History education according to the 1849 entwurf and history teaching at the first Slovak grammar school in vel’ká revúca in the 1860s in the Kingdom of Hungary

Abstract

The present text deals with history education according to the 1849 Entwurf and its application in history teaching at the first Slovak grammar school that was established in 1862 in Veľká Revúca (now Revúca). By way of introduction, the author emphasizes that, paradoxically, researching and analyzing history education in Slovakia throughout Slovak history remains one of the most neglected areas of Slovak historiography. The study aims to contribute to clarify this hitherto empty area. The Entwurf was a law passed by the Minister of Education and Religion, Leo Thun, shortly after the revolution of 1848/1849, that brought about an important change in the way history was taught in the Kingdom of Hungary. In fact, it introduced into the secondary education system of the kingdom a subject previously unseen, which integrated 2 hitherto separate subjects: geography and history, thus going against the customs and traditions of education in the Kingdom of Hungary. On the other hand, it was also the first time Slovak Evangelicals of the Augsburg Confession had the opportunity to establish a grammar school within the kingdom, at which Slovak was the language of instruction. In the 2nd part of this study, the author describes the origins of the first Slovak grammar school and discusses history teaching model in this establishment.

Keywords

• entwurf
• history teaching
• hungarian education
• first slovak grammar school