In the “Momentum Young Researchers’ Program” of the HAS (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, MTA) RCH Institute of History “Momentum” Holy Crown Research Team led by Géza Pálffy (senior research fellow and leader of the Early Modern History Research Team of the Institute of History) will receive priority support from July 2012 to June 2017 for systematic research and analysis of the history of the crowning ceremonies and the Hungarian Holy Crown from 1526 to 1916. The main objective of the interdisciplinary project entitled “Representations of the State and the Nation in Early Modern Hungary: the Hungarian Coronation Ceremonies and the Holy Crown (1526–1916)” is a thorough examination of the early modern history of the Holy Crown and the coronation ceremonies of Hungarian kings and queens in the 16–20th centuries (in Székesfehérvár, Pozsony, Sopron, Buda, Budapest).
The participating researchers intend to gather early modern and modern sources unknown so far about the coronation ceremonies and insignia from archives in Austria, Slovakia, Spain, Italy etc. and various depictions of the Holy Crown and the coronation ceremonies. They plan to compile the itinerary of our national treasure, the Holy Crown; the “Who’s who” lexicon of the coronation ceremony; the database for the coronation coins, and to publish the Latin-Hungarian critical edition of the famous crown history of Péter Révay (1659). Besides all these, special emphasis is placed on the ideologies and conceptions connected to the Holy Crown in different periods, their social effects and their roles in the Hungarian state and national representation and symbolic politics. The program of the “Momentum” project will be published in detail in Történelmi Szemle 2012/3.
The research team consists of 14 internal members with the team leader, Géza Pálffy: Iván Bertényi (ELTE BTK), Éva Bicskei (MTA BTK MI), Enikő Buzási (MNG), Mátyás Gödölle (MNM), Terézia Kerny (MTA BTK MI), Erika Kiss (MNM), Zuzana Ludiková (SNG Bratislava), Tibor Martí (MTA BTK TTI), Árpád Mikó (MNG), Tibor Monostori (ELTE BTK), Ferenc Gábor Soltész (Budapest), Csaba Tóth (MNM) and Gergely Tóth (MTA BTK TTI). Besides the outside members (historians, archivists, archaeologists, museologists, art, music, literature and cultural historians) of around 20 academic institutes in Hungary and abroad are welcome in this research cooperation.
The results of the project are expected to be valuable for the Hungarian and international scientific community, useful for the history teaching and interesting for the public in Hungary. On the basis of the successful implementing of the research plan, Hungarian synthesising works can be published about one the most important events of the history of the Hungarian Kingdom (the coronation ceremonies), which can enrich the study of the history of our state and national symbols and may contribute to the expanding of the historical knowledge of the Hungarian people and to the strengthening of our national identity. The research will also contribute to the preparation of a grand exhibition about the Hungarian coronations to be organized in the National Museum in 2016.
For more information about the work of the research team and the possibility of any kind of cooperation with it contact the leader, Géza Pálffy:
