History/Political Science paper by Pál, Judit
1867: Compromise – Coronation – Union
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
With Compromise from 1867, Transylvania’s more than three century-long separate status and development came to an end. The union of Transylvania with Hungary was concomitantly the precondition for the Compromise and its direct consequence. Also as a consequence of the Compromise Franz Joseph was crowned in Pest-Buda as King of Hungary. “The Compromise and Coronation completed a shift in Hungarian loyalty, after which Franz Joseph and Elisabeth were commonly referred to in Hungary as ‘King’ and ‘Queen’” – as Alice Freifeld emphasized – and the alliance between the dynasty and the Hungarian political elite had been reinvigorated. The new concept of the state was visualised by the coronation ceremonies.
The presentation will mainly focus on the ceremonies associated with the coronation hill. All the counties and cities were asked to send earth for the coronation hill from “historically important” places. The hill was intended to symbolize the unity and extent of the state, and it was supposed to summarize the whole of Hungarian history. It also had to legitimize the new situation created by the Compromise. The coronation was a splendid opportunity for the application of a whole range of political symbols, on the other hand it increased the aversion and nationalist feelings of the marginalized nationalities (in Transylvania the Romanians and Saxons).
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Judit Pál, PhD, is a Historian, professor at Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj (Romania), Faculty of History and Philosophy. She specializes in the history of 18th and 19th century Transylvania, in urban history, social history (elite history), and in the history of Armenians.
Author and editor of several volumes. Some recent volumes: András Vári, Judit Pál, Stefan Brakensiek, Herrschaft an der Gränze. Mikrogeschichte der Macht im östlichen Ungarn im 18. Jahrhundert. Köln – Weimar – Wien, Böhlau, 2014. (Adelswelten, 2.); Pál Judit, Vlad Popovici (eds.), Elites and Politics in Central and Eastern Europe (1848−1918). Frankfurt am Main etc., Peter Lang, 2014; Judit Pál, A Habsburg Monarchia története, 1526−1848 (The History of the Habsburg Monarhchy). Kolozsvár, Mega, 2014.