Lawrence Tar's visit to Hell, Toldi legend
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Lawrence Tar was born around 1370 at Tar, from the Tar branch of the Rátót clan. He was King Sigismund's knight, whose life was rather adventurous. Between 1405-1407 he was the ispán (bailiff) of Hont and Nógrád, between 1407-1409 he had offices at the royal court. After 1426 the sources do not mention his name. He visited the West many times on the side of King Sigismund, who liked travelling very much. In 1415 he accompanied his ruler to the synod of Constanz, but before this, between 1409-1411 he visited Ireland, too. Probably under the influence of stories about people who visited hell - which he might have heard in Sigismund's environment - he visited St Patrick's purgatory, a sulphurous cave, which was considered the entrance of Hell by medieval pilgrims. He reported on his experiences and visions in front of the royal clerk of Dublin, who wrote them down. Not only official reports, but also folk traditions have preserved his memory: around 1520 a Latin extract of 13 hexametric lines survived from a verse, which described Lawrence Tar's visit to hell, then around 1522 Sebestyén Tinódi adopted parts of Lawrence Tar's visions which were connected to King Sigismund to his chronicle about the king.
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Toldi legend
Around 1574 Peter Ilosvai Selymes recorded the story of Miklós Toldi (1320-1390) in verse. The hero (a landowner in county Bihar) had an adventurous life. He was also the vice ispán (bailiff)f and captain of Pozsony between 1352-1354, then he served as the Archbishop of Esztergom in 1355, and in the next decade he became a knight at the roayl court. Between 1363-64 he led the army sent by King Louis I to help Pope Orban V in Italy. He became a mercenary soldier there. In 1365 he was captured, then he returned, became the ispán (bailiff) of Gömör (1366-1371) and Szabolcs (1382-1385). Afterwards this he served King Sigismund for a short time. There was a folk legend about his adventures as early as the 15th century, which was preserved by folk traditions - besides Peter Ilosvai Selymes's work. The most beautiful work about his life is János Arany's Toldi trilogy.
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