Petercsák Tivadar - Berecz Mátyás (szerk.): Magyarország védelme - Európa védelme - Studia Agriensia 24. (Eger, 2006)
AZ EGRI VÁR DIADALA - 1552 - BITSKEY ISTVÁN: Végvár és kultúra
István Bitskey BORDER CASTLES AND CULTURE In the second half of the 16th century a system of border castles was built up along the edge of the area conquered by the Turks to protect the northern part of the Carpathian Basin from further conquest. The garrisons at these border outposts developed their own very individual way of living. Put together the soldiers occupying these fortresses amounted to a rich, multi denominational, multi-linguistic, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural mix. The present study seeks to discover what role culture played in the lives of the border castles, and to find out how the value system that held sway in such places came into being. What can be gathered above all is how both military virtue (virtus) and intellectual prowess (studium, literatura) were held in high esteem, something that can be seen in the numerous literary works that praise both qualities. This can be seen typically in Bálint Balassi’s observation that those glorifying historical figures, especially the military leaders, are the very people who have not only experienced victory, but have first-hand knowledge of literature and writing poetry. A number of those officers serving at Eger Castle, for example, were highly educated, with contemporaries going so far as to say that they served Pallas as well as Mars. Among them was the Polish warrior poet Adam Chahrowski, who praised the heroic deeds of the defenders of Eger Castle in several of his poems, before mourning the fortress’s loss in 1596 in a later work. The Reformation, which swept through the ranks of the army from the mid-16th century, provided another spur to intellectual endeavour at Eger Castle. While the German mercenaries followed Luther’s teachings, the majority of Hungarians endorsed the ideas of the Swiss Reformation. The castellans were without exception all supporters of Protestantism. This meant they were at loggerheads with the bishop of Eger and cathedral chapter residing in the castle precincts, with the result that there were frequent conflicts. Radical anti-Trinitarianism also reared its head in Eger, making confessional pluralism in the town all but complete. With all the different denominations also endeavouring to build up their own cultural institutions (schools, publishing houses, missions) the intellectual climate was enlivened by religious debate and dissent. 196
