Between Europe and Asia: The Persistence of Budapest

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Between Europe and Asia: The Persistence of Budapest

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• Arts

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• Publié par: ifydesut
• Nombre de lectures: 89
• Langue: English

Extrait

Mike Miller

Dialogues in the Humanities

April 29, 2003

Between Europe and Asia: The Persistence of Budapest

Migrations "There is no more illustrious history than the history of the Magyar nation… The

whole civilized world is indebted to Magyarland for its historic deeds," Theodore

Roosevelt bellowed to the Hungarian Parliament on 2 April 1910 (Hipcat).

History has been written and rewritten. Tracing the past is difficult. A curiosity

about my own family history has led to research filled with dead ends or small

realizations. The Hungarian part of my family tree that migrated to America sometime

th near the beginning of the 20 century probably knew as little about their lineage as I

myself do now. To be Hungarian then was not much different than being American now,

in other words, a hodge-podge of ethnically diverse lineage.

Few countries suffered the upheavals of pillage and war as did Hungary and the

capital city Budapest (Johnson 8). Due to its location, Budapest lay on the route of

1 invasion between Asia and Europe. The river crossing at Budapest seems to have been

the transition point of eastern and western thought along the silk road of antiquity. Atilla 1 This paper has been written with the intention of giving an idea of what Budapest Hungary and its people were like 500 to 1000 years ago. In the collection of information it was quickly realized that to try to cover a small amount of time would not show what it was probably like to be a resident of the grand city. Many important events occurred between the time Hungary became a nation and when the Habsburgs took control. Though I refer to the city by its modern name, Budapest, it was not incorporated from the three towns Pest, Buda and Obuda until 1873 (Molnar xv). Regardless, unless noted due to important facts, I call it by the modern name for ease of reading and to reduce confusion.

Miller 2

and his Huns, Batu Khan and the Golden Horde and then the Moslem Ottoman Turks all

laid waste to Budapest at different times in history. These invasions left a mark on the

people who survived the invasions. The kings of Hungary had brought the people from

heathen to Christian beliefs and then attempted to create a civilization that emulated the

culture of the Italian Renaissance.

A City Becoming

Location is everything. Ask any real estate agent who wants to sell business

space. Budapest, before it was actually called Budapest, was a crossroads between

Western Europe and what we know as the steppes of Russia. The area that the city is

located in has a long-tortured history. It is a history that has been a cycle of settlement,

development and then destruction. Throughout the ages, the site of where Budapest

eventually was located had been settled by many different ethnic groups and after each

catastrophe the three towns that became Budapest were rebuilt. The city was, and is made

up of the three settlements, Obuda, Buda and Pest. Obuda was situated to the northerly

part, Buda in the hills to the west of the Danube, and Pest on the verge of the plains that

stretch away to the east of the Danube.

st During the 1 century BC, The Celts built up the first settlement along the slopes

of the Buda hills called Ak Ink, meaning spring rich in water. Archaeological evidence

suggests that it was densely populated and had sections for craftsmen as well as being a

probable trading spot due to the coins found from different regions (Enyedi).

The Roman Empire realized the geographic and strategic value of the area, then

called Pannonia, around 35 BC and created an outpost called Aquincum. This Roman