Infima Aetas Pannonica

During the Year of the Renaissance that Hungary celebrated in 2008, it seemed appropriate that a group of Hungarian academics should put together a presentation of findings of their current scholarly research projects. On that account, the readers are not holding a volume of papers linked by a specific subject, but rather a collection of essays all of which bear on the Renaissance in some way. In line with the intentions of the editors and the authors, the book aims to reflect the intellectual spirit of that commemorative year in providing an overview on a wide range of topics on Late Medieval Hungary that have been preoccupying Hungarian scholars for some time. Setting the boundary line somewhat arbitrarily at 1526 is not meant to suggest that the Renaissance somehow ceased to exist along with the death of King Louis II while he led his armies against the Ottoman Turks at the battle of Mohács. Quite the contrary. Except for the magnificent efforts made by King Matthias Corvinus, the true blossoming of the most important intellectual trend of the 15th century was not to be seen until the 16th century, but time-limits constrained the editors to keep to certain chronological restraints. The fourteen essays presented in In-fima Aetas Pannonica: Studies in Late Medieval Hungarian History cannot provide an all-inclusive survey of the research projects that are in progress, but they do provide a basis for comparison, for a concurrence of thoughts, even - who knows - a measure of controversy. Péter E. Kovács