Körmöczi Katalin szerk.: Historical Exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum 3 - From the End of the Turkish Wars to the Millennium - The history of Hungary in the 18th and 19th centuries (Budapest, 2001)

ROOM 10. Hungary in the 18th Century (Gábor Németh)

present in the ground. For this reason there are grains of gold on the grapes. Károly Batthyány (1698-1772), tutor to Joseph II, had this exquisite piece made as a present for the queen. The reign of Maria Theresia saw fundamental innovations in the history of money. The coins, notes and securities exhibited are mementos of these monetary reforms. SOCIETY IN THE PERIOD OF "HUNGARIAN BAROQUE": RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN 18TH-CENTURY HUNGARY Having become acquainted with the monarchs of the age, visitors may now familiarize themselves with the life and characteristic objects of Hungarian Baroque society and of the religious denominations which determined its world-view. Eighteenth-century Hungary was characterized by the decisive influence of the Roman Catholic Church. The Habsburgs endeavoured to ensure the hegemony of the Catholic religion within their empire. The century was a time of large-scale reorganization in the Catholic Church. Its prelates, who were drawn from the ranks of the aristocracy, continued to perform leading political and administrative functions. Absolutism on the part of the monarchs made the structure of the Roman Catholic Church more effective by creating new bishoprics. Its ecclesiastical reforms were extended to the other denominations, too. Of the religious orders, the Jesuits played an important role in perfecting the ideology of the "Regnum Marianum " - Hungary as the country of the Virgin Mary and St Stephen -, which detennined feudal noble "national" consciousness. The importance of the Jesuits was considerable in scientific life and education alike up until their suppression in the empire in 1773. In addition to them, there were also the Piarists, a teaching order, who acquired an even greater significance. The bishop's vestments from the beginning of the 18th century show the pomp of prelates during the Baroque age (Fig. 13). They are typical Baroque work, and recall the style of the age of Louis XIV. Together with their accessories, they come from the former Jesuit house at Trencsén (Trencin), which was later the property of a teaching order. From the same place is the glass cabinet ornamented with inlay and topped with a finely-shaped tympanum. The silver-gilt reliquaries on its shelves are mementos of the cult of the Hungarian saints and the saints favoured by the Jesuits (St Ignatius, St Charles of Borromeo, St Louis Gonzaga). The chalices and altar cruets are outstanding creations of Baroque goldsmith's art. Worthy of note is the canopied house altar, a masterpiece of Augsburg goldsmith's art from the years 1714 to 1717 by Johann David Schoap or by Saler. Enamel pictures ornamented with scenes from the legends of the Hungarian saints (St Stephen, St Emeric, St Elizabeth of the House of Árpád) can be seen on a chalice by the goldsmith János Szilassy who worked in Lőcse (Levoca) between 1729 and 1782 (Fig. 14). The gold Rococo chalice and paten were given by Maria Theresia to her Jesuit confessor. The prayer-book cover, an item of goldsmith's art, is a masterpiece of filigree and enamel work. Hungary was characterized by religious diversity, as well as by the decisive importance of the Catholic Church. Of the Protestant Churches in the multinational