The Making and Uses of the Image of Hungary and Transylvania

This three-volume series about early modern Hungary divided by Ottoman presence approaches themes of exchange of information and knowledge from two perspectives: exchange through traditional channels provided by religious/educational institutions and the system of European study tours (Volume 1: Study Tours and Intellectual-Religious Relationships), and the less regular channels and improvised networks of political diplomacy (Volume 2: Diplomacy, Information Flow and Cultural Exchange). A by-product of this exchange of information was the changing image of early modern Hungary and Transylvania, which is presented in the third and in some aspects concluding volume of essays (Volume 3: The Making and Uses of the Image of Hungary and Transylvania). Unlike earlier approaches to the same questions, these volumes intend to draw an alternative map of early modern Hungary. On this map, the centre-periphery conceptions of European early modern culture will be replaced by new narratives written from the perspective of historical actors, and the dominance of Western-Hungarian relationships are kept in balance with openness to the significance of Hungary’s direct neighbours, most importantly the Ottoman Empire.

The editors of the volumes, Gábor Almási, Szymon Brzeziński, Ildikó Horn, Kees Teszelszky and Áron Zarnóczki are based at Hungarian, Polish and Dutch institutions of historical research. Their collaboration is the result of a joint research programme generously financed by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund.