Hadtörténelmi Közlemények, 122. évfolyam, Hadtörténeti Intézet (Budapest, 2009)

2009 / 1. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Szőcs Tibor: Egy "legendás" hős: Dugonics Titusz története

Tibor Szőcs A “LEGENDARY” HERO: THE STORY OF TITUSZ DUGOVICS Summary A familiar figure in Hungarian history, Titusz Dugovics is the embodiment of anti-Ottoman re­sistance and self-sacrifice. The story of his heroic deed is as follows. In the summer of 1456, Sul­tan Mehmed II laid siege to the castle of Nándorfehérvár (today Belgrade) and was close to taking it on 21 July, when Titusz Dugovics, one of the soldiers of János Hunyadi, defender of the castle, started to wrestle a Turk, who had climbed one of the towers and was about to pin the Ottoman flag on it. As he was unable to prevent the Turk from doing so in any other way, Dugovics dragged him down with himself, so that they both fell to their deaths. This heroic deed by Dugovics has served as the subject of numerous works of literature and art since the middle of the 19th century, and several streets in Hungary have been named after him. Nevertheless, an analysis of the available sources proves that the story cannot be considered as historically accurate. The heroic act was first documented in Antionio Bonfini’s chronicle written at the end of the 15th century, where an anonymous Hungarian fighter is mentioned. The same story is told by both Bonfini and the Serbian Mihalovic Konstantin, in relation to the siege of Jajce in 1464, featuring an unnamed soldier as well. Early modem-era Czech historical literature also re­fers to the hero of Nándorfehérvár as being unknown, but defining his nationality as Czech. From the end of the 18th century, with the forming of Hungarian national consciousness, the valiant sol­dier had been regarded as a national hero and role model. Imre Dugovics, a member of a Hungar­ian noble family of Slavic origin, took advantage of that. In 1821, by means of three false docu­ments, he attempted to verify that the anonymous fighter had been an ancestor of his family, called Titusz Dugovics. The name was made known to the public by Gábor Döbrentei, a recognised scholar of the period, who had been deceived by the false documents, and published them in a study. Thus, Titusz Dugovics and his story soon became (and has ever since remained) a part of Hungarian historical consciousness, although his character should not be considered more than early 19th-century fiction. The only element of the story that may be accepted as authentic is that of the unknown soldier described by Bonfini and Konstantin. Tibor Szőcs UN HÉROS «LEGENDA IRE»: H1STOIRE DE TITUSZ DUGOVICS Résumé Personnage connu de la mémoire historique de Hongrie, Titusz Dugovics incarne I’exemple du dévouement et de la résistance contre les Turcs. Selon l’histoire, lorsque le sultan tűre Mehmet II fit le siege devant le fort de Nándorfehérvár en été 1456 et fut sur le point de le prendre le 21 juil­­let, Titusz Dugovics, un soldat de János Hunyadi défenseur du fort, commenda ä lütter avec un Ture qui voulait planter le drapeau turc en haut d’une tour. Pour fen empécher il l’entraina avec lui dans le vide ой ils moururent tous les deux. Cet exploit de Dugovics fit l’objet de nombreuses ceuvres d’art et littéraires des le milieu du 19е siede et plusieurs rues portent son nőm mérne au­­jourd’hui. Toutefois, du point de vue de la critique des sources historiques, cette histoire ne peut pas étre considérée comme crédible sur tous les points. L’exploit-mérne est décrit dans la chronique d’Antonio Bonfini qui date de la fin du 15е siede, mais il est attribué ä un brave soldat hongrois

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