The Eighth Tribe, 1978 (5. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1978-04-01 / 4. szám
Page 10 THE EIGHTH TRIBE April, 1978 the saintly king of the Magyars, which supposedly lead to his being elected as the commander-in-chief of the First Crusade to the Holy Land. As put by the longer version of the above Vita: “Because the fame and name of King St. Ladislas had spread far and wide, the rulers of the Franks, Lotharingians and the Alemans (Germans) .. .asked the pious King Ladislas to be their commander and guide.” (Győrffy: László király, 54-55; Bogyay: Die heiligen Könige, 161.) While this claim, similarly to a number of other legends, may warm the hearts of the Magyars, it is hardly tenable. As pointed out by a number of earlier historians, including L. Erdélyi during the 1930’s, King Ladislas had died five months before Pope Urban II had decided to call for a general crusade against the Moslem conquerors of the Holy Land. As such, King Ladislas could hardly have been elected their leader. The origin of this legend is probably based on the king’s well-known plans to lead a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He had planned this ever since 1093, largely under the influence of Count William IV of Tolouse, but his death two years later had prevented him from fulfilling this goal. (Győrffy: László király, 20.) Popular Magyar traditions know of several additional stories of this type that surround the person of King Ladislas with an aura of greatness and saintliness. Although interesting and heartwarming, they tend to obscure the king’s character and personality. When cleansed from some of these fictional attributes, he still emerges as a great ruler. But instead of remaining a pious saint or a great crusader of international renown, King St. Ladislas becomes what he really was: an able Magyar political and military leader, who — while a devout Christian — was an all-out realist in politics. He generally followed a pro-papal policy, but only insofar as it befitted his needs. He was compassionate, but when circumstances demanded it, he could also be harsh. But whether harsh or compassionate, King Ladislas was basically a man of high morality; and even his undeniable harshness — as reflected in his law codes — was largely in line with the needs and standards of his age. Ladislas the “Lawgiver” Having ascended the throne, Ladislas immediately went to work to re-establish political and social order in Hungary. Thus, while granting the title of Prince Royal to his brother Lampert, he refused to share political power with the latter. Ladislas knew the dangers of decentralization from the experiences of the immediate past, and he was intent on restoring royal power to the position it used to occupy under King 96 group, interspersed with singular recitations in turn by individual girls and boys. Solo and trio violin renditions were performed by the Fehér siblings (i.e., brother and sisters about of teen-ages), who preferred several selections from their repertoire, including Jenő Ádám’s “Elindultam szép hazámból” (“I Started Out from My Beautiful Homeland) ”. Next were diverse Hungarian songs (Magyar dalok) by bass soloist, Béla Hajdu-Németh, with able assistance from Dr. Pál Záhonyi as piano accompanist. In addressing the auditoriumfilled audience (of 650-750), Reverend Imre Bertalan, specially acknowledged pleasure at the increased interest in holding a double observance for fully accommodating the talented contributions in honor of this event. He went on to review some of the major happenings about Hungarian history: “From the Revolution of 1848 and the Hungarian people’s desire to be enslaved no longer, to the relationship of March 15th comparable with American Independence Day (that is respectively celebrated on July 4th), and the speaking tour of Lajos Kossuth in his seeking international aid for the Hungarian cause, referring particularly to one at St. Louis, Missouri. Then, remarking on more up-to-date occurrences in 1956, another fight was attempted for Hungarian freedom, which again was not to succeed. A place of refuge, afterwards though, was available in the United States. Still today, however, the plight of Hungarians in Transylvania (Erdélyi) is a continuing concern. Now in the forefront of events within the past few months, of course, has been the controversial return of Hungary’s crown. Encouragingly Reverend Bertalan did express “hope for the future for further involvements by way of community activities amongst Hungarian and American brothers and sisters.” Next, Mrs. Elena Olcsváry played piano selections of Hungarian songs (Magyar dalok) attuned to the hearts and souls in the main of those present; the stylistic performance enhanced not only the majestic beauty of the particular pieces but at times seemed to resemble the resonant vibrations of the cimbalom’s instrumental characteristics. Recitation followed by Ms. Zsuzsa Kovács of Sándor Petőfi’s “Csak egy gondolat bánt engemet” (“There’s Only One Thought That Bothers Me”) — translated briefly, the poem’s theme in general is as follows: “...To die reclining ’midst soft pillows, or dwindling away like a used-up candle, ’twould be more loathsome to me by far, than not to be with the flags and blaring trumpets on the fields of battle, amongst the trampled-on bones of those, who together with me would rather die for freedom — for you — for world freedom!” Next, Tibor Kockavicky, bari-
