Hussite Bible
Encyclopedia
Uralic languages
The Uralic languages constitute a language family of some three dozen languages spoken by approximately 25 million people. The healthiest Uralic languages in terms of the number of native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Mari and Udmurt...
Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
translation, dated to the 1420s–1430s.
History
The Hussite Bible is the only written vestige of Hussitism in Hungary. The book – or at least the most of it – was translated by Tamás Pécsi and Bálint Újlaki. Both Pécsi and Újlaki had attended the University of PragueCharles University in Prague
Charles University in Prague is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1348, it was the first university in Central Europe and is also considered the earliest German university...
in Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
between 1399 and 1411, where they got to know the concepts of Jan Hus
Jan Hus
Jan Hus , often referred to in English as John Hus or John Huss, was a Czech priest, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague...
, a reformist Christian theologian. Concluded from the calendar found in the Codex of Munich, the two Franciscan priests may already had begun the work in 1416, and they finished it at latest in 1441. Pécsi had had to escape soon from Hungary due to the Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
, thus he and many of his followers moved to Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
. They had been unsuccessful: the translation was confiscated.
The original manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
is not known, most likely it perished. Most text of the Hussite Bible was revealed from partial copies. The principally importants of them are the Codex of Munich, the Codex of Wien, and the Apor Codex. Some other, shorter parts had been transcribed to other Hungarian dialects as well; these can be found in other 15th century Hungarian codic
Codex
A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with multiple quires or gatherings typically bound together and given a cover.Developed by the Romans from wooden writing tablets, its gradual replacement...
es.
Vocabulary
The translation's language is highly archaic, with many terms unknown in Modern Hungarian. Also, it contains several rare Old Hungarian words, thus provides an interesting insight to the Hungarian languageHungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
at the time. These include (with Modern Hungarian equivalent and English translation in parentheses): monnál (mintegy, or so), midenem (nemde, is it right?), csajva (cserebogár, cockchafer
Cockchafer
The cockchafer is a European beetle of the genus Melolontha, in the family Scarabaeidae....
), gördőlet (mennydörgés, thunder), etc.
In some respects, the Hussite Bible's translators were the first reformers of Hungarian: they coined several new terms, which today sound constrained. Some examples: császárlat (imperium
Imperium
Imperium is a Latin word which, in a broad sense, translates roughly as 'power to command'. In ancient Rome, different kinds of power or authority were distinguished by different terms. Imperium, referred to the sovereignty of the state over the individual...
), czímerlet (titulus
Titulus
A titular church, or , is one of a set number of Early Christian churches built round the edges of the city of Rome, which were ascribed to patrons, whose names often identified them: "they received the name tituli, from the name of the founder or proprietor who held the property in custody for...
), ezerlő (tribunus), negyedlő (tetrarch), and so on.
Orthography
The Bible's orthography was influenced by early 15th century Czech spelling. Pécsi and Újlaki adopted the system of writing special sounds with diacritic marks. (i. e, writing ɲ with ń, or ɛː with è, etc.)This orthography later had spread among the Hungarian Franciscan monks as well, and had a great influence on the spelling of later 16th-century Hungarian printed books. However, the modern Hungarian alphabet
Hungarian alphabet
The Hungarian alphabet is an extension of the Latin alphabet used for writing the Hungarian language.One sometimes speaks of the smaller and greater Hungarian alphabets, depending on whether or not the letters Q, W, X, Y are listed, which can only be found in foreign words and traditional...
has different grounds.
Codex of Wien
The oldest of the copies is the Codex of Wien. It contains parts of the Old TestamentOld Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
. The codex has 162 pages, each with a size of 216 by 142 millimetres. The book is the work of three hands from the second half of the 15th century. Since the 18th century, the manuscript was kept in Wien
Wien
Wien is the German language name for Vienna, the city and federal state in Austria.* Wien , in Vienna, Austria* Theater an der Wien, a theater in Vienna located at the former river WienWien may also refer to:...
, its earlier place is unknown. In 1932, it was moved to the National Széchenyi Library
National Széchényi Library
The National Széchényi Library is a library in Budapest, Hungary. It is one of the two Hungarian national libraries, the other being the University of Debrecen Library.-History:...
's Section of Manuscripts, Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, where it can be found today as well.
Codex of Munich
The Codex of Munich consists of 124 pages, and contains the four GospelGospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
s. Its size is 135 by 200 millimetres. The whole manuscript had been written by György Németi, who finished the work in Târgu Trotuş
Târgu Trotus
Târgu Trotuş is a commune in Bacău County, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Târgu Trotuş, Tuta and Viişoara ....
, in the year 1466 AD.
It is unknown where the codex was after its completion. The first page shows a reference to Albert John Widmanstadius (1506–1557) as an early owner, who was a philologist and book collector. After his death, the manuscript was transferred to the Bavarian State Library
Bavarian State Library
The Bavarian State Library in Munich is the central "Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria and one of Europe's most important universal libraries. With its collections currently comprising around 9.39 million books, it ranks among the best research libraries...
, where it is kept still today, in an excellent condition.
A complete facsimile was published in 1958, as part of the Ural-Altaische Bibliothek (Ural-Altaic Library).