Margaret, the daughter of King Béla IV, was born in 1242 at the time of the Mongol invasion. We know that she was brought up as a boy or girl in the Dominican monastery in Veszprém, which had been launched shortly prior to, and at the age of 10, she was transferred to the monastery on Margaret Island, which her mother and father experienced constructed. For the duration of her canonization approach, the testimonies of her contemporaries, recorded in 1276, notify of her committed, sacrificial, and self-sacrificing way of living, her unending faith in Christ, and the miracles that took place in her life and at her tomb. Margaret’s part design was her aunt, the sister of Béla IV, St Elizabeth of Hungary, who was canonized as early as 1235.
In spite of all tries and royal assistance, Margaret’s canonization was not realized in the Center Ages. It was her brother, Stephen V, who was the initially to endeavor this: but neither he, nor Ladislas IV, nor their successors from the Household of Anjou were being productive. We never know specifically when she was elevated to the Blessed, but there are many information of this from the 15th century and we also know of several medieval depictions of Margaret. Her cult in Hungary designed shortly immediately after her dying: she was buried in front of the key sanctuary of the Dominican church, and later an ornate white marble sarcophagus was made for her body, with reliefs depicting her miraculous deeds. Dependent on her oldest legend and the canonization records, even more variations of the legend ended up prepared, and a Hungarian-language variation was created at the stop of the Middle Ages. The veneration of St Margaret has been pretty much unbroken in excess of the hundreds of years. Her relics and bones were taken to Pozsony (Bratislava) by the nuns in the 16th century to escape the Ottoman menace. Most of the bones were being misplaced in the 18th century, but most likely her most famed relic, her penitential belt, has survived, and its ornate reliquary box and an genuine reproduction of the medieval object can also be admired in the exhibition. Also on show is the funerary crown of King Stephen V (Margaret’s brother), also buried on Margaret Island, from the selection of the Hungarian Countrywide Museum, the discovery of which in 1838 marked the begin of systematic excavations of the monastery ruins.
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| Funerary crown of King Stephen V (Hungarian Nationwide Museum) |
Many thanks to the excavations, the extent of the former monastery and its church is very well-regarded, and it has been attainable to reconstruct the most essential phases of its development. Among the amazing outcomes of the the latest research are the fragments of wall paintings, most of which can now be viewed by the general public for the to start with time thanks to the restoration do the job of Eszter Harsányi. Wall paintings have been observed in many areas of the monastery, which include the little area where the staircase foremost from the monastery to the nuns’ choir was positioned in the late Center Ages. The vibrant items of plaster fragments preserving halos and faces hint at the connection of St Margaret and her fellow nuns to pictures: her legend describes the function of Calvary images and other representations in her prayer and contemplation.
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| Imitation marble painting from the monastery making |
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| Ignác Roskovics: Saint Margaret (for the Royal Palace) |
The curator of the exhibition is Ágoston Takács. This textual content is based mostly on the speech I gave at the opening of the exhibition on November 17, 2022. The exhibition is on view until eventually March 19, 2023.
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| Zsombor Jékely talking at the opening ceremony – Photograph by Magyar Kurír |