A Herman Ottó Múzeum évkönyve 48. (2009)

Gyulai Éva: Árpád-házi Szent Erzsébet és Sziléziai Szent Hedvig kultusza a késő középkori Szepességben

MNG = Magyar Nemzeti Galéria RMGy = Régi Magyar Gyűjtemény MOL = Magyar Országos Levéltár Dl = Diplomatikai gyűjtemény UeC = E 156 Urbaria et conseriptiones SA Levoca = Statny oblastny archív v Levoci Can. vis. = Spisske byskustvo, kanonické vizitácie (Szepesi püspökség, canoniea visitatiók) SK = Spisská diecéza, Biskupsky archív (Spisská Kapitula) Can. vis. = Kanonické vizitácie farností spisskei diecézy (a Szepesi Püspökség plébániáinak egyházlátogatási jegyzőkönyvei) W° 1 = 1655/56. év (Pálfalvay János) N° 2 = 1693. év (Mattyasovszky László) JYs 3= 1712. év (Sigray János) KEL = Kniznica evanjelického a. v. cirkvéneho zboru, Levoca; Evanjelicky a. v. Farsky Urad, Levoca (Lőcsei Evangélikus Könyvtár, a Lőcsei Evangélikus Egyházközség lelkészi hivatala) V/A/2 (Sperfogel-krónika) = Konrad Sperfogel: Chronik 1516-1537. Kézirat. (Konrád Sperfogel lőcsei bíró krónikája, 1516-1537) THE CULT OF ST. ELISABETH OF THURINGIA AND ST. HEDWIG OF SILESIA IN THE ZIPSER REGION DURING THE LATE MIDDLE AGES The two related saints, St. Elisabeth and her aunt, St. Hedwig of Silesia appear on several altars of the Zipser region at the close of the 15th century. An altarpiece made in 1493 in the Catholic church of Emaus (Arnótfalva/Arnutovce, Slovakia) portrays the Madonna together with St. Elisabeth of Thuringia and St. Hedwig of Silesia according to the sacra convesazione iconography. The one-time altarpiece of nearby Johansdorf (Jánosfalva/Janóc/Janovce, Slovakia) depicted St. Elisabeth and St. Catherine, the church's patron saints, on either side of the Madonna and the Infant. St. Hedwig also appears in the altarpiece portraying St. Elisabeth in St. James' parish church in Leutscha (Lőcse/Levoca, Slovakia). This altarpiece probably comes from the chapel of the hospice dedicated to St. Elisabeth, which once stood beyond the town walls. The cult of St. Elisabeth and St. Hedwig can be linked to the piety and religious ostentation of the counts of the Zipser region. Stephen Szapolyai (f 1499) was the able military leader and confidante of King Matthias Corvinus, who later became the Palatine of Hungary. He acted as the governor of Silesia between 1474 and 1481 and married Princess Hedwig of Teschen (1469-1521), daughter of Prince Premislaw I, ruler of Teschen. Hedwig of Teschen, whose lineage could be traced to the Piast Dynasty, was related through her father and her mother to St. Hedwig of Silesia and thus also to St. Elisabeth of Thuringia. The cult of these two Central European saints in the Zipser region was no doubt promoted by Hedwig of Teschen and her husband, as shown by their donations to the Church. Emaus was the property of the nearby Carthusian monastery of Schauberg {Lapis Refugii). which was particularly dear to Hedwig of Teschen for she repeatedly granted privileges and made donations to the Carthusian monks. St. Elisabeth and St. Hedwig, both local Central European saints, were favourably received in the Zipser region. Founded by colonists from Germany, the privileged Zipser region reflected the ethnic and cultural diversity of Central Europe. The political and regional independence of the Zipser region served as a model for the Central European ruling elite of the Late Middle Ages, which strove to integrate the peoples of the region and retain its independence from the major empires. However, the wars between Habsburg Empire and the Ottoman Empire, the two major political actors of the 16th century, frustrated these aspirations. Eva Gyulai