Magyarországi diákok angol és skót egyetemeken 1526-1789 by György Gömöri (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 581 charge to lay at the door of an author who was not only brave enough to assume thisdaunting task,but sufficiendyresilient to complete it.Few scholars could sustain Bardett's levels of cogency, plausibility and (not least) accuracy over such an extended period. Balanced but not bland, his book is elegant in proportion and rich in texture. It offers precisely what the publishers advertise: a 'compact, readable and informative national history' suitable for 'anyonewishing to gain a broad understanding' of its subject. Indeed, it would be hard to thinkof a better book of itskind. School of History UniversityofLeeds Simon Dixon G?m?ri, Gy?rgy. Magyarorsz?gi di?kok angol ?s shot egyetemeken 1526-178g. Magyarorsz?gi di?kok egyetemj?r?sa az ?jkorban, 14. E?tv?s Lor?nd Tudom?nyegyetem Lev?lt?ra, Budapest, 2005. 116pp. Tables. Bibliogra phy. Indexes. English summary. Price unknown. The fourteenth in a series on scholarly contacts between Hungary and other countries published under the aegis of L?szl? Sz?gi in the Archives of the E?tv?s Lor?nd University of Budapest, this slim volume is themost compre hensive account to date ofHungarians (including Transylvanian Saxons) who visited England and Scotland in the 250 or so years following the catastrophic defeat of theHungarians by theOttoman Turks atMoh?cs in 1526. It repre sents the distillation of decades of scholarly digging in a variety of libraries and archives by Gy?rgy (George) G?m?ri, as described in his usefully detailed Introduction (pp. 5-23), wherein is incorporated a listof his sources and refer ences (pp. 9-11). The volume concludes with a cursory English-language summary (pp. 113-15). In the body of thework, the details ofmore than 300 peregrinators are listed (somemore than once, iftheyattended more than one place of learning) in asmuch detail as the sources permit, but pared down to theminimum: date and place of birth, status as 'theologue' or 'philosopher', other universities attended (with dates), the source(s) consulted, and finally, in a section headed 'Comments' which never exceeds seventeen lines in length, the story of the English or Scottish sojourn; in some cases, the entire career of the scholar is summarized. Some of the stories are remarkable and deserve a film script. J?nos Uri, for example, born in Nagyk?r?s in 1724, gained degrees at Harderwijk (then a flourishing port and member of theHanseatic League), went on to Ley den in 1756 and ten years later reached England, enrolling at the Bodleian on 17February 1766. From 1770 onwards he catalogued the oriental manuscripts of the library, and published his own work inOxford, and probably lectured and taught at the university. He died there in 1796. Perhaps all that ismissing from this thumbnail sketch of Uri are the titles of the volumes he published; for this one must turn to R. J. W. Evans's important article on the Bodley Hungarica, to which, however, G?m?ri makes no bibliographical reference. Elsewhere, publications are listed: the Transylvanian Saxon J?nos Adami, born before 1648, probably arrived in England by 1669. His bilingual (Latin and English) LondinumPerlustratumof 582 SEER, 85, 3, JULY 2OO7 1670 is a paean to a London risen from the ashes of theGreat Fire.With the prelate Isaac Basire's recommendation he tried his luck at Oxford, where he was financially aided byMerton College and stayed for two terms,bidding the university farewell in 1671 inLatin verse. Here G?m?ri helpfully refersback to one of numerous earlier papers ('Erd?lyi k?lto a XVII. sz?zadbeli Londonban' in his Angol-magyarkapcsolatokaXVI-XVIL sz?zadban, Budapest, 1989), though, again, itwould not have costmuch to add that thispoem is just thirty-three lines long.And Pal J?szber?nyi actually founded a language school inLondon around 1662: evidence of how well Hungarians knew their Latin (which remained the official language ofHungary well into the nineteenth century) and how quickly English students lost theirs after the rupturewith Rome. As these highlights and the numbers indicate, the results of the author's labours are often invaluable and well worth publicizing. Indeed, what is needed now isan interpretation ofwhat thisflow of peregrinators contributed to thewhole...