Katona István: A kalocsai érseki egyház története II. (Kalocsa, 2003)
SUMMARY István Katona, one of the greatest figures of the 18 century Hungarian historiography, was born in 1732. He joined the Society of Jesus. Later, after working as a teacher in a secondary school, in 1769 he was appointed a teacher of ecclesiastical eloquence (eloquentia sacra) at the Faculty of Theology of the Nagyszombat (today: Trnava, Slovakia) University founded in the 17 th century by Jesuits. Later he became the professor of history in the Faculty of Philosophy. For several times he wore the office of dean in the university that moved to Buda in 1777. In 1785 king Joseph II (1780-1790) pensioned him. After the dissolution of his order (1773) Katona became the priest of the Esztergom archdiocese. After his retirement he travelled all over the country and made historical research, and in 1790 was invited by archbishop of Kalocsa László Kolionich (1787-1817) and settled in Kalocsa becoming the priest of the local archdiocese. The archbishop assigned him to lead the Metropolitan Library and later the Seminary. In 1794 he became the canon of the Metropolitan Chapter, then the king nominated him to titular abbot of Bodrogmonostor. He died in 1811. István Katona belonged to the Jesuit historians who determined the Hungarian historiography in the 17—18 centuries. Beside him, one of the still most known historians was György Pray (1723-1800). Katona started to publish his works already at the end of the 1760s (in Latin). At the beginning of his carrier he edited mainly historical manuals (Synopsis chronologica historiarum ad sublevandam memóriám historiophilorum concinnata. I—III. Tyrnaviae 1771-1773.; Synopsis históriáé Romanorum imperatorum in usum academicorum per regnum Hungáriáé et provinciáé eidem adnexae. Budae 1782.). In 1779 he started to publish his most significant historical work, História eritica regum Hungáriáé, the last - 42 nd - volume of which was edited several years after his death, in 1817. This work is dealing with the history of the Christian Hungarian kingdom year by year, usually using the method of commenting the fully published historical sources. The majority of Medieval sources published by him was re-edited since that time, but a number of sources on the post1526 history of Hungary can be read in a printed form only here. Later comprehensive works on Hungarian history of the 19 th century were based on Katona's volumes (Ignác Fessier, Mihály Horváth, László Szalay). Katona also wrote a shorter history of Hungary without the publishing of the sources (História pragmatica Hungáriáé concinnata. I—II. Budae 1782-1874). He had several historical discussions with his contemporaries and also took part in the ideological polemics of the age, fighting against the anticlerical ideas of the Enlightenment. His work that can be now read in Hungarian translation, the História metropolitanae Colocensis ecclesiae (The History of the Metropolitan Church of Kalocsa) can be considered his second most significant historical work after the História critica. In the 18 th century several Hungarian bishoprics ordered their history to be written. Katona's work is an outstanding example of this genre. He wrote his twovolume work at the request of his archbishop László Kollonich, who in 1800 edited it in Kalocsa in 500 copies. The historiographical method of the history of the archbishopric 371
