Bukovina – A historical land area east of the Carpathian Mountains towards the River Dniester in the Ukraine and Moldavia. In the Hungarian language the name means “beech forest” or “beech country”. During the Roman Empire it was part of the province of Dacia. In 375 the Huns occupied the land. In the 6th century Slavic Ruthenian pastoral tribes settled the region. The Mongol invasion in 1271 was begun against Hungary from Bukovina; but they were successfully rebuffed. The Hungarians also repulsed the next attempt from Bukovina by the voivode of Moldavia in 1330. During the reign of King Lajos I (Louis the Great, 1342-1382) the area was part of the Kingdom of Hungary. The region had a turbulent history and involved numerous foreign occupations. It became part of the Habsburg Empire under Empress Maria Theresa after the division of Poland in 1774. At the conclusion of World War I, it became part of Romania. In the aftermath of World War II, its northern section became part of the Soviet Union. After the dissolution of the USSR, that part of Bukovina passed into the possession of Ukraine, while the southern portion, including several Hungarian villages, became part of Romania. – B: 0942, 1138, T: 7656.→Huns; Lajos I, King; Mária Terézia,Empress andQueen; Bukovina, Hungarians of; Csángó.
Bukovina, Hungarians of – From time to time small groups of Hungarian settlers left the Carpathian Basin and moved back to Bukovina, on the eastern slopes of the Eastern Carpathian Mountain range. The rampaging Mongol-Tartars caused great devastations among the Hungarian settlers during the 13th century. Later the Wlach (now Romanian) voivodes, by overtaxing the original Hungarian population, caused a large-scale emigration. The “Mádéfalva Peril” (Mádéfalvi veszedelem or Seculicidium) in Transylvania (Erdély, now in Romania) took place on 7 February 1764. The triggering event was the village’s resistance to forced conscription of its men into the Imperial Army. On that day Imperial Governor, General Siskowicz ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Carato to storm Mádéfalva with his troops. After a deadly barrage of canons, some 200 innocent villagers were massacred and many others seriously wounded. This cruel punitive action caused a mass exodus, when tens of thousands of Szeklers fled to Bukovina from the spreading terror in Transylvania. Empress Maria Theresa laid hands on the Bukovina region in 1775. To remedy the vast population loss following the Turkish occupation, the Imperial Throne sought settlers to repopulate Bukovina. Count András (Andrew) Hadik, governor of Transylvania successfully petitioned the Viennese court and obtained pardon for the Szeklers and Hungarians, who previously fled, in order to encourage their resettlement in the sparsely populated areas, a process which took place between 1784 and 1786. In Bukovina they established 11 villages, Istensegíts and Fogadjisten among them. In 1785 the villages of Hadikfalva and Józseffalva were created. There were Ukranians, Germans, Romanians and Jews in their neighbourhood. In 1883 a movement began in Hungary to resettle in Hungary those Hungarians who lived in Bukovina. At this time most of the population from around Fogadjisten village, totalling around 4,000 people, was repatriated and settled along the lower Danube region, where they became the “lower Danube Szeklers”. By 1903 the number of Hungarians left behind in Bukovina totaled approximately 12,000. Between 1900 and 1910 further groups, numbering between 2,000 and 3,000, were settled in different parts of Transylvania. A new, significant emigration took place between 1904 and 1914, this time to Canada and the United States, where they settled as farmers. In Canada’s Saskatchewan Province such villages as Esterházy, Máriavölgy and Seklerland, among others, were founded. The emigration following World War I resulted in the founding of Boldogasszonyfalva in Brazil, South America, whose settlers were Szeklers originally from Bukovina. In 1940, according to local Church sources, the number of Hungarians remaining in Bukovina was over 17,000. During June 1941, another repatriation movement resulted in bringing back 13,500 Hungarians and settling them in the Bácska region, south of the city of Szabadka, Hungary (now Subotica, Serbia), in 10 abandoned Serbian villages. While Bukovina was under Austrian jurisdiction, Hungarian students received education in their native language. After the end of World War I, the Hungarian teachers were replaced by Romanians. After World War II, Hungarians from Bukovina were resettled in villages of Hungary, such as Hidas, Bonyhád, Kakasd, Újlengyel, etc. Folk traditions and ways of life in these Hungarian villages remained somewhat archaic due to their long isolation. Today, they form a substantial and solid ethnic block together with the Moldavian Hungarians, in their fight against assimilation efforts by the Romanians, who falsely consider the Csángós as ”Hungarianized Romanians”. Recently, an international team found that the Csángós are indeed from airchaic Hungarian stock. After the political change in the 1990s, Hungarian elementary schools are beginning again to operate in the Csángó setlements of Bukovina. – B:1042, 1230, 1134, 1270, T: 7103.→Csángó; Mádéfalva Peril (Seculicidium); Maria Terézu. Empress and Queen; Canada, Hungarians in; America, Hungarians in the USA.
