Professor Martin Homza from the Faculty of Arts Presents a Scholarly Work on the History of the Spiš Region
On 5 September 2017, there was a ceremonial launch of the monumental scholarly work, Historia Scepusii, Vol. 2: The History of the Spiš Region from 1526 to 1918, in the Rector’s Hall of Comenius University in Bratislava. This event was attended by members of the university executive, representatives of foreign embassies and the Ministry of Education, and other special guests.
The publication was the result of the Syntheses of Spiš History international project upon the basis of an agreement between the Slovak and Polish governments on cross-border cooperation. This spectacular work provides a comprehensive, complete, and synthesized history of the Spiš region from a number of specific, detailed, and complex perspectives. In addition to the introductory summarizing chapters, the book contains a detailed analysis of topics connected to the history of the administration of Spiš County, church history, and the development of art and material culture.
The publication builds on the first volume in the series, which was published in 2009 and maps the history of Spiš from ancient times to 1526. The editors of the second volume of this collective work are Professor Martin Homza, Ph.D., head of the Department of Slovak History at the Faculty of Arts at Comenius University, and Professor Stanisław A. Sroka, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of History at Jagiellonian University in Krakow.
As Professor Homza stated in the introduction, the core characteristics of the book are objectivity and scientific inquiry in combination with the need to present the history of Spiš in an accessible way. The book offers the reader a large number of original translations of mostly Latin, German, Slovak, and Polish sources right in the text itself as well as rich illustrative material (there are 779 pictures and maps). From an international perspective, the book is an impressive project of the shared history of two European nations in one border region.
In addition to renowned Slovak authors such as František Žifčák, Ivan Mrva, Martin Homza, and Diana Duchoňová, the editors composed a team of authors of young and promising historians who had proven their abilities in previous cooperative endeavours. From an international perspective, the project included Polish authors as well as authors from Hungary and Germany.
“This exceptional publication on the history of Spiš is a successful example of partnership between Slovak and Polish historians and is worthy of emulation. I view this not only as a valuable and interesting publication on the mutual historical relationship between our two nations but also as a unique presentation of Slovak-Polish closeness. This interpretation of our shared history brings together and leads towards present and future cooperation,” said Comenius University Rector, Professor Karol Mičieta, in wishing the publication a happy journey to its readers.
“As the representative of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Sport of the Slovak Republic, I would like to acknowledge this book as the result of many years of difficult work and many years of difficult endeavour by Slovak and Polish historians as well as by other scientific and expert authorities from Slovakia and Poland,” stressed Marek Moška, who is the general director of the Section for International Cooperation and European Affairs at the Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Sport of the Slovak Republic.