The role and importance of the cultivation of cameralism/cameralistics and Polizeiwissenschaft in Hungary becomes obvious if we make it clear that by the 18th century, Hungary suffered a slight disadvantage in terms of university education compared to other countries, but the institution of peregrinatio academica was able to partially make up for this deficiency from the early Middle Ages onwards. The first major permanent Hungarian university, the Universitas Tyrnaviensis/University of Trnava (Hun. Nagyszombat), was founded in 1635, and the institution began offering legal education in 1667. In 1769, Maria Theresa/Maria II (1717-1780, reign: 1740-1780) ordered the establishment of the Department of Politico-cameralis (i.e. Polizeiwissenschaft), which in Hungary was still the university’s Trnava (Nagyszombat) period. Initially (between 1769 and 1777), the subject was taught at the Faculty of Humanities in Trnava (Nagyszombat), and the subject, which was otherwise reserved for lawyers, was taught by theologians.

Its first (appointed) professor was the Buda-born Antal (Károly) Weissengruber (17262 -1792; taught: 1769-1770), a student of the famous late Austrian Polizeiwissenschaft theorist, Joseph von Sonnenfels (1732/1733-1817; taught: 1763-c. 1802), perhaps the most significant practitioner of the discipline. The unfortunate Weissengruber suffered such a permanent physical disability due to a riding accident that he could never teach; he was only a formally appointed professor. Earlier, a Hungarian Sonnenfels student of Croatian origin, Béla Albert Barics (1742-1813; taught: 1769-1813), or, according to other sources, Adalbert Barits, was appointed to the Varaždin Law Academy, and later to the Zagreb Law Academy. (Incidentally, he was the rector of the Royal University of Pest between 1785 and 1786). Thus, the choice for the Hungarian professorship fell on Gáspár Ehrenfels (c. 1740-1792; taught: 1770-1772) (according to other sources, he used his name as Gáspár Paál Ehrenfels or Gáspár Pál Ehrenfels), who had studied science privately and was examined and selected by Joseph von Sonnenfels. He spoke six languages (Hungarian was probably his native language) and, as a canon of Bratislava (Pozsony), headed the Doctrinal Committee of the Council of Governors from 1777. We assume Ehrenfels has left behind a printed book on the subject,3 however, this is only a standard examination thesis form (Lat. thesis; Ger. Sätze)4 for doctoral dissertations,5 where the praeses Straller and the professor Ehrenfels are listed (these forms are listed under the professor’s name by bibliographers, but sometimes only the candidate’s name is listed in the form). As an interesting addition to our research on Polizeiwissenschaft, which began in 2010, we found the form of the examination thesis of Ferenc Gyurkovics (c. 1740-1794; taught: 1772-1794), the later professorial successor, also from 1771, under the presidency of Ehrenfels, where the author is also the contemporary professor, Ehrenfels,6 since the professor is considered the intellectual formulator of the thesis, as the examination theses were personalised. Gyurkovics taught the subject at the Faculty of Humanities until 1777, and then at the Faculty of Law. In addition, he was also the rector of the Royal Hungarian University of Sciences in 1782-1783. Also worth mentioning is the legal scholar Pál Rosos de Szentkirályszabadja (1751-1809), bishop of Veszprém, who wrote a work in Latin on internal security in 1777, but did not hold a professorship. Incidentally, he crowned Queen Maria Ludovika [Maria Luisa of Spain] (1745-1792), Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Hungary in Bratislava (Hun. Pozsony). Maria Ludovika donated 100,000 gold forints to the Ludoviceum/Ludovika Military Academy (now: Ludovika University of Public Service), which was later named after her.7

The most outstanding representative of the Hungarian Polizeiwissenschaft was József Reviczky de Revisnye (1750-1815; taught: 1794-1805), who was the most significant Hungarian lecturer and researcher in the field and subject of scientia politico-cameralis. (As an aside, his family was one of the oldest noble families of Árva County, located on the northern Hungarian linguistic border). In 1790, he was appointed to the department as a reward for writing his main work, Introductio ad politica Regni Hungariae, which was published without indicating the author.8 The volume mainly contains an examination of internal security issues.

