Agria 43. (Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2007)

Löffler Erzsébet: Velencei pátriárkából egri érsek

Venice should become archbishop of Eger. Despite the album that was published to mark the 150

th anniversary of his accession to the archepiscopacy, a monograph by the Austrian historian Roland Dobersdorfer, and numerous publications devoted to his picture gallery, his literary activities, the construction of the cathedral and his other achievements in Eger, nobody has asked why Pyrker had to leave Venice in the first place. The avoidance of the topic suggests it was a matter of some delicacy, particularly in the career of so important a figure as patriarch Pyrker. The decision to deprive him of the patriarchy must have been difficult to bear, despite the fact that it would appear to have had little to do with him personally. In 1820, when Francis, first emperor of Austria, named Pyrker patriarch of Venice, he was going in the face of a tradition which went back many hundreds of years according to which it was the city council's prerogative to select Venice's archbishop. This imperial measure also put an end to the council's right of presentation to St Mark's and the cathedral chapter. There was further opposition to the fact that Pyrker was not Italian, while concerns were also expressed that it had been a political appointment. Pyrker was nevertheless an extremely well educated and cultured individual, who took his pastoral duties very seriously, doing everything in his power to ensure that a somewhat ramshackle diocese was put into some kind of order. He brought a new vigour to the training of priests, made Sunday sermons compulsory, demanded that the sacraments were treated with the necessary respect and decorum, and expected the priesthood to be faultless in their conduct. These measures failed to win him any friends, causing people to comment on Pyrker's unconditional loyalty to the Habsburgs, something which greatly damaged his popularity among the Italians. Pyrker's commitment to emperor Francis was quite understandable, bearing in mind that he owed his entire church career to him. It was Francis who had named him bishop of the Zips, patriarch of Venice and ultimately archbishop of Eger. It nevertheless remains unclear why such an educated, art-loving poet cleric should have been such a keen supporter of an emperor so totally lacking in character and imagination. Leaving Venice was something that Pyrker found very difficult to come to terms with. He enjoyed living in a city where he had not only reached the crowning point of his career, but was ideally placed to pursue his interest in the arts. Pyrker's honour was restored, however, in Eger, where he founded a teacher training college, established the cult of Eger Castle, built a gentlemen's club, renovated the old thermal baths, improved the appearance of the town, and last but not least had a monumental cathedral built. He also contributed to the cultural Hfe of his adopted country by donating two hundred of the paintings he had brought with him from Venice to the National Museum in 1836, which was then in the process of being constructed. Despite coming to Eger in somewhat unfortunate circumstances, he nevertheless succeeded in writing himself into the annals of the town. 650