hulit1-2, Exercise 2: The Reformation and print

Model answer (check the details):

The Reformation: Protestant reformers wanted people to read scripture and sing in their own language, so they promoted Hungarian in preaching, schools and hymns. This gave Hungarian a new religious and educational role and spread literacy in the language. The Vizsoly Bible of 1590, the first full printed Hungarian Bible, is the best-known result.

Printing: books were printed in Hungary from 1473, mostly in Latin at first, and printing in Hungarian grew from the 1530s. Print made texts more stable, spread them more widely and encouraged a standard written form.

Together they moved Hungarian from a mainly spoken language, with a thin written record, to a language used for religion, teaching and literature in print. This prepared the way for the poets of Balassi's generation and for the language reform of the following centuries (Chapter 3).