Cisiojanus and Papists in the Petrovay Songbook

Abstract

In my article, I deal with the appearance of Cisiojanus in the Petrovay songbook, trying to identify the source from which Petrovay could have copied the passages. The Cisiojanus was originally a perpetual calendar of 24 verses, later becoming synonymous with the calendar, and reached its most definite form in the editions of Cluj‐Napoca and Levoča. In the course of the investigation, comparing the various editions and the other products of the printing house, I came to the conclusion that Petrovay must have used the Levoča edition for this text. In addition, I try to prove that the poem with the incipit „Illik emlékeznünk ...” does not correspond to any poem known so far, in the manuscript we read a paraphrase. Presumably, the author altered the original song deliberately to represent a new, different message condemning the Papists. This would be the second text in the manuscript that has hitherto been completely unknown to the literature specializing in the topic, and not the only one attacking Catholics. The latter tendency is not surprising because of Petrovay’s reputation of being inclined towards Protestantism.