The History of Debrecen [antikvár]

Introduction Trying to characterize Debrecen, a town principal wrote the following in his diary about three hundred years ago: "this is a town built in the fields, with no strong city walls to defend it." This description remains valid even today, at least as far as Debrecen's geographical and historical situation is concerned. Abundant in squares and open places, the Capital of the Great Hungarian Plain is an open city in figurative and literal sense alike. Although not built on rocks, its firm roots have protected the town against the vicissitudes of history. Despite her rural outlook Debrecen was declared a town in the middle ages and was granted the status of a Free Royal City 300 years ago. The town grew on the edges of Transylvania and the Hungarian Kingdom like a lily of the fields. The trench and the wine-hedge contrived to defend the vulnerable settlement proved equally ineffective against the hords of Tartar and Turkish in- truders. Living under constant threat throughout those turbulent periods of history, Deb- recen lacked any defensive power and according to the principal quoted above "was a town used to obedience, relying on prudent flexibility and all sorts of taxes instead of guns". The city paid taxes to Transylvania, the Royal Army of Hungary, the pasha of Várad and to Vienna—all that in return for a small franchise. The alternatives were simple: it was either paying or escaping. The daily password of the town seemed to be: pay or stay. This could be the origin of the Hungarian poets Endre Ady's characterization of Debrecen as "the town of endurance", a phrase so often misconstrued. The alleged reservedness of the people of Debre- cen, the high fences around their houses may have come from this sense of menace, the lack of outer walls. How could they afford these taxes all through the centuries? The resources were manifold: on the one hand, the abundant granary of the Hortobágy, sung by the 18th-century poet Mihály Fazekas as a "blessed Ca- naan", on the other hand the wisdom of her aldermen, men of exceptional diplo- matic flair, educated at foreign universities, and the loyal discipline and the high educational level of the citizens. An English visitor, Mr. Townson recorded two hundred years ago that in Debrecen any person could read and write regardless of their social status. One could not tell this from the puritan outlook of the well-to-do town but her citizens had an urge for getting higher skills and education. The chief source and propagator of the propensity for culture and education was the Reformed College. DEBRECEN GUIDE 3