the stratification of the noble society, and the change in the relationship with the
Habsburg rulers and the Hungarian Parliament. Also useful for those interested in military history.
Takáts, Sándor, and Ferencz Eckhart and Gyula Szekfű, eds. A budai basák magyar nyelvű levelezése, I: 1553–
1589. Budapest: Franklin, 1915.
(The Hungarian correspondence of the Pashas of Buda, Volume 1: 1553–1589). A useful collection of sources for everyday
life in the border castles, the trade in prisoners and weapons, and the taxation and the operation of communications
networks. Looks at the careers of Christian and Ottoman soldiers and the survival strategy of those living in the conquered
areas.
Thury, József: Török történetírók. 2 vols. Budapest: MTA, 1893–1896.
(Turkish historians). A collection of Ottoman narratives considering Hungarian military events, historians’ works, and
significant sources. Their value varies: there are detailed and authentic narratives and literary works, but several
translations are dated or based on incomplete manuscripts.
Ottoman Hungary
The area of the northwestern border province of the Ottoman Empire gradually grew in the 16th century, and eventually
new administrative institutions appeared there. The first writing on the topic is Salamon 1887, cited under The Age of the
Ottoman Domination. Szakály 1981 clears up the issue of the presence of the Hungarian government, and Hegyi 1995
explains the nature of the Ottoman institutions. Dávid 1997 dwells upon public administration and demographic changes in
the province, and Fodor 2000 interprets the Ottoman ideology relating to the Hungarian areas. Ágoston 2000 reveals the
costs of the maintenance of the Ottoman border fortresses, while Ágoston 2005 shows the Ottoman military force and their
armament. The results of the recently popular archeological research can be seen in Gerelyes and Kovács 2002.
Ágoston, Gábor. “The Costs of the Ottoman Fortress-System in Hungary in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Centuries.” In Ottomans, Hungarians, and Habsbugs in Central Europe: The Military Confines in the Era of
Ottoman Conquest. Edited by Géza Dávid, and Pál Fodor, 195–228. Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 2000.
The maintenance of the Ottoman border fortresses was rather unprofitable in the first decades, as the Ottoman Empire
had to supplement the soldiers’ payment. The system could have been reorganized in the second half of the 16th century,
but due to economic difficulties in the 1580s, inadequate resources were allocated for the border fortresses. The
Hungarian province never provided enough income to meet the costs of the conquest.
Ágoston, Gábor. Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
This book is about the disciplined Ottoman Army, and especially about the development of the weapons industry, which
enabled sultans to make their conquests. European experience contributed to the development of the artillery all through
the age. However, the Ottomans could not keep up with the novelties of the European military revolution.
Dávid, Géza. Studies in Demographic and Administrative History of Ottoman Hungary. Istanbul: Isis Press, 1997.
A collection of studies on the building up of the Ottoman military administration and the ethnic and demographic changes
of the conquerors. The autobiographies of the beys suggest that the majority of the conquerors came from the Balkan
Peninsula and that there were only a few leaders from Anatolia. The Hungarian population dwindled soomewhat in the
16th century, but the immigration of the South Slavs from the Balkans increased from the 1580s.
Fodor, Pál. In Quest of the Golden Apple: Imperial Ideology, Politics, and Military Administration in the Ottoman
Empire. Istanbul: Isis, 2000.
These twenty studies analyze the internal mechanism of the imperial elite, the financial system of the state, certain aspects
of military organization, and some of the phases of the Ottoman-Hungarian relationships in a wider context. The studies
are linked loosely and do not offer a comprehensive look but focus on concrete issues instead.
Gerelyes, Ibolya, and Gyöngyi Kovács eds. A hódoltság régészeti kutatása. Budapest: Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum,
2002.
(Archeological research of Ottoman Hungary). Hungarian archeology has produced several impressive results recently,
and this collection of studies attempts to show some of them. It mainly concentrates on the conquerors’ material culture,
and their eating and building habits. The majority of the conquerors were superficially Islamized Orthodox people who were
not successful in social mobility. For them, even Hungarian border territories were more attractive than the bleakness of
their homeland.
Hegyi, Klára. Török berendezkedés Magyarországon. Budapest: MTA TTI, 1995.

