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Europäische und ungarische Peregrinatio academica im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert
193-212Views:12This study explores the evolution of academic peregrination in Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with a particular focus on students from the Kingdom of Hungary. It examines how the expansion of universities and the impact of the Reformation reshaped student mobility across the continent.
In the fifteenth century, the rise of regional universities led to a decline in international student migration, although Italian institutions like Padua, Bologna, and Ferrara remained popular for legal and medical studies. Hungarian students, lacking domestic universities, pursued education abroad, primarily in Vienna and Krakow, and also in Italy and France.
The sixteenth century brought significant changes due to confessional divisions. Protestant students increasingly attended newly founded or reformed institutions such as Wittenberg, Marburg, and Heidelberg, while Catholic students gravitated toward Jesuit-led universities like Graz, Dillingen, and Ingolstadt. Confessional loyalty influenced university choice, with restrictions imposed by rulers to ensure ideological conformity.
Hungarian academic peregrination mirrored broader European trends. While Wittenberg became the leading destination for Hungarian Protestants, Vienna and Padua remained important centers for Catholic students. The study draws on extensive archival sources, including rectoral registers and academic databases (RAG, RAH), to trace student movements and institutional preferences.
Ultimately, the research highlights how geopolitical, religious, and cultural factors shaped the academic journeys of Hungarian students within the dynamic landscape of early modern European higher education. -
Marktstädte in Ungarn an der Grenze zwischen Mittelalter und Früher Neuzeit: Die ungarischen Marktstädte
229-260Views:15In the late Middle Ages, two principal types of market and agrarian towns can be distinguished in the Kingdom of Hungary: on the one hand, the lowland settlements, characterized by extensive animal husbandry and the possession of large tracts of land; on the other, the viticultural towns situated in hilly regions. The transition from the fifteenth to the sixteenth century – particularly the watershed moment of the Battle of Mohács in 1526, when the Ottoman advance brought about the military and political disintegration of the medieval Hungarian kingdom – had comparatively little immediate impact on most of these urban centers, especially those oriented toward pastoral production. Indeed, the sixteenth century largely reinforced their established developmental trajectory.
The pattern proved more complex in the case of viticultural market towns. Syrmia (the hilly region around Fruška Gora, in present-day Serbia), which constituted the most important wine-producing area of medieval Hungary, was transformed into a frontier zone of the Ottoman Empire and thereby exposed to recurrent incursions. The ensuing insecurity prompted a significant outmigration of vintners and wine producers from the region into the interior of the kingdom. As a consequence, viticulture in Syrmia declined, while other centers, most notably the Tokaj region, experienced rapid expansion. From the sixteenth century onwards, Tokaj emerged as a leading center of Hungarian wine production, ultimately eclipsing Syrmia in both productivity and reputation.
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Machtverhältnisse in Europa an der Wende vom 15. zum 16. Jahrhundert
9-20Views:17At the turn of the fifteenth to the sixteenth century, Europe experienced profound upheavals that affected politics, society, culture and religion alike. After the population decline caused by the plague and wars, growth began again. Trade, commerce and agriculture flourished, particularly as a result of the overseas discoveries made by Spain and Portugal. Politically, early absolutist structures emerged in Western Europe: in France, England, Spain and Portugal, the influence of the nobility was curtailed in favour of strong monarchies. At the same time, these powers became increasingly expansionist in their foreign policy. In the Holy Roman Empire, however, the situation was more complex: internal conflicts such as the Hussite Wars and ecclesiastical tensions weakened central authority. It was not until Maximilian I that reforms were introduced with the Imperial Chamber Court and Imperial Circles, although the emperor had only limited power. Italy remained politically fragmented, and rival city-states and foreign powers prevented lasting stability. After the Hundred Years’War, France pursued expansion plans in Burgundy and Italy, while in Hungary, after the death of Matthias Corvinus, dynastic ties secured the Habsburgs’; long-term access to Bohemia and Hungary.
Culturally, the Renaissance and Humanism shaped the era. New universities – especially in German-speaking countries – and the invention of printing contributed significantly to the spread of knowledge. At the same time, the Church fell into a deep crisis due to the sale of offices, the indulgence trade and the moral decline of the clergy, which intensified calls for reform. The House of Habsburg, especially under Frederick III and Maximilian I, gained increasing influence through marriage politics and territorial security. The Habsburgs thus laid the foundation for their supremacy in Europe and shaped the balance of power at the beginning of the early modern period.
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The Papal State and the Birth of the Modern Fortress: Innovation in Military Construction between the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period
149-167Views:10Transformations from the fifteenth to the sixteenth centuries, particularly focusing on the emergence of the angular bastion trace. It argues that this “modern style” of fortification was not merely a response to advances in weaponry but a generative force that reshaped political communities, especially evident in the Papal States. Drawing on Paolo Prodi’s seminal work, the study highlights how these military innovations contributed to the Papal States becoming a prototype of the early modern State. The analysis traces the evolution of papal fortification policy from the mid-fourteenth century, examining initiatives under Cardinal Albornoz and subsequent popes, including significant projects like Rocca Pia and Matteo Nuti’s designs. The “Borgia moment” under Alexander VI is emphasized as a period of unprecedented quantitative and qualitative innovation, characterized by a centralized defensive network and cutting-edge architectural advancements, notably at Nettuno. The essay then details the continuity of this strategic vision under Julius II and Clement VII, despite periods of conflict, illustrating the ongoing integration of military infrastructure with broader state-building objectives. Finally, it notes that this intense period of design and construction preceded the formal codification of fortification treatises, underscoring a unique channel of knowledge transmission.
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Some Notes on the Putsch Map (“Europa Regina”) and Its Depiction of Southeastern Europe
213-228Views:12This paper examines a series of anthropomorphic maps depicting Europe in the form of a woman, now collectively referred to as Europa Regina. The first such map was created by Johannes Putsch of Innsbruck (1516–1542) as a visual accompaniment to his poem Europa Lamentans, dedicated to Archduke Ferdinand I of Habsburg and his brother, Charles V. The concept gained widespread popularity through adaptations of Putsch’s map, including a more detailed version by Matthias Quad and Johann Bussemacher, printed in Cologne in 1587, and two smaller, simplified versions featured in Heinrich Bünting’s Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae (1587) and Sebastian Münster’s Cosmographia (1588).
Previously, the earliest known version of Putsch’s map was thought to have been printed in Paris in 1537. However, in 2019, an earlier edition printed in 1534 – now kept in the Retz Museum in Lower Austria – was (re)discovered. Along with describing this map and the circumstances of its rediscovery, this presentation will examine the representation of the south-eastern regions of the European continent in Putsch’s map and its derivatives. It is suggested that Putsch, in addition to drawing from Ptolemaic geography, was probably familiar with Lázár Deák’s Tabula Hungariae (1528).