Post by pieter on Jun 11, 2019 15:57:26 GMT -7
The Enlightenment and Beginnings of the Modern Slovak Nation
Eva Kowalská
Published in:
Teich, Mikuláš – Kováč, Dušan – Brown, Martin. Slovakia in History. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp. 87-100. ISBN 978-0-521-80253-6
The national movement, by which the modern Slovak nation was formed, was a process of seeking and defining the national identity through which the non-dominant ethnic group shed its linguistic, cultural, political and social inferiority.
In Slovak historiography, the concept of "national renascence/awakening" is normally used to describe this process even if, from the viewpoint of the theory of national movements, it is not fully adequate. These terms presuppose, namely, the existence of an entity of subject which, for a certain period of time, lost its identity or fundamental characteristics. It was the task of one or two generations of national "revivers" to bring it once again to life.
At first glance, the situation in which the Slovaks found themselves as an ethnic group at the dawn of the modern era did not provide evidence that they might have unique attributes defined in the past -- a common language, a collective memory of a common shared history or a territory institutionally anchored. The Slovak ethnic group was not so much expressed in a distinctly social membership, since they belonged to an ethnic group with an incomplete social structure, but rather by confessional diversity. During the eighteenth and well into the nineteenth century allegiance to one of two distinct and, in the past, antagonistic confessions, the Evangelical and the Catholic was a decisive factor from upon which depended the cultivated form of the language used,the typical traditions which were fostered and way in which concepts of cultural orientation were articulated. The elements of a common consciousness, which in the case of the majority of the developed national collectives were a decisive bond,
had in the case of the Slovaks a different quality: the evangelical intelligentsia clung to the Czech literary language in public, in writing and in their liturgy and they emphasized the traditions a myths which they held in common with the Czech ethnic group, that is the tradition of Hussite influence in Slovakia. This does not mean, however, that they doubted the existence of a single Slovak ethnic group as a distinct or specific whole. The acceptance of foreign language which was, to be sure, close to the colloquial Slovak which they spoke at a time when language began to be considered as a decisive attribute or symbol of a national collective, might be characterized as indicating the inability of the whole Slovak ethnic group to transform itself into a full-fledged nation.
Therefore, the process of the national movement had a distinct cultural as well as a social dimension. Much more than in the case of other ethnic groups, it was necessary to find an internal homogeneity directly in the profile of individual social strata. But those which were forming the national collective did not have at their disposal ethnically crystallized upper social strata, that is the citizens of the most important cities and at least the middle nobility, which limited the scope and reception of their activities as "national revivers."
Enlightenment as a starting point of the national movement
Even if expressions of ethnic consciousness were not unusual in the preceding period, for the Slovaks as for other ethnic groups, the Enlightenment was the catalyst for the national movement process. The Enlightenment was not expressed, however, in the form in which it was known in western Europe that is by philosophical discourse, the development of scientific life and the resolution of the issue of the emancipation of the citizen. Its content, character and results were diametrically different from the situation in the countries of its birth. The role of spreading the impulses of the Enlightenment was not played primarily by the free flow of ideas through the contemporary media of literature, the press and theater; on the one hand these were still just being created and, on the other hand, they were not present among the strata with the most numerous recipients.
The dissemination of the Enlightenment occurred rather through the mechanisms of complex reforms which, in themselves, contained the message of Enlightenment ideas and penetrated all social groups. Moreover, individual reforms of the era of the Enlightenment, especially those of Maria Theresa were motivated more by efforts to preserve the integrity and sustainability of the state than by an interest in enlarging the intellectual treasury of contemporary thought. Enlightenment influences were most clearly manifested in school reform, for the reform of the system of schools established the conditions for increasing literacy, raising the educational level of the total population and for the modernization of society7 even if they initially only penetrated the urban strata of the population.