Bulak People(Blaci, Blakok)– When the Hungarians arrived in the Carpathian Basin in 895, they found the remnants of some former ruling peoples scattered around: Avars, Szeklers, Bolgars, Slavs, and among them the Bulaks (or Blachi, Blacki, Blachus, Bulaq). The Bulaks were living in Transylvania (Erdély, now in Romania) on mountain slopes. Anonymus, the late 12th century Chronicler called them “blacus”; Simon Kézai, the 13th century Chronicler refers to them as “blacki”. King András II (Endre, Andrew, 1205-1235) named their land as “Terra Blacorum”. They belonged to a Karluk-Turkish tribe originating from the Talas River Valley of present day Khyrgistan. They used a type of runic writing somewhat similar to the Hungarian-Szekler runes. They led a pastoral life and resisted the Hungarians. Finally, their two leaders, Menumorut (Ménmarót) and Gelu were defeated. Romanians claim that the Blachi people were Wlachs, ancestors of the present-day Romanians, because they lived in Transylvania before the Hungarian conquest. Thus, by right of priority, Transylvania was their land. However, historical documents show that the Wlachs appeared only in the 13th century in Transylvania, fleeing from the invading Tartars forces. – B: 1219, 2019, T: 7103.→Anonymus; Kézai, Simon; András II, King; Daco-Roman Theory.
Bulányi, GyörgySch.P. (George) (Budapest, 9 January 1919 - Budapest 6 June 2010) – Piarist priest, teacher. During 1936-1938 he completed an Arts course at the Piarist Teachers College, majoring in Hungarian and German; then, during 1938-1943, he took the same course at the University of Budapest. He was ordained priest in 1943 in the Piarist Order. From 1943-1948, he was a teacher in the Piarist high schools of Sátoraljaújhely, Tata and finally Debrecen. From 1948, he became University Pastor in Debrecen. It was here that he began organizing the ”small-fellowship” activity, widely becoming known as ”Bush” (Bokor). This was considered an illegal, anti-state organization by the authorities of the hard-line Communist regime of the Stalinistic era. In 1952 he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was freed in 1956, and served as an auxiliary priest at the Inner City Parish Church, Budapest. He was arrested again in 1958, and released only in 1960. He worked as a transport employee until his retirement in 1979. After that he was preoccupied with writing his ”heretical” work, the Church System (Egyházrend). Then in 1982, an ecclesiastical court condemned his theological tenets and the Episcopacy deprived him of his right to carry on public pastoral activity. His teachings (which included refusal of military service on religious principles) were reviewed by the Theological Congregation of the Holy See; its prefect was Joseph Ratzinger (the present Pope Benedict XVI), who charged him in a letter to withdraw his ”erroneous, dangerous and ambiguous tenets”, that Bulányi put forward in his writing Church System (Egyházrend). In it he was suggesting that the Church of the future could have a structure other than the present one, namely a system built on basic communities or ”small fellowships”, with the amendment that ”one can only obey one’s conscience”. Bulányi finally signed the 12-point papal document with a compromise only in February, 1997. The Hungarian Catholic Episcopacy informed the public of Bulányi’s rehabilitation on 10 September, 1997. His other works include Holy Orders – Is Obedience a Virtue?(Egyházrend – Erény-e az engedelmesség?) (1989); Where shall I Go? (Merre menjek?) (1991); Shall We Inherit the Earth? (Örököljük a Földet?) (1992); Good Friday Letter (Nagypénteki levél) (1993); They LaidHim in the Manger (Jászolba fektették), (1993); The Theology of Saint Paul, vols. i-v (Szent Pál teológiája, I-V) (1995-96), and The Spirituality of a Bush (A Bokor lelkisége) (1995). He received the Pro Humanitate et Libertate Prize (1996) and the Pál Demény Commemorative Medal (1997). – B: 0874, 1031, T: 7456, 7617.→Basis Communities.
