Order of Malta

In 2028, the Hungarian Association of the Order of Malta will celebrate the centenary of its foundation. An important step towards the formation of the independent Hungarian Association was the presentation of the letter of credentials of HE Jenő Karátsonyi of Karátsonyfalva and Beodra to the Regent Miklós Horthy in April 1925, thus becoming the first ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to Hungary. His predecessor, Count Max von Hardegg, had been accredited by the Order to the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in Vienna.

The process of which Jenő Karátsonyi, the organiser of the Hungarian Association, became the protagonist, thus began in 1925.

János Wettstein GCHDO has recently carried out a meticulous research in the archives of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in Rome. This is the only place where some of the documents of the history of our Association before 1945 can be found, as the archives in Budapest were lost or destroyed during the Second World War. He was interviewed for this report by László Visy.

Is there any information on how these documents were lost?

The library and archives were lost after MMLSz's Fortuna Street house was severely damaged during the siege of Buda Castle in the winter of 1944-45, and the members of the Order subsequently scattered and fled. Since no trace of them have been found, I resolved to reconstitute the lost documentation from Rome.

SO you were authorised to copy the Hungarian-related documents from this period, which are held in the Order's archives?

The archives of the Order of Malta in the Magistral Palace in Rome are open to researchers, and copies of the documents held there can be ordered for a fee. In our case, since the aim was to copy a set of documents spanning two decades, a solution was obviously needed for an exceptional case. It soon became clear that the archives did not have the manpower for such a task. The Grand Commander Fra' Emmanuel Rousseau, who is also the curator of the Magistral Library and Archives, was aware of the devastation that the Hungarian Federation had suffered, and supported our project from the outset. Recognising that there was no better solution in the circumstances, he exceptionally allowed me to photograph the documents prepared in advance in the reading room, with the fee waived. I spent a full working week in the archives on four occasions. Both His Excellency and the archivists (Dott.ssa Valeria Leonardi and Dott. Francesco Russo) are to be thanked for their efficient support.

These "repatriated" documents will now, I presume, be deposited in the MMLSZ archives.

Yes.

In a recent presentation to the members of the Order, János Wettstein said that after the end of the Order's presence in Hungary with the Turkish conquest in the 16th century, neither the Order of Malta nor the Johannites, who had separated as a result of the Reformation, had an organisation here. Those Hungarian nobles who became Knights of Malta, from the second half of the 19th century onwards, were generally affiliated to the Czecho-Austrian Grand Priorate.

It was in the spirit of the search for new Christian paths after the First World War, that the idea of founding a Hungarian association was born among Hungarian knights. One of the main initiators was Count Jenő Karátsonyi CHD, admitted to the Order in 1900, whom Count Max Hardegg, the Order's ambassador to Vienna during the Monarchy, proposed to the Grand Master for appointment as ambassador to the independent Kingdom of Hungary. Count Hardegg also proposed  Károly Barcza CHD, as Counsellor. At the same time, Fra' Rudolf Hardegg, Grand Prior of Austria and Bohemia, submitted to the Grand Master a proposal for the promotion of Jenő Karátsonyi to the rank of Bailiff Grand Cross, and the admission of his wife, born Countess Karolina Andrássy, to the Order of Malta as Dame of Honour and Devotion.

It was primarily through the admissions made under his jurisdiction, and by achieving the necessary number of members, that Jenő Karátsonyi created the preconditions for the Order of Malta to authorise the establishment of a national association in Hungary in 1928.

The two original documents published here, the draft of the ambassadorial credentials preserved in Rome and the report on the presentation of these, are thus the two items that preserve the memory of an important stage on the road to the establishment of the Hungarian Association.

Both documents were handwritten in French, the official language of diplomacy. It is clear from both documents that French was not the mother tongue of either party.

The credentials are addressed to the Regent Miklós Horthy.

