Mikó Árpád szerk.: Reneissance year 2008 (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2008/1)

EDIT MADAS, FERENC FÖLDESI: Star in The Raven's Shadow. János Vitéz and the Beginnings of Humanism in Hungary

codices which turn up in bindings even today. Two major fragments were bound by János Zalka, Bishop of Győr, in 1872, giving the name to this collection of fragments. One masterpiece of the Renaissance illumination studio in Buda was the breviary of 1 )omokos Kálmáncsehi, provost of Székesfehérvár (1474—1495). Kálmáncsehi was an intimate of János Vitéz and King Matthias, and a great book collector. This codex is a real Renaissance work, even if the script — and this is characteristic of Renaissance liturgical codices - is rounded Gothic. A wonder to behold, this book served the purpose of court ostentation rather than holy worship. Francesco de Castello illuminated it to the order of the Provost in 1480, and its ritual follows the liturgy of neither Székesfehérvár nor Zagreb Cathedral. The Esztergom cathedral school was one of the most prestigious educational institutions in medieval Hungary. Two of its textbooks well represent the subject matter taught there, which ranged from the basic alphabet to college level. The manuscripts compiled between 1419 and 1423 embrace the "seven liberal arts" from grammar to calculation of the calendar and astronomy. The comCommentary on the Ten Commandments. Textbook of the Esztergom cathedral school, 1463-1476 Budapest, Országos Széchényi Könyvtár, Cod. Lat. 410. Bestiary with the symbolical interpretation of the animals, bound to a sermon book Budapest, Országos Széchényi Könyvtár, Cod. IAU. 506. pendium copied between 1463 and 1476 was the textbook for those preparing for the priesthood, who would have found it of continuing use during their careers: it contained a verse commentary on the Ten Commandments, sermons, theological treatises and liturgical precepts. The Collegium Christi Foundation was established in the late 14th century to provide financial support for Esztergom students of straitened means to continue their studies in foreign universities. The Collegium also had a library, one of whose surviving books on canon law was copied by Simon Darvas in Padua in the mid-15th century and acquired for the Collegium by László Kozárdy, doctor of ecclesiastical law. Indeed, it was returning studentes, after completing their university studies abroad, who brought with them most of the codices representing medieval university learning in law, medicine and theologyThe everyday activities of ecclesiastical scholars are set out in clerical reference books: the voluminous codex of János Gellértfi of Aranyos, who had studied at the University of Vienna, and sermon books. One includes a letter by János Privigyei requesting paper to copy the theological works of the eminent Dominican Aegidius Romanus. Another has bound into it a bestiarium, which symbolically interprets each animal, also very useful as reference material for preaching. The most popular theme for secular codices was history. The diverse 14th century Acephalus Codex, which includes the earliest version of the Buda Chronicles, was certainly in the possession of the Esztergom chapter in the 15th century. There was also a Hungarian continuation of Johannes de Utino's 14th century "world chronicle", and its post1458 illustrated German translation