Eleven Travels Abroad of the Holy Crown of Hungary (1205–1978)

Abstract

The study aims to pay off one of the major debts of Hungarian historiography, the absences on foreign soil and the returns of the Holy Crown of Hungary. Between its first removal from Hungary to Austria (1205) and its latest return there from USA (1978), the chief symbol of Hungarian statehood had spent some 135 years abroad, that is, roughly a sixth part of the whole period. The longest foreign stays took place in the sixteenth, twentieth and fifteenth centuries (1551–1608: 57 years in Vienna and Prague, 1945–78: 33 years in Austria, Germany and USA, 1440–63: 23 years in Austria). The longest journey was made after 1953, when it was transported from Germany to Fort Knox, Kentucky. Ten out of the eleven foreign stays concerned Austria and seven the city of Vienna, a clear indication of the extent to which the history of Hungary had been interlocked with that of Central Europe. On five occasions, the crown was taken abroad because of an acute danger of war (1241: Mongol Invasion, 1663 and 1683: Ottoman Conquest, 1703: War of Independence of Francis Rákóczi II, 1945: World War II). In some half of the return journeys exerted a decisive influence of the course of Hungarian history, especially in 1463, 1608, 1790, 1853, and 1978.