(Ottoman rule in Hungary). The Ottoman conquest resulted in the organization of military administration whose leader was
the Pasha of Buda, and under him were the beys of the sancaks. The kadi held the judicial power, but in many places the
Hungarian population attained independent judical power and kept living by Hungarian laws. Thus, the Balkanian system
could not take root here, and the Christian institutions preserved their influence in Ottoman Hungary as well.
Szakály, Ferenc. Magyar adóztatás a török hódoltságban. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1981.
(Hungarian taxation in Ottoman Hungary). Reveals that the Hungarian state was also present in Ottoman Hungary after
the conquest. The nobility kept taxing their estates and the border soldiers controlled the civil population apart from Sriem.
This process further strengthened in the 17th century.
The Conquerors’ Society and Culture
Until the first half of the 20th century, Hungarian historical writing regarded the local representatives of the Ottoman Empire
only as conquerors and was not interested in their society and culture. Fekete 1944 is the first work that deals with the
coexistence of the original population and the newcomers regarding the history of Budapest. Káldy-Nagy 1970 offers a
general picture of the everyday life of Ottoman Hungary on the basis of Ottoman tax lists. The new generation investigates
the traces of Muslim culture in an increasingly detailed way. Gerő 1980 offers a catalogue of all the known Ottoman
buildings, and Sudár 2004 publishes information on baths. Ágoston 1993 lists the mosques and schools operating in South
Transdanubia, and Ágoston and Sudár 2002 looks at the Bektashi monasteries. The conquerors’ music and literature
enriched Hungarian poetry as well (see Sudár 2005). However, Hegyi 2001 reminds us that the majority of Ottomans
serving in Ottoman Hungary were of Orthodox and Catholic origins, and were thus not ideal representatives of Muslim
culture.
Ágoston, Gábor. “Muszlim hitélet és művelődés a Dunántúlon a 16–17. században.” In Tanulmányok a török
hódoltság és a felszabadító háborúk történetéből: A szigetvári történész konferencia előadásai a város és a vár
felszabadításának 300. évfordulóján. Edited by Szita, László, 277–293. Pécs: Baranya Megyei Levéltár, 1993.
(Muslim religious life and intellectual culture in Transdanubia in the 16th–17th centuries). The spiritual demands of the
Muslims serving in the border fortresses were satisfied by the mosques, and their children could study in different schools.
Ágoston ranks the settlement on the basis of the number of these types of institutions, and it becomes clear that religious
foundations were established in the safer areas. Although several poets lived in the territory, Ottoman Hungary was a
borderland of Ottoman culture.
Ágoston, Gábor, and Balázs Sudár. Gül baba és a magyarországi bektasi dervisek. Budapest: Terebess Kiadó,
2002.
(Gül Baba and the Bektashi dervishes). Covers the Hungarian history of the Besktashis, the popular dervishes of the
Muslim faith. It reveals their role in the Islam and explains their popularity with the population. Its data can be used in an
international comparison.
Fekete, Lajos. Budapest a törökkorban. Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, 1944.
(Budapest in the Ottoman era). Uses plenty of sources to reveal the history of the Hungarian capital, where a significant
Hungarian population lived together with the newly settled Bosnians, Jews, and Serbs. However, the different ethnic
groups rarely mixed and had separate internal administrations. The city remained the economic center of the Carpathian
Basin where important Muslim construction took place.
Gerő, Győző. Az oszmán-török építészet Magyarországon (Dzsámik, türbék, fürdők). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó,
1980.
(Ottoman-Turkish architecture in Hungary [Mosques, tombs, and baths]). The author, an archeologist, shows the Turkish
monuments of Hungarian cities and reveals the background of their construction and their characteristic traits. The
mosques used for prayer, the tombs called “türbes,” and the baths necessary for ritual washing were the most important
Muslim buildings. Several of the facts here are outdated.
Hegyi, Klára. “Magyar és balkáni katonaparasztok a budai vilájet déli szandzsákjaiban.” Századok 135 (2001):
1255–1313.
(Hungarian and Balkan soldier-peasants in the Southern Sanjaks of the Vilayet of Buda). It is a surprising fact that the
majority of the soldiers serving in the Ottoman border castles came from the north Balkan Peninsula, and several
Hungarians also joined the Ottoman Army. Thus, the conflict was not a Muslim-Christian or a Hungarian-Ottoman one. It is
correct to speak of the conquerors’ South Slav ethnicity.
Káldy-Nagy, Gyula. Harácsszedők és ráják: Török világ a XVI. századi Magyarországon. Budapest: Akdémiai
Kiadó, 1970.
(Tax collectors and rajahs: Ottoman world in 16th-century Hungary). Reveals the course of the change of control and
proves that the conquering authorities were aware of the former legal system and administration and attempted to create a
system like that. Offers some case studies illustrating the failure of the pacification of Ottoman Hungary, where the original
population preserved its identity and regarded the Muslims as conquerors.
Sudár, Balázs. “Bahts in Ottoman Hungary.” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 57 (2004): 391–
437.
This work looks at baths, which were indispensable elements of Muslim religious foundations. The presence of the many
baths helps determine the volume of Muslim construction.
Sudár, Balázs. A Palatics-kódex török versgyűjteményei: Török költészet és zene a XVI. századi hódoltságban.
Budapest: Balassi Kiadó, 2005.
(Turkish anthologies of the Palatics Codex: Turkish poetry and music in 16th-century Ottoman Hungary). The analysis of
the codex born around 1588 and containing songs written in Turkish, Persian, and Arabic languages proves that in
Ottoman Hungary there existed literature and poetry of a high standard. Among this elite there were soldiers serving in this
region. The Turkish itinerant poetry of Ottoman Hungary influenced Hungarian martial songs, which suggests an intense
cultural relationship among the people living in this area.
Primary Sources
The best sources of the social and economic history of Ottoman Hungary are defters, or tax registers, of which Velics and
Kammerer 1886–1890 offers the first selection. However, their work was discontinued for a long time, and the newer text
publications are from the 1960s. Some selected works: Káldy-Nagy 1960 publishes the lists of Baranya county in southern
Hungary, while Káldy-Nagy 1985 contains the documents of Pest county. On the basis of the listed names, historians might
learn about the size of the population, the ethnic groups, and the size of the migration. Fekete and Káldy-Nagy 1962
contains customs registers and ledgers of the Ottoman treasury, which are the most important indicators of the trade in
Ottoman Hungary. Dávid and Fodor 2005 contains the orders of the Imperial Council relating to Hungary and offers an
insight into the everyday life of the local administration. Publishing the payment lists, Hegyi 2007 promotes research on the
social stratification throughout the ranks of Ottoman soldiers.
Dávid, Géza, and Pál Fodor, eds. “Affairs of State Are Supreme.” In The Orders of the Ottoman Imperial Council
Pertaining to Hungary (1544–1545, 1552). Budapest: MTA TTI, 2005.
Contains the decisions concerning Hungary made by the most important decision-making body of the Ottoman Empire, the
Imperial Council. Apart from the significant diplomatic and political decisions, the work shows data on some local affairs
and appointments. Contains reliable information when used together with Christian sources. The titles of the published
documents are translated into English.
Fekete, Lajos, and Gyula Káldy-Nagy, eds. Budai török számadáskönyvek 1550–1580. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó,
1962.
(Turkish ledges of Buda, 1550–1580). The customs registers contain the names of tradesmen and their goods in daily
division. The ledgers list the incomes and expenditures day by day. This helps reconstruct the economic and everyday life
of Buda and also offers useful data for researchers interested in industry, trade, and demography.
Hegyi, Klára. A török hódoltság várai és várkatonasága. 3 vols. Budapest: MTA TTI, 2007.
(Fortresses and fortress soldiers of Ottoman Hungary). Contains the payment lists of the Ottoman castles in Hungary. As
these often include the homeland of the soldiers, they also reveal their ethnicity. The changes in the number of defenders
of certain fortresses suggest information on the political and military conditions. The work also contains a glossary and a
rich bibliography.
Káldy-Nagy, Gyula. Baranya megye XVI. századi adóösszeírásai. Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság,
1960.
(16th-century tax lists of Baranya County). Hungarian publication of the defters containing the jizya tax levied on the non-
Muslim citizens of Baranya County. Includes the name of the settlement and the taxpayers, which allows for the analysis of
the continuity of population. There are some problems in transcription; therefore one should use it with caution when
determining the ratio of craftsmen.
Káldy-Nagy, Gyula. A budai szandzsák 1546–1590. évi összeírásai: Demográfiai és gazdaságtörténeti adatok.
Budapest: Pest Megyei Levéltár, 1985.
(The defters of the Sancak of Buda, 1546–1590: Demographic and economic data). The book contains five defters about
the 665 settlements of the Sancak of Buda. At each settlement, the record includes the number of the listed population,
their names, marital status, and the amount of the tax. From this, historians can learn about demographic change, major
agricultural activity, and land usage of the community.
Velics, Antal, and Ernő Kammerer. Magyarországi török kincstári defterek. 2 vols. Budapest: MTA Történeti
Bizottság, 1886–1890.
(Ottoman defters in Hungary). An often-cited work of scholarly literature that is also a selection of several defters. Defters
are tax lists. Unfortunately, the basis of the selection is not mentioned, and thus much original information has been lost.
There are several problems in transcription as well, so it is worth using the later editions, such as Káldy-Nagy 1985.
Economy
The economy and the society of the Kingdom of Hungary remained unified even after the division of the country into three
parts. Its analysis in an international context started in the 1960s, when the discipline of economic history flourished.
Hungary remained important to Western trade, mainly in the cattle business (see Westermann 1979). The Ottoman
conquest had a minor role in the transformation of the Hungarian economy, and its crisis was caused by international
changes at the end of the period (see Zimányi 1987). There was an active Western foreign trade in the middle of the 16th
century, but Gecsényi 2007 draws attention to the volume of southern trade, which has not been investigated thoroughly
due to the lack of sources. Pach 1994 can be regarded as a summary. Another important product of the Kingdom of
Hungary was wine, but nobody has written a monograph on it yet. Benyák and Benyák 2002 deals with smaller issues.
Precious metals mining had already passed its prime, but it still produced significant income (see Paulinyi 2005). However,
since research on settlement history is even more difficult because of a lack of source material, the economic conditions of
only a few settlements are known. Németh 2004 deals with the cities of upper Hungary.
Benyák, Zoltán, and Ferenc Benyák, eds. Borok és korok: Bepillantás a bor kultúrtörténetébe. Budapest: Hermész
Kör, 2002.
(Wines and eras: A glance into the cultural history of wine). Five essays deal with the wine production and wine trade of the
age. In the late medieval period, Sriem produced the best wines, which were mainly sold by tradesmen from Pest and
Buda. The importance of Tolna, Baranya, Pest, and Hegyalja increased after the Ottoman devastation. The economic crisis
did not hit the industry because it concentrated on national markets. Unfortunately, not all the essays have a bibliography.
Gecsényi, Lajos. “Turkish Goods and Greek Merchants in the Kingdom of Hungary in the 16th and 17th
Centuries.” Acta Orientalia 60 (2007): 55–71.
The importing of Turkish goods was already significant at the end of the Middle Ages, but its volume grew during the
Ottoman domination. Greek merchants replaced German tradesmen, which deepened the Balkanian nature of the
Hungarian economy.
Németh, István H. Várospolitika és gazdaságpolitika a 16–17. századi Magyarországon (A felső-magyarországi

