The Eighth Tribe, 1977 (4. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1977-12-01 / 12. szám

December, 1977

THE EIGHTH TRIBE

Page 7

Book Review:

NEW VOICES IN AMERICAN POETRY, 1977

New York: Vantage Press, Inc.— includes selections written by M. Takacs Barboe (a Contributing Editor of The Eighth Tribe.)

This anthology comprises over 1200 pages that contain a collection of cultural, inspirational, religious, philosophical, historical, humanistic and other relevant expressions in rhymed and blank verse, all bound in gold-imprinted hard cover.

The following summation touches on some aspects regarding the specific works by M. Takacs Barboe:

“New Jersey, The Garden State” is a recently-revised version of a seven-stanza rhymed poem, informative about New Jersey’s flag, state designations (i.e., tree, bird, flower, etc.) together with the nature of its geography, history, sports activities, resources, cities, locales, industries, first records, inventors, scientists plus other individuals of renowned contributions to heritage and culture for state, nation and societies of the world in general. The composition, all in all, is somewhat analogous to a learning experience in regard to New Jersey (which is one of the original thirteen colonies — and later, state — that ratified the Constitution of the United States — one of many facts enumerated within the context). The verses have been set to music also and copyrighted in the writer’s name. For the sake of interest and/or facility in learning, educators and other individuals concerned about education might want to review this selection with students of all ages, immigrants, visitors, ethnic group members, etc. The main intent of the poetry was to create interest and arouse curiosity about the state’s environment — past and present — as well as toward future potentialities, as an expression from within the writer’s core of interest (viz., certified state teaching of social sciences and language arts plus counseling services).

In further reference to the above, the poem “New Jersey, The Gar-THE MAGYARS IN HISTORY

by S. B. Vardy, Ph.D.

Professor of History

— continued —

CHAPTER XII

FROM TRIBAL FEDERATION TO CHRISTIAN KINGDOM

(Beginnings of the Centralization and Christianization

of Hungary)

With the defeat of Bulcsú's and Lél’s armies in 955 at Augsburg — which, by the way, was not a general Magyar defeat as some historians made it out to be — Hungarian excursions towards the West generally came to a halt. Thereafter, when fighting in the West, the Magyars were usually waging a defensive war against expanding Germandom. True, military excursions into the Balkans still continued for a while, but during the late 960’s these were largely in the service of Prince Svyatoslav of Kiev, who, in the course of 967-970, occupied much of northern Bulgaria and threatened Byzantine hegemony in the Balkans. With Svyatoslav’s eventual defeat by the Byzantines and the Pecheniegs I besenyők) in 971-972, and with the rise of Géza to the princely throne of Hungary in 972, however, these Balkan adventures also came to an end. Their place was taken over by a process of internal consolidation and centralization that lasted well into the eleventh century.

One aspect of this internal consolidation was the subjection of the lesser clan and tribal chiefs to the power of the ruling prince (Géza, or later his son Stephen), and the dispersal of their followers all over the country. This process is evidenced by the scattering of Magyar tribal and clan names throughout the territory of late tenth-century Hungary.

While the subjection of the lesser chiefs was relatively easy, the situation was completely different with some of the powerful chiefs, who controlled large areas in the country’s southern and eastern sections, and at least two of whom were also members of the ruling Árpádian Dynasty, with certain claims to the throne. One of these was the chief who held the title of gyula, the same office that had been held by Árpád at the time of the “Second Conquest” of the late ninth century. In the period after Árpád’s death — which was an era of waning central power in Hungary — the successive gyulas had developd a separate power-base

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