SLOVENSKÝ PROTONACIONALIZMUS NA ŠARIŠI V POLOVICI 18. STOROČIA

The Eger bishopric experienced „the golden times“ in the last two thirds of the 18th century. The bishop of Eger Francis Barkóczi did a canonical visitation in region Šariš in 1749. In this region lived the priest Ignatius Herkal (1696-1758), who studied at the Jesuit University in Trnava. He later became the priest in Šariš. He was aware of his Slovak origins and openly talked about it with other priests at neighbouring parishes. Several of his colleagues took over Herkal’s vocabulary and conviction about the peculiarities of the Slovaks and their language. This episode of the history of Slovak proto-nationalism has so far been unknown.