Majorossy Judit: Egy történelmi gyilkosság margójára. Merániai Gertrúd emlékezete, 1213 - 2013. Tanulmánykötet - A Ferenczy Múzeum kiadványai, A. sorozat: Monográfiák 2. (Szentendre, 2014)
VI. English Summaries
To the Margin of a Historical Murder - English Summaries who actively participated in the coinage reform, and Adelheid, the daughter of Rudolf of Rheinfelden (the wife of Ladislas I), who was the commissioner of a splendid reliquary cross (which, however, never entered Hungary and now is kept in Sankt Paul im Lavanttal). The last queen of the Árpád dynasty, Agnes of Habsburg was an active donator but only after leaving Hungary for the nunnery of Königsfelden. Another group came from the Western Mediterranean as Felicia, the sister of King Roger II of Sicily, and Constance of Aragon (later the first wife of Emperor Frederick II), however no objects are known to be related to them. Queens from the Eastern Mediterranean came also to Hungary, for example, Synadene, the wife of Géza I, who was probably the first owner of the lower part of the Holy Crown of Hungary. The first wife of Béla III, Anna of Antioch, may have supported the interest in Byzantine art of her husband who was educated in Constantinople. Other queens of Orthodox origins supported monasteries of the Eastern rite (for example, Anastasia, the daughter of Yaroslav the Wise), certainly in accordance with her husband, Andrew I, who himself spent years in Kiev. Another queen of Kievan origin, Euphrosina (the wife of Géza II), was an important patron in twelfth century Székesfehárvár, however it shows no Eastern characteristics. Thus, the majority of the queens of foreign origin either did not influence actively the artistic tendencies of the kingdom or what they did was in perfect harmony with the artistic policy of their husbands. Still, there are three turning points in the history of art of medieval Hungary where the influences of the queens can be logically supposed. First of all, during the Christianization of the country under King (Saint) Stephen I (997-1038) the Ottonian art and architecture was implanted in Hungary. The wife of the king, Gisela originated from Regensburg, one of the most important artistic centres of her age. Another similarly significant change can be detected at the end of the twelfth century, during the reign of Béla III (1172-1196). At that time the Early Gothic style appeared in Kingdom of Hungary first among the Central European countries. The second wife of the king was Marguerite, the sister of King Philip II Augustus of France. Certainly, the French style was also transmitted by the intellectuals educated at the University of Paris. Another wave of the Early Gothic arrived in the early thirteenth century, in the time of Queen Gertrude, whose brother, Berthold, was the commissioner of the cathedral of Kalocsa, the only typically Early Gothic cathedral in Hungary. After her death, King Andrew II remarried, and the new queen, Yolanda de Courtenay, whose family relationship might have played an important role transmitting the stylistic novelties of the High Gothic. Finally, a similarly significant turn is visible under King Matthias Corvinus (1458-1490), resulting in the first flourishing of the Italian Renaissance style north of the Alps. It is debated in which extent the queen, Beatrix of Aragon, coming from Naples, and her circle is responsible for this change; however, they must have played some sort of a role. All in all, it seems that the medieval queens of Hungary did not play a decisive role in the artistic development of Hungary, however, through their international relationship and the foreign noblemen, intellectuals and artists accompanying them they contributed to hold courtly art up-to-date. The patronage of the queens can be understood only within a larger context, the dynastic self-representation of the royal court. Consequently, the art of the queens is also the art of the kings; and the queens of the art historians can take real shape only if they are evaluated within their real historical framework. Orsolya Réthelyi Queen Gertrude and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary in the Low Countries. The House of Árpád in the Dynastic Representation of the Cray Family The cult of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary enjoyed a great popularity throughout Europe in the medieval and early modern period, and the Low Countries was no exception to this rule. The figure of Saint Elizabeth - often as a patronsaint - or her legend, with the role played by her mother Gertrude of Andechs-Meran, queen consort of Hungary, was well known and frequently depicted on different products of devotional art. This article, however, does not offer a systematic study of the cult of this holy princess from the house of Árpád in the Low Countries. Instead - as an early report on an in-depth study to be published later - it wishes to focus on a family from the Low Countries who were instrumental in the spread of her cult, and who greatly enhanced familiarity with the house of Árpád and Hungarian historical topoi in the Low Countries. Through describing and analysing a few notable examples, this article also wishes to shed light on an interesting but little known case of cultural transfer and appropriation between Hungary and the Netherlands in the late medieval and early modern period. The Croy family originated from Picardy and became influential in the early fifteenth century in the service of the dukes of Burgundy in the Low Countries. Jean I de Croy (1365-1415) and his son Antoine I (le Grande) de 318
