Kultúrne dejiny 2/2016 / Cultural History 2/2016
Vyšlo nové číslo časopisu Kutlúrne dejiny / A new issue of magazine Cultural History was published
Štúdie, články / Studies, Articles
KEYWORDS: just war, classical Greece, retribution, justifcation, military ethics
ABSTRACT: In general, the just war tradition is portrayed as a product of Christian political theology and the majority of scholars dates its origin to the 4th century AD. This common view, however, represents a rather selective perspective on the just war tradition. It ignores the fact that the reflections on the justifcation of war in terms of human and divine justice precede the writings of the early Christian theologians. If we pay a more detailed attention to the historical and philosophical writings of the classical Greek period, we discover a rich and colourful world of thinking about the idea of just war. Despite the fact that we will not fnd there any systematic just war theory, the ideas that were in the centre of classical Greek authors’ interest, notably that of Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato and Aristotle, constitute an important consideration for both today’s understanding of the origin of this tradition and the concept of just war itself.
The main objective of this article is to present a reflection on just war in the classical period of Greek history and to challenge the widely accepted belief that the tradition of just war is a product of Christian political thought and political theology. The paper consists of four parts in which attention is primarily paid to the works of the Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides and philosophers Plato and Aristotle as well as to the writings of some other authors, especially orators of the classical period. The frst portion of the paper is to show the way in which the issue of the causes of war is viewed in the frst historical works, Herodotus’s Histories and Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War, and to present the issue of starting a war by means of so-called “immediate” and “hidden” causes of war that are mentioned by both Herodotus and Thucydides. The second part attempts to interpret this approach and points to the importance of the concept of retaliation for the Greek thinking about starting a war and legitimate reasons for war. subsequently, this portion tries to argue to the beneft of the view that the concept of retaliation and the idea of reciprocity stood at the origin of the concept of just war. The third part draws attention to the way in which the topic of just war was approached by orators of the classical period and points to one of the main challenges of the moral thinking about war brought by the sophists. The fourth part focuses on two philosophical works, Aristotle’s Constitution and Politics. First of all, it tries to reconstruct how the topic of war was approached by Plato in his reflection on the just state and to clarify what conditions are placed by him on the participants in some military conflicts. secondly, it zeroes in on the interpretation of Aristotle’s concept of just war by means of the analysis of the three types of just war that can be identifed in this work. In conclusion, the article summarizes the fndings of its previous parts and characterizes important moments that are typical for the concept of just war in classical Greece.
It can be stated that the practical and theoretical reflections on the violent nature of war based on the principle of reciprocity in the broad sense brought into being the concept of just war in classical Greece. The practice of relations among city-states and the thinking of Greek historians, orators and philosophers show that the conduct of war required giving reasons for starting the war and the concept of justifable retaliation for injustice inflicted constituted the basis for thinking about just war. Just war was not purely of a defence nature, but it rather had a retributive character, which, however, practically meant that any harm to a polis or wrongdoing towards the allies could provide a legitimate cause for war or grounds for intervention and, as the dialogue Alcibiades shows, the role of orators was to persuade the audience that they became the “victim of war”. In this regard there were very few limitations and the idea of justice was also compatible with hegemony of a dominant state or a war against natural slaves. The elasticity of the concept of just war thus created a situation in which it was relatively easy to justify almost anything. Only after the experience with the Peloponnesian War there was an effort to restrict and regulate internal conflicts and to divert energy toward wars with non-Greek ethnics.
At the same time the Greek authors, however, offer a way of thinking for the assessment of the justifcation of war that is in many respects similar to what we today refer to as the tradition of just war. It is a reflection that although attaches great importance to politics and political life, it also attempts to allow for and show a different view of justice and the concept of good life. Thus, this reasoning asks itself questions such as: To what extent can the past events and old wrongs be taken as a cause of war? Is it deciding who frst is going to use military force or can another kind of violent deed be also considered aggression? What kind of provocation is suffcient for the justifcation of starting a war? It also includes an idea of a close relationship between ethics and military training and the need for training in controlling passions brought about by the violent nature of war or an idea of the importance of education that enables to understand against whom it is just to use military force and how this force is to be used. Last but not least, it also says that war should not be an end in itself but only a means to achieve peace in the world in which the state must be constantly prepared for war. such a conclusion, however, has major consequences for how we today think about the origin and identity of the tradition of just war and opens new questions as regards the relationship of the early Christian political thought and the origin of the reflection on just war.
