Brodarics-emlékkönyv. Egy különleges pártváltás a mohácsi csata után (Budapest, 2011)
Summary / Zusammenfassung
BRODARICS MEMORIAL BOOK Brodarics Memorial Book A peculiar switch of allegiance after the Battle of Mohács Farewell letter of the Bishop of Szerém, István Brodarics to King Ferdinand I (Dévény, 18'1' March, 1527) In 1877, the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest was offered an exceptional historical document from Germany for purchase: die farewell letter of a renowned humanist prelate- politician, István Brodarics (1480?—1539), Bishop of Szerém (1526—1537) and subsequently that of Vác (1537-1539) written to Hungarian King Ferdinand I of Habsburg (1526—1564). In dais document dated 18,h March, 1527 and sent from Dévény casde located on the bank of die Danube (today Devin, Slovakia), Brodarics gave an extremely detailed and sincere account of five densely written pages of the reasons for taking sides with die other Hungarian king, John Szapolyai I (1526—1540). Owing to its high price it was impossible to purchase the document and it seemed to be lost for a long time. At the end of 2009, die letter written in Latin was brought back to Hungary. Its importance was recognized by the National Archives of Hungary, which purchased the document considered to be a national treasure for a substantial amount of money, diree million forints. It is the first time diis document of exceptional value is published in facsimile (chapter III/2), in the original Latin version (III/3) and also in Hungarian translation (III/4). The farewell letter of Bishop Brodarics is one of the fundamental texts of Hungarian political and literary history and of humanist historiography as well. In a monograph, which serves as an introduction to the publication, historian Géza Pálffy, senior research fellow of die Institute of History at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and literary historian Péter Kasza, senior lecturer at the University of Szeged present the multi-layered significance of diis historical source. Chapter I gives in five parts the historical background to the era in which the document was made. Firstly, it depicts the Batde of Mohács of 29,h August, 1526 described in die letter as „a misfortunate and ill-fated encounter” (chapter 1/1), dien traces diose specific circumstances which led to die fact diat between 1526 and 1527 the Kingdom of Hungary was ruled by two legitimate sovereigns, John Szapolyai I and Ferdinand I of Habsburg (1/2). As neither of the kings were able to impair duratively the odier one’s authority, their struggle induced a devastating civil war from die spring of 1527 onwards for nearly one and a half decades in which — according to the current military situation, political power relations and also their own interests - Hungarian politicians, noblemen and cities often left dieir sovereign to join the other (1/3). Despite the serial defections and the fact that Szapolyai became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire (1528), both sovereigns built their own administrations in Hungary, which can be considered an unexampled phenomenon in Hungarian history (1/4). This structure was eliminated by die Ottoman occupation of Buda in 1541 which led to the split of the territory of the late medieval Hungary into three parts (1/5). Since die farewell letter of March, 1527 concerns all the important issues of the era, it can be counted rightly as a fundamental document of Hungarian history.
