Életmód és művelődés Veszprém megyében a 16-18. században (Veszprémi Múzeumi Konferenciák 10. 2000)

Gelléri Gábor: Francia útleírások Magyarországról a hódoltság utolsó szakaszától a Rákóczi-szabadságharcig

Our second traveler, Jordan de Colombier was a bookseller and librarian, author of a series called 'Historic Travels of Europe'. This text is not a travel text in the strict term - it makes part of a type of texts common to the time called 'country description' or 'the real state of the country'. He prepared his one for the court society of Louis XIV. The analyze of this text and of the map that goes with shows that probably he has never been to Hungary - simply, he ignores the existence of the half of the country not present on the map. Still his description is interesting in many ways - first of all as a 'false' travel description, but also as an unusually clever analysis of Hungary's political situation. Jordan was also the author of a short travel philosophy text published in the Russian volume of his series. This shows that his reading public is very much an aristocratic and often travelling company, and that he considers (just like the Renaissance theorists) the travel as the most important way of learning. The Rákóczi uprising will change again Europe's attitude towards Hungary: during the war news are going on, after the failure Rákóczi goes to France first and becomes a known person. The Hungarian matter becomes once more a political discussion, this time not as a country that should be helped against the Turkish Empire but because of his opposition to Hapsburg rule. Travels are becoming more and more usual in the country once the war is over, and a bit later Montesquieu, the eminent French philosoph and traveler finds it necessary to visit Hungary on his European tour, even if mostly for his famous mines. 52