The Hungarian Sequences to the Virgin Mary in the Context of Medieval Marian Awareness

Abstract

The Virgin Mary´s esteem was extended in the Middle Ages throughout the entire Christian world. Its content was transferred not only to the liturgy but also to various forms of art. From Hungary there are several manuscripts preserved from the Middle Ages that contain rare monuments – sequences with Marian themes. The poetic texts of these chants combine references to holy scripture, pictures of nature and ordinary life, the revelation of the veneration of the Virgin Mary as the Mother of God and the Queen of Heaven as well as the desire of people to protect her and the requests for her intercessions to her Son for sinners. All of these elements point to the Marian tradition, which was very developed in the territory of what was then Hungary and its main features, typical for the later Middle Ages, reflecting not only religious feelings and expressions, but also the social and existential conditions of that time.