KEYWORDS: Hungary, Slovakia, history, Templars, Johannites, Antonites, religious orders
ABSTRACT: The objective of the paper is to point to some of the issues of the recent historiography on the orders of Templars, Johannites and Antonites in Slovakia as well as in the neighbouring central European countries. While quite many publications have been published recently, their quality varies considerably. The present paper tries to respond to some of the published data in order not to let them go unnoticed. Thus, the author wants to correct numerous errors that have appeared in the recent literature and put the record straight. That is because some of the works published today are strongly influenced by Romantic writings of the 19th century and have nothing to do with modern research.
From the end of the 11th century on, the European history was affected by the more than 200 years lasting crusade movement with the accompanying but intense phenomenon of pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Its ideology, motivation and, in consequence, its overall inculturation as well, have been dealt with by several authors and the topic still fascinates and attracts the attention of contemporary historians, writers and even flm-makers. Thus, the period had literally generated three basic knightly religious orders – Templars, Johannites and Teutonic Knights. Later, other hospitaller religious orders got involved in the broad social-charitable area of the life of medieval history. Already the Baroque writings were primarily focused on the mysterious Templars who are also now revived by amateur endeavours of certain researchers to search for their tracks in Slovakia. In their works one can clearly see an uncritical compilation of older literature, although in the neighbouring countries one can notice going back “ad fontes” (especially in the Hungarian historiography). In particular, it is the historian of the University of Szeged in Hungary, Zsolt Hunyadi, who provided us with the most comprehensive historiography of knightly religious orders in the former Kingdom of Hungary.
A brief overview of locations bound to the tradition of the so-called red monks was recently published by Miloš Jesenský and Pavol Matula in the pseudo-scientifc work entitled Po stopach templarov na Slovensku [In the Track of the Templars in Slovakia] (Bratislava : Goralinga 2008). It belongs to the romantic writings of the 19th century and has nothing in common with the modern scientifc investigation.
In the paper the above mentioned overview still asks itself the fundamental question to explain the Templar tradition in the broader geographical framework of Central Europe. In the reply at the frst place there is the famous trial with the Templars that took place in their home country – France, and ended up in dissolving them in 1312. According to a papal order their possessions were passed to the order of Johannites. In Hungary the events of the trial were not as dramatic and they were basically peaceful. The second factor is the distribution of the order‘s houses, primarily in the territory of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia and in Danubian Hungary. The Preceptory of St. Martin in Zagreb, the castle at Bela near Varaždin and Blatnica in Croatia and Trnava in Slavonia were mistaken for other sites.
In the case of Hungary, after the extinction of the Arpads a strong support from the rulers of the Anjou dynasty was received by the Johannites who alongside King Charles Robert fought at the Battle of Rozgony in 1312. In contrast to the Templars, they were known – together with the order of Teutonic Knights – for founding and running spitals or hospices for wayfarers.
The Crusades, especially the third one (1188/1190), were marked by a major transit through Central Europe, where in the Danubeland, particularly in Croatia, not only Templar, but also Johannite preceptories would be founded, supported by numerous donations from the king and the nobility. At the end of the 12th century, in the royal town of Székesfehérvár a Johannite convent was established while other Johannite convents were founded in baths (Esztergom, Gyor) and in spitals (Sopron). The order came to Hungary through German guests and it provincially fell under the administration of the monastery in the Bavarian Memmingen near Augsburg. At the end of the 13th century, probably from there they came to Spišské Dravce and then to Bratislava and Romanian Sighishoara. In earlier Slovak writings both religious houses were paid only marginal attention.
