Reisz T. Csaba: Történelem egy kattintásra? Klasszikus forráskiadás és/vagy levéltári adatbázisok. Századok, 152. (2018) 3. 685–694.

ISMERT FORRÁSOK – ÚJ ÉRTELMEZÉSEK - Csákó Judit: Kegyes királyné vagy rosszakarat mérgével teli vipera? Megjegyzések Bajorországi Gizella krónikásirodalombeli portréjához

KEGYES KIRÁLYNÉ VAGY ROSSZAKARAT MÉRGÉVEL TELI VIPERA? 590

GRACIOUS QUEEN OR A VIPER FULL OF THE VENOM OF MALICE

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Remarks on the Chronicle Portrait of Queen Gisela of Bavaria by Judit Csákó

SUMMARY

It is well-known to scholars of medieval Hungarian history that the so-called 14thcentury chronicle compilation has preserved two portraits of the spouse of King István (Stephen) which are diametrically opposed to each other. While Chapters 66-67 of the Chronicle, in accordance with the legends of the holy King István, reflect an image of Gisela as a saintly queen, in Chapters 69-70 the author of the Gesta makes the queen expressly responsible for the blinding of Vazul. According to Gyula Kristó, this latter image of more sombre tones may have been penned after 1213, with the reworking of the relevant section of the chronicle projecting the vices of Gertrud von Andechs-Meran, wife of King András (Andrew) II of Hungary onto the consort of King Stephen, a queen likewise of German origin. The aim of the present study is to establish the extent to which this theory about the 13th-century origins of the negative image of Gisela can be upheld. Its analysis is based upon sources which can probably reveal the time when the various traditions which eventually became blended in the relevant sections of the chronicle compilations were created.