The Diet of Hungary or originally: Parlamentum Publicum / Parlamentum GeneraleAndrás Gergely, Gábor Máthé: The Hungarian state: thousand years in Europe (published in 2000) () was the most important political assembly in Hungary since the 11th century, which emerged to the position of the supreme legislative institution in the Kingdom of Hungary from the 1290s,Elemér Hantos: The Magna Carta of the English And of the Hungarian Constitution (1904) and in its successor states, Royal Hungary and the Habsburg kingdom of Hungary throughout the early modern period until the end of World War II. The name of the legislative body was originally "Parlamentum" during the Middle Ages, the "Diet" expression gained mostly in the early modern period.Cecil Marcus Knatchbull-Hugessen Brabourne (4th Baron): The political evolution of the Hungarian nation: (Volume I. in 1908) It convened at regular intervals with interruptions from the 12th century to 1918, and again until 1946.
The articles of the 1790 diet set out that the diet should meet at least once every 3 years, but since the diet was called by the Habsburg monarchy, this promise was not kept on several occasions thereafter. As a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, it was reconstituted in 1867.
The Latin term Natio Hungarica ("Hungarian nation") was used to designate the elite which had participation in the medieval and early modern era political life of Hungary (at local level as members of the assemblies of the counties, or nation-wide level as members of the Parliaments). The members of the parliament consisted of the envoys of the Roman Catholic clergy, the elected envoys of the nobility from the county assemblies of the Kingdom, and the envoys of cities who were elected by the people of the Royal Free CitiesJohn M. Merriman, J. M. Winter, Europe 1789 to 1914: encyclopedia of the age of industry and empire, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006, p. 140, Tadayuki Hayashi, Hiroshi Fukuda, Regions in Central and Eastern Europe: past and present, Slavic Research Center, Hokkaido University, 2007, p. 158, regardless of mother tongue or ethnicity of the person.Katerina Zacharia, Hellenisms: culture, identity, and ethnicity from antiquity to modernity, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2008, p. 237 Natio Hungarica was a geographic, institutional and juridico-political category.
Official Designations Medieval era Throughout the Middle Ages, the most frequently employed Latin designation for internal use was Congregatio Generalis, (English: “general assembly.”) From the late 12th century until the early 16th century, Congregatio Generalis remained the predominant term appearing exclusively in Latin-language documents intended for domestic official purposes, serving as the recognized designation of the Hungarian estates’ assemblies.
Although extremely rare for domestic purposes, the terms Parlamentum Publicum and Parlamentum Generale were in use from the very outset. However, the usage of Parlamentum was dominant name and almost exclusively confined to diplomatic correspondence or communications intended for foreign audiences, in order to provide a more readily comprehensible terminology familiar to Western Europe.
Early modern period The early modern era designation, Diéta, which came into prominence from the Jagellonian period onward, is likewise of Latin origin—classically, diaeta signified “daily regimen, assembly, or mode of life.” However, the term Dieta entered the Hungarian legal lexicon through German influence and mediation, deriving from the practices of the Holy Roman Empire, where it appeared as the "Reichstag Diät".
The Latin-language German imperial documents frequently employed the term dietas imperiales (“imperial assemblies”), while in German-language sources the compound "Reichstag Diät" was commonly used. Variants included Kurfürstliche Diät—assemblies of the German prince-electors or regional estates —and Stände- or Landdiät— provincial or local German assemblies, attended, for example, by the German nobility and towns of a given territory.
Thus, in Jagellonian Hungary, the Dieta did not assume official status as a direct continuation of its classical Latin origin, but rather as a Latin term adapted from the legacy of German imperial model.
Concurrently, during the Jagellonian period, the Hungarian-language term országgyűlés (“national assembly”) began to appear and gradually spread in early Hungarian correspondence and documentary sources alongside the Latin-German origin Dieta.
Development
Some researchers have traced the roots of the Hungarian institution of national assemblies as far back as the 11th century. This based on documentary evidence that, on certain "important occasions" under the reigns of King Ladislaus I and King Coloman "the Learned", assemblies were held on a national scale where both ecclesiastic and secular dignitaries made appearances.Dr. Zoltán SZENTE: The Historic Origins of the National Assembly in Hungary| The first exact written mention of the word "parlamentum" (parliament) for the nationwide assembly originated during the reign of King Andrew II in the Golden Bull of 1222, which reaffirmed the rights of the smaller nobles of the old and new classes of royal servants (servientes regis) against both the crown and the magnates, and to defend the rights of the whole nation against the crown by restricting the powers of the latter in certain fields and legalizing refusal to obey its unlawful/unconstitutional commands (the "ius resistendi"). The lesser nobles also began to present Andrew with grievances, a practice that evolved into the institution of the Hungarian Diet.