The interest in the order of Antonites has increased only in the last decades, chiefly with the critical analysis of the sources of Hungarian historians, primarily Tamás Grynaeus and Judit Majorossy.The main aim of the paper is to describe educational activities in the Teacher’s Institutes in Spišská Kapitula and Eger in the 19th century. These institutes were the first in contemporary Hungary to provide training for future teachers at primary level. They were founded by Johann Ladislaus Pyrker (1772–1847), bishop of Spiš in 1819–1820 and archbishop of Eger in 1827–1847. The Teacher’s Institute in Spišská Kapitula was established in 1819 and the Teacher’s Institute in Eger was founded in 1828.
Another aim of the paper is to characterize mathematics teaching at village schools in Hungary in the 19th century. It seeks to describe the didactical approaches to mathematics teaching of Georgius Pales (1753–1833), András Lesnyánszky (1795–1859) and Joseph Weinkopf (1787–1873). The results of their didactical work are very inspiring even today.
In the paper we describe educational activities at the Teacher’s Institutes in Spišská Kapitula and Eger in the 19th century. They were the first teacher’s institutes in contemporary Hungary to produce village teachers for primary level. Both institutes were established by Johann Ladislaus Pyrker (1772–1847), who was active in educational matters wherever he served as bishop (Spišská Kapitula, Venice, Eger). These institutes are an excellent example of SlovakHungarian cultural and educational relations.
The second aim of the paper was to characterize mathematics teaching at the village schools in Hungary in the 19th century. It sought to describe the didactical approaches to mathematics teaching of Georgius Pales (1753–1833), András Lesnyánszky (1795–1859) and Joseph Weinkopf (1787–1873). As they used a lot of interesting models for mathematics teaching, their didactical work is very inspiring even today. Digitisation of historical sources in archives and historical libraries allows the research on historical mathematical textbooks as well as interdisciplinary and international research.
KEYWORDS: Brno, Czechoslovak-Yugoslavian connections, Czechoslovak-South Slavic League, 1918–1939
ABSTRACT: The present paper deals with the Czechoslovak-Yugoslavian connections in Brno between the two world wars. The pre-war tradition of these connections extended into the following period thanks to an academic society ‘Jugoslavija’, established by Yugoslavian students. The most signifcant contribution to the development of mutual relationships, however, was made by the branch of the Czechoslovak-South Slavic League, a national association where a number of important people such as Vincenc Hlavinka or Vladimir Fikulka worked. In Brno the League was focused on the aid to Yugoslavian students and it dealt with the issues such as the position of Yugoslavian minority in Italy or of the Croatians in Southern Moravia. An important role was played by cultural relationships, especially as regards theatre. In addition, there were many other areas of cooperation: agriculture, tourism, translations, lectures, teaching the Serbo-Croatian language, etc. The aim of the paper is to describe activities of the Brno branch of the Czechoslovak-South Slavic League and to highlight its signifcant role in the lives of people living in Brno between the two world wars as well as its leading position within the national body.
The Czechoslovak-Yugoslavian inter-war relationships in Brno reflected the contemporary trends in Czechoslovakia. The mutual relations followed in the traditions established in the past, whether it was the period of the 19th century or the fnancial investments in Balkan, the development of Sokol [Falcon] or the era of the Balkan Wars in the 20th century. The paper deals with the period rightly called “the golden age of associational life”. A rich associational life also took place in Brno. Within the Czechoslovak-Yugoslavian connections in this city, a major role was played by an academic society “Jugoslavija” and especially by the Czechoslovak-South Slavic League – a national association with its own branches, one of them also in Brno.
People, who were active in such an association, had different motivations. They could have been motivated by the affnity to national tradition or by sympathy for one of the Yugoslavian nations, but there may also have been personal motives, such as family relationships, war memories or other personal interests. Last but not least, there was also an interest in the Adriatic and a vision of easy travel to the sea. A key role in the organization and operation of these societies was played by the engagement and activity of a few dozens of enthusiasts. These were individuals who managed to attract the attention of their neighbours, overwhelmingly educated citizens of cities. The membership in these associations was explicitly a matter of urban middle class.
