KOMUNIKÁCIA V STREDOVEKU: MENOVANIE UHORSKÝCH KAPLÁNOV V AACHENE

King Louis I of Hungary, a devout believer, built a Hungarian pilgrimage chapel (1366) near the Marian church in Aachen, where two chaplains were to serve. He provided material support to ensure the livelihood of the two clergymen. The chaplains were required to be fluent in Hungarian. Based on research of historical sources, we have identified the names of eight chaplains over a period of 86 years. The list shows that part were descendants of older German families living in Hungary. Therefore, in addition to their knowledge of Hungarian, they also had a good command of German. One of the eight, Paul Scalitzer, did not know Hungarian; he came from the Diocese of Bamberg, and his appointment did not meet the founder’s conditions, making it an exceptional case for unknown reasons. Detailed biographies of the chaplains are not well-documented, but one, Gallus of Nižné Raslavice, was the son of a royal notary and familiar, while another, Stephen of Cluj-Napoca, was a royal chaplain. The administrative process for appointing a chaplain typically took at least six months, though the case of Nicholas Brant took over two years. By the 16th century, with the rapid decline of Hungarian pilgrims, the people of Aachen found this bureaucratically lengthy process less meaningful. This paper discusses the challenges in managing the two chaplaincy positions and communication strategies in the medieval period.