The conference organised every four years by the society is the discipline’s most prominent event, where international representatives of the profession discuss their latest findings. At the current, 11th conference, held in Porto, nearly 200 papers are presented.
Scholars from the University of Debrecen presented their research findings in a separate section at the large-scale event. The panel organised by Attila Bárány and chaired by Yanina Ryier (Ignatianum University) examined the transformation of the ideas of the Crusades and border defence in Hungary in the period between 1095 and 1455 (I.3 Hungary’s Crusading Transformations, 1095–1455: From Frontier to Defensor).
The main topics of the papers presented were as follows:
Sándor Ónadi analysed the Western narratives of the First Crusade (1095-1099). In his paper, he presented how apocalyptical views shaped the acts of violence of the armies crossing Hungary, and shed light on why the country continued to appear as the border area of Christianity in the perception of certain Western chroniclers.
Attila Bárány re-evaluated Charles I’s (1301-1342) undertakings in the Crusades and his organisational work in the defence against the Mongol raids. He highlighted that although Charles I was not the archetype of the classic warrior king, his efforts and papal diplomacy clearly prove his historical role as defender of the Christian faith.
Zoltán Véber examined Hungary’s use of the rhetoric of the “Ottoman peace” according to a recently discovered archival source from Milan, dating to 1455. He elaborated on how Hungarian diplomacy made use of Mehmed II’s offer to exert pressure on Western powers in order to, in accordance with Pope Nicholas V’s bull (Etsi ecclesia Christi), obtain military support from them for Hungary, the country known as the bastion of Christianity.