Hungary and the Golden Bull of 1222

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.

Bulla Aurea The Hungarian Golden Bull and its European parallels Conference Szeged, 1–2. December 2022, 2024

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 .

Research Plan

A beginner's guide to the more common Medieval coins of Hungary

Specimina Nova Pars Prima Sectio Medaevalis

Following the first Italian campaign of Louis I, the papal court tried to prevent the Hungarian king from attacking the Kingdom of Naples for the second time. Pope Clement VI sent a prominent member of the papal curia as legatus a latere to Louis I to negotiate: Gui de Boulogne, cardinal presbyter of S. Caecilia. As the consequence of the shortness of his stay in the Hungarian Kingdom, the legatine activity of the cardinal has rather been neglected by the historiography until now. The main aim of this present study is therefore to examine Gui dé Boulogne’s légation in Hungary in detail, as well as to propose a new approach for the analysis and consider the topic from the institutional-historical point of view.

Hungarian Studies

This study deals with the use of the Holy Crown of Hungary in Hungarian revolts and Habsburg representation between 1604 and 1611. It describes how the meaning of the crown suddenly changed after 1604 and how this meaning was spread across the borders of Hungary. The focus is on the use of the crown in the propaganda of King Matthias II at the time of his crowning as King of Bohemia in 1611. This is a rare example of the use of the Hungarian crown in the political legitimation of a ruler in another country outside Hungary, but it has a special ideological background. This use is an aspect of the history of the crown that has been overlooked to this day.

Studia Iuridica 80 (Warsaw), 2019

The article examines the evolution of the Hungarian Public and Constitutional Law from 1301 until the Austro-Hungarian compromise in 1867. The topic is highly relevant, because the year 2017 marked the 330th anniversary of the 1st and 2nd Act of 1687, which state that the Habsburgs are the only and true heirs of the Hungarian throne; it also marked the 150th anniversary of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise. Furthermore the current Fundamental Law says that “We honour the achievements of our historical constitution and we honour the Holy Crown, which embodies the constitutional continuity of Hungary’s statehood and the unity of the nation”. The main chain of thoughts of the article presents the crown-ideology and the Doctrine of the Holy Crown, the Rákos field resolution of 1505, the Acts 2 and 3 of 1687, the Pragmatic Sanction, Acts 10 and 12 of 1790, the public law aspects of the April Laws of 1848, and the laws on the Austro-Hungarian Compromise. The article presents the fundamental documents of the Hungarian uncodified historical Constitution issued within the given period. Through their formation and historical background we can truly understand the Hungarian customary law and the legal traditions, which are still honoured by our present Fundamental Law.