Vig Károly: Zoological Research in Western Hungary. A history (Szombathely, 2003)
7 HISTORICAL SURVEY THE BEGINNINGS The political situation in Hungary worsened steadily after the disastrous defeat at Mohács in 1526 as the Hungarian dominions split into three parts. Meanwhile the country's forces were further divided by the increasing presence of the Reformation and Humanism, the two great intellectual influences on early modern Europe. However, efforts to explore the living world in Hungary continued even in the 16th century, the darkest period of the Ottoman occupation. Among the great Humanist scholars in Central and Eastern Europe in the first half of the 16th century was MIKLÓS OLÁH (1493-1568), who combined high clerical appointments with notable activity in the natural sciences. His work Hungária is considered to have laid the foundations of Hungarian studies. 1 It describes in a mature Renaissance spirit both the artistic achievements of pre-Mohács Hungary and its natural wealth. 2 As archbishop of Esztergom, he brought the Jesuits to Hungary, which was a significant event in the history of scholarship, because most of those writing works of natural philosophy in Hungary in the 17th and 18th centuries belonged to the Society of Jesus. However, the activity of the Counterreformation also had important bearings on the history of science and scholarship. Let it suffice here to mention the inception of the main work of PÉTER MELIUS, his Herbarium.... 3 During the Ottoman period, scholarship and artistic activity remained possible only in the Western counties and in Transylvania, but the wedge of Ottoman territory between them did not prevent ideas and knowledge being exchanged. So the work of the medical botanists in Western Hungary can be said to have pointed far beyond the bounds of their region. Recent research has unearthed personal relations too. CAROLUS CLUSIUS, ISTVÁN BEYTHE, ANDRÁS BEYTHE and BOLDIZSÁR BATTHYÁNY of the 'Németújvár (Güssing) School', the NÁDASDYS, JÁNOS 1 Hungária, sive de originibus gentis regionis situ, divisione, habitu atque opportunitatibus liber singularis. The work was written in Brussels in 1536 and circulated only among friends in manuscript, but went into several printed editions after this death. 2 NOSZKAY, Ö. 1903. Oláh Miklós levelezésének művelődéstörténeti vonatkozásai (The relevance of MO's correspondence to cultural history). Művelődéstörténeti Értekezések 7:1-132; BALOGH, M. 1903. Oláh Miklós „Hungariá"-ja, mint művelődéstörténeti kútfő (The Hungária of MO as a source of cultural history). Művelődéstörténeti Értekezések 8:1-135 + map. 3 Herbarivm az Faknac, Fweknec, nevekről, természetekről és hasznairól, Magyar nyelwre és ez rendbe hoszta az Doctoroc Könyueiből az Horhi Nagy Melius Péter (Herbal of the Names, Natures and Uses of Trees and Herbs, Compiled in the Hungarian Language from the Books of Doctors by Péter Nagy Melius of Horhi). 1578. Kolozsvár: Heltai Gáspárné Műhellyé; SZABÓ, Т.Д. 1979. Melius Péter „Herbárium az fáknak, füveknek nevekről, természetekről és hasznairól" (The 'Herbal...' of PM). 2nd, facsimile edition. Bucharest: Kriterion Könyvkiadó.