However, it was precisely this strata which appreciated the significance of education as an important pre-condition for acceptance into the urban community and its self-governance or as a means for the social mobility. Already during the course of the 18th century, a relatively large proportion of the population of the cities in Slovakia completed the higher types of elementary schools, normal and main schools, or even the lower classes of a gymnasium.8 A significant part of the instruction was conducted in the mother tongue as during this time, Slovak secured a stabilized form. Since other cultural institutions did not yet exist, schooling, especially at the primary and lower middle grades, thus became the foundation for forming the intellectual profile of the Slovak population.
The molding of the Slovaks into the shape of a modern nations was not determined only by the possibility to obtain an elementary education in the mother tongue abut also by broadening the educational spectrum to include training in ethics and citizenship. Even though middle schools continued to be dominated by an curriculum oriented towards the classics, they became the first mediator of knowledge concerning the principles of natural law and the ordering and functioning of a civil society.
Through this mechanism, moreover, the ranks of those who were able to reflect upon the organization of society and the importance of a society-wide society movement were enlarged. Already during the course of the late 1780s, in the urban environment within the Habsburg monarchy, began to echo the ideas of the rights of the non-noble population to representation in public, political life which were formulated by authors in numerous tracts and books.10 Even the ideas of the French revolution found their audience.11 Within this process it was however irrlevant that the national message was not spread always in Slovak: Latin12, German and in many cases Hungarian as well were equally accessible and understandable because of multi-ethnic composition of urban population.
Textbooks, which influenced a whole generation of the populace, were an equally important product of school reform during the 18th century. While textbooks did exist in the pre-Enlightenment era in comparison with them it is possible to identify a fundamental change in those prepared in accord with the prescribed curricula for individual types of schools.13 This process equally affected elementary and middle schools as well as other types of schools. Subject matter did not have to depend on just what the teachers were able to offer to their pupils and students but what the state recognized as valuable or necessary. At the same time, textbokks as an important commercial commodity, were a stable and easily renewed source of profit due to which printers began to prosper in several cities in Slovakia (Ján Michael Landerer in Bratislava and Košice, Ján Steffani in Banská Bystrica).
In connection with textbooks it is necessary to note perhaps their most important function which was, technically put, creating norms. This did not concern just the definition of the content and manner of instruction but the language norm. In the protestant schools where future pastors were trained for their job, vernacular as a subject and anchored in the specific textbooks was used just in the mid-18th century. The problem however was, that the used type of language differed completely from the nor commonly spoken language: this written language was in the principle Czech used in Kralice-Bible (so called bibličtina) in which the Holy Word, lithurgy as well as religious literatur were spread. There were however just Lutherans who were able to accept this form of language as their own. The problem was that they created only about 20 percent of the population. Language which was connected with the minor and towards 1781 even marginalized confession was not acceptable within the whole ethnic group.
Thanks to the school reform Ratio educationis of 1777 mother tongue was thought in all elementary schools as specific subject and was analyzed in accordance with the defined criteria. In conformity with this the preparation of the collection of textooks of Slovak grammar, orthography and sytax for state schools has started. Just at the beginnings of 80es there appeared the first systematically prepared form of commonly spoken language even if it accepted in a great measure tte elements and structures of Czech (therefore it is defined as a slovakized Czech). Principles of Bernolák's codification of 1787 were however step by step implemented to the textbooks: Bernolák adopted the cultivated language from the Western Slovakia as a base for his codifacation.
The use of textbooks which became obligatory within the state-controled schools was very important step towards the language levelling of the population even though mostly Catholic: schools created by the Lutherans after the issuance of the Edict of Toleration 1781 defended themselves successfully against the state which wanted to manipulate their structures and functioning. Lutherans refused to accept the textbooks defined by the state administration as obligatory or they accomodated them to the norm of language used by Lutherans. In spite of this the process of building the language unity in Slovakia has started as a result of the school reforms that has been reflected in the linguistic works of the given period.
