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

Portrait of [ános Vitéz in the Tribrachus Codex Budapest, Országos Széchényi Könyvtár, Cod. Lit. 4 i 6. spread further than those close to Vitéz, however. Works by foreign authors dedicated to him are evidence that his reputation had reached Italy. The most outstanding "dedication" is a codex of works by the Modena poet Caspar Tribrachus, whose title page bears the best-known portrait of Vitéz, with the inscription Lux Pannóniáé (Light of Hungary). Additionally, the scholarly extent of the Vitéz library and the splendour of its codices served as a model for Matthias when he set up the Bibliotheca Corviniana, an event dated to these same years, the second half of the 1460s. Cultural life in the Esztergom palace was a direct continuation of everything which had started in Várad. The library was built up further, the proximity of the literati living in Buda gave a new impulse to the "academy" and the opportunity opened up of establishing real, organised institutions. He had hardly arrived in Esztergom when the King submitted to Pope Paul II his request to found a university in Hungary. Universities had been flourishing in Central Europe for a century — in Vienna, Prague and Cracow — but not yet in Hungary, and Hungarian students had to go abroad to continue their studies. The opening of the University of Pozsony in 1467 could have brought a turning point in this respect if Vitéz had had more time to build it up. As Archbishop of Esztergom, he became chancellor of the university, making him responsible for all of the organisation. He brought eminent lecturers to Pozsony, including Joannes Regiomontanus, the best-known astronomer of the time, and Giovanni Gatti, professor of theology, who had been a member of Bessarion's academy in Rome. His invitation to one of the most famous Greek-born humanists of the time, Joannes Argyropoulos, however, was declined. The extent of Matthias' support for the Archbishop is open to doubt. When the institution started up, Matthias granted a building in Pozsony for its use, but as to whether he provided any other support for its operation and development, the very few relevant sources are silent. The university's rapid decline after Vitéz' death and the transfer of its building into the possession of Queen Beatrice demonstrate that Vitéz' presence had been crucial to the existence of the Universitas Istropolitana, as his vision of educational policy had been to its foundation. Basilius Magnus Codex of János Vitéz, 1450-1470 Budapest, Országos Széchényi Könyvtár, Cod. Lat. 415.