Kenyeres István (szerk.): Urbs. Magyar Várostörténeti Évkönyv XV. - Urbs 15. (Budapest, 2021)
Abstracts
420 Abstracts the study will be on the presentation and analysis of the elements of the representation observable in the town halls and the messages conveyed by the re-election process. The most significant changes were the presence of the state power and the monarch, as well as emphasising the Catholic church and rituals in the urban re-election ceremonies. Géza Pálffy Omne regnum in se ipsum divisum desolabitur The Inscription on Michael s Gate in Pozsony and its Representational Role in the Early Modern Period Michael’s Gate in the town of Pozsony (today Bratislava, Slovakia) is decorated by a unique Latin inscription: “OMNE REGNVM IN SE IPSVM DIVISVM DESOLABITVR 1712”. Although the citation from the Bible (Mt 12,25; Mk 3,24; Lk 11,17) has been a special sight of the town for centuries, neither the Hungarian, nor the Slovakian urban, representation or inscription history research has investigated it so far. The study intends to fill in this deficiency of the research from several viewpoints. On the one hand, it examines when the inscription was recorded on the best-preserved gate of Pozsony. On the other, it analyses its role in the political discourse of the Hungarian estates in the Modem era. Finally, the study explores what role the inscriptions, that can be found in the Hungarian Kingdom’s capital in the early Modem period, played in the symbolical political communication of the estates. Based on my systematic research, the following can be stated. Although the date on the gilded plaque is 1712, the words of Jesus could have been read on the outer side of the gate from the late Middle Ages. Certainly, the citation has been there since 1646, because it was described in the German travelogue of Martin Zeiller (Newe Beschreibung deß Königreichs Ungarn... Ulm 1646), which is the first mention of it according to present knowledge. Originally, the inscription was painted in gold script on the Brückentor of the gate’s barbican and it was cast into metal following the coronation of Charles III as king of Hungary on 22 May 1712. This ceremony “crowned” a significant political compromise between the Habsburg court and the Hungarian estates. The gilded plaque was already placed on the town-gate on 11 June. The inscription, which was originally made upon the order of the free royal town, almost immediately became a frequently referenced element of the estates’ political discourse, primarily because - following the words of Jesus to the Pharisees - it called on the respective politicians to seek concordia (concord) instead of divisio (division). Among others, it was quoted during the 1712, 1741, 1833, 1840 and 1844 Diets of Pozsony, including the 1833 speech of delegate Ferenc Kölcsey, the author of the Hungarian Anthem. It is noteworthy that the inscription was frequently mentioned together