Grand Master Fra' Galeazzo von Thun und Hohenstein and the Council accredit Count Jenő Karátsonyi of Karátsonyfalva and Beodra as Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Order to the Kingdom of Hungary. The credentials are dated 23 March 1925.

After receiving the credentials, Jenő Karátsonyi was received at Buda Castle on 8 April.

A verbatim translation of the letter of credentials preserved in the Roman archives:

The Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Galeazzo de Thun et Hohenstein, and the Council

to His Serene Highness Admiral Horty (sic), Regent of the Royal Government of Hungary

With the intention of further strengthening the close friendly relations between the Sovereign Order and the Royal Government of Hungary, we have decided to accredit to Your Serene Highness, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Count Jenő Karátsony of Karátsonyfalva and Beodra, Bailiff of our Order, replacing Dr. Max de Hardegg zu Glatz.

The excellent qualities of Count Karátsony are a guarantee that he will perform his duties with care; we therefore ask Your Serene Highness to receive him and to give full faith and credit to all that he will say to you on our behalf.

Rome 23 March 1925.

Report of Jenő Karátsonyi on the presentation of the credentials (literal translation):

I have the honour to communicate my report on my reception at the Royal Court in Budapest as Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Sovereign Order.

As soon as I took possession of my credential letter, which Your Eminence kindly sent me together with the note of 25 March 1925, I immediately took the necessary steps to be received in audience by His Highness the Regent, Admiral Horthy. This audience took place on the 8th of this month.

The ceremony of the audience followed all the usual rules of etiquette.

One of the Governor's aides-de-camp came to meet me at my palace, and we proceeded to the royal castle in a court automobile, preceded by a mounted escort, and followed by another automobile, in which sat the embassy secretary, M. Charle de Bárcza (sic!).

On my arrival, a guard of honour saluted me and I was officially welcomed by the Governor's Chief of Cabinet. Passing through a line of royal guards, I was led to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who accompanied me to the Regent, to whom I presented my credentials, with a few words appropriate to the occasion.

His Excellency was extremely kind to me, and asked me to convey his feelings of great respect and sincere affection to the august Leader of our Sovereign Order.

The Hungarian authorities are very happy and proud of the appointment of a compatriot, and all the newspapers of the country, irrespective of political party, mentioned this fact with great sympathy. I respectfully enclose with this letter an extract from Pester Lloyd, but all the other papers, without exception, treated the fact with great sympathy, and published my portrait.

I have done everything in my power, n the interests of our Sovereign Order,to obtain for my predecessor the highest Hungarian honour, and I am happy to report that my efforts have been crowned with success.

As an annex to this report, some newspaper clippings were sent to Rome, and here we enclose a report and an interview from the Pesti Napló.

It is interesting to note one of Count Jenő Karátsonyi's replies in this interview, which appeared in the 9 April 1925 issue of the Pesti Napló, supplementing the report on the previous day's presentation of the credentials.

"May I ask you, did not the international character of the Order bring its members into conflict with their national duties during the war?

'No,' replies Count Karátsonyi, 'since the laws of the Order state explicitly that unconditional obedience applies only to cases which do not conflict with the laws of individual states, and stipulate that knights are obliged to serve the aims of the Order with due regard for the interests of their state. Besides, our work is now confined primarily to humanitarian activities. First and foremost, we focus on the care of the sick in times of war, and our strict orders are to do our duty not only behind the front and in the interior of the country, but also out on the battlefield and in the most dangerous places. It is a well-known fact that we faithfully fulfilled this dutywithin the Austro-Hungarian Empire: fifteen of our ambulance trains rolled along the monarchy's railways, transporting the seriously wounded. At the end of the war, these trains were all transferred to Austria and the Czech Republic, which had long recognised the Order of Malta, but I very much hope that now, with the establishment of the Hungarian nucleus, we will be able to get at least some of these trains back. Of course, all this will require a stronger building up of our organisation, as we have so far neither property nor assets in Hungary."

Translated by Barbara Piazza-Georgi.

László Visy