Kasza Péter (szerk.): Stephanus Brodericus - Epistulae (Bibliotheca Scriptorum Medii Recentisque Aevorum, Series Nova XIV., Argumentum Kiadó - Magyar Országos Levéltár, Budapest, 2012)
The Life of István Brodarics
verissima), nor his speech given in front of Pope Hadrian VI in 1522 (Oratio ad Adri- anum VI. pontificem maximum). These two important pieces of text were published in one volume in the BSMRAE series in 1985, edited by Péter Kulcsár and Csaba Csa- podi, respectively. 6 Since both are trustworthy and readily accessible works done by outstanding philologists, their republication did not seem necessary. At the same time, in addition to the letters, a formerly unpublished speech, given in front of Ferdinand I in Vienna in March 1535, is included in the volume. For the sake of proper context, it is inserted in the series of letters in chronological order. On the other hand, poems related to Brodarics are placed in a separate appendix, mainly because their date of creation can be asserted only approximately. Finally, 1 must say that completeness of the volume, even with respect to the correspondence, is certainly something this work only strives to achieve. Even though in recent years, searching for manuscripts of hitherto unpublished letters or for the best possible manuscripts of published ones, I have been trying to go through material in major Hungarian and foreign libraries and archives that come into consideration, due to the extremely scattered nature of Brodarics’ correspondence, we cannot exclude the possibility the further unknown letters may surface. Using the words of Brodarics, I would not regret that at all, on the contrary - I hope that the present volume will stimulate further research. THE LIFE OF ISTVÁN BRODARICS Humanist, diplomat, and high priest István Brodarics (around 1480-1539) studied at the universities of Bologna and Padua in Italy in his youth. He earned Doctorate of Canon Law in Padua in 1506. Having returned to his homeland, first he served Tamás Bakócz then Bishop of Pécs György Szatmári, and was raised to Provost of Pécs before King Louis II sent him to Rome in 1522. There he acted as Hungarian Legate until 1525. Supported by the papal court, he became Bishop of Szerem and Chancellor in the spring of 1526. As Chancellor he proceeded with Louis II to the Mohács plain. In response to a pamphlet by Viennese Humanist Johannes Cuspinianus, who accused the Hungarians with treachery for the defeat and mainly for the King’s death, he wrote the story of the Battle of Mohács in his Historia verissima in the spring of 1527. This work is one of the most important sources about the battle up to this day. Brodarics supported Archduke Ferdinand Habsburg in the struggle for the throne after the death of King Louis. Seeing, however, that King Ferdinand I was ready to start a war against János Szapolyai I in Hungary to enforce his claim for the throne, he broke ties with the Habsburg camp in March 1527 and joined King John, whom he served with unwavering loyalty in the remaining 12 years of his life. As a diplomat of Szapolyai, his main goal was creating peace that would put an end to the devastating civil 6 Stephanus Brodericus, De conflictu Hungarorum cum Sotymano Turearum imperatore ad Mohach historia verissima. Ed. Petrus Kulcsár, Budapest, 1985, 7-60. Oratio ad Adrianum VI. pontificem maximum Ed. Csaba Csapodi, Budapest, 1985, 61-74. 20
