A Historical and Archival Guide to Székesfehérvár (Székesfehérvár, 2003)

A SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF SZÉKESFEHÉRVÁR

Szabó taught here. Benedek Virág worked in the school from 1780; he kept his position as a teacher after the Paulite order was suppressed. Pál Ányos, the author of The Hatted King taught in the grammar school between 1782 and 1784. Owing to the devoted work of the enlightened, Hungarian-minded Jesuit, Paulite and Cistercian monk teachers the intellectual life of the town flourished. The majority of the town's citizens did not speak perfect Hungarian at the time, yet they were proud of the ancient traditions of Fehérvár, of the exceptionally rich historic past and the privileges of Alba Regia. The citizens did not identify with the germanising, imperial policy of the central government. The magistracy passed a resolution in 1814 to keep the minutes of the town council meetings in Hungarian language instead of Latin or German. Some committees had kept the minutes in Hungarian even earlier, and of course we can find notes in Hungarian from earlier centuries, too. The National Theatre Company of Székesfehérvár was formed in 1818. The county's reform nobility and the town's intelligentsia played a great part in founding the company. One of the most important aims of the company was to "improve, polish and spread the language". They kept performances in Székesfehérvár in the first season, and in Buda and Pest in the next. The company was instrumental especially in popularising the plays of Károly Kisfaludy. At the Diet of Bratislava in 1825 the town's citizens together with the nobility of the county turned to the king to "regain the ancient right for the crowning of kings and queens and justice for the history of the first five centuries of the Hungarian nation". However, their petition was unsuccessful as coronations were not held in Székesfehérvár any more. During the decades of the Reform period significant works were published in our town. By the end of the 18

th century due to economical and cultural conditions the claim arose that provided living for printing houses and bookshops. Számmer Printing House, founded in 1803, published works of national importance. Two works by Mihály Vörösmarty deserve particular attention; The Fugitives was published in 1830 and the play Csongor and Tünde in 1831. Besides the national movements of the Reform period rousing nationalism and the reshaping the patrician middle-classes were helped