Jacques Bongars et ses Rerum Hungaricarum scriptores varii (1600), premier recueil de sources de l’Histoire de Hongrie

Abstract

The article focuses on a preamble written in Latin by the late Renaissance humanist and diplomat Jacques Bongars. The preliminary of the volume Rerum Hungaricarum scriptores varii, the first Hungarian historical source collection, explores the Hungarian People’s origin and the history of the Hungarian Kingdom. The author links Bongars, the central figure in sixteenthseventeenth-century Central Europe, to the European information networks, as well as to Hungarian Humanist circles, and draws a parallel between his source collection and Matthias Bel’s work. By analysing the volume impacts, Jacques Bongars is presented as the foundation stone of Hungarian historiography.