Petercsák Tivadar - Berecz Mátyás (szerk.): Magyarország védelme - Európa védelme - Studia Agriensia 24. (Eger, 2006)
AZ EGRI VÁR DIADALA - 1552 - R. VÁRKONYI ÁGNES: Kihívások és alternatívák. Dobó, Tinódi, Balassi
Agnes R. Várkonyi CHALLENGES AND ALTERNATIVES Dobó, Tinódi, Balassi This paper is intended to survey the careers of three outstanding 16th century Hungarian figures all connected in one way or another with Eger Castle, paying particular attention to the answers they provided to the challenges of their age. Castellan István Dobó (1500-1572) successfully defended the fortress in 1552 with a garrison of about 2000 soldiers against a Turkish force of over 60 000 equipped with the most up-to-date artillery. The success of the defence was due to Dobó, one of the most enterprising members of the political elite, whose outstanding financial and organisational skills enabled him to modernise the castle in preparation for the siege. It was the first Christian victory in half a century, and one that showed that Ottoman expansion could be halted. The rearguard action put an end to Suleyman’s plan to drive a wedge between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Principality of Transylvania, opening the way to Poland and the conquest of several Central European countries. Sebestyén Tinódi (1505/10-1556) was a lyric poet who compiled a history of the defence of Eger and the anti-Turkish campaigns from the conversations of those who participated in them, before putting them into Hungarian verse and accompanying them with popular tunes which he then sang in various parts of the country to the accompaniment of the lute. His works were published under the title Cronica by the printing press in Kolozsvár (now Cluj- Napoca, Romania) in 1554. In one of the rhyming chronicles one comes, among other things, upon Emperor Charles V thanking the Hungarian hussars for the heroic feats they performed during the Schmalkalden War, and granting their request to unite Christendom against the Ottomans. Supported by the courts of the Hungarian nobility, Tinódi played a very important part in keeping the country informed and shaping public opinion. The poet Bálint Balassi (1554-1594) came from one of the oldest and richest aristocratic families in Upper Hungary. He studied in Nuremberg, and spent three periods, of varying length, at the royal and aristocratic courts 45
