The House of Magnates ( hu, Főrendiház) was the upper chamber of the
Diet of Hungary
The Diet of Hungary or originally: Parlamentum Publicum / Parlamentum Generale ( hu, Országgyűlés) became the supreme legislative institution in the medieval kingdom of Hungary from the 1290s, and in its successor states, Royal Hungary and ...
. This chamber was operational from 1867 to 1918 and subsequently from 1927 to 1945.
The house was, like the current
British House of Lords, composed of hereditaries, ecclesiastics, and, unlike the House of Lords, deputized representatives from autonomous regions (similar to
Resident Commissioner
Resident commissioner was or is an official title of several different types of commissioners, who were or are representatives of any level of government. Historically, they were appointed by the British Crown in overseas protectorates (such ...
s of
United States territories
Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and tribal reservations as they are not sover ...
). The House had no fixed membership size, as anyone who met the qualifications could sit in it. The official list:
* Princes of the royal house who have attained their majority (16 in 1904)
* Hereditary peers who paid at least 3000 florins a year land tax (237 in 1904) (at its 1896 exchange rate, £1 was worth 12 florins, so this comes to £250)
* High dignitaries of the
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
and
Eastern Orthodox church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...
es (42 in 1904)
* Representatives of the Protestant confessions (13 in 1904)
* Life peers appointed by the Crown, not exceeding 50 in number, and life peers elected by the house itself (73 altogether in 1904)
* Various state dignitaries and high judges (19 in 1904)
* Three delegates of
Croatia-Slavonia
The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia ( hr, Kraljevina Hrvatska i Slavonija; hu, Horvát-Szlavónország or ; de-AT, Königreich Kroatien und Slawonien) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation with ...
For a full list of the speakers, see
List of speakers of the House of Magnates
The Speaker of the House of Magnates ( hu, A Mágnások Házának elnöke) was the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the House of Magnates, the upper chamber of the Diet of Hungary.
The House of Magnates was initially established during ...
.
The modern parliament of Hungary, the National Assembly, is unicameral and meets in the lower house, while the old upper house is used as a conference and meeting room and for tourism.
The shaping of the House of Parliament grew out of conscious choices of symbolism and carries important historical and political messages. Viewing it from the side of the Danube, we see the halls of the lower and upper houses rise on both sides of the dome surrounded by turrets, which evoke the memory of the bicameral parliament that was in operation when the building was being constructed. The two halls are completely identical in size and shape, thus expressing the equality between the representative lower house and the historical upper house. The dome rising between them signifies the unity of the legislature as well as serving as the venue for joint sittings of the two chambers.
Gallery
File:Hungarian Chamber (6002651590).jpg, Assembly hall of the House of Magnates
File:BIMUN 2012 opening 1.jpg, United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
conference in the assembly hall of the House of Magnates in 2012. Today the Upper House is used as a conference and meeting room and for tourism.
See also
*
House of Lords (Austria)
The House of Lords (german: Herrenhaus; cs, Panská sněmovna; it, Camera dei signori; sl, Gosposka zbornica; pl, Izba Panów) was the upper house of the Imperial Council, the bicameral legislature of the Austrian Empire from 1861 and of t ...
External links
{{hungary-stub