The Holy Crown, the doctrine of the Holy Crown, organic doctrine
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The most important part of the Crown Jewels, which consists of two parts: the lower part, which is called the Greek crown (given to King Géza by the Byzantine Emperor, Michael Ducas), and the upper part, the so-called Latin crown. The two parts must have been joined together in today's form during Béla III's reign.
IT
the doctrine of the Holy Crown
Medieval people did not have a clear picture of the abstract idea of the state, so there had to be a simple symbol to substitute this notion. With the gradual separation of the king's person and the symbols representing impersonal power, the abstract idea of the state was born. A new concept arose in the 13th century in England and France, according to which the most important symbol of royal power, the crown was considered to be the owner of immovable properties. So immovable properties serving the convenience of royal power formed the rights of the crown, which meant that the king had to take an oath when ascending the throne that he would return them intact. In Hungary the idea of loyalty to the crown developed in the 13th century, the ideas of loyalty to the Holy Crown, services to the crown, the honour of the crown developed in the middle of the 13th century. In the 1381 peace of Torino the crown, which represented the kingdom, was a party to the treaty. In 1401, during king Sigismund's captivity, the royal counsel considered the crown as the embodiment of state power, which entrusted them with governing the country. Then the earlier royal chancellor called himself 'the Chancellor of the Holy Crown', and the leaders of the country had the 'signet of the Holy Crown' made. After king Sigismund's escape the person of the king gradually became less important compared to the crown, which could also be felt in everyday life: at court witnesses had to take an oath to the 'loyalty to the king and his holy crown'. In King Albert's 1493 law the people of the country were called 'subjects of the Holy Crown of Hungary' and not of the king.
KSZ
the doctrine of the Holy Crown
The doctrine of the Holy Crown and the organic state doctrine were first linked in a special way in Stephen Werbõczy's Triple book. To prove his 'una et eadem libertas' theory Werbõczy used Simon Kézai's Hun theory, according to which the community and body of noblemen transferred power to the ruler. Werbõczy said that the most important royal rights, that is raising someone to nobility and giving away estates, were transferred to the legal authority of the Holy Crown by noblemen, and these could come into the possession of the king only by the coronation. In accordance with this theory noblemen - as members of the body of the Holy Crown - are in a close and mutual bond with one another and the king: they transfer power to the king, and the king raises them to nobility. So each nobleman is a member of the Holy Crown and subject to the ruler selected and crowned by his own will. The role of the estates to transfer power was emphasized in 1440, but only the Triple book declared this doctrine in brief: each and every nobleman is a member of the Holy Crown.
KSZ
organic doctrine
It is a doctrine based on the Holy Script of the New Testament, especially on the teachings of the apostle St Paul, but its roots go back to antiquity. It interprets the state as a human organism. St Paul considered the church a corporative institution, so the church is Christ's mysterious body ('corpus mysticum Christi'), the members of which - the believers ('membra') - form a whole body, and the head of it is Christ Himself. Medieval thinkers also applied this theory to the state. According to them each country was an independent body, which had members (the citizens, that is the owners with political rights). The interpretation of the organic doctrine related to the state started in England in the 13th century, and spread to Europe by the 15th century. In the 15th century in Hungary the royal counsel interpreted itself as a body, then in the middle of the century the noblemen who appeared at the parliament considered themselves a body, who represent the whole nation in their decisions. In John Hunyadi's noble charters it was a general principle that the governor accepted newly appointed noblemen as members of the country. The organic doctrine played an important role in the development of the abstract concept of the state.
KSZ