Centuries of Dutch-Hungarian

relations

St. Elisabeth of Hungary

(1207-1231)

This year is the 800th anniversary

of her birth

•the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Andechs-Merania

•married at the age of 14 (Ludwig IV of Thuringia)

•Her children: Hermann, Sophia, Gertrude

Sophia’s husband was Henry II, Duke of Brabant whose descendant is Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

-relinquished her wealth to the poor

- built hospitals

-became a symbol of Christian charity

Her legend:

she was taking bread to the poor in secret

her husband asked her what she had in the pouch

she opened it and the bread turned into roses

MariaMaria van Hongarijevan Hongarije

Louis II Louis II (King of (King of

Hungary)Hungary)

MariaMaria van Hongarijevan Hongarije

She came from the Habsburg dynasty and married the King of Hungary Louis II

Maria was the Queen of Hungary and Bohemia from 1521 to 1526

After her husband’s death her brother, Charles V appointed her the governor of the Netherlands for 24 years

Actual Dutch-Hungarian relations

started with the Reformation• fight for autonomy and freedom of religion

• Hungarian Reformed schools sent students to study in the Netherlands for centuries

• their stay was funded by Dutch scholarships

• they studied in Harderwijk, Utrecht, Leiden, Groningen and Franeker

Apáczai Csere János• a great 16th century scientist

• Studied in The Netherlands

• Hungarian Encyclopaedia

• married Aletta van der Maet

Károli/Vizsoly Bible

Károli Gáspár, a Calvinist pastor and the dean of Gönc, first published this Bible in 1590 in Vizsoly, Hungary.

This is the first complete Hungarian version of the Bible and is commonly known as the Vizsoly Bible.

The Károli Bible

For centuries the Hungarian Károli Bible was printed in the

Netherlands and Switzerland

Misztótfalusi Kis Miklós and the

Golden Bible of

Amsterdam

• He was born in 1650 in a town, called (Alsó)Misztótfalu

• Travelled to Amsterdam in 1680 to learn printing

• His aim was to print the revised Hungarian-language Bible

• Learnt: letter moulding typography

Because of

wars, he

started to

have the

Bible printed

on his own

He had the

publications

covered in

leather

ornamented

with gold then

brought them

back to

Hungary

Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter  

• 1607-1676

• rescued 26 Hungarian Protestant preachers from slavery in Naples

• 400th anniversaryof his birth

24 March 2007

Admiral de Ruyter  

Monument of the galley slaves in Debrecen, Hungary

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

2 Timothy 4:7-8

Charitable Hosts

• After the two World Wars suffering poor and orphaned Hungarian children were invited to stay in the Netherlands and Belgium for months or years

• Some of the children were adopted

Emigrants from Hungary

• in 3 waves, afterWW IWW II1956

Partnership 2005 – ad infinitum