The exceptional importance of elementary schools, since it was only at this level that instruction had to take place in the mother tongue, has been also recognized by the adherents to the Josephin model of renewing ecclesiastical life, concentrated at the general seminary in Bratislava.16 Its curriculum accepted the demands of reformed Catholicism and emphasized those constituents in the preparation of future pastors who had to be prepared not only as servants of church and state but also as those responsible to bring about the moral renewal of society. A pastor had to be conscious of his mission and responsibility for the fate of the souls entrusted to him. In all of his activities the principle of the purity of faith, morals and ceremonies had to predominate. Nothing in this standard of life forbade, however, that a priest could also devote himself to profane activities or the best science and art. Their cultivation was directly supported in the seminary: a component of the study was becoming acquainted not only with the principles of school reform and the method of teaching the catechism but also the principles of modern agricultural science and health. The cultivation of the domestic language and extra-curricular activities were also supported. Due to this focus of theological studies, during the course of almost a decade, a strong generation of Catholic clerics was formed who saw meaning in their activities among and in behalf of the populace. There unfolded among them an understanding for the work of enlightenment and the cultivation of cultural activity especially through the publication of literature intended for the literate populace, for example the encyclopedic work on agricultural knowledge by Juraj Fándly.
The language question: dilemma of two versions of written Slovak
The first generation of the representatives of the national movement, which came out of the environment of the General Seminary (Anton Bernolák, Juraj Palkovič, and in connection with them also Juraj Fándly), formulated their instructional interests about language and the past of the Slovaks as already fulfilling the aims of the national movement. The investigation and codification of the language was understood, for example, by Anton Bernolák in 1787, as justifying or creating the pre-conditions for the development of the culture of the ethnic whole or nation, which was, to be sure, anchored within the broader framework of the Slavs, but was represented an individual ethnic or national unit. Language still was not considered as an existential value or symbol as would be the case later, especially under the influence of Herder and Romanticism. Rather, it was assigned the role of a sign which was equivalent with other "identification" factors (tradition, religion, land, etc.). A logically ordered and codified language had to mediate to its users universally valid and reasonable underlying truths. In the discussion about the form of codification however there also was reflected the contemporary Enlightenment conception of language which kindled a further discussion within a circle of Catholic intelligentsia.
The form of the language or its codification could be determined by two fundamental points of departure: the first was the Platonic conception concerning the existence of a logically ideal language to which existing languages might approximate, despite mutual anomalies, due to the acceptance of new conventions. This starting point did not reject to adopt elements which were contained in the popular language which moreover, demonstrated its ability to preserve a certain degree of language purity. From this ideal construction issued the codification of Anton Bernolák which was based, no doubt, upon an older cultivated usage of intellectuals, but which, at the same time, also accepted several elements from the popular language or dialects.17 On the other side stood the conception of language as a direct reflection of things. If language had to do justice to the form and variety of things it had to proceed not from customarily used forms (dialects) but from the linguistic usage of the intellectuals who clearly best understood the logic of things. If such a usage did not exist nothing restrained the creation of a new language on the basis of logical rules. Jozef Ignác Bajza, who wished to jump over "the grammatical stage" and the detailed systematic elaboration of grammar, proceeded in this direction and applied his conception of language directly in extensive literary works. Even after the issuance of the linguistic works of Anton Bernolák he continued to employ his form of language and issued several sharp polemical attacks against Bernolák.
Bernolák's form of the codification of the language was then implemented within the circle of Catholic intellectuals only after certain discussions, but was, however, completely repudiated by representatives of Slovak Lutheranism. Their linguistic consciousness was oriented towards Czech (bibličtina) as the bearer of theological doctrine and a liturgical language. The position of the Slovak Lutherans was strengthened by the acceptance of the Edict of toleration of 1781 which secured for them a certain degree of autonomy in society and stimulated an intensification of ecclesiastical life. The intervention of state power into traditional school and even liturgical autonomy,18 strengthened the defensive attitude of the Lutherans in all elements of public life which to a large degree took place in the tradition of the Czech language. The bond of the Slovak Lutherans with those renewing the evangelical ecclesiastical structures in Bohemia and Moravia strengthened their comradeship with Czech speaking co-believers. The necessity to resolve internal ecclesiastical problems in the Kingdom of Hungary, for example the controversial relationship with the evangelical reformed church, concealed, at the time, the urgency of accepting a single form of the language.