The Czechoslovak-South Slavic League with its branches enjoyed the offcial support of the state, especially of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education. Thus it had close relations with the establishment and as such it was a bearer and co-creator of the offcial image of the South Slavs and Yugoslavia. It was aimed at the propagation of the contacts between the state nations and their states.
These matters more or less applied to each branch of the League, including that in Brno. Varied activities, from the student support, translation activities, through lecturing and cultural or other events of various kinds, up to the mutual attending of important events were also held in all cities where the League was active. Specifc for the Brno-Yugoslavian relations were the support for Moravian Croatians, ample activities in the area of stagecraft and the efforts for the expansion of the branch, which did not occur in other cities of inter-war Czechoslovakia.
KEYWORDS: Czechoslovakia, Catholic Church, communism, cultural journals
ABSTRACT: The paper seeks to trace the Catholic Church’s relationship to the Czechoslovak State in the period after the end of the Second World War, from 1945 to February 1948, when the Communist Party offcially seized all political power in the state. The Catholic religious and cultural periodicals Nová práca and Verbum as well as the archival resources that have been preserved serve as historical documentation in this respect. Analysis of the documents shows that already in 1945–1948 the Constitution and democratic laws were not being observed in Czechoslovakia. This period can be considered a pre-totalitarian phase during which the Communist Party prepared systematically for the seizure of power.
After World War II, Czechoslovakia was included in the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union. As a result, the Czechoslovak Communist Party seized power ‘over the branch’. As early as in the ‘people’s democratic’ period, the Communist Party tried to weaken the influence of the Church (as well as that of other institutions based on the democratic spirit) by state measures which were by their nature undemocratic, totalitarian. They can be explained only as the frst steps in the enforcement of ideological measures hostile to religion (laicization of church schools, banning the activities of Catholic associations, surveillance of the activities of religious persons), because it was not a matter of political, but of religious, educational, charitable institutions which are by their pastoral character proper to the nature of the Catholic Church. The Church’s protest against such control was interpreted as a manifestation of political, reactionary Catholicism. Despite the declaration of institutional rights, already in 1945–1948 social reality gave proof of undemocratic practice, in which some institutional rights could not be asserted and were not enforceable. This is also indicated by the fact that despite the still-functioning democratic mechanisms (general elections), political power gradually became concentrated, also by undemocratic means, in the hands of a single political authority, the Communist Party, which is one of the frst signs of totalitarian rule. In the three years, 1945 to 1948, Catholic writers and editors were allowed to write, publish and express their views. Already in this period, however, the freedom of speech was constantly hampered and restricted by directives from the Ministry of Information. Thus, this political organ created in the editors of printed media an atmosphere of fear and exerted pressure on them not to fulfl their social-critical function. This became forceful towards the editorship of Nová práca in the last period of its publication (1947–1948). The editors opted for a guarded position, though not at the price of disrespect for the offcial standpoint of the Catholic Church. They saw it as a strategy the objective of which was to preserve this printed platform for Catholic intellectuals. This eventually proved to be illusory in March 1948.
