Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 66-68. (Budapest, 1973)
TANULMÁNYOK - Regöly-Mérei Gyula: A középkori és régi magyar egyetemek, különös tekintettel a budapesti orvosi kar jelentőségére a tudománytörténetben (angol nyelven)
THE MEDIAEVAL AND LATER HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITIES WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MEDICAL FACULTY OF BUDAPEST IN THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE he Budapest University of Medicine is the historical descendant of the former Medical Faculty of the Budapest University. In I960 we celebrate the two-hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the Medical Faculty. All such celebrations mean at the same time going back into the past, examining what influence our University and its predecessor the Medical Faculty have exerted on the development of science in the interest of the entire humanity. It is this contribution that determines the significance of a nation in the history of science. To be able to duly evaluate the cultural aspirations of Hungary in the past we have to look back into ancient times. Only this way we can obtain a satisfactory picture and disclose the real cause of the appearently late establishment of the first medical faculty, which is in reality the historical resumption of our ancient mediaeval universities. A medico-historical commemoration can be compiled from different points of view. We are going to use the events of the history of our university only as a framework and we shall lay the emphasis on the discussion of the essential results attained, and on the medical attitude that has taken root on the Medical Faculty. According to the customary principle we shall observe the medicohistorical perspective and regard the beginning of the first world-war as a border-line, which we are going to cross only exceptionally if necessary to the unity of characterization of the personalities in question. It is not easy to reconstruct the history of the Hungarian academies and universities of the Middle Ages. The stormy events of war have swept away the records of the past. On August 29, 1526 the Hungarian army suffered a crushing defeat from the preponderant Turkish forces on the battlefield of Mohács. This disaster was followed by the 150-year Turkish occupation of Hungary, during which the country was torn into 3 parts. In this period the greatest part of the archives was destroyed. Centuries later however numerous records could be collected and saved for posterity. According to the research work of i 7 . Toldy a "stúdium particulare" or by G. REGÖLY-MÉREI THE MEDIAEVAL HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITIES
