The disaster of Nagyida

János Arany wrote his poem based on the well-known historical anecdote, which he intended as an allegorical distortion of the Hungarian War of Independence in 1848–49. According to the story, in the 16th century Perényi, who belonged to the party of King John Szapolyai tried to defend his castle, Nagyida with the Gypsies, against the army of (Habsburg) Ferdinand I. The Gypsies would have won if they had not shouted for the retreating Germans: they were lucky to have run out of gunpowder … The German leader, Pucheim, turned around, occupied the castle and chased the gypsies away. Szabolcs Varga’s textbook is performed by Gábor Csőre in his animated film, which can be seen in the exhibition in Nagyida.