Inventing the national history
The penetration of the Enlightenment into the conceptual sphere of the Slovak intellectuals also can be well identified in the second important element in the formation of a national consciousness, within the historical consciousness. The position of the Slovak ethnic group within the context of the Hungarian state did not allow a reckoning with a stabilized tradition which might have been living in the whole national society. The institutions of political power were not bound directly to Slovak ethnic society and Hungarian state historiography also cultivated the tradition of belittling the non-Magyar ethnic groups in the time when the Hungarian kingdom was created. The existence of a previous Slavic state unit was denied and tendentiously distorted so that the consciousness of statehood began to emerge only with the development of a critical historiography and then within the context of a narrow group of Slovak intellectuals. Therefore, historical consciousness was not able to be based upon popularly cultivated and transmitted elements contained in the oral tradition of the people. Rather, it created immediately at the beginning, an exactingly and theoretically elaborated collection of views concerning a certain phenomenon from the past which had significance from the perspective of national needs. In this context, Great Moravia was declared a state unit, in the creation of which the Slovaks had taken part, and the mission of St. Cyrill and Method was viewed as a source of Slavic and Slovak culture.
Since the tradition of Great Moravia was not bound to a system of political power, bureaucracy and the social privilege of its carriers, beginning with Matthias Bel already from the first half of the 18th century it began to be used to demonstrate the non-existence of a feudal type of state structure in the era before the emergence of the Kingdom of Hungary. In fact they really retrospectively projected to the era of Great Moravia all of those elements which the rational building of society on the principles of natural law and the social contract had to contain: the equality of citizens, liberty, national equality and democracy.20 Thus all which was lacking in the then existing Hungarian state. Works with the theme of Great Moravia or ancient Hungarian history thus had a further dimension, mediating to the readers an awareness that at least their predecessors had participated in the life as citizens of a state.
The ideally conceived picture of Great Moravia, however, could not be more than an historical reminiscence as it did not bind real political representation to changes in the social order, especially to offering greater participation of the urban citizens in the administration of the state. Their presence in the territorial estates remained symbolic and the non-nobles continued to have only limited access to some offices. Therefore, parallel with the tradition of Great Moravia the Slovak "enlighteners" began to cultivate the tradition of Saint Stephen. However, in contrast to the traditional interpretation based upon the old Hungarian chronicles it was infused with new content. In the works of Adam Francis Kollár, Andreas Plachý and even Anton Bernolák himself, the old Hungarian state was regarded an inheritance of the statehood of Great Moravia. The process by which the Hungarian state developed took place according to their presentations, by the way of a contract and the assumption of all of the attainments of the civilization which they linked to its original bearers who were Slavs. Early Hungarian society according to this construction did not recognize, for example, slavery the remnants of which the above mentioned authors found in the institution of serfdom.
The Slovaks thus found space to substantiate their full-fledged place within the framework of the political system of Hungary which had to return to its roots in the time of St. Stephen, ktorý zdôrazňoval prínos etnickej rôznorodosti v štáte. The Slovak intellectuals were partisans of those political forces which strengthened the way of reform to order citizen and, as they hoped, consequently national relationships in the spirit of the principles of a civic society. The ideal picture of the state they drew became the basis for accepting a state rather than a territorial form of patriotism. Hungarian patriotism in the interpretation of the Enlightenment thus became an integral part of national consciousness not only during the Enlightenment but was present in the consciousness of the representatives of the national movement well into the 19th century.
