The Hungarian Diet: Pillars of Power
A deep dive into the historical legislative body that shaped Hungary's destiny.
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Overview
The Supreme Legislative Institution
The Diet of Hungary, historically known as Parlamentum Publicum or Parlamentum Generale (Hungarian: Országgyűlés), stood as Hungary's paramount political assembly from the 12th century onwards. It evolved into the supreme legislative institution of the Kingdom of Hungary by the late 13th century and continued its function through its successor states, including Royal Hungary and the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary, until the conclusion of World War II in 1946. The term "Diet" became prevalent in the early modern period, succeeding the medieval term "Parliament".
Historical Significance
The Diet convened periodically, with interruptions, from the 12th century until 1918, and then again until 1946. While the 1790 Diet stipulated meetings at least every three years, the Habsburg monarchy did not always adhere to this. Following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the Diet was reconstituted, reflecting its enduring importance in the nation's political landscape.
The Hungarian Nation (Natio Hungarica)
The term Natio Hungarica referred to the elite who participated in Hungary's political life. This included members of the clergy, elected representatives of the nobility from county assemblies, and envoys from Royal Free Cities, elected by their populace. This designation was a geographic, institutional, and juridico-political category, irrespective of the participants' mother tongue or ethnicity.
Comparison with English Parliaments
Supremacy of Statutory Law
In the medieval and early modern Kingdom of Hungary, laws enacted by the Diet (previously "Parliament") and sanctioned by the king held precedence over royal decrees. A royal decree could not override, suspend, or contravene a law passed by the Diet. This principle was recognized as early as the 13th century and formed a cornerstone of Hungary's historical constitutional framework. Hungarian estates consistently resisted absolutist attempts, asserting that royal ordinances required parliamentary consent to amend or repeal legislation.
Evolution of Parliamentary Power
In contrast, the principle of parliamentary supremacy over royal prerogative in England was firmly established much later, primarily after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The English monarch's ability to issue proclamations or suspend laws without parliamentary consent was a source of significant conflict, culminating in the English Civil War. It was only with the Bill of Rights (1689) that parliamentary sovereignty was constitutionally affirmed, establishing statutory law's precedence over royal decree.
Development of the Diet
Early Origins
Some scholars trace the origins of Hungarian national assemblies back to the 11th century, citing assemblies held under Kings Ladislaus I and Coloman where ecclesiastic and secular dignitaries convened. The first documented use of the term "parlamentum" for a nationwide assembly appeared during the reign of King Andrew II, associated with the Golden Bull of 1222. This bull reaffirmed the rights of lesser nobles and established the "ius resistendi" (right to resist unlawful royal commands), laying groundwork for the Diet.
Medieval and Early Modern Evolution
An institutionalized parliament emerged in the 14th and 15th centuries. Initially convened by the king, its power fluctuated. Under autocratic rulers like Matthias Corvinus, parliaments often served to formalize royal decisions. However, the Jagiellonian dynasty saw the parliament regain significant power. The Diet of 1514, reacting to a peasant revolt led by György Dózsa, enacted laws condemning serfs to eternal bondage and increasing their obligations. In 1608, the Diet formally divided into two houses: the House of Magnates and the House of Representatives.
The Estates and Reform
Until 1848, the Diet operated as an Estates General (Rendi országgyűlés). Law-making was a shared right of the king and the Diet. The voting base expanded over time to include common nobility and representatives of Royal Free Cities. By the 16th century, the four estates were nobility, common nobility, clergy, and burghers. The 1848 Revolution brought an end to the Diet of the Estates, ushering in a unicameral National Assembly focused on popular representation and dismantling noble privileges.
List of Legislative Sessions
The following tables detail the historical legislative sessions of the Diet of Hungary, showcasing its long and continuous presence in the nation's political history.
