Calvin Synod Herald, 1974 (74. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1974-06-01 / 6-7. szám
6 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD of the Bible was modernized by the Dominican order in the Roman Catholic church.17 If this first Bible translation was made by Tamás and Bálint or by members of religious orders, it is accepted that they were using any text which they were able to acquire.18 Tibor Kardos states that the translators of the Hussite Bible were originally Patharens who joined the Hussite movement, therefore the translation of “szent Szellet”—(“Holy Spirit”) expression identically follows the Patharens theological viewpoint.19 Further he tells us that to the best of his knowledge they were using Patharens texts.20 To support the Hussite origin, it is usually said that the Holy Spirit — Spiritus Sanctus — is translated as “Szent Szellet” a Hussite denominator. What concerns the Vienna, Munich and Apor codices is that they are copies of the same Hungarian translation. János Horváth states that it seems to him that the translation of the texts of the mentioned three codices were not taken from the Bible itself but from books that were used prior to the time of Breviárium use. It is still debatable who made the original translation; the Premonstratensians, Benedietins, or the Hussites.21 According to this statement, it is not excluded that the copyist of the three codices were not using a translation previously made by religious orders, or were copying from books for the use of religious orders. In connection with the Érdy codex, János Horváth tells us that there were men of knowledge who cared about the writing of the history of their orders and their continuation. László Báthori, a Paulist monk, translated the entire Bible into Hungarian. This translation was included in King Mátyás’ library in Buda.22 Was there a Hussite translation which was lost, destroyed or which might still be found; or was there a translation prepared by Roman Catholics; or were the texts of the three codices copied from translations in religious books, or was there a translation of László Báthori which was used for the copies made in the three codices? This is still a question. The Vienna codex consists of 162 pages. It was copied about 1450 by three copyist; most of the work being done by the second copyist. At the present it is in Budapest in the National Széchenyi Library.23 The Munich codex consists of 124 pages. It was copied by George Németi in the year 1466, in Trotus (Tatros), Moldavia. It is in Germany.24 The Apor codex is heavily damaged. The psalms were copied by two copyists, the second using the Hussite orthography. It is supposed that this codex was copied my monks and not by Hussites.25 This codex was prepared at the close of the 15th century. It is kept in Sepsiszentgyörgy.26 Closely related to the Hussite translation is the codex of Dobrente, copied in 1508 by Bertalan of Halabor. It contains the translation of the 150 psalms and large parts of the old and new testament. It is in Gyulafehérvár.27 The Keszthely codex was copied in Leka in 1522 by Gregory of Velikei. It contains the psalms and is kept in Budapest.28 The Kulcsár codex is almost the same as the previous one, but was copied in 1539 by Paul Pápai. The Székelyudvarhely codex copied in 1526 contains old and new testament parts, and was copied by 6 copyists. One of them was András Nyujtódi, a Franoiscan monk who copied the codex in the monastery at Tövis, for his sister, Judith. One of the most important codices for our problem is the Jordánszky codex. The old testament parts were copied in 1519, and the new testament parts in 1516. It contains among others, the books missing from the Vienna codex. Two other parts of this codex were found, the Jankovich and Csemez fragments. There was a literary discussion about this codex. It was stated that this codex is identical with the previously mentioned Bible translation by László Báthori. Tibor Kardos states that Báthori was acquainted with the Hussite translation, and it is possible that he made some corrections on it and copied it. This statement was accepted by Sándor Károly also.29 The Festetich codex was prepared in 1493 in the Pauline monastery in Nagyvázsony. It was prepared for the founder’s wife, Benigna Magyar (wife of Pál Kinizsi). It contains translations of the psalms and is very similar to the Apor codex, but they are different in dialect.30 The Cseh codex of 1523 contains the translation of 5 psalms. It was prepared in Nagyvázsony for the same person. Dénes Szabó puts its origin to 1513,31 while Zsigmond Varga put it to 1523.32 Finally the Batthyány codex contains the translation of 51 psalms in verse and some parts of the Bible in literary elegance.33 In regard to these codices, especially the first three, it has been questioned whether they were attempts at Bible translations, or whether they were parts of the Breviárium for periodical reading. These codices are important from the literary viewpoint because they preserve for us these early translated parts of the Bible and show us the language of the 14th and 15th centuries. Francis Vitéz NOTES 16Kniezsa, p. 154. 17Kardos, p. 23. 18Pintén, p. 387. 19Kardos, p. 14. 20Ibid„ p. 45. 21Horváth, János, A magyar irodalmi műveltség kezdetei (The Beginnings of Hungarian Literature), p. 110. 22Ibid., p. 242. 23Szabó, p. 38. 24Ibid., p. 39. 25Ibid., p. 40. 26Kálvin és a Kálvinizmus (Calvin and the Calvinism), p. 443.