The Great Moravia tradition and the consciousness that the predecessors of the Slovaks had taken part in the building of the state, the Christianizing and acculturation of their own conquerors became vital during the era when political theory was dominated by the concepts of natural law and the social contract. In concrete political life these were assumed only by such subjects which had at their disposal real political might. Therefore arguing from the tradition of Great Moravia might have been only a nostalgic and not much heeded argument in the increasingly sharp power struggles and national conflicts. The mobilizing function in the internal national unit or nation remained, even despite the fact that it was spread by means of only a few books. Pri slabo rozvinutom knižnom trhu (napr. najčítanejšie noviny Pressburger Zeitung mali náklad 200 ks) bola čitateľská odozva týchto prác a priori zúžená. It is sufficient to mention that even the popularizing work about the history of the Slovaks (by J. Fándly) had little chance for general distribution. It was written in Latin, understood only by intellectuals. Even official textbooks of history were silent about Great Moravia and just teachers found with their manuscript compilations for teaching a limited circle of readers. The Great Moravia tradition penetrated more deeply into the national consciousness with the development of higher literature, in the epics of Ján Hollý created in the language of Bernolák. Paradoxically it became even the source of critical knowledge about the past because in creating them, Hollý strictly adhered to the contemporary state of historical research which is demonstrated by the collection of his preserved notes and drafts.
The Enlightenment thus sought recognition, generally and within the framework of literary works, for the accepted esthetic norms of classicism, themes or genres (idylls, types of moralizing and travelogue novels, dialogue treatises about contemporary problems). Their selection was conditioned partly by actual needs (for example the defense of several reform encroachments by Joseph II into ecclesiastical life) and partly by considering the situation in the till then one-sided orientation of literature towards religious themes. Poetry continued to be considered as the highest literary genre in accordance with the framework of the enforced classical model of education. The style of baroque poetry however was not suitable for formulating new ideas and perceptions. It was replaced by natural or pastoral lyrics and idylls as that type of poetry which made possible the forging of ideas into modern literary forms. The Italian Arcadia, whose esthetic program and forms of work corresponded to a great degree with the literary process in Slovakia, probably mediated or inspired this development.21 Even literature without a long tradition, as was that of the Slovaks, thus was able, at least in the field of poetry, to convince the public of its vitality and a chance to be include quickly within the stream of contemporary literature.
The social background of the national movement
Authors writing in Slovak, however, still continued to have much limited readership. The recipients of the printed word were only a narrow strata of urban citizens and nobles who gave priority to publications in Latin and German. In Slovakia, in addition to the inland Pressburger Zeitung, they subscribed to German and Latin newspapers from Vienna, Erlangen, Leipzig and other German cities. Reading rooms and booksellers offered publically in a short period ot the 1780s even French publications and literature. Because of this the reading public was seriously oriented in contemporary, especially foreign events, which in a broader sense represented a source of curiosity. The press in the domestic language was limited on the regional news reports which were not a sufficient source of interesting information so that the Slovak newspapers were not capable of a long existence. In view of the social background of the Slovak readership the issuance of periodicals, popularizing agricultural and economic information in general was not successful even when these publications found subscribers in other parts of the monarchy. However, the textbooks, even for popular schools, substituted to a certain degree for them while propagating specific methods for work (regular fertilizing of fields with manure, breading of cattle in stables, cultivating fodder and abandoning the fallow field system), new agricultural products (potatoes) or emphasizing the importance of manufacturing, crafts and commerce for the economic growth of the country and individual families.
From the 1780s however, a certain shift in favor of print and literature in the domestic languages occurred. The first Slovak cultural institution oriented towards the cultivation of publication activities was established even if it functioned under the title of the Slovak Learned Society (1792-1800). Despite a limited number of subscribers newspapers began to be issued in the domestic language (1783-87, the Prešpurské noviny - Pressburg News). The analysis of its content reveals much about the complicated process of establishing the Slovak newspaper on the narrow and from outside satisfied press market and to specific degree, also about the demands and expectations of the Slovak readers and their way of thinking. The Prešpurské noviny can be characterized partially as a "boulevard" or populist paper in light of the dissemination of reports of murder cases, thefts and catastrophes. On the other hand, it offered space to air discussions about the need for and form of the codification of the Slovak language, calling attention to the reform goals of government policies and agitated on their behalf.22 It emphasized especially the importance of toleration for the development of society and reported on its concrete manifestations including information from correspondents about the new churches and congregations of evangelicals of the Augsburg confession. It was in the alleviating of the confessional conflicts which had reigned for more than 150 years in Slovak society that the journalists saw the chief contribution and meaning of the Enlightenment.