Early Legislative Assemblies (11th Century)
| Start date | End date | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1057 | 1057 | Székesfehérvár | The first known nationwide legislative assembly |
| 1060 | 1060 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1061 | 1061 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1064 | 1064 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1074 | 1074 | Székesfehérvár |
Early Legislative Assemblies (12th Century)
| Start date | End date | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1131 | 1131 | Arad | |
| 1174 | 1174 | Székesfehérvár |
Parliamentary Sessions (13th Century)
| Start date | End date | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1222 | 1222 | Székesfehérvár | The first assembly called "Parlamentum" |
| 1231 | 1231 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1245 | 1245 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1267 | 1267 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1272 | 1272 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1277 May | 1277 May | Rákoš (First phase) | |
| 1277 August | 1277 August | Székesfehérvár (Second phase) | |
| 1289 | 1289 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1291 | 1291 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1299 | 1299 | Székesfehérvár |
Parliamentary Sessions (14th Century)
| Start date | End date | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1305 | 1305 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1307 | 1307 | Rákoš | |
| 1308 | 1308 | Buda | |
| 1310 | 1310 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1320 | 1320 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1342 | 1342 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1351 | 1351 | Buda | |
| 1382 | 1382 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1384 | 1384 | Buda | |
| 1385 | 1385 | Pest | |
| 1385 | 1385 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1386 | 1386 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1387 | 1387 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1397 | 1397 | Temesvár |
Parliamentary Sessions (15th Century)
| Start date | End date | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1435 | 1435 | Posonium (Pozsony / Bratislava) | |
| 1438 | 1439 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1440 | 1440 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1445 | 1445 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1459 | 1459 | Szeged | |
| 1463 | 1463 | Tolna | |
| 1464 | 1464 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1467 | 1467 | Buda | |
| 1492 | 1492 | Buda |
Parliamentary Sessions (16th Century)
| Start date | End date | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1505 | 1505 | Rákoš | |
| 1506 | 1506 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1510 | 1510 | Tata | |
| 1510 | 1510 | Székesfehérvár | |
| 1525 | 1526 | Székesfehérvár |
Diets of Royal Hungary (1527–1699)
| Start date | End date | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1527 | 1528 | Buda | |
| 1532 | 1532 | Buda | |
| 1536 | 1536 | Várad | |
| 1537 | 1537 | Pressburg (Bratislava) | |
| 1542 | 1543 | Besztercebánya (Banská Bystrica) | |
| 1545 | 1545 | Nagyszombat (Trnava) | |
| 1547 | 1547 | Nagyszombat | |
| 1548 | 1548 | Pozsony (Pressburg / Bratislava) | |
| 1550 | 1550 | Pressburg | |
| 1552 | 1552 | Pressburg | |
| 1553 | 1553 | Sopron | |
| 1554 | 1554 | Pressburg | |
| 1555 | 1555 | Pressburg | |
| 1556 | 1556 | Pressburg | |
| 1557 | 1557 | Pressburg | |
| 1559 | 1559 | Pressburg | |
| 1563 | 1563 | Pressburg | |
| 1566 | 1566 | Pressburg | |
| 1567 | 1567 | Pressburg | |
| 1569 | 1569 | Pressburg | |
| 1572 | 1572 | Pressburg | |
| 1574 | 1574 | Pressburg | |
| 1575 | 1575 | Pressburg | |
| 1578 | 1578 | Pressburg | |
| 1581 | 1581 | Pressburg | |
| 1583 | 1583 | Pressburg | |
| 1587 | 1587 | Pressburg | |
| 1593 | 1593 | Pressburg | |
| 1596 | 1596 | Pressburg | |
| 1597 | 1597 | Pressburg | |
| 1598 | 1598 | Pressburg | |
| 1599 | 1599 | Pressburg | |
| 1600 | 1600 | Pressburg | |
| 1601 | 1601 | Pressburg | |
| 1602 | 1602 | Pressburg | |
| 1603 | 1603 | Pressburg | |
| 1604 | 1604 | Pressburg | |
| 1608 | 1608 | Pressburg | |
| 1609 | 1609 | Pressburg | |
| 1613 | 1613 | Pressburg | |
| 1618 | 1618 | Pressburg | |
