Name:
Edina Eszenyi

Current Position/Academic Assignment:
MA graduate, Central European University Medieval Studies Department

Hometown:
Budapest, Hungary

Educational Background:
2006 – 2007 Central European University Department of Medieval Studies, MA Programme 1999 – 2006 Pázmány Péter Catholic University Departments of English and Art History
2005 Fall Univerisity of Oslo, Center for Viking and Medieval Studies

How did you learn about HMML?
I learnt about HMML from our Department. Email notifications concerning scholarships were regularly sent to us and the Heckman Scholarship was one among them.

Current research at HMML:
I am collecting material for my Ph.D. in medieval angelology.

Why did you choose to study this—what got you interested in this topic?
During my art history studies I was attracted to Christian iconography. Being a Protestant, however, I slowly realized that I am not very much willing to devote my life to any research on saints, our most popular topic. Study about them is one thing, but I could never really identify with such fields of research. So I looked around what else should be done and I have found a host of angels in medieval churches. I think this is how it began.

What has been the most surprising thing you've uncovered in your current research?
A church from medieval Hungary has a Fall of the Angels scene of a very rare iconography. When coming across the scene while composing my MA theses I got absorbed in the scholarly research done on this subject and the diversity of interpretations, often completely opposing each other, was striking for me.

What can we learn from that?
I think this represents the variety of possible approaches to angelology and points at the need for cooperation.

Why did you decide to come to HMML for this particular research?
Since HMML has the biggest MS image collection in the world I considered it a most appropriate place for the investigation of the art historical aspects.

What would you tell someone about your experience at HMML?
I had a very pleasant and fruitful time at HMML. Both the library’s primary and secondary sources are very rich on angels, actually even better than I expected, and I received all help I needed from the people working there. It was my pleasure to work with such devoted colleagues – and then the amazing natural beauties of the SJU campus I have not even mentioned.

Do you have a favorite book or teacher from your youth that influenced your career/academic path?
The decision to submerge in angelology was fully mine, nobody made any memorable influence on me. Yet during my studies I received a lot of help from my supervisors, profs. Tündi Wehli, Béla Zsolt Szakács, and Gábor Klaniczay. To Gábor I owe especially much.

What do you read for leisure?
Many works have already been composed on angels which do not help my scholarly work, so these can remain only for leisure time. Besides, my hobbies are chess and photography, both apparently things better to do than be reading about, yet I try to cover as much of their theory as possible in order to improve myself in practice.

If you could travel back in time, what event would you like to experience in person? Why?
Most of us would probably take such a chance to uncover some secret, I think. I also have an interest in significant historic personalities and Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord is a great favourite of mine. I guess I would take the chance to investigate one of his enigmatic affairs or witness his diplomatic missions, maybe I would accompany him at the Congress of Vienna.