Religious subjects however retained a significant proportion within the framework of the total literary production, whether already developed from the initiative of the Slovak Learned Society or as a result of the efforts of evangelical authors. However, the significant influence of German pietism and later Jansenism oriented even this type of literature toward a reconciliation of faith and reason, the building of a new, individualized and emotional relationship to God, and emphasizing the moral responsibility of a Christian to shape the conditions of life for himself and his neighbors. The formulated piety also reflected national needs and included sermons about "national" saints in the collection of sermons of Juraj Fándly, and the discourse about the form of the language in the introduction of Michal Institoris Mossoczy to a book on meditation. At the same time it was possible to treat a practical improvement of believers from the ranks of the lower social strata as a part of the process of spiritual renewal. The publication in Slovak of a popularly treated multi-volume encyclopedia of agriculture or treatises about basic physical phenomena prepared by the priests were intended for them.
More intensive communication did not develop only as a part of the activities of the national revivers. There have been also created the first professional or regional associations (associations of teachers, regional learned societies, library societies). The intensity of their work was often weak and of short duration but yet they contributed to the realization of the need to broaden the process of cultural communication. The members of these associations did not primarily discuss the needs of the national movement but rather general possibilities for spreading Enlightenment, that is education, to a broad spectrum of the population. The incomplete social structure and the position of the Slovaks as a non-dominant and not fully-fledged ethnic group assured that these demands would be timely for a long time. They also were acknowledged by generations of actors in the national movement well into the 19th century. In this sense, then, the Enlightenment was not only an inspiration for but remained also an integral part of the national movement.
NOTES
Because of having a limited space I cite only the most relevant literature.
1 Miroslav Hroch, V národním zájmu. Požadavky a cíle evropských národních hnutí devatenástého století v komparativní perspektivě [In the interest of the nation. Demands and aims of the European national movements of 19th century in the comparative perspective]. Praha 1996, 10-11.
2 The similar problems in terminology were also present in the Czech historiography. See Hugh LeCaine Agnew, Origins of the Czech national renascense. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh 1993, 3-17.
3 Jana Skladaná, Die Sprache der slowakischen Katholiken und Protestanten im 16.-18. Jahrhundert. In: Gegenreformation und Barock in Mitteleuropa, in der Slowakei (ed. by Ladislav Kačic). Bratislava 2000, 157-164.
4 Eric J. Hobsbawm, Nationen und Nationalismus. Mythos und Realität seit 1780. Campus, Frankfurt-New York 1991, chap. II.
5 On the social structure in Slovakia in the 18th century Pavel Horváth, Štruktúra spoločnosti v prechodnom období [Structure of the Slovak society in the transition period]. In: Slovensko v období prechodu od feudalizmu ku kapitalizmu. (Teoreticko-metodologické a sociálno-ekonomické problémy) [Slovakia during the period of the conversion of feudalism towards capitalism. Problems of the theory, methodology and social and economic developments]. Bratislava 1989, 131-151. Specificly on the problem of Slovak intellectuals and their social background Ján Hučko, Sociálne zloženie a pôvod slovenskej obrodenskej inteligencie [Social composition and origins of the Slovak enlightend intelligentsia]. Bratislava 1974.
