Hungarian literature

Hungarian literature is literature written in the Hungarian language, predominantly by Hungarians. Hungarian literature may also include literature written in another language than Hungarian (mostly Latin) which is significant due to its Hungary-related topic or if it includes fragments in Hungarian.

Renaissance and Baroque

Renaissance literature flourished under the reign of King Matthias (1458?1490). Janus Pannonius, although wrote in Latin, counts as one of the most important persons in Hungarian literature, being the only significant Hungarian Humanist poet of the period. The first printing house was also founded during Matthias' reign, by András Hess, in Buda. The first book printed in Hungary was the Chronica Hungarorum.

Related Topics:
King Matthias - 1458 - 1490 - Janus Pannonius - András Hess

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the 1526 most of Hungary fell under Ottoman occupation, which date is where the beginning of Middle Hungarian Period is set, in connection with various cultural changes.

Related Topics:
1526 - Ottoman

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The most important poets of the period was Bálint Balassi (1554?1594) and Miklós Zrínyi (1620?1664). Balassi's poetry shows Mediaeval influences, his poems can be divided into three sections: love poems, war poems and religious poems. Zrínyi's most significant work, the epic Szigeti veszedelem ("The Peril of Sziget", written in 1648/49) is written in a fashion similar to The Iliad, and recounts the heroic Battle of Szigetvár, where his great-grandfather died while defending the castle of Szigetvár.

Related Topics:
Bálint Balassi - Miklós Zrínyi - The Iliad - Battle of Szigetvár

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Among the religious literary works the most important is the Bible translation by Gáspár Károli, the Protestant pastor of Gönc, in 1590. The translation is called the Bible of Vizsoly, after the town where it was first pubished. (See Hungarian Bible translations for more details.) Another important religious work is the Legend of St. Margaret, copied by Lea Ráskai around 1510 from an earlier work that didn't survive.

Related Topics:
Bible - Gáspár Károli - Protestant - Gönc - 1590 - Hungarian Bible translations - St. Margaret

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~