The Polemics of Upper Hungary (1663–1672)

The book provides an insight into the polemical literature of Hungary in the second half of the 17th century. Following the Peace Treaty of Linz (1645), in the Kingdom of Hungary the Catholic renewal could begin in the previously Protestant cities of Upper Hungary, Kassa (today Košice) and Sárospatak, led by the Jesuit Order. One of the defining documents of this was the theological treatise entitled Három üdvösséges kérdés (Three Questions on Salvation), written in 1661 by Jesuit leader Matthias Sámbár and printed in Nagyszombat (today Trnava). This Catholic document created a polemic between the converting, missionary Jesuits, and representatives of the Reformed Congregation of the cities that lasted for several years and required much correspondence. The work of Erika Csilla Garadnai explores the texts of the so-called Upper Hungarian religious debate that took place between 1663 and 1672, and it examines the historical, ecclesiological and periodistic layers of meanings of these polemics through the presentation and analysis of the prints. Readers can gain an insight into the world of the often harsh, impetuous texts of the religious battles of the 1660s.