6 The most intensive analysis of the role of Enlightenment in the Slovak historiography see by Tibenský, Príspevok k dejinám osvietenstva a jozefinizmu na Slovensku [Contribution to the history of Enlightenment and Josephism in Slovakia]. Historické štúdie 14/1969, 98-115; the same, Adam František Kollár ako osvietenský mysliteľ [A. F. Kollár as an enlightened thinker]. Literárnomúzejný letopis 19, Matica slovenská 1985, 107-132; Mária Vyvíjalová, Osvietenský program Adama Františka Kollára [The enlightened programm of A. F. Kollár]. Literárnomúzejný letopis 16, Matica slovenská 1982, 55-112.; the same, Anton Bernolák a osvietenstvo [A. Bernolák and the Enlightenment]. Historický časopis 28/1980, 75-111; the same, Bernolákovci v kontexte európskeho osvietenstva [The Bernolák generation within the context of the European Enlightenment]. In: Pamätnica Antona Bernoláka (ed. by J. Chovan and M. Majtán). Martin 1992, 22-42; Milan Hamada, Zrod osvietenskej kultúry na Slovensku [Apearance of the enlightened culture in Slovakia]. Slovenská literatúra 37/1990, 393-427 as well as Ján Považan, Bernolák a bernolákovci [Bernolák and his generation], Martin 1990.
7 James Van Horn Melton, Absolutism and the eighteeth-century origins of compulsory schooling in Prussia and Austria. Cambridge Univ.Press 1988, XIII-XXIII. Moritz Csáky, Von der Ratio educationis zur educatio nationalis. Die ungarische Bildungspolitik zur Zeit der Spätaufklärung und des Frühliberalismus. In: Bildung, Politik und Gesellschaft (ed. by G. Klingenstein, H. Lutz, G. Stourzh). Wiener Beiträge zur Geschichte der Neuzeit 5, München 1978, 205-238.
8 Anton Špiesz, Slobodné kráľovské mestá na Slovensku v rokoch 1680-1780 [Free royal cities in Slovakia 1680-1780]. Košice 1983, 125-134. Eva Kowalská, Das Volksschulwesen und die Gestaltung der Bildung in den Städten der Slowakei im l8. Jahrhundert. Studia historica slovaca XVII, Bratislava l990, 125-151.
9 Ratio educationis totiusque rei litterariae per Regnum Hungariae et Provincias eidem adnexas, I., Vindobonae 1777, § 151. The textbooks written by Charles Martini, Joseph von Sonnenfels and Gottfried Achenwall were obligatory in the Royal Academies (the highest level of the high schools). Ratio educationis, § 188-189. About Sonnefels and Achemwall Helmut Reinalter (ed.), Joseph von Sonnenfels. Wien 1988; Gabriella Valera, Statistik, Staatengeschichte, Geschichte im 18. Jahrhundert. In: Aufklärung und Geschichte (Ed. by H.-E.Bödecker, G.G.Iggers, J.B.Knudsen, P.H.Reill). Studien zur deutschen Geschichtswissenschaft im 18. Jahrhundert. Göttingen 1986, 132-138; Pasquale Pasquino, Politisches und historisches Interesse >Statistik< und historische Staatslehre bei Gottfried Achenwall (1719-1772). Ibidem, 144-168.
10 Jozef Šimončič, Ohlasy Francúzskej revolúcie na Slovensku [Echo of the French Revolution in Slovakia]. Košice 1982.
11 Ernst Wangermann, Von Joseph II. zu den Jakobinerprozessen. Wien-Frankfurt-Zürich 1966, 23-48.
12 István Gy. Tóth, Latin as a spoken language in Hungary during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In: CEU History Department Yearbook, 1997-1998 (ed. by Eszter Andor, Andrea Petö, István György Tóth). Budapest 1999, 93-111.
13 At the level of the elementary schools Johann Ignaz von Felbiger was a main authority. His works were adopted for various nations in Hungary. Domokos Kosáry, Müvelödés a XVIII. századi Magyarországon [Culture in Hungary in 18th century]. Budapest 1980, 461-462. Eva Kowalská, Učebnice pre štátne ľudové školy na Slovensku koncom 18. storočia [Textbooks for state public schools in Slovakia at the end of 18th century]. Kniha 90, Matica slovenská 1991, 63-77.
