Introduction: The topic of the dissertation is an important element of royal, high priestly and aristocratic funerary representation, the presentation of mummification customs based on contemporary documents, mainly international publications, and the examination of human remains. At the foundation of all this is a theological background to the corpus incorruptum, the cult derived from the treatment of the incorruptible bodies of the saints and the New Testament religiosity associated with them. The emphasis is on medieval interpretations of New Testament teachings. The cult of the bodies of the saints, the cult of the corpse, is the basis of the Christian medieval worldview and burial customs, and even of the development of urban centres. This is why it is now fascinating to interpret the burial of King Saint Stephen, followed by the raising of the body and the importance of the right arm/hand, an element that is emphasised in our legends, but which has received little attention in modern interpretations, by presenting the deep structure. In addition to the case of St Stephen, I present a separate chapter on the examination and analysis of the remains of Charlemagne (742–814). Charlemagne is as important for Germanic (mainly imperial) historical consciousness and identity as St Stephen is for Hungary, and in my opinion it is through Charlemagne that the politically motivated attempt at ‘saint-building’ can be demonstrated.
Studies of the skull relic of Saint László (Ladislaus) and the legend of the knight-king, as well as the presentation of contemporary parallels, also help us to understand the sacral thinking of the flourishing Middle Ages, which was not only theoretical but also part of everyday life, including the passing of the dead. The legends of St Margit (Margaret) and Prince St Imre (Emericus) will play an important interpretative role in the essay. The deep structural analysis and interpretation of the legend of St. Gellért (Gerhardo) has not been given a separate chapter, but has been included in the thesis as a parallel example in several places. In these passages I have unpacked the medieval humble reflection on what it was like to stand under the cross of Christ and live his suffering, which has been erroneously described as a new self-flagellation model in Hungarian historiography, hitherto associated with the dominant role of the Dominican monastic order. In fact, we can only speak of a shift of emphasis, of the intensification of Paul’s apostolic approach, of which the Dominicans were only one of the „flag-bearers”.
Materials: Human remains, holy relics, mummies and related of them written sources, documents and legends. International and national literature, with special emphasis on the works of the German historian Romedio Schmitz-Esserand.
Methods: Interdisciplinary. The complex methodology for the sacrally grounded interpretation of this thesis was the elaboration of Romedio Schmitz-Esser’s magnum opus, Der Leichnam im Mittelalter: Einbalsamierung, Verbrennung und die kulturelle Konstruktion des toten Körpers. (The corpse in the Middle Ages: embalming, cremating, and the cultural construction of the dead body.) Schmitz-Esser’s work gave me an insight into the deep structure of the sacral worldview of the Middle Ages, which was also the basis for profane political decisions. The book led me into the underlying symbolism of the treatment of the dead, revealed to me the significance of the veneration of relics, why and how the soul-body relationship was central to the period, the valde boni and its corporeal corpus incorruptum. That is why I have made this volume the focus of my references. The interdisciplinary nature of the method by which I have sought to process the material I have examined is reflected in this monograph. Romedio Schmitz-Esser’s line of thought was easy for me to accept because he treats contemporary sources simultaneously, and in analysing them he draws conclusions from both archaeological and anthropological studies. For me, the most relevant argument for the focus of this volume is that it interprets the cases under study not through the perspective and ideological filter of the 19th-21st centuries, but through the teachings of St. Augustine and St. Thomas.
Results: Schmitz-Esser’s work as a historian, source explorer and analyst led me to shift the focus of my earlier research beyond the description of historical periods towards telolgoics, religious history and semiotics. His volume thus gave me an opportunity to gain an insight into medieval burial, the various treatments of corpses and the deep structure of the cult of the saints and the relics, on which I could build the hagiographic depictions of bodies, especially corpses, in the legends of the Hungarian saints. I was able to link all this with the results of the biological studies, the scientific studies of the skull ring of St. Ladislaus and the Right hand of St. Stephen king.