városszövetség). Budapest: Gondolat Könyvkiadó, 2004.
(Urban and economic policies in 16th- and 17th-century Hungary [the city alliance of upper Hungary]). Although little is
known about early modern Hungarian urban development, the central administration and military administration strongly
influenced the life of the important settlements. In Košice the presence of the chamber and that of the high captain gave an
impetus for industrial development but significantly hindered urban autonomy. The book is difficult to read and often
inconclusive.
Pach, Zsigmond Pál. Hungary and the European Economy in Early Modern Times. Aldershot, UK: Variorum, 1994.
A synthesis of his earlier works, the author uses plenty of scholarly literature and sources, but the Marxist concept here is
questionable. The author misguidedly thinks the ever-increasing power of the landlords caused the deterioration of the
villeins’ lives and the economic crisis. However, the facts presented here are mostly reliable.
Paulinyi, Oszkár. Gazdag föld—szegény ország: Tanulmányok a magyarországi bányaművelés múltjából. Edited
by János Búza and István Draskóczy. Budapest: Budpesti Corvinus Egyetem, 2005.
(Rich land—poor country: Studies on the past of Hungarian mining). Fifteen studies deal with the 15th–16th-century history
of Hungarian salt, iron, and precious metals mining. Some of them are based on important registers, but the focus is on the
social impacts of mining. It is useful for its history of technology.
Westermann, Ekkehard, ed. Internationaler Ochsenhandel (1350–1750): Akten des 7th International Economic
History Congress, Edinburgh 1978. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1979.
In-depth study dealing with cattle trade to the West, based on customs registers. The development of western Europe
beginning in the 15th century increased the demand for Hungarian cattle. The two destinations of cattle trade were Italy
and Germany. The 17th-century European wars ended this boom. However, the authors overemphasize the role of the
export in the Hungarian economy as a whole.
Zimányi, Vera. Economy and Society in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Hungary (1526–1650). Budapest:
An economic historian’s overall analysis of economic history reveals that the profit from the export did not flow into
industry, and the Hungarian economy had little capital. This was the reason for the failure of modernization. The
investigated changes start in the middle of the 15th century, but the author does not deal with this period. Foreign trade is
overemphasized here.
Society
The first scholarly summary of Hungarian society in the Reformation era is Hóman and Szekfű 1935, cited under Single- or
Dual-Authored Works, but it mainly focuses on the aristocracy. The attention turned toward the peasantry after 1948. The
chapters on social history in Pach 1985, under Collections of Studies), General Overviews also concentrate on this class.
More and more research has dealt with the issue of development of the middle classes, of which Szakály 1995 is the most
mature. Accordingly, the subject of intellectuals has also attracted more attention (see Zombori 1988). Derived from source
publications also favored in the Communist era, Maksay 1990 is a precise overview of the noble society. Research on
nobility has had a resurgence since 1990, and Pálffy 2002 looks at several groups within the aristocracy. An important
issue of social history is the investigation of the demographic and ethnic changes of the population (see Kovacsics 1997).
Varga 1981 deals with half-nobility serving in the army, and Kaser 1997 focuses on soldier peasants; both are about social
groups on the periphery. Despite these results, a summary of Hungarian social history in the Reformation era has yet to be
written.
Kaser, Karl. Freier Bauer und Soldat: Die Militarisierung der agrarischen Gesellschaft an der kroatisch-
slawonischen Militärgrenze (1535–1881). Vienna: Böhlau, 1997.
As a result of constant military service, plenty of peasants got privileges in return for their service. The author shows the
formation and the fall of this group, using research from original sources. This social layer was also present north of the
Drava, but they are not mentioned in the work. This book also has a Croatian edition.
Kovacsics, József, ed. Magyarország történeti demográfiája (896–1995). Budapest: KSH–MTA Demográfiai
Bizottsága és Történeti Demográfiai Albizottsága, 1997.
(Historical demography of Hungary, 896–1995). Reveals changes in the population of the Kingdom of Hungary, the
settlement of different ethnic groups, the proportion of the urban population, and the demographic usability of different
sources. Sheds light on the early-modern loss of population and the process behind changes in the ethnic ratios. Very
useful for comparing with similar data from other countries.
Maksay, Ferenc. Magyarország birtokviszonyai a 16. század közepén. 2 vols. Budapest: MTA, 1990.
(Land possession in Hungary in the middle of the 16th century). Lists tax censuses conducted in each county in 1549,
which helps investigate the proportion of big estates, the changes in ownership, and the composition of the noble society.
Pálffy, Géza. “Medien der Integration des ungarischen Adels in Wien im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert.” Collegium
Hungaricum-Studien Wien 1 (2002): 61–98.
The leaders of Hungarian nobility were employed by the Habsburg administration, which relied on them. They married into
Austrian and Czech families and became members of the imperial elite. The advantage of the book is that it does not
consider the Habsburg administration oppressive.
Szakály, Ferenc. Mezőváros és reformáció: Tanulmányok a korai magyar polgárosodás kérdéséhez. Budapest:
Balassi Kiadó, 1995.
(Market town and Reformation: Studies in the early Hungarian embourgeoisement). The key to the development of the
Hungarian middle classes is the peasantry living in market towns who combined goods production and trade. Uses linked
case studies to reveal the rise of this class and its connections with political power. Inventive, but sometimes too
loquacious.
Varga, J. János. Szervitorok katonai szolgálata a XVI–XVII. századi dunántúli nagybirtokon. Budapest: Akadémiai
Kiadó, 1981.
(The military service of servitors on the large Transdanubian estates in the 16th and 17th centuries). Because of constant
warfare, a new Hungarian social class emerged in Hungary from the lesser nobles who lost their lands and villeins doing
military service. They enjoyed broad autonomy but could not form a political entity, as they were in the service of the great
landowners. This book covers their history, concentrating on Transdanubian examples.
Zombori, István, ed. Az értelmiség Magyarországon a 16.–17. században. Szeged, Hungary: Csongrád Megyei
Múzeumok Igazgatósága, 1988.
(The intelligentsia in Hungary in the 16th and 17th centuries). This collection of studies presents case studies from the late
Middle Ages to the end of the 17th century. Although it does not offer a comprehensive picture, it proves that the members
of the intelligentsia were mainly of noble origin and were strongly influenced by humanism.
Lifestyle, Mentality, Family
Hungarian researchers of the 19th century regarded political history of primary interest, and they could not work with
sources concerning everyday life and thought. Radvánszky 1879–1896 is the first to systematically collect data on family,
dresses, etc. Sándor Takáts’s highly readable books made this genre of history familiar: Takáts 1915–1917 and Takács
1929 contain varied issues, while Takáts 1914 is the first to broach topics pertaining to the women of the Hungarian
aristocracy. These kinds of works were not welcomed in the following decades, and Hungarian historical writing lagged
behind European historical writing for the most part. Tárkány Szücs 1981 is a unique work offering a summary of the
everyday life of the peasantry. European research on lifestyle has advanced since the 1990s, as seen in Péter 2000 and
Deáky and Krász 2005.
Deáky, Zita, and Lilla Krász. Minden dolgok kezdete: A születés kultúrtörténte Magyarországon (XVI–XX. század)
Budapest: Századvég Könyvkiadó, 2005.
(Beginning of all things: Cultural history of childbirth in Hungary [16th–20th century]). Reveals views on childbirth, the state
of expectancy, and the role of midwives. Emphasizes the communal role of childbirth, but the examples are mainly from
the later periods. Covers the era of Reformation only partially.
Péter, Katalin, ed. Beloved Children: Aristocratic Childhood in Early Modern Hungary. Budapest: Central
European University Press, 2000.
Offers insight mostly into the lives of aristocratic children and deals with expectant mothers, childbirth, schooling, and
mourning. Based on original sources.
Radvánszky, Béla. Magyar családélet és háztartás a XVI. és XVII. században. 3 vols. Budapest: Hornyánszky,
1879–1896.
(Hungarian family life and household in the 16th–17th centuries). Contains information about eating habits, costumes,
housing, and celebration. Offers detailed topics, and it is a great starting point for all kinds of research on mentality.
Takáts, Sándor. Régi magyar asszonyok. Budapest: “Élet” Irodalmi és Nyomda Rt, 1914.
(Hungarian aristocratic women of old). Features the biographies of the prominent Hungarian aristocratic women of the
early modern age. The author aims to show them as heroines and does not want to reveal them as flawed. Easily
readable, but there is not a detailed bibliography.
Takáts, Sándor. Rajzok a török világból. 3 vols. Budapest: MTA, 1915–1917.
(Sketches from the Turkish era). Studies show the daily life of soldiers in the border castles, Hungarian merchants, and the
everyday communication between the Ottomans and the Hungarians. It offers an exaggeratedly positive picture of the
Ottoman presence, and it is biased toward the Habsburg administration.
Takáts, Sándor. A régi Magyarország jókedve. Budapest: n.p., 1929.

