Department of Historical Auxiliary Sciences

Abstract

The independent Department of Historical Auxiliary Sciences was established in 1984 at the former József Attila University of Szeged. Its predecessor as a departmental group was established in 1975 by Gyula Kristó. The independent department was founded by Ferenc Makk, who served as the department head until 2005. The present summary reviews the Szeged traditions of teaching auxiliary sciences, the organisational development of the department, the expansion of its teaching areas, its role in the functioning of the Department of History, and its research profile and participation in the doctoral training in Medieval Studies. The summary also describes the department’s primary research projects, success in winning bids, and involvement in some of the most significant historical research projects and publication series. Some of the work of the department’s staff, highlighted as examples, illustrates that the department’s image over the past four decades has been fundamentally defined by its character as a workshop for researching sources.