Draft:Hungarus Consciousness



The Hungarus consciousness (Hungarian: Hungarus-tudat) refers to the identification of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Hungary with their country, regardless of nationality, language, or religion. The emergence of nationalism in the 19th century severely undermined the Hungarus consciousness.

History
The Kingdom of Hungary was multi-ethnic ever since its founding. The concept of the Hungarus consciousness developed in the Middle Ages. The Hungarus consciousness is related to, but distinct from the Natio Hungarica (Hungarian nation). The first entails all inhabitants of the kingdom, whereas the latter only included the nobility, clergy and urban burghers.

At the end of the 15th century 66% of the population of the Kingdom was Magyar (Hungarian). This percentage began to decline because of the Ottoman invasion of the country and the subsequent repopulation of depopulated areas by other ethnic groups. According to the first Hungarian census of 1784-1787, less than 40% of its 9.15 million inhabitants were Magyars.

Multilingualism was the norm during these times. The lingua franca of the country was Latin. Royal decrees were written in Latin, but anounced in German, Hungarian, and where applicable, Slovak.