Bujdosné Pap Györgyi et al.: Mozgó frontvonalak. Háború és diplomácia a várháborúk időszakában 1552-1568 - Studia Agriensia 35. (Eger, 2017)

G. Etényi Nóra: Toposztól a hírértékig. A várháborúk eseményei korabeli német nyomtatványokban

Nóra G. Etényi From Topos to News Value Events of the 1565-1566 Castle Sieges in the German Publications of the Time

There was a fairly large number of contemporary publications on the events of the 1565-1566 Hungarian castle sieges in the Holy Roman Empire, which can be regarded as good quality in terms of news value. The flow of printed news, which closely followed the events, not only helped to establish fame and remembrance, but can also be regarded as instrumental in reporting on the actual developments. There is evidence of a flow of printed news from January 1565 to the autumn of 1566 which can be regarded as systematic, given the circumstances at the time. The news attempted to give a comprehensive overview of the military and political scene. The most reliable information reached Germany from Lazarus von Schwendi who used safer communication channels, as well as from the summer of 1566 from the camp of the imperial troops in Győr. In 1566 ninety German-language printed newspapers covered the events of the Ottoman warfare in Hungary directly, from the spring of 1566 to the recapture of Tata and Veszprém, up until the fall of Gyula and Szigetvár. Most of these printed reports and images depicted the siege of Szigetvár and Miklós Zrínyi s heroic fight. They are characterised by a shift in attitude: rather than repeating the familiar topos of the enemy’s portrayal, as expected from the preachers, they discuss the political significance of the military successes and failures. Over one-third of the German-language printed publications were issued in Augsburg, where an Imperial Diet was held by Maximilian II in the spring of 1566 and generally there was a large number of printed materials with reference to Hungary published in the 16th century. One-third of the Newe Zeytungs were issued without reference to the publisher, however, famous publishers, such as Matthias Francken and Hans Zimmermann from Augsburg or Valentin Geyssler from Nuremberg put their names to their own publications.

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