Negative Judgment

negative judgment; so I will not go into particular "facts," and, of course, in the early Middle Ages there often is little consensus on many so-called "facts." My main general disagreement with both authors is the loose use of the term "ethnicity." I do not think ethnicity existed in the medieval Balkans (excluding.the views of a handful of churchmen, most from the late-thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.). But labels and identities (of various sorts) were there. And it would be wrong to overemphasize this criticism, for in the end the quibble is clearly semantic, on what ingredients one must have to be an ethnic. Both scholars know their subjects extremely well, present new and original views, and will stimulate the minds of anyone interested in the early Slavs, if not the early Middle Ages in general. John V.A. Fine University of Michigan, Ann Arbor PÃ¡l Engel. The Realm of St. Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary 895-1526. Translated by Tamas PÃ¡losfalvi. English edition edited by Andrew Ayton. London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 2001. xx, 452 pp. $69.50. Distributed by Palgrave, New York. This outstanding volume makes an important contribution to the historiography of medieval East Central Europe. The late Pal Engel, who died prematurely on August 21, 2001, was a distinguished scholar who had made important contributions to the history and historical topography of nedieval Hungary. His broad and diverse learn- ing, his mastery of bibliography, and his position as Head of the Medieval Department at the Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences made him one of the leading Hungarian medievalists. More than that, however, his ambition and ability to write history, as one of his Hungarian colleagues put it, "in categories that mean the same in Budapest, Bucharest and Prague" ensured a balanced outlook that made him a logical candidate for the task the editor of the English edition envisioned. Dr. Andrew Ayton, himself an accomplished medievalist, approached Engel in 1993 with a pro- posal that he write an entirely new history of medieval Hungary designed to speak to an English-language readership in terms that would not be freighted by the traditions of East Central European rivalries. What the author has accomplished is a superb example of such scholarship, written, as he wryly puts it in his Preface, in such a way that "nobody living in [the Carpathian basin] who has strong national feelings will find comfort in it." As he notes, "each of the nations of the region has its own vision of the past, incompatible with that of the others, and it was my firm intention that none of these visions should be represented in this volume." (p. xi) This book is sure to become the standard English-language treatment of medieval Hungary - its internal history as well as its regional and European significance. ' : In a brief Introduction, Engel provides a very useful overview of the geography and historical periodization of medieval Hungary, dividing it into three periods: that of the Arpad rulers to 1301, the era of the Angevins and of King Sigismund (1301- , 1437), and the last century of medieval Hungary to the battle of Mohacs in 1526. This is a traditional organization, but a sensible one. Next he summarizes the narrative and the archival sources available to the historian, and concludes with some carefully worded cautions about the limits to which modem research has been subject. Before discussing the Christian kingdom of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, he analyzes the Carpathian basin and its peoples before the arrival of the Hungarians, then discusses their pagan history in a straightforward way that effectively uses both archaeological and linguistic evidence. The next five chapters (about 100 pages) treat the Arpad centuries, nine more cover in 154 pages the apogee of medieval Hungarian history, and the final four chapters (just under 100 pages) address the problems and glory of the age of John Hunyadi and his son Matthias Corvinus and the decline of the Jagiellonian years. What is particularly helpful about Engel's approach is that he be- gins each chapter with a short overview and summary of the subject matter at hand; thus at all points the reader, whether familiar with the material or not, has a sense of where the narrative and analysis are going. Although the framework of Engel's treatment is primarily political, he provides very good treatments of society, the economy, institutions, and - to a lesser extent - culture. Indeed, his fifth chapter on early Hungarian society is an outstanding analysis of the social order and its transformation during the thirteenth century. Difficult issues of serfdom, liberty, lordship, and property - some of them equivalent to Western developments, others not - form the core of Engel's treatment here. Similar later chapters on trade and towns and the rural landscape during the fourteenth and early fif- teenth centuries and on Hungary at the end of the Middle Ages are equally perceptive. In treating these matters, Engel walks a careful path through many minefields of histo- riographical controversy. He indicates where there are disputed issues; but for the most part, as for example with regard to the question of the population of the kingdom at the end of the middle ages, his presentation is careful and judicious and his conclu- sions are reasonable. He is at his best when he shows the ways in which developments in Hungary may be compared with West European, particularly English, models, or with other regional developments, especially in Poland. But he is also quick to point out where the Hungarian scene is distinctive (for example, the evolution and status of the nobility or the institution of the loca credibilia - places of authentication) and cannot be equated with developments elsewhere. One of the most striking aspects of this volume is the way in which Engel incorpo- rates some of the revisionist scholarship from recent years into a seamless presentation. Thus he rescues King Charles I (1301 - or 1310 - to 1342) from the shadow of his more famous son, Louis the Great (1342-82), and contributes to the rehabilitation of King Sigismund of Luxemburg (1387-1437), whose reign has traditionally been viewed in'modern historiography from the hostile perspective of the noble tradition. He also is cautious not to overestimate Hungarian accomplishments, as shown in the generally conservative picture he draws of Renaissance culture in the kingdom during the reign of Matthias Corvinus. Neither does he shy away from critical assessments of such matters as the controversial foreign policy followed by Matthias, though he is also clear about the limitations the king faced against the Ottomans. In practically every way (with the possible exception of relatively limited coverage of cultural history), this is a superb history, crisply written and comprehensive in its coverage. The excellent thirty-five-page bibliography, organized by chapter for the .

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