Bulcsu (a.k.a. Vérbulcsu) ( - 10 August 955) – He was the son of Kál, and like his father, was third in rank to the Leader (Vezér, or Khagan) and held the military rank of horka. In Byzantine chronicles he is called Bultzus or Bolesodes, and in German sources his name is Pulszi. In 937, at the head of 10,000 mounted warriors, he plundered Austria, the Frankish Kingdom and Rome; then returned home by way of Otranto, in three months covering roughly 3,000 km. In 945, in alliance with a Bavarian prince rebelling against his father the German Emperor Otto, he fought his way through Lotharingia, reached Cambray, and returned home by way of Northern Italy. In 948, together with his partner Tormás, as an emissary to Byzantium where he was baptized, he made a peace treaty with Emperor Constantine VII. In 955 he was invited to Germany a second time in alliance with the rebelling forces of Otto’s son and his father-in-law. The rebels were defeated before his arrival, changed sides and the united German forces entrapped Bulcsu’s troops. Bulcsu, hopelessly outnumbered, fought back and was killed in the ensuing battle at Augsburg. His corpse was hanged next day from the bell tower of Regensburg. His name has been commemorated at his settlement Horka, near the town of Sopron. It was renamed Mártonfalva after World War II. – B: 0883, 1078, T: 3233.→Campaign Era; Brenta Battle; Botond; Augburg Battle; Lehel, Horn of; Lehel Legend.
Bulgars – Originally a Turkic ethno-linguistic group, related to the Magyars, but assimilated by the south Slavic people in the Balkans over the last thousand years. They adopted a Slavic dialect and the Greek Orthodox form of Christianity. Their original Turkic language fell into oblivion. They first appeared in history in the early 600s as the Khanate of Great Bulgaria. By 679, as the neighbors of the powerful Khazar Khanate, they settled in the Lower Danube area, in present-day Wallachia and Moldavia, next to the Avar Khanate to the west. From there the Danube Bulgars moved south across the Danube during the 8th century into the area of present Bulgaria and became neighbors of the Byzantine Empire in the south, and of the Magyars in the north across the Dnepr River. Also, during 8th century, another branch of the Bulgars established the powerful state of the Volga- or Eastern Bulgars at the confluence of the Volga and Kama Rivers. The Magyars in the west, the Khazar Khanate in the south, and another Turkic people migrating westward from Asia in the east surrounded them. From the late 9th to the end of the 11th century they had to accommodate the Pechenegs (Patzinaks) south of their territory. Later on the Cumanians settled south of them until the arrival of the Tartars. The Volga Bulgars persisted until about 1240, when the Khanate of the Golden Horde, the Tartars, swept them away together with the Cumanians. From the 11th century a Bulgarian Empire developed south of the Danube, when it was at the height of its power, up to the appearance of the Ottoman Turks about 1400. During these centuries the assimilation by the south Slavs (Serbians) converted the Turkic Danube Bulgars into a Slavic-speaking people, with prosperous trading in their towns. They expanded into part of Transylvania as well, from where the Hungarians under King István I (St. Stephen, 997-1038) pushed them out during the 11th century. Although the Danube Bulgarian Empire was destroyed by the Mongol-Tartar Invasion in 1237, it flourished again until its final disappearance in 1400. From centuries of oppression by the Ottoman Turks, a modern state of Bulgaria emerged south of the Danube. They are an industrious, hardy people, mainly engaged in agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry. They are well known for their tobacco cultivation and their rose gardens, producing rose-oil and good wine. – B: 1068, 1647. 1648, T: 7456.→Khazars; Cumanians; Pechenegs; Avars; Mongol-Tartar Invasion.