(Cheer of old Hungary). Studies written with the aid of original sources deal with literacy, humor, holidays, and customs.
They offer a somewhat naïve picture of the age, but most of the information is still reliable.
Tárkány Szücs, Ernő. Magyar jogi népszokások. Budapest: Gondolat, 1981.

(Hungarian legal folk customs). Important for the history of folk mentality, and the book also sheds light on the legal
background of the folk customs controlling everyday life. Not a popular title, but it does offer a good summary of the
mentality of the illiterate social strata.
Primary Sources
The collection and publication of economic and sociohistorical sources were not considered important for a long time, and
attention turned toward them only in the 1960s. Maksay 1959 publishes a thorough selection of the urbariums, giving an
insight into the lives of peasant farms. Around the same time as the emergence of customs registers were the beginnings
of the most important sources of trade. Besides Ottoman documents, see citations under Ottoman Hungary. Ember 1988
collects the remaining volumes of the customs offices operating along the western borders. At the same time, publication
of the tax lists also gained importance. Maksay 1990 contains the tax lists of the counties from the middle of the century,
and Dávid 2001 deals with the more detailed household census. These help to reconstruct the noble society of royal
Hungary and the taxpaying population of certain settlements. Bessenyei and Antal 1997–2003 contains the surviving
documents of witch trials. Although the conclusions are well known, it is obvious that the majority of the trials were held in
Transylvania in the 17th century, and only their consequences belong to the era of the Reformation. Much private
correspondence has been published recently, but their source value varies. Vida 1988 offers the most information and
gives insight into the intimate feelings of an aristocratic couple and several healing customs. Nowadays, many research
groups deal with source publications that are worth seeking out.
Bessenyei, József András Kiss, and András Pál Antal. A magyarországi boszorkányság forrásai. 4 vols. Budapest:
Balassi Kiadó, 1997–2003.
(Sources of Hungarian witchcraft). The book contains Hungarian, German, Latin, and Slovakian sources, and it also
publishes sorcerer trials and the description of visions.
Dávid, Zoltán. Az 1598. évi házösszeírás. Budapest: Központi Statisztikai Hivatal Levéltára, 2001.
(Household census from 1598). The most detailed known tax list from the end of the 16th century, which lists the taxpaying
population by households in each settlement. Offers important data mainly for certain families, and thus family-tree
researchers use it often. A great disadvantage arises from the fact that the list does not extend to the whole country.
Ember, Győző. Magyarország nyugati külkereskedelme a 16. század közepén. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1988.
(The Western foreign trade of Hungary in the middle of the 16th century). Analyzes the registers of the customs offices
along the western border. It includes the names of the goods, their value, the names of the merchants, and their
hometown. The author shows the significant commercial cities and the Western destinations—and thus, the volume and
role of Hungarian trade in international trade.
Maksay, Ferenc. Magyarország birtokviszonyai a 16. század közepén. 2 vols. Budapest: MTA, 1990.
(Land possession in Hungary in the middle of the 16th century). Contains the national tax lists from the middle of the 16th
century, organized in tables. Lists the noble estates by county; but as these lists were compiled only in some parts of the
country and are sometimes inaccurate, they offer only occasionally useful results.
Maksay, Ferenc, ed. Urbáriumok: XVI–XVII. század. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959.
(Urbariums, 16th–17th centuries). Urbariums list the estates of the landlords, the people living there, and the incomes
coming from them. They often mention the legal status of the communities and their relationship with the landlords. Thus,
they are among the most important sources. Offers a well-balanced selection of urbariums.
Vida, Tivadar, ed. “Szerelmes Orsikám…” A Nádasdyak és Szegedi Kőrös Gáspár levelezése. Budapest:
Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, 1988.
(“My beloved Ursula . . .” The correspondence between the Nádasdy and Gáspár Szegedi Kőrös). The 224 letters
published in the book offer information on healing, fruit production, bringing up children, and the everyday life of aristocratic
families. The lack of an index makes browsing difficult.
The Church and the Reformation
The Reformation spread rather quickly, and by the end of the 16th century the Lutheran Church, the Reformed Church,
and the Unitarian Church had managed to build up their organizations. Although the Catholic Church became weaker,
there were still many worshipping Catholics in the country. By the end of the period, with many Protestant communities
impoverished, their foreign connections became loose, which promoted the Catholic revival led by the Jesuits.
Formation of the Protestant Denominations
The 16th century is the age of the formation of the Protestant denominations. There is a wide selection of scholarly
literature available, and this entry contains only the most important works whose bibliographies help further research. The
first monographs are from the first decades of the 20th century, such as Zoványi 1922. Zoványi 1977 offers a general
study, but Payr 1924 focuses only on the history of the Lutherans of Transdanubia. However, these works do not explain
the spread of Reformation, and neither does Bucsay 1977. The most in-depth analysis is on the development of anti-
Trinitarianism (see Dán and Pirnát 1982). For the impact of the Ottoman conquest on the Reformation, see Szakály 1985.
Szakály 1995 shows its economic impacts. Péter 2004 is about the causes behind the success of the Reformation.
Bucsay, Mihály. Der Protestantismus in Ungarn 1521–1978: Ungarns Reformationskirchen in Geschichte und
Gegenwart. Vol. 1, Im Zeitalter der Reformation, Gegenreformation und katholischen Reform. Vienna: Böhlau,
1977.
The most cited work in international scholarly literature. The facts are reliable but the conclusions have been superseded.
To be used with caution.
Dán, Róbert, and Antal Pirnát, eds. Antitrinitarianism in the Second Half of the 16th Century. Proceedings of the
international colloqium held on the 400th anniversary of Ferenc Dávid’s death, Siklós, 15–19 May 1979. Budapest:
Analyzes the types of anti-Trinitarianism and how it spread, mainly from the aspect of the history of literature and
intellectual culture. It mentions the close Polish relationships, the different Hungarian organizations, the religious debates
with the Protestants, and the attitude of the princes of Transylvania toward religion. Copublished in the Netherlands by
Brill.
Payr, Sándor. A dunántúli evangélikus egyházkerület története. Sopron, Hungary: Ág. Hitv. Evang. Egyházkerület,
1924.
(History of the Transdanubian Lutheran Diocese). Looks at the spread of the Reformation up until 1647. The work dwells
on religious debates with the Calvinists and the history of the formation of the diocese. It does not touch upon the behavior
of the cities in upper Hungary, and it does not place the events into an international context.
Péter, Katalin. A reformáció: kényszer vagy választás? Budapest: Nemzeti Tankönyv Kiadó, 2004.
(Reformation: Constraint or choice?). This essay explains the causes of the success of the Reformation, which was a
neglected issue in earlier scholarly literature. It denies the fact that landlords forced their villeins to accept Protestantism.
The author thinks the conversion was the result of free choice triggered by intellectual demands.
Szakály, Ferenc. “Türkenherrschaft und Reformation in Ungarn um die Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts.” In Études
historiques hongroises. Vol. 2. Edited by Domokos Kosary, 437–459. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1985.
Breaks with the common wisdom and shows that it was not the Ottoman support but rather the interests of the strong city-
dwellers of the middle classes that caused the spread of the Reformation in Ottoman Hungary. However, it
overemphasizes the causes of this spread, a tendency that is set right by Molnár 2003, cited under The Catholic Church in
the 16th Century.
Szakály, Ferenc. Mezőváros és reformáció: Tanulmányok a korai magyar polgárosodás kérdéséhez. Budapest:
(Market town and Reformation: Studies in the early Hungarian embourgeoisement). These loosely linked studies offer an
insight into the spread of the Reformation in Ottoman Hungary. The most important settings are Pécs, Szeged,
Nagymaros, and Nyírbátor, where prosperous merchants supported the new trends. Also reveals the economic
background of Protestantism.
Zoványi, Jenő. A reformáczió Magyarországon 1565-ig. Budapest: Genius, 1922.