14 Eugen Jóna, Belove učebnice národných jazykov Uhorska [Bel's textbooks of national languages in Hungary]. In: Matej Bel. Doba, život, dielo [Era, life and work of M. Bel] (ed. by Ján Tibenský). Bratislava 1987, 133-139.
15 Helmut Keipert, Anton Bernoláks Kodifikation des Slovakischen im Lichte der theresianischen Schulschrifte. In: Slavistische Studien zum XI. internationalen Slavistenkongress in Pressburg/Bratislava (ed. by K. Gutschmidt, H.Keipert, H.Rothe). Köln-Weimar-Wien 1993, 233-246.
16 There does not exist a genuine study on the general seminary in the Slovak historiography but the article by Mária Vyvíjalová, Bratislavský generálny seminár a jeho význam pre slovenské národné hnutie [The general seminary in Bratislava and its importance for the Slovak national movement]. In: Slovenské učené tovarišstvo 1792-1992 [Slovak learned society 1792-1992] (ed. by M. Petráš). Trnava 1993, 19-40. On the charakter of the priest education in the Habsburg monarchy in general Eduard Winter, Josefinismus a jeho dějiny [Josephism and its history]. Praha 1945, 15-167 (This work has been published in German, Der Josephinismus. Die Geschichte des österreichischen Reformkatholizismus 1740-18482, Berlin 1962).
17 Language codifed by Bernolák is called as bernoláčtina (Bernoláks). Izidor Kotulič, Bernolákovčina a predbernolákovská kultúrna slovenčina [The Bernolák language and the cultivated Slovak of the pre-Bertnolák period]. In: Pamätnica Antona Bernoláka [The memory-book of A. Bernolák] (ed. by J. Chovan). Maertin: Matica slovenská 1992, 79-90.
18 Eva Kowalská, Die Schulfrage und das Toleranzpatent: Die politischen Haltungen der lutherischen Protestanten in Ungarn. Bohemia 37/1996, 23-37.
19 Jozef Butvin, Cyrilometodejská a veľkomoravská tradícia v slovenskom národnom obrodení [Role of the tradition of saints Cyrillus and Methodius and of Great Moravian empire within the Slovak national renascense]. Historické štúdie 16/1971, 131-148. Ján Tibenský, Funkcia cyrilometodskej a veľkomoravskej tradície v ideológii slovenskej národnosti [Function of the tradition of Cyrillus and Methodius and Great Moravia in the ideology of Slovak ethnic group]. Historický časopis 40/1992, 575-594.
20 Mária Vyvíjalová, Formovanie ideológie národnej rovnoprávnosti Slovákov v 18.storočí [Shaping of the ideology of national equality of Slovaks in 18th century]. Historický časopis 29/1981, 373-403.
21 Pavel Koprda, Il sensismo e le poetiche settecentesche. In: 18. storočie/18e siecle. Bratislava 1992, 59-70.
22 Fraňo Rutkay, Stopami slovenského písomníctva [On the tracks of Slovak literature]. Martin : Matica slovenská 1991, 39-51.
23 See article written by Ján Hrdlička, O časech osvícených [About the enlightened times] (Staré noviny literního umění 1785, 293-313) published newly in Cyril Kraus, Kritika v slovenskom národnom obrodení (1780-1817) [Critique in the Slovak national renascense]. Bratislava 1990, 24-29.
24 Hadrián Radváni, Slovenské učené tovarišstvo. Organizácia a členstvo 1792-1796 [Slovak Learned Society. Its organisation and membership 1792-1796]. Trnava 1992, 18-21. This type of literature has not yet been deeply analyzed.
25 Juraj Fándly, Pilný domajší a poľný hospodár I.-IV. [An industrious farmer at home and in fields] Trnava 1792-1800; the same, Zelinkár [Herb doctor]. Trnava 1793. Pavel Michalko, Rozmlouváni učitele s několik sedlákmi o škodlivosti pověry při obecném lidu velmi panující [Discussion between a teacher and some peasants about the harmfulness of superstition which is very common among the population]. Bratislava 1802, newly published ibidem in 1977.
