1552 Three Munster Leaves: Hungary Magyars Mongols

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1552 Description of Hungary from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster
Ancient Hungary, Huns, Magyars, Mongol Invasions, Hungarian Towns
Three Woodcut Leaves

Three authentic woodcut leaves from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster. French edition; Basel printing house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri 1552. Book IV, pages 1061/2, 1071-4.

Sebastian Münster (1488-1552) was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and Hebrew scholar whose Cosmographia (1544; "Cosmography") was the earliest German description of the world and a major work - after the Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493 - in the revival of geographic thought in 16th-century Europe. Altogether, about 40 editions of the Cosmographia appeared during 1544-1628. Although other cosmographies predate Münster's, he is given first place in historical discussions of this sort of publication, and was a major influence on his subject for over 200 years.

In nearly all works about Münster, his Cosmographia is given pride of place. Despite this, we still lack a detailed survey of its contents from edition to edition, during the years 1544 to 1628, and an account of its influence on a wide range of scientific disciplines. Münster obtained the material for his book in three ways. He used all available literary sources. He tried to obtain original manuscript material for description of the countryside and of villages and towns. Finally, he obtained further material on his travels (primarily in south-west Germany, Switzerland, and Alsace). Cosmographia contained not only the latest maps and views of many well-known cities, but included an encyclopaedic amount of detail about the known - and unknown - world and undoubtedly must have been one of the most widely read books of its time. Aside from the well-known maps and views present in the Cosmographia (including the first separate printed map of the Western Hemisphere), the text is thickly sprinkled with vigorous woodcuts: portraits of kings and princes, costumes and occupations, habits and customs, flora and fauna, monsters and horrors. Münster divided his material into six books. Book I is a useful summary of astronomical-mathematical and physical geography. Book II deals with England, Spain, France, and Italy. Book III deals with Germany and surrounding lands. Book IV embraces northern, eastern, and south-eastern Europe. Books V (Asia and America) and VI (Africa) are of modest proportions.

These authentic leaves from the early French edition of Cosmographia are devoted to Hungary. Page 1061-2 describes the geographical location of Hungary, and its neighbors, and also deals with the early history of Hungary. Hungary came into existence when the Magyars, a Finno-Ugric people, occupied the middle basin of the Danube River in the late 9th century AD. Parts of its territory had formed the ancient Roman provinces of Pannonia and Dacia. When Rome lost control of Pannonia at the end of the 4th century, it was occupied first by Germanic tribes, then by Slavs. The subsequent history of Dacia is unrecorded. The central plains had formed the bases of nomadic immigrant peoples from the steppes north of the Black Sea - Huns, Bulgars, Avars - some of whom extended their domination farther afield. Münster talks about the Visigoths, the Ostrogoths, and the Huns.

Pages 1071-74 talks about the subsequent history of Pannonia. Münster talks about the Avars and the Árpáds. Árpád was the the leader of the Magyar tribe, which crossed the Carpathians en masse, probably in 896, and easily subjugated the peoples of the sparsely inhabited central plain, their first place of settlement. They destroyed the Moravian empire in 906. In 907, prince Luitpold of Bavaria with many of his bishops suffered such a serious defeat at the hands of the Magyars that the Franks had to give up any thought of ruling Pannonia. Those that remained alive were chased and ran back. The German king Luis wanted revenge against the Magyars who also defeated his armies near Pozsony. Afterwards the Magyars crisscrossed most of Germany and returned home with a huge booty. In 908 the Magyar armies broke into Thuringia. In 916 Arnulf, the Bavarian prince. asked for the aid of the Magyar army against the German king Arnulf. At this time the Magyar and ally Germans looted Saxony reaching as far as Basel, and Alsance and Lotargia. But, after their defeat by Emperor Otto I (Battle of Lechfeld; Aug. 10, 955), the Magyars became less belligerent. During the reign of Géza (972-997;"Geysa") they established cordial relations with the West and acknowledged the authority of their king before the authority of their chieftains. Stephen (István; reigned 997-1038), was born a pagan but was baptized and reared as a Christian, and in 996 he married Gisela, daughter of Duke Henry II of Bavaria. Expanding upon his father's accomplishments, he officially converted his people to Christianity in the Western Church (1000), extended his control over Transylvania (1003), and replaced the tribal political structure with a system of counties. Münster writes about all these events.

Page 1073 describes the Mongol (Tartar) invasions during the reign of Béla IV (1235-70). In the spring of 1241 the Mongol Batu Khan, grandson of the terrible Genghis Khan, after the conquest of Russia, invaded and devastated southern Poland as far as Silesia. During the battle of Legnica (Liegnitz), on April 15, 1241, the Mongols defeated a Polish army under Henry II the Pious, prince of Lower Silesia. Another Mongol army quickly overran Hungary and, before they left it, a year later, had inflicted ghastly devastation. Only a few fortified places and the impenetrable swamps and forests escaped their ravages. The country lost about half its population. There is a hand-written note in black ink by a contemporary reader in 1629 containing a subtraction (1629-418=1211; the year of 1211 is printed in the text).

Page 1074 (bottom) contains a a paragraph on towns in Hungary, including Buda (Ofen) and Varadin (Novi Sad). See scans for details; click image to view larger version.

The leaves measure 7.25 x 10.75 inches. Printed on laid paper. The pages are in good condition. Imperfections: margins were slightly cropped; a small chip in the bottom margin of p. 1061, far from the printed area. This is a rare and exceptionally interesting historical document which will look great with a mat and frame.

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