As the latest event in the lecture series “With God’s Help, We Shall Soon Engage the Enemy” („Isten segítségével mindjárt megütközünk”), organised by the Archives of the Archdiocese of Veszprém in connection with the anniversary of the Battle of Mohács, Tamás Fedeles, Professor at the University of Pécs and Co-Director of the Fraknói Research Group, delivered a lecture in the Castle District of Veszprém. On 24 September 2026, a large audience gathered to hear his lecture entitled “A Bishop’s Mitre on the Battlefield? The Mobilisation and Participation of Ecclesiastical Military Retinues in the Battle and in the Defence of the Kingdom”, (Püspöksüvegben a csatatéren? Az egyházi bandériumok mozgósítása és részvétele a csatában, illetve a királyság védelmében) which explored a lesser-known aspect of the Battle of Mohács.
Following a general overview, in which Tamás Fedeles presented the involvement of the Apostolic See and the Hungarian Church in the struggles against the Ottomans, the audience was introduced to the history, organisation, and estimated strength of the ecclesiastical military retinues. The lecture then turned to the mobilisations preceding the Battle of Mohács, with particular attention to the letters of command sent to ecclesiastical institutions. The culmination of the lecture was a discussion of the course of the Battle of Mohács itself, together with the findings of the latest research on the identification of the victims, with particular attention to the members of the clergy who died on the battlefield.
As part of the next event in the series, on 22 October 2026, Viktor Kanász, Research Fellow of the Fraknói Research Group, will deliver a lecture entitled “The Papacy and the Battle of Mohács”.
(Pictures: Veszprémi Érsekség; Cziráki Csongor)