(Reformation in Hungary until 1565). A positivist work dealing with the events from the beginning. Contains plenty of good
information and uses a lot of sources, but its conclusions are now mostly outdated, as the book attributes the success of
the Reformation to the abuses of the church.
Zoványi, Jenő. A magyarországi protestantizmus 1565-től 1600-ig. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1977.
(Protestantism in Hungary from 1565 to 1600). The manuscript was completed in 1949, but it was published posthumously;
thus, the results of the research in the 1950s and 1960s are not included. It shows the formation of the structural
frameworks and the changes in church administration and the canon.
The Catholic Church in the 16th Century
Few historians have dealt with the issue until recently, and they have regarded the 16th-century history of the Catholic
Church as a period of decline. Karácsonyi 1922–1924 reveals the history of the Franciscans being in constant expansion.
Hermann 1973 does not have extensive writing on the period, but what does appear is accurate. Following 1989 there has
been a revival of research on the history of the Catholic Church. Beke 2003 presents the biographies of the archbishops of
Esztergom, the leaders of the Catholic Church in Hungary. Fazekas 2005 looks at the career of Miklós Oláh, the most
significant high priest of the 16th century. Molnár 2003 writes about Catholicism in Ottoman Hungary on the basis of new
sources, and Molnár 2007 reveals the changes in the relationship with the Holy See in Rome.
Beke, Margit, ed. Esztergomi érsekek 1001–2003. Budapest: Szent István Társulat, 2003.
(The archbishops of Esztergom, 1001–2003). Contains the short biographies of the archbishops of Esztergom, with a
bibliography attached to each. It is not enough for complex church historical research but can be useful for certain persons.
A work that definitely fills a gap in scholarship.
Fazekas, István. “Miklós Oláhs Reformbestrebungen in der Erzdiözese Gran zwischen 1553 und 1568.” In Kaiser
Ferdinand I: Ein mitteleuropäischer Herrscher. Edited by Martina Fuchs, Teréz Oborni, and Gábor Ujváry, 163–178.
Münster, Germany: Aschendorff, 2005.
The author uses the career of Miklós Oláh to show how a humanist serving in the Habsburg court became the first leader
of Catholic revival. Oláh organized synods, established schools, and controlled lower clergy; thus, he started to reorganize
the Catholic Church according to the Tridentine reforms.
Hermann, Egyed. A katolikus egyház története Magyarországon 1914-ig. München: Aurora, 1973.
(History of the Catholic Church in Hungary until 1914). The manuscript was completed in 1948, but it is still one of the most
useful works around. Can be used as a university coursebook, as it has a bibliography (now outdated) at the end of each
chapter. It covers the 16th century only in twenty pages; thus, it can be regarded as a draft.
Karácsonyi, János. Szent Ferenc rendjének története Magyarországon 1711-ig. 2 vols. Budapest: MTA, 1922–1924.
(The history of the order of St. Francis in Hungary until 1711). A monograph using all the known sources, this study reveals
the history of Franciscans from the very beginning, by provinces and monasteries. It is still a useful and thorough work, but
the topics make browsing difficult because it does not include an index, and the majority of the cited sources have been
lost.
Molnár, Antal. A katolikus egyház a hódolt Dunántúlon. Budapest: METEM, 2003.