A literary-historical or a wider cultural investigation aimed at Nová práca, Verbum and the publishing houses of the St. Adalbert’s Society and Verbum sheds light on the Catholic Church in its dashing post-war strength. Despite the Communist Party’s intention, within the three years, 1945 to 1948, it was not able to gain ideological control over either St. Adalbert’s Society or the magazine Nová práca, and certainly not over the publishing-house and magazine Verbum. The editorial board of Nová práca certainly took a much more guarded attitude in its relationship to state power than the editors of Verbum. The two parallel Catholic cultural magazines are an important example of the multi-voice pluralism within the postwar Catholic Church. The cultural contribution of the Catholic magazines Nová práca and Verbum is shown in the sphere of social as well as of cultural journalism. The ability of the editors to reflect on the burning issues of the time and to react to them is also shown in the area of practical Christian spirituality. The aims of the editorial boards of both periodicals differed to some extent: Nová práca was primarily a religious magazine with strong social objectives. Against the left-wing press organs it offered an alternative view of contemporary social and communal reality: it reflected the contemporary observations of social sciences (e.g. sociology) and at the same time referred to papal encyclicals that were critical towards communism and liberalism. As the St. Adalbert’s Society’s review, in its view of literature Nová práca accepted religious utilitarianism, as reflected in its literary reviews and contributions. Despite this, its young contributors included a number of talented writers who had potential (and ambition) to write literature of artistic value. On the other hand, Verbum was primarily a cultural magazine. The intention of its editors was to adapt the magazine to the world cultural and literary scene as a review based on Christian values. In principle, they refused religious utilitarianism in literature: their aim was to bring spiritual values into literature characterized by artistic creativity; the editors of Verbum were realizing that if they wanted to attract readers they had to convince them of their quality. The historical signifcance of Verbum also consisted in its explicitly socio-critical function, which, in view of the authoritative instructions from the Commission for Information, was a proof of civic courage.
The signifcance of the publishing houses (St. Adalbert’s Society, Verbum) is equally indicative in the sphere of book culture. The Verbum Press enriched the literary scene with new authors and selections in translation, but also with a range of books with spiritual purpose that reacted to the theological trends in contemporary Europe (e.g. the liturgical movement). Despite its more conservative orientation, St. Adalbert’s Society also succeeded in publishing a range of worthwhile novels, especially translated ones. These publishing houses and the two magazines strove to promote the orientation within the Catholic Church in Slovakia which fnally would open out into the Second Vatican Council.
Diskusie, polemiky / Discussions, Polemics
KEYWORDS: philosophy, history of philosophy, ancient thought, culture, Vladislav Suvák, Matúš Porubjak, Pavol Labuda
ABSTRACT: The reason for this debate was an attempt to get the views of two historians of philosophy of the nature of their own discipline over to the readers of the Cultural History journal. The discussion is focused on the question: What is the nature of philosophy like? For over two decades both academics have engaged in the basic research (translation, analysis and interpretation) of the source literature of ancient philosophical thought. Thus, they step before their students and readers with certain pre-understanding of the nature of their own work. The aim of the debate is to present their understanding of the history of philosophy.
Pramene, preklady / Sources, Translations
KEYWORDS: Hungary, history, 17th century, Jesuits, Bratislava, historical sources
ABSTRACT: On 11 September 1626, Péter Pázmány, archbishop of Esztergom, donated 50 thousand ducats to build a Jesuit college in Pressburg (Bratislava). On 12 June 1631, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Mutio Vitelleschi, acknowledged the acceptance of the donation of 50 thousand ducats from the archbishop of Esztergom and confrmed that it was used to found and build the Pressburg Jesuit college. The college was built in Kapitulská Street in 1628–1635. However, education in improvised premises started earlier, on 5 November 1627. The school was attended only by boys and there were 46 of them when the college opened. Within one month the number of students increased to more than 100, so they were divided into three classes. In 1650 there were 308 students in six classes.
