Magyar Hírek, 1983 (36. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1983-12-24 / 25-26. szám
Saint Stephen Founder of the Hungarian State MISCELLANEOUS ____________i_________ . -An outstanding work among the relics of Romanesque art in Hungary is a lean man’s head carved of red stone. The identity of the artist is unknown, but tradition has it that the work represents Saint Stephen, the first king of Hungary. The sculpted head represents a hard man’s face radiant with energy. Its features suggest inflexible determination, but also wisdom and understanding. Indeed: this is what that statesman could and must have been like — that man who, breaking down a powerful resistance, played the lead in carrying through a change in the mode of life as a result of which the nomad Hungarians living in a tribal organization settled down, and embraced Christianity. That was a historic choice: in the decades following the Hungarian Conquest towards the end of the ninth century the Hungarian light horse terrorized Western Europe with its raids, but in the course of time Western counter-strategy got the upper hand, and when in A.D. 955 the Hungarians penetrated into Bavaria the The onlr original portrait of Saint Stephen REPRODUCTION: FERENC NOVOTTA Emperor Otto I’s heavily armoured knights checked their advance and routed the Hungarians in a decisive battle on the banks of the river Lech. Marauding incursions in Byzantine territory occurred also later, but it became obvious that the Hungarian people were facing a change of fortune. Either they would settle down and adapt themselves to the conditions of the peoples of Europe, or they would share the fate of other nomadic peoples who had vanished in earlier centuries. A prince is made a king The first steps were taken by Stephen’s father. Géza, the last prince (972—997). He invited missionaries from the West to the country and feudal knights with them, to crush with their aid the mounting resistance to the new religion — and the new mode of life. But the big job of transformation was accomplished by (Saint) Stephen I (1000—1038). He defeated the tribal leaders who rose against him, and had himself crowned king with a crown sent by the Pope, establishing the Hungarian state in the place of the disbanded tribal and clan organization. Counties were constituted to form the organizational units, headed by a comes appointed by the king. Stephen obliged his people to embrace Christianity. He set up eight bishoprics and two archbishoprics, and ordered a church to be built by every ten villages. Since there must have been about two to three thousand villages in the country, building activity started on a large scale. Legislation Saint Stephen’s two law-books reflect the state of the already established and consolidated social order. The upper stratum was made up of the comites, big landowners, bishops and abbots. After them came the warriors (milites) who likewise belonged to the freemen but were bound to do military service under the king or one of the magnates. The law-books mention also a third stratum of freemen (vulgares) whose position, however, became uncertain and in the course of time the majority of these freemen found themselves living the oppressed life of peasants. In defence of the country's independence What proved to be the most important of the political ideas which Saint Stephen was able to get off the ground during his long reign, was that he carried out the internal reforms and the adaptation to the ways of Europe while safeguarding and defending the country’s independence. The greatest of all dangers consisted in the expansionist aspirations of the Holy Roman Empire. The long imminent German assault occurred in 1030, when the vast army of the Emperor Conrad II invaded Hungary. The Hungarians resorted to their ancient strategy: they concealed or destroyed stocks and provisions, and retreated into marshy and forest areas, from where they made rapid surprise attacks on the imperial army, which became ever weaker and more uncertain, its members finding neither rest nor food in the devastated country. Finally King Stephen I rallied his forces, launched a counter-offensive and inflicted a decisive defeat upon the imperial troops. According to contemporary records Conrad II returned home “humiliated and without an army”. The last years of King Stephen’s reign were over-shadowed by disputes concerning the succession. Since Stephen’s son Emeric died in 1031, the throne was claimed by the king’s nephew Vazul (Vászoly) as the next oldest member of the House of Árpád. The king rejected his claim, because Vazul was relied on the support of those who were dissatisfied with the king’s reforms, and Vazul’s succession would have threatened restoration of the old regime. Vazul hatched a plot to seize power, his plan was revealed, and the king had Vazul blinded, exiling his sons from the country. After his death, King Stephen was succeeded by Peter Orseolo, son of the Doge of Venice and of King Stephen’s sister. Fifty years after his death, when Stephen I was canonized, the Church admitted among its saints, together with King Stephen, also his son, Prince Emeric, and his missionary bishop, a native of Venice Gerard (Gellért) who was killed by pagan rebels on a Hill in Buda which bears the bishop’s name today. On the nine-hundredth anniversary of their canonization in 1983, all three of them were commemorated as the engineers of a seminal change in the history of Hungarians. Z. H. STAMPS A two-forint stamp was issued by the Hungarian Post Office on the 25th November to commemorate the centenary of the birth of the poet, Mihály Babits (1883—1941). The stamp reproduces József Rippl-Rónai’s portrait of Babits. First-day cancellation was used on the day of issue. COOKING Crackling suckling pig The greatest Hungarian winter delicacy is suckling pig roast. A three to four week old unweaned pig is preferable. After cleaning the suckling pig should be scalded again and then scraped thoroughly till the skin turns light pink. Use a blunt knife to avoid scoring the skin. Rinse in cold water and dry with a dishcloth, salt inside and out and allow to rest for half an hour. Rub ground carraway seed and marjoram into the inside and place a breadroll inside the belly to absorb superfluous moisture. Rub frozen lard into the whole pig, spread its legs using sticks and place it in an enamelled tray. Open the pig’s mouth and place an apple in it, or use a small stick to keep the jaws apart, replacing it with a lemon when done. Cook in a pre-heated oven but only at moderate heat. Sponge with oil or beer every quarter of an hour or else rub with the fat side of a bacon rind. The roast is done if sticking in a pin at the neck does not produce any juice and the skin has turned into red, almost glassy, crackling. Serve with fried potatoes and steamed cabbage. ANGÉLA F. NAGY * Under the spell of music A review of a book by the late László Vámos appeared in No 21 under the above heading. We wjish to add that exclusive distribution rights of the German edition for the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany belong to UNIVERS VERLAG. The book was published by the author, in English, French and German, Publication was financed by the Innovation Fund of the Central Discount and Credit Bank Ltd. MAGYAR MEDIA handle distribution abroad with the exception of the territory mentioned above. „OUR NATIVE COUNTRY" Radio programmes in English December 6th 1983 to March 5th 1984: The Origins and Development of the Hungarian People over Six Thousand Years. January 3rd 1984 to January 9th: The story of two interesting Hungarians of the 19th century: the Transylvanian man of letters Gábor Döbrentei and the actress Madame Déry. January 10th to January 16th: The life of János Neumann, the mathematician and his contribution to science. January 17th to January 23rd: The life and works of József Katona, the 19th century dramatist, author of Bánk bán. Each programme is broadcast five times during the week. The programme is broadcast first every Tuesday at 19.00 Greenwich Mean Time (or 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time), ft is then repeated four times: Wednesdays at 01.30 GMT (or Tuesday, 9.30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time), Fridays at 19.00 GMT (or 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time); Saturdays at 01.30 GMT (or Friday 9.30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time); Mondays at 04.00 GMT (or Saturday midnight Eastern Standard Time). The programme and the four repeats are transmitted on short wave on the 25, 31, 41 and 49 metre bands, or 11 910, 9655, 9585, and 6110 kHz, respectively. 63