(The Catholic Church in Ottoman Transdanubia). The book proves that Catholicism survived even in those parts of
Ottoman Hungary where the Catholic infrastructure had been destroyed. The author shows that the Ottoman Empire was
not interested in Christian religious debates and that its goal was to preserve tranquility. Thus, he revises the views of
Szakály 1985 (cited under Formation of the Protestant Denominations) in this field.
Molnár, Antal. Le Saint-Siege, Raguse et les missions catholiques de la Hongrie Ottomane 1572–1647. Rome:
Accademia d’Ungheria, 2007.
Reveals the aims of the Holy See relating to the Catholic Church in Hungary on the basis of documents from the Roman
archives that were formerly unknown. The majority of the book does not deal with the 16th century, but it is still of interest,
as the Catholic reorganization in Ottoman Hungary started very early in the center of Dubrovnik. Copublished with
Bibliotheque Nationale e Hongrie–Société pour l’Encyclopédie de l’Histoire de l’Église en Hongrie (Budapest).
Primary Sources
The collection of the early modern sources of church history started in the 18th century. Lampe and Debreceni 1728
concentrates on the history of the Reformed Church. Bunyitay, et al. 1902–1912 publishes all the known sources from the
early period of the Reformation, from 1521 to 1552. Payr 1910 provides information on the Lutheran communities in
Transdanubia, and thus it covers the same issues as Iványi 1990. Válaszúti 1981 gives insight into a religious dispute
between the Unitarians and the Calvinists in the late 16th century.
Bunyitay, Vince, Rajmund Rapaics, János Karácsonyi, Ferenc Kollányi, and József Lukcsics, eds.
Egyháztörténelmi emlékek a magyarországi hitújítás korából. 5 vols. Budapest: Szent István Társulat, 1902–1912.
(Remnants of ecclesiastical history from the age of the Hungarian Protestant Reformation). A unique work that contains all
the sources related to church history from 1521 to 1552. Contains varied information, donations, registers, data on
purchase of books and the destruction of estates, etc. A detailed index is helpful.
Iványi, Béla, ed. A körmendi Batthyány-levéltár reformációra vonatkozó oklevelei I. 1527–1625. Szeged, Hungary:
József Attila Tudományegyetem, 1990.
(Charters of the Batthyány Archives in Körmend relating to the Reformation. Volume 1, 1527–1625). A collection of
Hungarian, German, and Latin sources found in the archives of the Batthyány family, who had the biggest estates in
Transdanubia. Contains references to the Reformation. The book is difficult to use, as the sources are incomplete, and
there is no index to help the reader.
Lampe, Friedrich Adolf, and Pál Ember Debreceni. Historia ecclesiae reformatae in Hungaria et Transylvania.
Utrecht: Apud Jacobum van Poolsum, 1728.
An apologetic work written amidst the denominational struggles of the 18th century. It contains plenty of original sources
from the 16th century and includes some reports on religious debates and the texts of different creeds.
Payr, Sándor, ed. Egyháztörténelmi Emlékek: Forrásgűjtemény a Dunántúli Ág. Hitv. Evang. Egyházkerület
történetéhez. Vol. 1. Sopron, Hungary: Ág. Hitv. Evang. Egyházkerület, 1910.
(Church historical memories: Collection of sources to the history of the Lutheran Diocese in Transdanubia). A collection of
sources forming the basis of Payr 1924 (cited under Formation of the Protestant Denominations). It offers a selection of
materials concerning city, church, and national archives, and it gives an insight into the lives of the Transdanubian
Lutheran communities.
Válaszúti, György. Pécsi disputa. Edited by Robert Dán and Katalin S. Németh. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1981.
(Dispute of Pécs). Records of the religious dispute between the Unitarians and the Calvinists in the city of Pécs. They were
written down by the Unitarian preacher takng part in the dispute. Contains important data on the intellectual life of the
community and the theological problems arising between the two denominations.
Intellectual Culture
The term “intellectual culture” has been interpreted differently by particular monographs. Domanovszky 1940 and Kósa
2002, cited in Collections of Studies, hold that everything belongs under this term except for political history. This section
focuses on schooling, the book, and the issues of the history of literature.
Schooling, Printing, the Book, and Communication
At the end of the 19th century, it was mainly clergy members who dealt with the history of schooling. Frankl 1873 deals
with the registers of foreign universities, while Békefi 1910 concentrates on Hungarian institutions. Their work was not
continued, as research started to focus on later periods. A source publication on the peregrinations of Transylvanian
students was collected in 1992, but nobody has dealt with the other areas of the Kingdom of Hungary yet. Attention has
recently turned toward the book and maecenate, and for this see Péter 1995, Szabó 1999, and Tóth 2000. Monok 2005
analyzes the roles of aristocratic courts, and Almási 2009 writes about the most significant scholars of the 16th century.
Kőszeghy 2003–2009 is a breakthrough, as it presents new knowledge in the form of an encyclopedia and builds the
foundations for a new monograph.
Almási, Gábor. The Uses of Humanism: Johannes Sambucus (1534–1581), Andreas Dudith (1533–1589), and the
Republic of Letters in East Central Europe. Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 2009.
Modern biographies of the two most influential Hungarian humanists of the 16th century, within the framework of
Hungarian intellectual life. Zsámboky and Dudith gained central European importance due to their correspondences.
Zsámboky was also a significant historian and publisher.
Békefi, Remig. A káptalani iskolák története Magyarországon 1540-ig. Budapest: MTA, 1910.
(History of chapter schools in Hungary until 1540.). This book deals with the best chapter schools and proves that these
offered sufficient knowledge to their students. However, it sometimes offers an unrealistically positive image of these
schools and is not always factually sound. It is still useful for studying Hungarian schooling.
Frankl, Vilmos: A hazai és külföldi iskolázás a XVI. században. Budapest, Eggenberger, 1873.
(Hungarian and foreign schooling in the 16th century). This book reveals the education of the era on the basis of the
registers of foreign universities and sources on Hungarian schools. It proves that plenty of Hungarian students attended
foreign universities in this period. The identification of names is sometimes wrong, but this text is still useful.
Koszeghy, Peter, ed. Magyar Művelődéstörténeti Lexikon: Középkor és kora újkor. 9 vols. Budapest: Balassi
Kiadó, 2003–2009.
(Encyclopedia of the history of Hungarian intellectual culture: Middle Ages and early modern period). Covers the field of
intellectual culture in a broad sense, and presents the newest scholarly results concerning intellectual culture, schooling,
and art history in 10,000 entries. It is a universal aid. Also available online.
Monok, István, ed. Blue Blood, Black Ink: Book Collections of Aristocratic Families from 1500 to 1700. Budapest:
National Széchényi Library, 2005.
Following the move of the royal court to Vienna, aristocratic courts remained the centers of culture. The book contains the
booklists of these courts and proves that these families established varied foreign connections and cultural interests.
Péter, Katalin. Papok és nemesek: Magyar művelődéstörténeti tanulmányok a reformációval kezdődő másfél
évszázadból. Budapest: Ráday Gyűjtemény, 1995.
(Priests and nobles: Studies of Hungarian cultural history for a century and a half from the beginning of the Reformation).
Almost half of these fifteen studies deal with the 16th century. The topics include schooling, aristocratic maecenate, and
the impact of Erasmists. It offers a realist picture of the intellectual culture of the period. It gives an interesting evaluation of
the published books based on theme and language.
Szabó, András. Respublica litteraria: Irodalom- és művelődéstörténeti tanulmányok a késő humanizmus koráról.
Budapest: Balassi Kiadó, 1999.
(Studies on the history of literature and culture in the age of late humanism). The majority of these fourteen studies deal
with 16th-century humanist intellectual culture. The studies about the relationships between Wittenberg and the Hungarian
impact of Copernicus are quite lively, as are the ones on the intellectual topography of the northeastern region.
Tóth, István György. Literacy and Written Culture in Early Modern Central Europe. Budapest: Central European
University Press, 2000.
Charts the spread of literacy in the social strata of peasants and lesser nobles. The majority of its examples are from the
17th century, but it is still useful for those researching earlier ages. Many helpful charts and tables.
History of Literature and Historical Writing
Modern research on the history of literature started in the University of Budapest under the leadership of János Horváth in
the 1920s. His plan was to make a summary, but only three volumes were published during his life, the last of which is
Horváth 1953. His successor and the most prominent researcher of Hungarian history of literature was Tibor Klaniczay,
who managed to make the summary Horváth had dreamed about (see Klaniczay 1964). His collected studies are
Klaniczay 1961 and Klaniczay 1985. Emma Bartoniek belonged to another school: she started to deal with historical writing
before World War II. However, her incomplete summary was published posthumously as Bartoniek 1975. Birnbaum 1985
shows humanism in the Jagiellon era from a Croatian point of view. The National Széchényi Library has hosted several
excellent exhibitions (see Monok 2006), and researchers at the Institute for Literary Studies have published many works on
the issue, as evidenced in Balázs 2006.
Balázs, Mihály. Felekezetiség és fikció: Tanulmányok a 16–17. századi irodalmunkról. Budapest: Balassi Kiadó,
2006.
(Denominations and fiction: Studies on 16th–17th-century Hungarian literature). The book focuses on the literature of
Transylvania and anti-Trinitarianism. It also touches upon church history when dealing with Transylvanian religious
freedom. It reveals the formation of denominations on the basis of international similarities.
Bartoniek, Emma. Fejezetek a XVI–XVII. századi magyarországi történetírás történetéből. Edited by Zsigmondné
Ritoók. Budapest: MTA Irodalomtörténeti Intézet, 1975.
(Chapters from the history of the Hungarian historiography in the 16th and 17th centuries). This book is the most thorough
study of early modern Hungarian historical writing. There is a short biography of each writer and an analysis of their
achievements. Although some of these significant writers have become common knowledge in academic circles, this is still
the most precise work available.
Birnbaum, Marianna. Humanists in a Shattered World: Croatian and Hungarian Latinity in the Sixteenth Century.
Columbus, OH: Slavica, 1985.
Croatian historian sums up the humanists of the Jagiellon period. Many of them were of South Slav origin, but they were all
connected by their intellectual culture and their knowledge of Latin language and culture. The monograph reveals that
central European humanism was not secondary to the movement present in the western countries.
Horváth, János. A reformáció jegyében: A Mohács utáni félszázad magyar irodalomtörténete. Budapest:
(Under the sign of the Reformation: History of Hungarian literature of the fifty years after the Battle of Mohács). Apart from
fiction, the book also investigates all the fields of literature and science, and Latin literature is also included. Its
disadvantage is that it considers the Reformation the end of the Renaissance and humanism.
Klaniczay, Tibor. Reneszánsz és barokk: Tanulmányok a régi magyar irodalomról. Budapest: Szépirodalmi
Könyvkiadó, 1961.
(Renaissance and Baroque: Studies on ancient Hungarian literature). Of the fifteen studies here, five deal with the period
of the Renaissance. They offer an overview of the most important literary features. Its obvious Marxist view is not
overbearing, however, and it shows the Renaissance characteristics of Hungarian literature in a wide context.
Klaniczay, Tibor. Pallas magyar ivadékai. Budapest: Szépirodalmi Kiadó, 1985.

