A Herman Ottó Múzeum évkönyve 47. (2008)

Janó Ákos: Hagyományok és legendák Sárospatak múltjából

LEGENDS FROM THE HISTORY OF SÁROSPATAK The history of Sárospatak includes several legends, whose reliability has not been adequately clarified. The present study discusses three major themes, which most preoccupy public opinion and also roused heated debates in academe. These are the following: - the birthplace of Saint Elisabeth; - the construction date of Sárospatak Castle; - the legend of the ''foundation" of the Reformed School in 1531. According to a still living legend, Saint Elisabeth, daughter of King András II (1205-1235) and his wife, Gertrud of Merania, was born in Sárospatak in 1207. Conforming to the general custom among royal families and in order to cement political alliances, a girl was often betrothed at a tender age to the son of another ruling family. This is how Elisabeth found herself in Wartburg Castle when she was four years old, after being betrothed to Louis, son Hermann I, Landgrave of Thuringia. The earliest reference to Sárospatak as the birthplace of Elisabeth is a passage in a Latin book written by Osváth Laskai, a Franciscan friar, and published in 1497. The good friar apparently drew this information from his master, Pelbárt Temesvári, also a friar of the Franciscan Order. With the exception of this passage, there is no other reference to Elisabeth's birthplace for many centuries. The three hundred years between Elisabeth's birth and the publication of this book, as well as the lack of any other sources, cast doubts on the reliability of the passage in question. German historians usually regard Pozsony, seat of the Hungarian sovereigns at the time, as Elisabeth's birthplace, while Hungarian historians are divided as to which of the two towns should be regarded as her genuine birthplace. The erudite professors of Sárospatak College and the chroniclers of the town's history began advocating Sárospatak as the princess' birthplace from the early 18th century, based solely on Osváth Laskai

's remark, and this tradition eventually blossomed into a legend during the ensuing centuries. The reliability of this legend could not be confirmed either based on the royal possessions at the time of Elisabeth's birth, the examination of the itinerant lifestyle of the royal families, or the conditions in Sárospatak and the town's privileged status at the time in question or the high rank of its church. The main question is whether there was a royal lodge in the town in the 12th—13th centuries, suitable for accommodating the queen and her retinue, and an appropriate body of midwives and servants capable of assisting in childbirth. The issue cannot be settled in the lack of reliable sources and the many uncertainties and assumptions concerning the birthplace. * * * One of the best known attractions of Sárospatak, a town with a rich historical past, replete with remarkable architectural monuments, is the castle and its central building, the Vöröstorony [Red Tower], once believed to originate from the early Middle Ages. The origins of the tower, shrouded in the mists of time, first began to be doubted in the later 19th century. However, only in the 1960s did Mihály Détshy

's research and critical evaluation of the archival sources and various relics dispel the misbeliefs, which had hardened into legend. His findings were also accepted by historical research. Even so, several questions remained unanswered owing to the castle's intricate history, and the lack of reliable data concerning its early history continues to captivate the interest of scholars. One of the still unanswered questions is the construction date of the Vöröstorony [Red Tower], which Détshy determined as 1531-34. The other renowned researcher of the castle's history, Professor Jenő Szűcs, reviewed the evidence concerning the various controversial issues, but his premature death prevented him from publishing his findings. In 1987, the present author requested Professor Szűcs to hold a lecture on his research, which was recorded with his permission. An edited transcript of this recording was published in the 1997 volume of the museum yearbook (pp. 35-58), ensuring that it would survive for posterity. This study is a continuation of Professor Szűcs's research. The main goal of the re-appraisal of the construction history of Sárospatak Castle was to fill the gaps in our knowledge based on the re-interpretation of the written sources and the material