The Merits and Dangers of Latin:

Abstract

Abstract: In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century in the kingdom of Hungary, intellectuals and politicians were fiercely debating the merits and dangers of Latin. In a country in which Latin was still the official language, and the second language of elites, this was no mere academic discussion. Rather, it concerned both the practical aspects of coexistence in a complex multi-ethnic feudal polity and the question of the identity of the nation and its development. The social and political role of Latinity was negotiated by its supporters and detractors in the Diet, the county assemblies of the nobles, and in countless pamphlets and newspaper articles. In 1808, a surreptitious attempt to steer the public debate on the topic led to an essay competition known as the “Tübingen Call”, which attracted a fair number of submissions. The surviving essays from the competition present a wide range of arguments for and against the use of Latin from various points of view, which are reviewed and analysed here.