EUROPE BETWEEN EAST AND WEST : MANY HAPPY RETURNS FERENCE RAKOCZKI : REBURIAL 2020 A very well written essay, the author finds he is following the reburial of this Hungarian Hero of the 1848 Revolution. An excellent history of what happened in Hungarian history...
The author tells the story of the burial and movement of the hero's ashes...
Excerpts: "While Kossuth is synonymous with the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, his name is not eponymous with an entire war for independence. That accolade was reserved for Rakoczi because of his leadership in the fight to wrest Hungary away from Habsburg rule. Rakoczi's War of Independence lasted from 1703-1711...
The defeat sent Rakoczi and his closest followers into permanent exile. His life ended twenty-four years after his war for independence. Far away from his Hungarian homeland, Ference II Rakoczi drew his last breath on the shores of the Sea of Marmara, 90 miles from Constantinople in the Turkish town of Rodosto. Rakoczi's ashes eventually came to rest at Lazarist Monastery in Constantinople."
(However, when Austria took over, there was a push to return his ashes to Budapest, and then to Kosice. There would be a crypt waiting for him...)
Excerpt: "In retrospect, the resurrection of a Rakoczi cult seems like a quintessentially Hungarian thing to do. They celebrated a lost war, for a star crossed cause, led by a long dead war hero who spent his last twenty-five years in exile..."
Rokoczi's ashes were taken from Budapest to Kosice and to Saint Elizabeth Cathedral.
An excellent blog! Follow along as the author takes us to the crypt.
Note that Kosice in Slovakia was Kassa in Hungary. Saint Elizabeth is the largest cathedral in Slovakia.
