Felvilágosodás

Felvilágosodás is a European intellectual and cultural movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that promoted reason, science, critical inquiry, and belief in progress, often accompanied by skepticism toward traditional authorities such as the church and absolute monarchy. In Hungary, felvilágosodás refers to the period of reform within the Kingdom of Hungary under the Habsburgs, roughly from the mid-18th century to the turn of the 19th century, during which education, administration and culture were modernized and religious and political discourse became more secular.

Key ideas of felvilágosodás include the central role of reason, empirical investigation, and the improvement of public life through education, science, and reform. It encouraged individual rights, constitutionalism, freedom of thought, and religious tolerance, alongside a critical approach to inherited customs and institutions. Language and literature were mobilized as tools of modernization and national consciousness, with a strong emphasis on literacy and public discourse.

In the Hungarian context, figures such as Ferenc Kazinczy helped lead language reform (nyelvújítás), expanding Hungarian vocabulary and adapting literature to contemporary life. Reform-minded policies were advanced within the Habsburg realm, notably under Maria Theresa and, more decisively, Joseph II, whose edicts and administrative reforms opened space for education, centralized governance, and religious toleration, including the Edict of Toleration (1781).

Legacy of felvilágosodás in Hungary includes the modernization of education, the press, and civil administration, and it laid the groundwork for the 19th-century reform era and the later national revival.