Matej Bel (1684-1749) was a polymath, teacher, historian, Lutheran pastor and one of the greatest of Slovak scholars in the eighteenth century. He was dubbed Magnum decus Hungariae - the Great Ornament of Hungary. Born on March 23rd, 1684 in Očová into the family of an agricultural labourer and butcher, he attended schools in Lučenec, Kalinovo and Doha Strehová, followed by grammar schools in Banska Bystrica, Bratislava and - briefly - Veszprém and Pápa. In the years 1704-1706 he studied theology and philosophy at the university in Halle. An appointment as rector of the school at Klosterbergen near Magdeburg was followed...