(Hungarian offspring of Pallas). The first nine studies of this book show the survival of humanism in the 16th century. They
deal with the self-image of intellectuals and the methods of humanist historical writing. Emphasizes Italian connections.
Klaniczay, Tibor, ed. A Magyar irodalom története I. A magyar irodalom története 1600-ig. Budapest: Akadémiai
Kiadó, 1964.
(History of Hungarian literature. Vol. 1, History of Hungarian literature until 1600). This book charts the development of
Hungarian literature, and it accepts the existence of more artistic styles at the same time. Covers the different genres
(prose, Bible translations) of the Reformation within Renaissance literature. A detailed bibliography is at the end of each
chapter. Also available online.
Monok, István, ed. Myth and Reality: Latin Historiography in Hungary 15th-18th Centuries; Exhibition in The
National Széchényi Library 7 July–3 September 2006. Budapest: National Széchényi Library, 2006.
This catalogue shows the achievements of neo-Latin historians from the aspect of how they contributed to the formation of
historical myths. They were the ones to speak about the Hun-Hungarian relationship, and they set Matthias Corvinus on a
pedestal. It offers great examples of the formation of the memory.
Primary Sources
Written sources form the basis of the research on intellectual culture and the history of literature. Publication began in the
19th century. Constant work resulted in Szilády, et al. 1877–2004 and Borsa 1971. In the meantime, publication of longer
critical works also began (see Olahus 1938). Now the majority of the works of humanist, Renaissance, Protestant, and
Catholic writers are published—see Kulcsár 1977, Nemeskürty 1980, or Jankovics, et al. 2000.
Borsa, Gedeon, ed. Res litteraria Hungariae vetus operum impressorum: Régi Magyarországi Nyomtatványok. Vol.
1, 1473–1600. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1971.
This book (often abbreviated as RMNY) contains the bibliographical description and the front cover of 6,700 works
published in Europe in the Hungarian language or in Hungary in any language. A basic source of research on the history of
books. Also available online.
Jankovics, József, Kőszeghy, Péter, and Géza Szabó Szentmártoni, eds. Régi magyar irodalmi szöveggyűjtemény.
Vol. 2, A 16. század magyar nyelvű világi irodalma. Budapest, Balassi Kiadó, 2000.
(Old Hungarian literary anthology. Vol. 2, Sixteenth-century secular literature in Hungarian). Can be useful for seminars in
literature, but the disadvantage of the book is that it does not offer any information about the writers and their works and
publishes only the texts. Available online.
Kulcsár, Péter, ed. Humanista történetírók. Budapest: Szépirodalmi Kiadó, 1977.

