THE BEGINNING OF LITERACY
In Hungarian literature, literacy starts with the adoption of Christianity. It did not mean Hungarian literacy, it was actually Latin. The influence of Latin literature and writing on the subsequent development of Hungarian literacy was very important in respect of contents, form, and genre.
The Hungarians encountered Christianity through the Byzantine empire. The first Hungarian episcopacy was founded according to orthodox Greek traditions, many dignitaries were baptized in accordance with Greek rituals. Géza, however, turned both to the Greek and the Roman Catholic church at the same time.
Writing was slow, clumsy work, and they wrote on expensive parchment, so handwritten books, the codices, were of great value. A copyist's work was highly respected. A monastery had a library and usually a scriptorium (a room where books were copied).
At its inception, Hungarian Latin literature tried to meet the demands of the state and the church. Its bigger part disappeared without trace, so we can only assume its existence. Through organising the state, legal and political literature comes into existence: diplomas and letters, acts and royal mirrors.
The Benedictine order had the most important role in organising the church and evangelisation. The first monastic community was established around 996 on mount St. Martin, later called Pannonhalma, which was followed by a number of other monasteries. During the reign of St. Stephen the structural frames of the development of medieval culture were taking shape, and in the 11th century forms of ecclesiastic art are coming into existence. Literate people came from the leading layer of the church. Priests from the lower clergy could only read at the very most.
Diplomas were written after Byzantine and western models. The first preserved remain - in a copy - is from 1002, a Letter of Foundation from Pannonhalma, which was given to St. Martin monastery by king St. Stephen. The letter - like the diploma - had to meet set formal requirements. It could have legal functions, too. Letters had an important role in the forming of the standard style.
Acts start with the two books of St. Stephen's decrees. The first book - at the beginning of his reign - contained criminal laws protecting private property (it appeared around 1001). The second book consisted of his orders referring to the church (written between 1030-1038). Its oldest form, which survived in a manuscript, was preserved in the codex of Admont from the 12th century, and contained St. Stephen's laws exclusively.
The most important remain of early Hungarian literature is entitled "King St. Stephen's exhortations to his son, prince Emeric (Imre)", a work on state affairs. A popular genre in the early Middle Ages was the royal mirror, which explains the science of governing and reigning in the form of moral exhortations. Following antique traditions, it is published as the highly respected ruler's own beliefs and teachings. The year of prince Emeric's death ascertains the time of its origin, so it must have been written before 1030, probably in the first half of the 1010s.
The writer of the "Exhortations" was a foreign learned clergyman, who adjusted the traditional features of the genre to the unique Hungarian conditions. He describes the duty of the ruler in ten chapters, half of which is about the duties toward the Christian faith and the church, and about practising religious virtues. The other part of the work relates to the governing of the state.
The legend, an important genre of the Hungarian Latin literature came into being in the second half of the 11th century. There were several legends about figures from the St. Stephen era, that were written on the occasion of the preparatory works on his canonization or after that.
The writer of the first legend originating from Hungary was Mór, a bishop from Pécs. It concerns the lives of Zoerard-Andrew and Benedict, and was written shortly after 1064. The figure of Mór appears in the St. Emeric legend, as well. He is the one who was rewarded with seven kisses from St. Emeric for his religious zeal during his priesthood at Pannonhalma. Mór was one of the prelates descended from Hungary. In the legend he describes the ascetic life of two hermits, shortly and briefly, with simple words and in an unbiased tone.
St. Stephen's great legend was written between 1077 and 1083 by an unknown Benedictine monk. The country is called Regnum Marianum (Mary's country) first here, suggesting that Hungary kept a distance from the papacy, as in heavenly hierarchy Mary is located higher than St. Peter, consequently Hungary cannot be part of "terra sancti Petri" (St. Peter's land).
St. Stephen's small legend came into being under the rule of king Coloman (1095-1116): it underlines Stephen's royal firmness and grammatical education - projecting his successor's, Coloman's virtues onto him.
The motif of the crown sent by the Pope appears first in the third St. Stephen legend, written by bishop Hartvic, which he considers as God's will, stressing the independence from the Pope.
The original text of bishop St. Gerald's great legend is from the 11-12th century, but all we know is an enlarged transcript from the 14th century. Its unknown author converts the bishop's life into a colourful story. It is almost a short story. We can find some features in it that remind us of folk tales. It is the most outstanding piece of literature from the age of Árpád. The other legend about him, (St. Gerald's small legend) might have been written for preaching purposes in the second half of the 12th century.
St. Emeric's legend was written after 1083, after his canonization. The prince believed that the main virtue was chastity, setting a good example for the clergymen in the age of definitions.
Historiography started with the organisation of ecclesiastical institutions. At first they took short notes.
According to the literary remains which survived, annales (annuals/year-books) were written beginning with 997, on mount St. Martin (Pannonhalma). We know this from the Annual of Pozsony, where the date of bishop St. Gerald's consecration (1030) is also mentioned.
In the 11th century the genre of chronicle came into vogue in Hungary. Anonymus's (magister P.) work called Gesta Hungarorum describes the past of the noble Hungarian people from the original home till the age of raids, focusing on the story of the Conquest and the founding of the state. His adventurous "gesta" is considered to be a literary work of art rather than a historic work.
Simon Kézai, king Ladislas IV's court priest, wrote his chronicle around 1283. His sources were earlier chronicles relating to Hungarian history, and other Italian, French, and German historic works. He examined the ancient history of the Hungarian people, and the idea of the Hun-Hungarian kinship plays an important role in it.
The Hungarians' most precious literary remain from the age of Árpád, the Képes Krónika (Illustrated Chronicle) survived from the 1360s. Its significance lies in the fact that it is a summary of works describing the history of the Hungarians, from the 11-14th centuries, so it is a basic source for the researchers of early Hungarian history.
