Mihaly Rotarides

* Otrokocs, 1715 – † Wittenberg, 15 April 1747 / literary historian ; ; He studied at the Sopron Evangelical Lyceum, and continued his theological studies in Wittenberg between 1738 and 1742, while continuing the literary history work of Dávid Czvittinger (Selmecbánya), he collected a lot of material in German libraries. After completing his studies, he returned home in 1742 to supplement his notes with data from domestic libraries. With the help of his letters of recommendation, he roamed the Highlands, examining the book collections of parishes and nobles. In February 1744, he wanted to return to Germany, but since a royal decree prohibited the taking of documents abroad, he was stopped at the border, locked up, and everything he owned was taken away. He was released with great difficulty, but he managed to get his manuscripts back only after “battles” in Poland and Germany, with the help of his patrons there and the University of Wittenberg. By then he was already ill and never returned home. Due to his debts, he sold his books and pawned his manuscripts. He died young of pneumonia in Wittenberg. The manuscript of his work ended up in the Hungarian library in Wittenberg. Unlike Dávid Czvittinger, he wanted to review the development of our literature not in alphabetical order, but in a summary manner, chronologically and grouped by subject, but due to his early death, only a draft of his work could be completed: Historiae hungaricae literariae antiqui medii atque recentioris aevi lineamenta. Quorum prolegomena generalem in universam historiam Hungariae literarium introductionem continentia prodeunt studio ac sumtu H. M. hungari (Altonaviae et Servestae, 1745), which was supplemented by Pál Wallaszky. In the first chapters of his voluminous book, he dealt with general literary issues, and in the subsequent chapters with the manifestations of scientific life. He could have known only a few writers and books from the Middle Ages, but from the Protestant era of the 16th century onwards, he listed numerous Hungarian and Latin authors. However, for him, philosophizing on literary phenomena, presenting and criticizing their sources was apparently more important. His generally moving explanations, crowded sentences, and frequent repetition of thoughts give the impression of disorganization. He signed his work with the letters H. M., which is why his name was also known as Hazafi Mihály or Hazay Mihály. His other works also remained in manuscript.