Századok – 2006

TANULMÁNYOK - Kurucz György: Kényszer és szolgálat. Portrévázlat Festetics Györgyről 1341

KÉNYSZER ÉS SZOLGÁLAT. PORTRÉVÁZLAT FESTETICS GYÖRGYRŐL 1375 Festetics succeeded in consolidating his finances and decided to promote Hungarian literature and language as well as specialist training by founding Hungary's and Europe's first agricultural college in 1797. However, he seemed to be an enigmatic character to his contemporaries, because he never ceased to show his loyalty to the Habsburg dynasty, yet he did more for the birth of modern Hungarian national awareness than any of his peers. This study intends to throw some light on the motifs of his deeds however controversial he might have been at the time for some of his cotemporaries. The reconstruction of certain periods of Festetics's life with special regard to his personal conflicts with his family and the dynasty requires a rather complex approach and research into hitherto unknown archival sources. This is only an outline, but it will hopefully enable us to understand more of an era through the special considerations of a Hungarian aristocrat devoted to serve the public of his time.