The Golden Bull and its Confirmations

The person behind the spirit and concept of the Golden Bull of Hungary (1222), 2022

Hungary celebrates this year the 800th anniversary of the promulgation (1222) of the Golden Bull of Hungary sealed by King Andrew II of Jerusalem (1205–1235), one of the greatest ruler of the country. During the middle ages the Apostolic Kingdom of Hungary, founded by King Saint Stephen (1000–1038), was one of the most powerful realms in the Christian World. The edict had been serving as the most important and emblematic document of the historical constitutional system of Hungary until the revolution of 1848 which brought fundamental changes. Although the charter of rights issued by King Andrew II shows perfectly the specialities of the Hungarian Theory of State (Theory of the Holy Crown), and it was object of various (comparative) researches before, however it is still unclear under what influence the document was written. Its author, the Royal Chancellor Cletus, later bishop of Eger also remained out of picture, however he probably could be the key to answer the question.

La persona y la personalidad detrás del espíritu del concepto de la Bula de Oro de Hungría (1222), 2022

The person behind the spirit and concept of the Golden Bull of Hungary (1222) In memoriam of a patriotic Hungarian noble statesman, Cletus from the clan Beyl, bishop of Eger on the octocentenary of the promulgation of the Golden Bull Hungary celebrates this year the 800th anniversary of the promulgation (1222) of the Golden Bull of Hungary sealed by King Andrew II of Jerusalem (1205–1235), one of the greatest ruler of the country. During the middle ages the Apostolic Kingdom of Hungary, founded by King Saint Stephen (1000–1038), was one of the most powerful realms in the Christian World. The edict had been serving as the most important and emblematic document of the historical constitutional system of Hungary until the revolution of 1848 which brought fundamental changes. Although the charter of rights issued by King Andrew II shows perfectly the specialities of the Hungarian Theory of State (Theory of the Holy Crown), and it was object of various (comparative) researches before, however it is still unclear under what influence the document was written. Its author, the Royal Chancellor Cletus, later bishop of Eger also remained out of picture, however he probably could be the key to answer the question.

This paper presents the changes in the concept of feudalism from the end of the eighteenth century to the present day in both general and Hungarian medieval research. The author notes that the concept of feudalism has been losing ground for decades in general medieval research. The system which was previously thought to be feudalism never really took root Hungary, but certain phenomena close to the European standard can be recognized: praedium, nobiles praediales, etc. The second part of the study examines the appearance of honour (honor) in Hungary, the heyday of which, according to the renowned Hungarian historian Pál Engel, was during the Angevin period. The final part of the study deals in detail with the possible patterns and antecedents of the honour system in the Árpádian period.

Central European Papers, 2019

Since the introduction of Hungarian as the official language of the Kingdom of Hungary (1844) the Hungarian parliament has officially been called Országgyűlés (in a common but not entirely correct English translation: "National Assembly"). In the "feudal" (estate) period, no such official Hungarian name was in use, and even the Latin denominations changed over time, from the 13 th up to the 19 th century. The use of the word parliament (parlamentum) was rather exceptional, and appeared in the earliest sources only, while the words congregatio, conventio, comitia and diaeta became common, however none of them exclusive, and all of them frequently used with attributes, in possessive form or in the combinations thereof (as e.g. congregatio generalis, comitia regni or generalis diaeta regni). This study is intending to make an attempt to show the origin, emergence and development of these various Latin expressions, and, in the last part, to present the Hungarian variants as well, also highlighting the importance and criteria of a historical demarcation between the two Hungarian forms of the English expression "national assembly", országgyűlés and nemzetgyűlés.

THE DANISH CONSTITUTIONAL CHARTER OF 29 JULY 1282, 2023

In 1282, the kingdom of Denmark received its first constitutional charter. The charter laid down the boundaries of the king’s power, and established the governmental role for the ‘best men’ in the kingdom: i.e., the most prominent members of the elite, secular as well as ecclesiastical. The charter was the culmination of a long period of political conflicts between the king’s and the magnates, about the king’s right to legislate, judge and levy taxes and dues. In the charter, the king promised to rule together with the parliament, and that their consent was needed to new legislation, taxes and dues. The freedom of the church was secured, and a number of legal guaranties were given, for instance against arbitrary imprisonment and sentences.

Revista Română de Istoria Dreptului / Romanian Journal of Legal History, 2021

Only few such, directly private law-related, institutions are known in world history which had in themselves become the symbol of an outdated era. Aviticitas was definitely such an institution. Political and legal thinkers of the Hungarian enlightenment and the Reform Era, committed to the transition from a mostly feudal society to a modern one, unanimously considered it as one of the remnants of the Middle Ages and also an obstacle to social and economic development. As the legal historian József Illés stated: it was "the most expressive institution" of the legal ancien regime. The present study wishes to highlight that, even if such critique was at times exaggerated and the institution itself was not as much the devil's work as some contemporaries saw it, the in rem aspect of aviticitas became outdated by the end of the 18 th century and the beginning of the 19 th century.

Acta Universitatis Sapientiae Legal Studies, 2022

In the year 2022, Hungary had the opportunity for a double celebration on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the Fundamental Law and the eight hundredth anniversary of the Golden Bull issued by Andrew II. Eight hundred years ago, the Golden Bull, as one of the roots of the Hungarian historical constitution, formulated answers to certain questions of constitutional importance, which later proved to be suitable for the interpretation of power in Hungary as bound by law. In the context of constitutional law, the Golden Bull was one of the most important fundamental bills of noble liberties. The revolution of 1848, which laid the foundations of the modern constitutional state, was based precisely on the extension of these noble liberties, and thus some of their theses were also applied later. Because of the social change of the 19 th century, which was partly inspired by it, the Golden Bull was a cardinal law, the basis of the modern Hungarian rule of law, which was valid as part of the historical constitution. Today, through the provisions of the Fundamental Law that name the historical constitution, it is not only a historical monument but the root of living law, and thus it retains its critical and interpretative significance. For these reasons, the present study outlines the relationship between the current Fundamental Law and the historical Hungarian constitution, cited in several provisions of the Fundamental Law, and then analyses the place of the Golden Bull as a cardinal law, the constitutional context of its origins in the Hungarian unwritten constitution, and its direct relationship with the constitutional revolution of 1848. The next part of the study explores the roots of those constitutional institutions that are still in force today, which can be derived directly or indirectly from the Golden Bull, thus paying homage to the eight-hundred-year-old source of constitutional law of the more than one-thousand-year-old Hungarian statehood, as well as to the current Fundamental Law and its promulgator, King Andrew II, who is often misunderstood by the public .

Ecclesia et Violentia_Bydgoszcz. Violence against the Church and Violence within the Church in the Middle Ages. Ed. Radosław Kotecki and Jacek Maciejewski. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Newcastle upon Tyne: 2014. p. 313-332.

Journal on European History of Law, 2016