An institutionalized Hungarian parliament emerged during the 14th and 15th centuries. Beginning under King Charles I and continuing under subsequent kings through into the reign of King Matthias I, the Diet was primarily convened by the king. However, under the rule of autocratic kings like Louis the Great and the early absolutist Matthias Corvinus, parliaments were often summoned merely to formalize royal decisions, which members were obliged to approve to meet constitutional requirements, thus it had no significant power of its own. However, since the reign of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the parliament has regained most of its traditional power.
In 1492, the Diet limited all serfs' freedom of movement and greatly expanded their obligations while at the same time only a few peasant families were prospering because of increased cattle exports to the West. Rural discontent boiled over in 1514 when well-armed peasants preparing for a crusade against Turks rose up under György Dózsa. Shocked by the peasant revolt, the Diet of 1514 passed laws that condemned the serfs to eternal bondage and increased their work obligations further.
When King Vladislaus II died in 1516, a royal council appointed by the Diet ruled the country in the name of his ten-year-old son, King Louis II (1516–26).
In 1608 the Diet divided into two houses: House of Magnates and House of Representatives. From next Diet in 1609, the members of the House of Representatives elected by nobles of the Counties, by civics of the free royal cities and by members of the cathedral chapters.
Diet of the Estates Until 1848, the Diets were called Hungarian Diet of the Estates (Hungarian: Rendi országgyűlés) which was an Estates General.
From the 13th century onwards, law-making was a joint right of the king and the diet. This remained a fundamental principle of the constitution of the later society of estate. After the extinction of the House of Árpád, the king was in many cases elected by the Diet, which guaranteed the Szabad Királyválasztás Joga (right of electing the king).
Before the development of the society of estate, the Diet consisted of the lords and the leaders of the church, but then the voting base was extended to the common nobility and the elected representatives of Royal free cities. By the 16th century the social classes that made up the 4 estates were the nobility, the common nobility, the clergy and the burghers.
From the 1400s onwards, two chambers began to be steadily separated, the lower plate of the estates and the arch-noblety on the upper. With the parliamentary system, the upper chamber was given over to the high priests and arch-nobles, while the lower chamber was filled by elected representatives. The Era of Reforms in 1848 brought an end to the Diet of the Estates, introducing the National Assembly. One of the key words of the Revolution of '48 was the taking away the privileges of the nobles and oligarchs, so currently there is an unicameral system, to guarantee the rule of the people. Until 1848, cathedral chapters were also members of the lower house, with 1-2 envoys.
List of legislative sessions
Early legislative assemblies, 11th century
Start date End date Location Details1057 1057 Székesfehérvár The first known nationwide legislative assembly1060 1060 Székesfehérvár 1061 1061 Székesfehérvár 1064 1064 Székesfehérvár 1074 1074 Székesfehérvár
Early legislative assemblies 12th century Start date End date Location Details1131 1131 Arad 1174 1174 Székesfehérvár
Parliamentary sessions of Kingdom of Hungary, 13th century
Start date End date Location Details 1222 1222 Székesfehérvár The first assembly which was called as "Parlamentum"1222. április 24. | II. András kiadja az Aranybullát Fehérváron1231 1231 Székesfehérvár 1245 1245 Székesfehérvár 1267 1267 Székesfehérvár 1272 1272 Székesfehérvár 1277 1277 May First phase at Rákos 1277 1277 August Second phase at Székesfehérvár 1289 1289 Székesfehérvár 1291 1291 Székesfehérvár 1299 1299 Székesfehérvár
Parliamentary sessions of Kingdom of Hungary, 14th century
Start date End date Location Details1305 1305 Székesfehérvár 1307 1307 Rákos 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 of Kingdom of Hungary, 15th century
Start date End date Location Details1435 1435 Latin: Posonium (Hungarian: Pozsony, German: Pressburg, now 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 of Kingdom of Hungary, 16th century
Start date End date Location Details1505 1505 Rákos 1506 1506 Székesfehérvár 1510 1510 Tata 1510 1510 Székesfehérvár 1525 1526 Székesfehérvár székesfehérvári királyválasztó és koronázó országgyűlés
Diets of Royal Hungary – 1527–1699 (the most important diets)
Start date End date Location Details 1527 1528 Buda 1532 1532 Buda 1536 1536 Várad 1537 1537 Pressburg (Pozsony, now Bratislava) 1542 1543 Besztercebánya (now Banská Bystrica) 1545 1545 Nagyszombat (now Trnava) 1547 1547 Nagyszombat 1548 1548 Pozsony (German: Pressburg, now 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 the Habsburg ruled Kingdom of Hungary (1700–1867)