Deák Antal András: A Duna fölfedezése
Tartalom - III.A DANUBIUS PANNONICO-MYSICUS, 1726
T II E DISCOVERY OF THE DANUBE II. THE DANUBIUS ON THE WAY TO REALISATION Marsigli proved to be a skilled organiser, not only on battlefields but also in the collection and organisation of the material for his Danube monograph and its preparation for printing. The material compressed in the book is more than the formulation of his own experiences, it is the summary of knowledge collected from the whole of Europe. Hungarian, Austrian, Italian, German, Swiss, English and Dutch scientists, artists and book handlers assisted him in his work. HUNGARIAN SCIENTISTS IN MARSIGLI'S SERVICE The darkest pages of Hungarian history were being written in the 16 t h-17 t h centuries. The Ottoman-Turkish army, pushing westwards, won an important victory over the army of the Hungarian aristocracy at Mohács in 1526 in which even the king perished. The central part of the country and Buda at its heart were ruled by the Turks for 150 years from 1541. The western parts of the country and Upper Northern Hungary remained under Austrian control, while the Transylvanian princes, who paid taxes to the Turks, had relatively independent control over their lands. In such circumstances, the flourishing cultural life of earlier times faded away. Only the few sons of less wealthy families who were sent to foreign universities by an ecclesiastic organisation or town received a higher education. Young Hungarian men from Transylvania even studied in Turkey. Dávid Rosnyai 12 2, an eminent scholar of old Hungarian literature who achieved fame with his name and work, also visited Istanbul in his youth. In 1701, he translated into Latin and sent to Marsigli, his history of Transylvania written in Turkish 36 years earlier. The book describes through 200 pages the history of the principality between 1525 and 1666. 12 3 We have found some of the documents which were associated with the manuscript. 124 Paulus Ritter, a scholar from Zagreb 12 5, also assisted Marsigli with historical data, genealogy, books and documents on Croatia and Slavonia and must have been an important influence. Once, on his return from visiting Marsigli who was serving in the southern part of the country, he wrote a letter in a 30 line verse addressed to his patron. He enclosed the requested coats of arms of the most eminent families of Croatia. He expressed his regrets in the letter that the coats-of-arms were so poorly painted, but he was not to be blamed since there were no qualified painters in Zagreb or in the whole country. At the beginning of the poem he highlights a picture of a bygone world: Parted from you and departed from the castle, under Dersnik/ Me, the knight endowed with your blessed mercyI Went to the bank of the river to ease my hunger! And where 12 2 Dávid Rosnyai was the Turkish notary and interpreter of Mihály Apafi, the last Transylvanian prince. It was he who interpreted Ferenc Rákóczi 11's Turkish letters (1641 Marosvásárhely - 1718 Fogaras). Hungarian historigraphy knows only his Hungarian historical studies (see: Sándor Szilágyi: R., az utolsó török deák történeti maradványai. Pest, 1867 [The historical traces of the last Turkish scribe]). The Horologicum Turcicum, his transcription of the Panchatantra, note no. 43, tells us that he lived in Constantinople at the age of 24 where he wrote the cited Erdély története [History ofTransylvania] in Turkish. 12 3 The introduction was written in a double circle, it can be translated as follows: The sorrowful events that took place in the east, in the west, in the south and in the north from the time of Emperor Ferdinand I and Bajezid Sultan and also from the days of László VI. Hungarian King, to the days of the victorious Emperor Leopold I and Sultan Mehemmed IV, which Dávid Rosnai had written in Constantinople in Turkish with respect to the territory ofTransylvania six years ago was translated into Latin for Christian people with no less care. It is now handed over with the greatest goodwill and obedience, to His Majesty's advisor, the captain of one of his famous troops, the most honourable leader of frontier demarcation, General Luigi Fernando Marsigli, his gracious patron and protector - in the year 1701 of our salvation. (We did not know of Dávid Rosnyai's work earlier. New data emerged about his life from these few quoted lines: he stayed in Constantinople in 1665 where he wrote the history ofTransylvania between 1525-1665 in Turkish.) - BUB Mss di Marsigli BUB Vol. 103. pp. 390-490. F II. 3. 1701. 12 4 BUB Vol. 103. pp. 390-490. F II. 3. 1701. 125 Vjekoslav Klaic: Zivot i djela Pavla Rittera Vitezovica - 1652-1713; U Zagrebu; Izdala Matica Hrvatska; Kartografski izvori za povijest Triplex Confinium; Cartographic sources for the history of the Triplex Confinium; Kartographische Quellen zur Geschichte des Triplex Confinium. Hrvatski drzavni arhiv Zavod za hrvatsku povijest Odsejka za povijest Filozofskog fakulteta u Zagrebu. 116
