Pozsony, a city in western Hungary.
"This is His Majesty the Emperor's decree." Antal Grassalkovich, Chief Justice of the House of Representatives, handed the document in his hand to an assistant and had him display it to the legislators.
By now, Hungary's bicameral parliament had reconvened. It was divided into the House of Magnates and the House of Representatives, the latter responsible for taxation and recruitment, with representatives from Hungary's counties serving as legislators.
The Chief Justice was equivalent to the Speaker and was nominated by the Emperor.
A wave of table-thumping immediately rang through Parliament Hall—the legislators' way of voicing their displeasure.
Antal frowned and struck the gavel more than a dozen times, but every blow was swallowed by the clamor. In the end, he had no choice but to give up.
Janos rose to his feet and called loudly, "Even this decree is written in German, without so much as a Magyar-language attachment." Magyar was Hungary's traditional language.
The legislators immediately joined in the uproar. "The Emperor forbids rural schools from teaching Magyar. In a few more years, my own son won't even understand what I'm saying."
"Not just schools—even prayers and hymns have to be in German. I have to say, that accent hardly sounds devout..." "My nephews can only study Magyar behind closed doors at home, as though it were something shameful."
Only after everyone had tired themselves out from arguing did Antal seize the chance to say, "Gentlemen, what we need to discuss now is dispatching troops to suppress the Rebellion in Vienna. His Majesty the Emperor requires us to raise 40,000 troops..."
Janos raised his voice again. "Yes, dispatch troops—but the Emperor wants us to pay for them ourselves."
"Last year, we handed 13 million Florins in taxes to Vienna. If I remember correctly,