„Ľudská spoločnosť sa nikdy nezaobíde bez humanitných disciplín.“ Rozhovor s profesorom Danielom Škovierom pri príležitosti jeho životného jubilea (Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave, Trnavská univerzita) / “The human society can never do without the humanities.” The Interview with Prof. Daniel Škoviera on the Occasion of His Jubilee
Dana Baláková – Harry Walter – Valerij M. Mokienko, Iz biblejskoj mudrosti. Z biblickej múdrosti. Biblische Weisheiten (Viera Kováčová) (p. 311)
The Circulation of Knowledge in Early Modern English Literature, ed. Sophie Chiari (Šárka Fleischmannová) (p. 316)
Pavol Maliniak – Imrich Nagy, Turek na obzore. Z prameňov k uhorskoosmanským vzťahom (Erika Juríková) (p. 319)
Petr Popelka, Zrod moderní dopravy. Modernizace dopravní infrastruktury v Rakouském Slezsku do vypuknutí první světové války (Rastislav Molda) (p. 321)
Martin Lupčo, Z dejín katolíckeho školstva v Ružomberku. Pamätnica k 25. výročiu založenia ZŠ sv. Vincenta v Ružomberku (Marek Ďurčo) (p. 325)
Ondrej Ficeri, Košice v slovenskej historiografii (Zdenka Bencúrová) (p. 327)
Katarína Ihringová et al., Kultúrne premeny očami Milana Hamadu / Cultural Variances by Milan Hamada (Erika Juríková) (p. 330)
Vojenské konflikty v dejinách Európy : Stretnutie mladých historikov V, ed. Nikoleta Dzurikaninová (Monika Tatáriková) (p. 333)
Vladimír Kučera – Jan Rychlík, Historie, mýty, jízdní řády (Daniela Nazadová) (p. 334)
Thomas M. Bohn, Der Vampir. Ein europäischer Mythos (Martin Pekár) (p. 335)
Dominik Roman Letz, Akvinas Juraj Gabura OP Zadívaj sa do svojej hĺbky… nájdeš tam nasmerovanie na Nekonečno (Daniela Nazadová) (p. 336)
Milena Bartlová, Pravda zvítězila. Výtvarné umění a husitství 1380–1490 (Štefan Valášek) (p. 337)
David Papajík, Ladislav Pohrobek (1440–1457) : uherský a český král (Monika Tatáriková) (p. 338)
Eva Frimmová, Rok 1515 v premenách času (na pozadí Bartoliniho diela Odeporicon) (Michal Mudroch) (p. 339)
Jozef Haľko – Lukáš Rojka, Dejiny jezuitov v Bratislave do roku 1773 (Slavomír Zelenák) (p. 341)
Matej Bel, Oravská stolica, eds. Imrich Nagy – Gergely Tóth – Martin Turóci (Lukáš Tkáč) (p. 343)
Miroslav Nemec – Peter Vítek (eds.), Zbojníctvo na Slovensku : Zborník z vedeckej konferencie, Liptovský Mikuláš 4. 11. 2013 (Lukáš Tkáč) (p. 344)
Peter Macho et al., Ľudovít Štúr na hranici dvoch vekov (Peter Tkáč) (p. 344)
Slavomír Michálek – Marián Manák et al., Dejinné premeny 20. storočia. Historik Pavol Petruf 70-ročný (Daniela Nazadová) (p. 346)
Jana Čechurová – Jan Randák et al., Základní problémy studia moderních asoudobých dějin (Matej Maruniak) (p. 346)
Michal Šmigeľ – Pavol Tišliar et al., Migračné procesy Slovenska (1918 – 1948) (Michal Mudroch) (p. 348)
Marek Šmíd, Apoštolský nuncius v Praze. Významný faktor v československo-vatikánských vztazích v letech 1920–1950 (Matej Maruniak) (p. 349)
Anton Hruboň, „Za Slovenský štát, za novú Európu!“ Hlinkova garda v období nemeckej okupácie (Peter Tkáč) (p. 351)
Miroslav Čovan, Historické nápisy zo Šariša do roku 1650 (Štefan Valášek) (p. 352)
Ladislav Belás, Nitriansky seminár (Slavomír Zelenák) (p. 353)
Lenka Straková, História Farnosti sv. Michala archanjela Košice-Poľov (Michal Mudroch) (p. 355)
Konštantínove listy. Constantine´s Letters. International Scientifc Journal. Roč. 9, č. 1, 2016 (Slavomír Zelenák) (p. 356)
Ve službách česko-slovenského porozumění/porozumenia. Pocta Vojtovi Čelkovi, eds. Ivan Guba – Michal Macháček – Marek Syrný (Peter Zmátlo) (p. 358)
Sambucus XI, eds. Erika Juríková – Daniel Škoviera (Jaroslav Nemeš) (p. 359)
Historické mapy na internete / Historical Maps on the Internet (p. 362)
Ivan KONIAR
Michal SLIVKA
Kateřina KOLÁŘOVÁ
Edita PRÍHODOVÁ