Bull – Scholars of ancient Hungarian-Pecheneg mythology, such as Arnold Ipolyi, and Károly (Charles) Szabó insisted that in ancient beliefs the forces of Life-and-Death, Light-and-Darkness and Fire-and-Water are perpetually at odds. These six factors are in constant turmoil fostering birth, growth, death and destruction throughout the Universe. According to mythology, the elk and the bull of death represent the personification of life. – B: 0942, T: 7682.→Ipolyi, Arnold; Szabó, Károly.
Bulla, Elma (Selmecbánya, now Banská Stiavnica, Slovakia, 26 August 1913 - Budapest, 14 May 1980) – Actress. She was educated in Pozsony (now Bratislava, Slovakia) and studied Ballet. In her early years she toured Europe as a dancing child prodigy. Film producer Max Reinhardt recognized her acting talent. At the age of 13 she played Puck in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer-Night’s Dream (Szentiványéji álom). She acted in Berlin (1928-1934); thereafter, she returned to Hungary and joined the Inner-city Theater (Belvárosi Színház) (1934-1938). From 1938 to 1945, and from 1952 till her death she was a member of the Comedy Theater (Vígszínház), Budapest. Her fragile figure and her voice predestined her to intellectually suffering roles of women and mothers. Her breakthrough came in 1936 with her role in Shaw’s St. Joan. She acted in many plays, including Bettina in G. Hauptmann’s Before Dawn (Naplemente előtt); Mrs Alving in H. Ibsen’s Ghosts (Kisértetek); Kay in B. Priestly’s Time and the Conways(Conway család), andGiza in Örkény’s Cat’s Play(Macskajáték). Her film-roles include Temptation (Kísértés) (1941); Festive Dinner(Ünnepi vacsora) (1956); Sleepless Years(Álmatlan évek) (1959) and Death of the Doctor (Az orvos halála). She was a recipient of the Kossuth Prize (1956), the titles of Merited Artist (1954), and Outstanding Artist (1960). – B: 0883, 1445, T: 7103.
Bulla Oratiorum – A Bull of Prayers, a papal edict, proclaimed on 29 June 1456 by Pope Callixtus III to initiate a spiritual crusade against the Turks, who were menacing Europe. On this occasion he celebrated a Mass in Rome’s St Peter’s Basilica, the Cardinal of Venice reading the document to the public with the intent of organizing a spiritual crusade against the Ottoman Empire. As it was customary to ring the bells at the Angelus, he ordered that “In every Church of all cities, territories and settlements, between the time of Nona and Vespers, before Vespers all the great sounding bells should ring in unison, three times a day, in order that theirsound be carried afar”. It was the first time that all the bells of Rome were sounded at the same time announcing the Turkish threat. After the Bull’s proclamation it became customary in all Christian realms to ring the church bells at noon. While the Bulla Oratiorum was being proclaimed in Hungary, the uncertain fate of the battle of Nándorfehérvár (now Belgrade, Serbia) was favorably settled. The heroic resistance of the Hungarian nation in defence of Europe is a historic reality, recognized most splendidly by Pope Callixtus when he gave the title “Supreme Commander of Christianity” to János (John) Hunyadi, Governor of Hungary, hero of the battle, even intending to award him a special victor’s crown, a plan that was prevented by the untimely death of Hunyadi in 1456. The sounding of the bells was intended to announce a spiritual crusade that, after the victory, turned into a sign of thanksgiving throughout Christendom. – B: 1178, T: 3233.→Bells Toll at Noon; Hunyadi, János.
