2370) The "Golden Bull" ("Bulla Aurea" or "Aranybulla") of King Andrew II of Hungary: 800th Anniversary Commemoration (1222-2022): Hungarian Mint has issued two Coins - 10,000 Forint (Gold) and 5,000 Forint (Base Metal) to commemorate the milestone: Year of Coin issue: 2022:
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The Header/Banner showcases the Reverse and Obverse of the two Coins - Gold and Base Metal - against an image of the original "Golden Bull" signed by King Andrew II in 1222. In the front is an image of the Golden Seal
800 years ago, in 1222, King Andrew II of Hungary signed what has become known as the “Golden Bull.”
The Golden Bull was issued at the diet of Fehérvár. The law established the rights of the Hungarian nobility, including the right to disobey the King when he acted contrary to law ("jus resistendi").
It was a charter granted by the king to codify the rights of privileges of the nobility and clergy and to establish limits on his own power. King Andrew II was forced by his nobles to accept the "Golden Bull" ("Aranybulla") or "Edict", which was one of the first examples of constitutional limits being placed on the powers of a European monarch.
It was forced on the king because of his own abuses of power and contained 31 separate articles. From that date on, all Hungarian kings had to swear to uphold it.
"Golden Bull" is a translation from the Latin "bulla aurea" in which the term “bull” refers to an edict with a gold seal. Originally it only meant the seal itself, but the term later also came to refer to the decree.
"Golden Bulls" were issued by numerous Byzantine and Western European rulers.
The nobles and the church were freed from all taxes and could not be forced to go to war outside of Hungary and were not obligated to finance it. This was also a historically important document because it set down the principles of equality for all of the nation's nobility.
Seven copies of the edict were created, one for each of the following institutions - to the Pope, to the Knights Templar, to the Knights Hospitaller, to the Hungarian king itself, to the chapters of Esztergom and Kalocsa and to the palatine.
The charter's creation was influenced by the emergence of a nobility middle class, unusual in the nation's feudal system. As a regular gesture of generosity, King Andrew often donated property to particularly faithful servants, who thereafter gained new economic and class power.
With the nation's class system and economic state changing, King Andrew found himself coerced into decreeing the Golden Bull of 1222 to relax tensions between hereditary nobles and the budding middle class nobility.
The Golden Bull is often compared to Magna Carta; the Bull was the first constitutional document of the nation of Hungary, while Magna Carta was the first constitutional charter of the nation of England signed on 15.06.1215 by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor.
Events which prompted "Grants of Liberties" in various European countries:
The Golden Bull that Andrew II of Hungary issued in 1222 was "one of a number of charters published in thirteenth-century Christendom that sought to constrain the royal power."
Peter II of Aragon had already in 1205 planned to make concessions to his subjects.
Simon de Montfort, supreme commander of the Albigensian Crusade, issued the Statute of Pamiers in 1212, confirming the privileges of the clergymen and limiting the authority of the future rulers of Toulouse and Carcassonne.
The statute influenced the Magna Carta of John, King of England, which also secured the liberties of the Church and regulated feudal relationships in 1215.
The Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, strengthened the authority of the imperial prelates in 1220.
Contacts between Hungary and these countries can be demonstrated during this period. Aragonese nobles settled in Hungary in the early 13th century.
Hungarian participants of the Fifth Crusade could meet Robert Fitzwalter and other leaders of the movement which had achieved the issue of the Magna Carta in England.
Two Hungarian prelates visited Canterbury in 1220.
More importantly, the authors of these documents borrowed from each other, because all these charters embodied the "natural reaction of feudal societies to monarchical importunity".
Some salient features of the "bulla aurea" ("Golden Bull"):
Among the Golden Bull’s provisions were that:
- The king had to convene the National Assembly regularly
- He could not imprison a noble without a proper trial and
- He could not tax the estates of nobles and the church.
- Nobles no longer had to serve without pay in the king’s army abroad
- Foreigners were prohibited from owning landed estates and Jews and Muslims from holding public office.
- The Golden Bull also increased the nobles’ authority in the counties; the king’s county officials could be dismissed for misconduct, and their positions could not be hereditary.
- If any king violated the provisions of the Golden Bull, the nobles and bishops had the right to resist without being subject to punishment for treason.
The Coins:
The Hungarian Mint has released two coins with a unique concept to commemorate the 800th Anniversary of the "Golden Bull" - one a Proof (P) Gold 10,000 Forint and the other a patinated Antique Finish (AF) 5,000 Forint made of a copper-zinc-brass alloy.
The uniqueness is that the gold coin interlocks/can be fitted into an indentation in the base metal coin.
On the base metal coin, the seal design is presented in an indentation just below a replication of part of the document’s text. The indentation is sized precisely so that the gold coin can be placed within it.
The two coins can be fitted into one, by removing them from their plastic capsules and inserting the gold 10,000 forint into the small raised frame on the 5,000 forint.
The two coins are available individually, and as a set that also interlocks.
The Reverse of the 10,000 Forint Gold Coin features the gold bull itself - the seal that was used on the document.
The Obverse of each coin (10,000 Forint Gold and 5,000 Forint Base Metal) has an identical image of King Andrew II seated on his throne holding an orb in his left hand and a sceptre in his right. He is flanked by the dates "1222 – 2022".
The border design differs.
The specification of the two Coin Variant are:
i) Gold Coin Variant:
Country of issue: Hungary; Date/Year: 2022; Coin Theme: "Golden Bull" of King Andrew II of Hungary; Denomination/Face Value: 10,000 Forint; Metal Composition: .999 Fineness Gold (Au); Weight: 117.50 grams; Diameter/Size: 11.00 mm; Coin Quality: Proof (P); Mint: Hungarian Mint or Mint of Hungary; Mintage: 10,000 pieces; Packaging: Each coin is encapsulated and can be merged into one by removing the capsule and placing the gold coin in the indentation made in the Base Metal Coin.
ii) Base Metal Variant:
Country of issue: Hungary; Date/Year: 2022; Coin Theme: "Golden Bull" of King Andrew II of Hungary; Denomination/Face Value: 5,000 Forint; Metal Composition: Copper-Zinc-Brass alloy; Weight: 117.00 grams; Diameter/Size: 67.00 mm; Coin Quality: Antique Finish (AF); Mint: Hungarian Mint or Mint of Hungary; Mintage: 10,000 pieces; Packaging: Each coin is encapsulated and can be merged into one by removing the capsule and placing the gold coin in the indentation made in the Base Metal Coin.
