Hungarian Conservative

‘The first units of the First Crusade, and then the main army led by Godfrey of Bouillon, did cross the Hungarian Kingdom, but by then King Coloman was on the throne, the successor of Ladislaus. It was also well known that the only Hungarian-led crusade to the Holy Land was launched in 1217 under King Andrew II. Yet Hungarian medieval narrative sources record one more. They tell an interesting and controversial story about King Saint Ladislaus…Given the fact that the Hungarian king died on 29 July 1095, almost half a year before the first Crusade was announced at the Council of Clermont in November 1095, modern scholarship quickly lost confidence in the historicity of the account.’

Commemorating the canonisation of King Ladislas creates an opportunity to delve into the fascinating world of medieval art in Transylvania, with a particular focus on the narrative cycle depicting the legend of Saint Ladislas, an iconic figure in Hungarian history.

Charlemagne’s figure, as well as the myths and legends associated with him, had a great influence on medieval Western European chronicles and fiction, but medieval Hungarian historiography—similarly to Central European—was surprisingly little affected by it.

The Busójárás (the ‘Walk of the Busós’) was the first Hungarikum to be inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 2009.