Bunyevácz, Zsuzsa (Susan) (Szombathely, 25 May 1955 - ) – Biochemist, historian and writer. In 1978, she completed her higher studies at the Semmelweis Medical University’s Pharmaceutical Faculty, Budapest and received her Ph.D. in 1982. She worked at the same University as a research worker (1980-1985). From 1985 to 1994 she was Assistant Professor at the Biological Faculty of the Berzsenyi Dániel Teachers Training University, Szombathely. She was Managing Director for Intermédia Plusz Kft and Eastergate Agency Ltd. in London (1995-1999). From 1999 on, she was Editor-in-Chief of several papers and a reporter for the Sunday News at the Kossuth Rádió, Budapest. In spite of having a scientific background and practice in the greater part of her life (biophysics, biochemistry), her interests soon directed her toward history and the arts. For a long time, she did not feel ready to make the change in this latter direction but all of a sudden, she changed the course of her life profoundly. The years of study began all over again. She traveled extensively (Africa, the Near East, the Caribbean, etc.). Later, she was able to secure a job in London, England, and moved there with her three children. She learned the language and began to read extensively and visit museums in order to learn as much as possible. Her topics of research were the age of Nimrod, the first kings, the traditions of the Holy Grail, the history of the House of Árpád, etc. She edited the Elixir Magazine for six years, where she introduced a segment for ancient history, in which she wrote articles about ancient symbology and holy places. She has published several scientific articles and studies. Her books include In the Footstpesof Nimród (Nimród nyomában), a report-book in connection with Hungarians; The Message of the Holy Grail (A Szent Grál üzenete), the silenced Hungarian relations, and The Ten Commandments of the New World Order, Or the Theft of the Holy Grail? (Az új világrend tízparancsolata, Avagy a Szent Grál elrablása?). She is interested in current politics and deals with problems of national interest, such as population decline, immigrants, and a national army, both on the radio and in the press. – B: 1935, T: 7690.
Burgenland – The western strip of land in the Kingdom of of Hungary annexed to Austria after the Versailles-Trianon Dictated Peace Treaty in 1920, except the town of Sopron and environs, which remained with Hungary as a result of a referendum. This region is 3,967 km2 with the administrative center of Eisenstadt, formerly Kismarton. – B: 1078, T: 7656.→ Borderland;Gyepü; Lajta-Banat (Bánság);Sopron.
Bustard (Túzok - Otis tarda Lin) – The largest land-bird in Europe and one of Hungary’s famous bird species. It is more than 1 meterlong, its wing span is ca. 70 centimeters, the two wings spans sometimes reaching 2.2-2.4 meters; its tail length is 28 cm, and the cock weights 14-16 kg, the smaller hen weighs 6-8 kg. It has some similarity to the turkey, but its body is stockier and the color of its plumage is lighter. Its back is a bright brownish-yellow, while the breast is white. It lives in larger or smaller flocks of various sizes; its behavior is peaceful, its gait is dignified and holds its neck straight. It is difficult to approach it, for it is extraordinarily cautious. While eating, one of them does not graze but is on the lookout, and in case of danger, signals to the others. During rutting time in the mating season, the cock loosens its feathers, turns its wings inside, folds its tail feathers onto its back, looking like a large white ball; bustard rutting is a special spectacle of nature. It scratches a shallow depression for its nest where, at the end of April, the hen lays 2-3 eggs. After four weeks of incubation the chicks hatch, becoming flight-ready at the age of 35-40 days. Its stock has been declining considerably because of intensive farming, destructions caused by World War II, and the hunting of the cock. In ancient times the bustard was the bird of the lowlands from Asia to Spain. Now it is already on the list of endangered species, threatened with extinction. According to the decision of the International Council of Bird Preservation, Hungary is the administrator of the world program of saving the bustard. On the basis of this decision the “Dévaványa Environmental Protection District” was established in 1975, introducing organized bustard rescue. The picture of a bustard is shown on the emblem of the Hungarian Ornithological Society; and more recently it appears also on the emblem of the Hortobágy National Park. – B: 1105, T: 7456.
Bütösi, János (John) (Nyírgyulaj, 18 December 1919 - Shelton, CT. USA, 12 July 2010) – Reformed Bishop in the USA. After completing his high school and university education in Hungary, he was ordained in 1943. In 1943-1944, during World War II he served as Assistant Minister in Munkács (now Mukacheve, Ukraine); later he served in the army. Between 1945 and 1947, he was Traveling Minister with the Bethania Alliance; then he went with a scholarship to the United States, where he pursued his postgraduate studies. From 1950, he ministered in several localities. He was Bishop of the Calvin (Hungarian) Synod for twelve years, and past President of the Hungarian Reformed World Federation. Many of his ecclesiastical and sociological studies were published, among them: A Half Century in the Balance (1958). He was also Chief Editor and publisher of several publications of the Reformed Church. He was a key member and leading official of various church and international organizations. After retirement he spent a couple of years lecturing in Hungary. – B: 0906, T: 7682.