In the second chapter of the work, we encounter the social question: the topic of poverty. Reviczky speaks to an even lesser extent about the issue of poorhouses, beggars, orphans, and usury (and perhaps pubs, as one of the results of usury).9

Reviczky makes a special mention of the miserable condition (Lat. spuriorum status miserabilis) of illegitimate children (in his wording: bastards),10 saying that they are excluded from later (family-law-inheritance) advancement. Those who were ‘conceived in an illegitimate bed’ (Lat. ex illegitimo thoro nati) are not only excluded from inheriting anything, but they cannot hold any civil office (Lat. Civilibus Officiis).11

Thus, avenues for the advancement of the poor were largely blocked in the era. This way of thinking partly anticipates the dilemma of protecting the property of the rich versus protecting the poor (Fr. protéger la propriété du riche, protéger la pauvre) posed by Louis Blanc (1811-1882), which led to the triple motto of the French public administration of the era: ‘order, justice and charity’ (Fr. ordre, justice et charité).12

It must be said that Reviczky’s volume provides an interesting cross-section of the meeting of the old and the new approach to Polizeiwissenschaft, which is enriched by examples of Hungarian laws by the author, whose willingness to analyse laws is a novelty compared to the works of German-speaking authors.

A later work is Politia civitatis by Ferenc Huber (1786-1844; taught: 1817-1844), who taught scientia politico-cameralis, i.e. political science/public administration-based Staatswissenschaften, at the Reformed Law Academy in Cluj-Napoca (Hun. Kolozsvár).13

The work only lists legal and not literary sources. Among its topics, the early germs of public administration policy, population census, and administrative organisational law may be of interest to us. Within internal security, he examines specific issues (especially issues related to livelihoods): grain shortages and pofiteering (Lat. annona caritas), wood (lat. ligna), salt (Lat. sal), poor-quality food (Lat. noxia alimentorum qualitas), water (lat. aqua), bad air (lat. aëris insalubritas) and also deals with what the public administration should do in individual cases. (This in itself carries a kind of demand for the environment, and for sustainability, which was not yet known by name at the time). This case is a preliminary example of modern usage of the concept before the term ‘sustainability’ existed.14

That is, the lack of grain, wood, salt, the unfitness of (fresh) water for human consumption, and action against bad air are partly social, poverty issues, but the proposal is partly a kind of anticipation - through the involvement of everyone - of the actions to be taken against later environmental problems. The mention of food donations is explicitly part of the fight against poverty, while the ban on poor-quality food is also given in this context, and is also one of the first seeds of today’s food safety public administration action. It should be noted that Delamare’s French-language work dealt in quite some detail with the fight against poor-quality food.15 Moving along these questions, Huber mainly elaborated on the issues of health administration (Lat. sanitatis administri).16

The examination of the above fundamental questions indicates the author’s social sensitivity, which was as much a characteristic of the scholars of the era as his deeply experienced and sincere religiously based morality.

Other Hungarian teachers of Polizeiwissenschaft were, in the order of the beginning of their teaching time: the Ruthenian (and perhaps partly Slovak) Mihály Balugyánszky (Mihajlo Baludjanszky) (1769-1847, in Hungary/country of origin taught: 1789-1803; abroad [Russian Empire] taught: 1803-1813); Mihály (János Nepomuk) Sax (1750-1824; taught: 1806-1819); The names of István Gyurián (1761-c. 1840, taught: 1821-1830), Péter Tipula (1794-c. 1870, taught: 1832-1849), and László Bercsényi (c .1810s-c. 1850s, taught: 1848-1849) should be mentioned among the scholars of the department.17