(Humanist historians). Selected works of the most important 15th- to 16th-century Hungarian historians, with over 1,100
pages. There are notes and a study in the book, the latter focusing on the characteristics of the humanist style.
Nemeskürty, István, ed. Heltai Gáspár és Bornemisza Péter művei. Budapest: Szépirodalmi Kiadó, 1980.
(Works of Gáspár Heltai and Péter Bornemissza). Contains almost the whole oeuvre of two significant Protestant writers.
Heltai is characterized by punch lines, while Bornemissza was a talented dramatist. The book includes their detailed
biographies, plus a Latin and a German glossary.
Olahus, Nicolaus. Hungaria–Athila. Edited by Eperjessy Kálmán and Juhász László. Budapest: K. M. Egyetemi
Nyomda, 1938.
A critical translation of Miklós Oláh’s Latin description of Hungary and his work promoting the Hungarian-Hun relationship.
There are some humanist topoi in the works, but the volume contains plenty of useful data on geography and agriculture.
Szilády, Áron, Cyrill Horváth, Lajos Dézsi, Béla Varjas, and Géza Szabó Szentmártoni, eds. Régi Magyar Költők
Tára, XVI század. 12 vols. Budapest: MTA, Balassi Kiadó, 1877–2004.
(Inventory of old Hungarian poets, 16th century). An anthology, RMTK XVI is the most complete collection of the works of
16th-century Hungarian poets. It contains religious, martial and love poetry as well as epics and narratives. It covers
almost the entirety of Hungarian literature of the age.
The Arts
Between 1450 and 1600, Renaissance art and humanist art were the dominant styles in Hungary, although at the
beginning of the period the late Gothic style was also present. In addition, toward the end of this era Baroque arts also
appeared, which came from court culture. Short works on interesting art-historical facts were published in the second half
of the 19th century, but Domanovszky 1940, cited in Collections of Studies, is the first to offer a summary. Since the 1960s,
attention has turned toward the court of King Matthias I, and the the results of this can be read about in English in Feuer-
Tóth 1990. Galavics 1986 reveals the impact of the Turkish war on visual arts. Art history on this period also includes
cartography and research on Italian castle construction, and these topics are dealt with by Szathmáry 1987 and Domokos
2000. A new field of research is the categorization of tombs on the basis of different artistic styles, and for writing on this
subject see Mikó 2005 and Mikó 2009. Artifacts featured in the exhibitions of increasing quality are dealt with in Farbaky, et
al. 2009, and Marosi 2009.
Domokos, György. Ottavio Baldigara: Egy itáliai várfundáló mester Magyarországon. Budapest: Balassi Kiadó,
2000.
(Ottavio Baldigara: Italian fort architect in Hungary). The presence of Italian fort architecture proves that the Hungarian
borderland was an integrated part of the border fortress system across the Mediterranean formed against the Ottomans.
The European military revolution was also felt in this region. The book offers several original sources on the activity of
Baldigara.
Farbaky, Péter, Enikő Spekner, Katalin Szende, and András Végh, eds. Hunyadi Mátyás, a király: Hagyomány és
megújítás a királyi udvarban 1458–1490.. Budapest: Budapesti Történeti Múzeum, 2008.
(Matthias Corvinus the King: Tradition and renewal in the Hungarian Royal Court 1458–1490). Exhibition catalogue.
Attempts to offer a complete picture of the age of King Matthias, although it focuses on his court and court culture. The
exhibits are from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the Vatican Library in Rome, and from other places such as Vienna, the
Czech Republic, Germany, and Slovakia.
Feuer-Tóth, Rózsa. Art and Humanism in Hungary in the Age of Matthais Corvinus. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó,
1990.
The court of King Matthias was the center of central European humanism, and it influenced the whole region. As a result of
the king’s maecenate, significant artists of the age worked in Hungary for varying lengths of time. The book shows their
artistic heritage using an abundance of evocative pictures.
Galavics, Géza. Kössünk kardot az pogány ellen: Török háborúk és képzőművészet. Budapest: Képzőművészeti
Kiadó, 1986.
(Let’s gird ourselves with a sword against the heathen: Turkish wars and the fine arts). The participation in the fight against
the Ottomans influenced the self-image and representation of the elite. Almost 250 pictures show the description of the
enemy in works of art, offering It offers information on the impact of wars on the arts.
Marosi, Ernő, ed. On the Stage of Europe: The Millennial Contribution of Hungary to the Idea of European
Community. Budapest: Balassi Kiadó, 2009.
Reveals the thousand-year contribution of Hungary to the concept of the European community from an art-historical
perspective. The 150 colored pictures of artifacts are commented on by art historians. A great reference resource for
presentations, lectures, and books.
Mikó, Árpád. “Késő reneszánsz és kora barokk síremlékek a Magyar Királyság területén (1540–1690).” In Idővel
paloták: Magyar udvari kultúra a 16–17. században Edited by G. Etényi, Nóra, and Ildikó Horn, 625–661. Budapest:
(Late Renaissance and early Baroque tombs in the Kingdom of Hungary, 1540–1690). Tombs can be regarded as the
artistic representations of an era. The Hungarian builders attempted to copy European movements. However, this impact
was weaker on the periphery, as can be seen from the execution of the tombs.
Mikó, Árpád. A reneszánsz Magyarországon. Budapest: Corvina, 2009.

(The Renaissance in Hungary). A short but thorough summary of the Renaissance in Hungary, also touching upon
Croatian and Transylvanian works of art. Plenty of pictures and a rich bibliography help with the understanding of the text
and with further research.
Szathmáry, Tibor, ed. Descriptio Hungariae: Magyarország és Erdély nyomtatott térképei 1477–1600. Fusignano:
Grafiche Morandi, 1987.
(Printed maps of Hungary and Transylvania, 1477–1600). This work is useful not only for art historians but also for those
interested in the history of science and technology. It reveals the background on how different maps were drawn, as well
as their uniqueness and significance.
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LAST REVIEWED: 29 JUNE 2011

Single- or Dual-Authored Works

Szalay, László. Magyarország története. Vols. 1–4. Leipzig: Geibel, 1852–1854.

Domanovszky, Sándor, ed. Magyar művelődéstörténet. 2 vols. Budapest: MTT, 1940.

Oborni, Teréz. Erdély fejedelmei. Budapest: Pannonica Kiadó, 2002.

Szvák, Gyula, ed. Magyarország uralkodói. Budapest: Pannonica Kiadó, 2003.

A középkori Magyarország levéltári forrásainak adatbázisa.

Bonfini, Antonius. Rerum Hungaricarum Decades. Basel, Switzerland, 1568.

Monumenta Historiae Hungarica I: Diplomataria (MHHD) I–XLII. Pest-Budapest, 1857–1948.

Monumenta Historiae Hungarica II: Scriptores (MHHS) I–XXXVIII. Pest-Budapest, 1857–1906.

Journals and Series

Aetas: Történettudományi folyóirat. 1985–.

Fons Forráskutatás és Történeti Segédtudományok. 1994–.

Hadtörténelmi Közlemények. 1888–1897, 1910–1943, 1954–.

Humanizmus és Reformáció. 1973–.

Történelmi Szemle. 1958–

The Hungarian State in the Renaissance

Politics and Governance

Kovács, Péter E. Mátyás, a reneszánsz király. Budapest: Officina, 2008.

Foreign Policy and Military History

Economy and Society

Draskóczy, István. A tizenötödik század története. Budapest: Pannonica Kiadó, 2000.

The Church and Intellectual Culture

The Age of the Ottoman Domination (1526–1606)

Ágoston, Gábor. A hódolt Magyarország. Budapest: ADAMS Kiadó, 1992.

Pálffy, Géza. A tizenhatodik század története. Budapest: Pannonica Kiadó, 2000.

Salamon, Franz. Ungarn im Zeitalter der Türkenherrschaft. Leipzig: H. Haessel, 1887.

The Course of the Conquest

Korpás, Zoltán. V. Károly és Magyarország (1526–1538). Budapest: Századvég Kiadó, 2008.

The Habsburg Administration in the Kingdom of Hungary

Croatia, Slavonia, and Transylvania

Arens, Meinolf. Habsburg und Siebenbürgen 1600–1605: Gewaltsame Eingliederungsversuche eines

Barta, Gábor. Az erdélyi fejedelemség születése Budapest: Gondolat Kiadó, 1979.

Feneşan, Cristina. Constituirea principatului autonom al Transilvaniei. Bucharest, Romania: Editura

Gooss, Roderich. Österreichische Staatsverträge: Fürstentum Siebenbürgen (1526–1690). Vienna: Adolf

Thury, József: Török történetírók. 2 vols. Budapest: MTA, 1893–1896.

Hegyi, Klára. Török berendezkedés Magyarországon. Budapest: MTA TTI, 1995.

The Conquerors’ Society and Culture

Németh, István H. Várospolitika és gazdaságpolitika a 16–17. századi Magyarországon (A felső-magyarországi

Lifestyle, Mentality, Family

Takáts, Sándor. Rajzok a török világból. 3 vols. Budapest: MTA, 1915–1917.

Takáts, Sándor. A régi Magyarország jókedve. Budapest: n.p., 1929.

Tárkány Szücs, Ernő. Magyar jogi népszokások. Budapest: Gondolat, 1981.

The Church and the Reformation

Formation of the Protestant Denominations

Zoványi, Jenő. A reformáczió Magyarországon 1565-ig. Budapest: Genius, 1922.

The Catholic Church in the 16th Century

Molnár, Antal. A katolikus egyház a hódolt Dunántúlon. Budapest: METEM, 2003.

Schooling, Printing, the Book, and Communication

History of Literature and Historical Writing

Klaniczay, Tibor. Pallas magyar ivadékai. Budapest: Szépirodalmi Kiadó, 1985.

Kulcsár, Péter, ed. Humanista történetírók. Budapest: Szépirodalmi Kiadó, 1977.

Mikó, Árpád. A reneszánsz Magyarországon. Budapest: Corvina, 2009.

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