Századok – 2016
2016 / 2. szám - KÖZLEMÉNYEK - Nemes Gábor: Pápai követek a Mohács előtti Magyarországon
PÁPAI KÖVETEK A MOHÁCS ELŐTTI MAGYARORSZÁGON 385 the legates stayed at their destination for a specific mission and for shorter periods of time, the standing representation was the duty of the apostolic nuncios. The office of the standing envoy’s duty of the Holy Father in Buda was fulfilled for more than three years by Giovanni Antonio Burgio who arrived in Hungary together with Legate Vio in the summer of 1523. The operations of Nuncio Burgio were basically determined by the instructions he received from Rome. His primary duty was the diplomatic correspondence and the information provision, so he regularly sent reports (dispacci) to Jacopo Sadoleto, who was responsible for contacting with the envoys. Burgio handed the letters of the Holy See while commenting them according to the instructions of the Curia. He also maintained contacts with the papal envoys staying at the neighbouring courts (especially with Nuncio Girolamo Rorario having been sent to the Austrian Arch-Duke, Ferdinand) and interfered at the Holy See in the interest of Hungarian applicants. Burgio’s reports have not ceased to strongly influence and shape the general picture of Hungary before the Battle of Mohács. It was András Kubinyi, who first observed that Burgio, the papal diplomat of Sicily, was often misinformed by János Bornemissza, the biggest intriguing of the time, so this study also contributes to the study of the reliability of the picture having been provided by the papal nuncio. The Pope might have sent his deputies to arrange any specific matters. He sent two deputies to distribute the supplies having been sent to support the Croatian-Dalmatian frontier: Thomas Niger, the Bishop of Trau in 1524 and Leonardo Cresci in 1525-1536. While the latter is known only as a familiar of the Pope, Thomas Niger was an old, experienced diplomat of the Holy See.