| 1622 | 1622 | Sopron | |
| 1625 | 1625 | Sopron | |
| 1630 | 1630 | Pressburg | |
| 1635 | 1635 | Sopron | |
| 1637 | 1638 | Pressburg | |
| 1647 | 1647 | Pressburg | |
| 1649 | 1649 | Pressburg | |
| 1655 | 1655 | Pressburg | |
| 1659 | 1659 | Pressburg | |
| 1662 | 1662 | Pressburg | |
| 1681 | 1681 | Sopron | |
| 1687 | 1687 | Pressburg |
Diets during Habsburg Rule (1700–1867)
| Start date | End date | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1708 | 1715 | Pressburg | Continuously interrupted |
| 1722 | 1723 | Pressburg | |
| 1728 | 1729 | Pressburg | |
| 1741 | 1742 | Pressburg | |
| 1751 | 1751 | Pressburg | |
| 1764 | 1765 | Pressburg | |
| 1790 | 1791 | Pressburg | First phase not held in Pressburg |
| 1792 | 1792 | ||
| 1796 | 1796 | Convened to address French threat; voted to supply 50,000 men and provision Austrian army. Dissolved after nineteen sittings. | |
| 1802 | 1802 | Discussed demands regarding the French Revolutionary Wars. | |
| 1805 | 1805 | Resembled the 1802 diet. | |
| 1807 | 1807 | Remarkable diet; added proposition for army readiness. | |
| 1811 | 1812 | ||
| 1825 | 1827 | Pressburg | |
| 1830 | Pressburg | Crowned Archduke Ferdinand as King of Hungary. | |
| 1832 | 1836 | ||
| 1839 | 1840 | ||
| 1843 | 1844 | ||
| 1847 | 1847/8 |
House of Magnates
Composition of the Upper House
The House of Magnates (Főrendiház), akin to the British House of Lords, comprised hereditary members, high-ranking clergy, and, uniquely, deputized representatives from autonomous regions. Its membership was not fixed, allowing any qualified individual to sit. As of 1904, its composition included:
- Princes of the royal house who had attained their majority (16 members).
- Hereditary peers paying at least 3,000 florins annually in land tax (237 members).
- High dignitaries of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches (42 members).
- Representatives of Protestant confessions (13 members).
- Life peers appointed by the Crown (up to 50) and life peers elected by the House itself (73 members total).
- Various state dignitaries and high judges (19 members).
- Three delegates from Croatia-Slavonia.
House of Representatives
The Lower House and Franchise
Historically, the members of the House of Representatives were elected noble envoys from the kingdom's counties, elected envoys from the Royal Free Cities, and envoys from the lower clergy. Following the Electoral Law of 1874, the House comprised 453 members: 413 deputies elected in Hungary and 40 delegates from Croatia-Slavonia. Their terms lasted five years, and they received remuneration.
Limited Suffrage and Representation
The franchise was notably restrictive, described by the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition as "probably the most illiberal in Europe". Only about 6% of the working classes and 13% of the small trading class possessed the vote, representing just 6% of the total population. This limited suffrage meant that ethnic minorities often played a key role in electing pro-compromise liberal parties, while Hungarian nationalist parties, supported by the majority of ethnic Hungarian voters, frequently remained in opposition.
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References
References
- András Gergely, Gábor Máthé: The Hungarian state: thousand years in Europe (published in 2000)
- Elemér Hantos: The Magna Carta of the English And of the Hungarian Constitution (1904)
- Cecil Marcus Knatchbull-Hugessen Brabourne (4th Baron): The political evolution of the Hungarian nation: (Volume I. in 1908)
- Bak, János M., ed. Decreta Regni Mediaevalis Hungariae: The Laws of the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary, 1000â1301. Charles Schlacks, Jr. Publishers, 1999, p. 200.
- Kontler, László. A History of Hungary: Millennium in Central Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, 2002, pp. 149â154.
- Kenyon, J.P. The Stuart Constitution: Documents and Commentary. Cambridge University Press, 1986, pp. 205â210.
- Goldsworthy, Jeffrey. The Sovereignty of Parliament: History and Philosophy. Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 85â90.
- Dr. Zoltán SZENTE: The Historic Origins of the National Assembly in Hungary| [1]
- 1222. április 24. | II. András kiadja az Aranybullát Fehérváron
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