On 3 June 2026, Viktor Kanász, Research Fellow of the Fraknói Research Group, delivered a public lecture entitled From Rome to Mohács: Papal Troops in the Ottoman Wars at the Balaton Museum in Keszthely as part of the museum’s lecture series Ottoman Evenings at the Museum.
The audience was welcomed by the Museum’s director, Sándor Décsey, after which the speaker presented the diplomatic and financial means through which the Holy See supported the anti-Ottoman struggle in Hungary. He then offered a detailed overview of those military campaigns in which either mercenary forces financed by the Papal States fought on the Hungarian theatre of war or military units arrived directly from the Papal States themselves.
Particular attention was devoted to the campaigns of 1526, 1532, 1542, and 1543, as well as to the Long Turkish War and the major operations of the Wars of Liberation. In addition, the lecture examined the archival sources relating to these campaigns, with special emphasis on the results of research conducted in the collections of the Vatican Archives.
Combining military, diplomatic, and ecclesiastical history, the presentation highlighted the often-overlooked role played by the papacy not only as a diplomatic actor but also as a direct contributor to the military efforts undertaken against Ottoman expansion in Central Europe.
(Pictures: Balatoni Múzeum)