Búza, Barna (Barnaby) (Vésztő, 30 December 1910 - Budapest, 16 October 2010) – Sculptor. He completed his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest under F. Sidló and I. Szentgyörgyi in 1933. He was in Rome on a scholarship (1935-1936), and took part in the Venice Biennial of 1937. He was a Member of the Hungarian Parliament (1971-1975) and a city-advisor in Baghdad, Iraq (1976-1978). His many-sided plastic art, sculptures and sepulchres as well as his church art works are characterized by a realistic approach, simple, compact forms, smooth surfaces and a varied use of material (wood, marble, bronze, pyrogranite). He created numerous portraits, plastic art for public places, and cemetery monuments. His works include Presidential Palace, Holy Trinity Statue (Elnöki palota, Szentháromság szobor), Budapest; Mounted Kuruc(Kuruc lovas), Kazincbarcika; Ferenc (Francis) Rákóczi, Kisvárda, Berettyóújfalu; Márton (Martin) Luther statue; and János (John) Kálvin statue, which stands at the Calvin Square, Budapest; Main Altars of the Prohászka Church, the Cathedral of Székesfehérvár; Sepulchres of Lajos (Louis) Báros and Hilda Gobbi. Several of his works are housed in the National Gallery in Budapest, and in private collections abroad. He had more than 30 exhibitions of his works at Kecskemét (1957), Kiskunhalas (1967), Gyula (1974), Esztergom (1979), and at the Csepel Gallery (1985). He is one of the last of the Hungarian classical sculptors. He was a recipient of prestigious prizes, among them the István (Stephen) Ferenczy Prize (1934), the Ede (Edward) Balló Prize (1936), the György (George) Zala Medal (1941) and the Nuschloss Medal (1997). A Prize bears his name. – B: 0883, 0879, T: 7456, 7103.
Buzánszky, Jenő (Eugene) (Újdombóvár, 4 May 1925 - ) – Soccer-player, coach. His education was at the Officer Training School of the Hungarian State Railways (Magyar Államvasutak - MÁV) (1945-1946) and the School of Physical Training, Budapest (1961-1964). He worked at the MÁV (1943-1947) and at the coalmine of Dorog (1947-1978). He played with various soccer teams (Vasutas of Dombóvár, PVSK, Dorogi Bányász) between 1942 and 1960. He played 274 matches in the First National League and played as right halfback in the National Team 48 times between 1950 and 1956. He was a member of the Olympic Champion Team (1952), and the Silver Medalist Team of the World Championship Bern, Switzerland in 1954. He was Coach (1960-1973) and President of the Komárom Esztergom County Soccer Association (1993-1997). Since 1973 he has been a presidium member of the Hungarian Soccer Association and its Vice-President from 1996. He received the Ferenc (Francis) Csík Prize in 2001, the St. Stephen Prize (2007), the Prima Primissima Prize (2010), and he was elected the Sport-man of the Nation (2011). He is Freeman of Dombovár and Dorog. – B: 0874, 1031, 1105, T: 7103. → Bozsik, József; Czibor, Zoltán; Grosics, Gyula; Kocsis, Zoltán; Puskás, Ferenc; Golden Team.
Buzás, Pál (Paul) (Kolozsvár, now Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 3 March 1939 - ) – Concert pianist in Transylvania (Erdély, now in Romania). He studied at the H. Dirna Music Academy in Kolozsvár (1962). He was resident pianist at the Philharmonic Society, Kolozsvár (1962-1964). He taught piano at the Toduta Music Secondary School, Kolozsvár (1963-1999). Since 1969 he has given piano recitals in major towns in Transylvania and performs abroad as well. He appears on radio and TV and conducts choirs. His articles are being published in the newspaper Kalotaszeg, where he works as deputy editor. His repertoire includes: Piano Pieces of Romania’s Hungarian Composers(Romániai Magyar szerzők zongoraművei); Piano Pieces of Zoltán Kodály (Kodály Zoltán zongoraművei); Adaptation ofKalotaszeg Folk Songs(Kalotaszegi népdal feldolgozások) (1993); Constellations (Csillagzatok) (1993), and the Literature of Kalotaszeg (Kalotaszeg irodalma) series. He is past Vice-President of the Hungarian Association of Musicians in Romania, and a member of the Kalotaszeg Foundation. – B: 1036, T: 7103.→Kodály, Zoltán.