2023

On 13 December 2022, the latest volume of the Collectanea Vaticana Hungariae (CVH I/21) series, Hungary and the Holy See of Rome III, was presented in the Bogdánffy Szilárd Hall of the Central Seminary in Budapest.
At the beginning of the event, Péter Tusor, head of the Fraknói Research Group, emphasised the symbolic significance of the event being held at this venue, as it was here that the Monumenta Vaticana Hungariae of Vilmos Fraknói was once launched with the collaboration of Cardinal Lajos Haynald Archbishop of Kalocsa. The publishing committee held its meetings in the same room of the seminary building between 1882 and 1892. Vilmos Fraknói had previously been a student of the institution for six years. The Fraknói Research Group aims to carry on this legacy through its research and publications. The head of the Research Group considered it important that the lectures of the VIII Fraknói Summer Academy, held at the beginning of August at the former Campus in Piliscsaba, were published in book form, along with other studies. In his short introduction, he also recommended the book. The book is dedicated to Kornél Szovák, professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Péter Pázmány Catholic University and founding director of the Gyula Moravcsik Institute, on the occasion of his 60th birthday ("Exquisitae lucubrationes Cornelio Szovák amicabiliter dicatae"). 
He was followed by the Rector of the Seminary, Levente Balázs Martos, and the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Nándor Birher, who welcomed the guests and congratulated the celebrated. In their speeches, they both emphasized the importance of the basic research volumes published by the Fraknói Research Group, published by Gondolat Publishing House, and praised the activities of the Research Group.
Following the toasts, László Solymosi, Academician and Professor Emeritus of the ELTE, delivered Kornél Szovák's laudation.
After him, György Rácz, lecturer at the PPKE BTK, Deputy Director General of the Hungarian National Archives, took the floor to present the medieval studies of the volume. György Rácz said of the volume as a whole that the studies follow each other in close chronological order, with writings by Kornél Szovák's colleagues and former students appearing among the authors. Each study is supplemented by one, two or more source texts in the appendix.
András Forgó, former lecturer at PPKE BTK and current lecturer at University of Pécs, then took over the presentation of the other ten early modern, modern and recent writings in the volume.
Following the presentation of the book, Miklós Maróth, founding Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Péter Pázmány Catholic University, and President of the ELKH, addressed the participants. In addition to his greetings, he stressed that Péter Tusor and Kornél Szovák are also revealing newer and newer Vatican sources and involving them in academic research and Hungarian and international discourse, thus enriching the knowledge of Hungarian historiography.

Last but not least, Kornél Szovák expressed his thanks for the volume. He briefly looked back on his research and teaching career, remembering his teachers, colleagues and friends who have stood by him, worked with him and supported him in the past decades. Finally, he spoke of his students, many of whom have also made scientific achievements in the field of medieval studies.

György Sági, scientific secretary of the Fraknói Research Group was a guest of Kossuth Radio. The interview focused on Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who passed away on the last day of the year at the age of 95, the personality of Joseph Ratzinger, his image of the Church and questions related to his funeral.

You can listen to the broadcast here.

Trianon meant the destruction not only of the Hungarian state, but also of the Hungarian ecclesiastical organisation (dioceses and the various monastic provinces). The issue affects relations between Hungary and the Holy See in many ways, but also goes beyond them in several dimensions.

On 23 June 2021, the Vilmos Fraknói Vatican Historical Research Group held a conference on the Church Historical Consequences of the Peace Treaty that ended World War I. The written version of the lectures presented at the conference, edited by György Sági and Péter Tusor, was published as volume 5 of the Collectanea Studiorum et Textuum series under the title "Hungarian Catholicism and Trianon".

The full volume can be accessed and downloaded here.

On 23 January 2023, at 17:00, the newest initiative of the Pontificia Università Gregoriana and the Archivum Historiae Pontificiae began: a series of permanent seminars on the history of the papacy, entitled Seminario permanente di Storia del Papato. The series opened with a lecture by Prof. Samu Niskanen, Associate Professor in the Department of Medieval History at the University of Helsinki, entitled L'Historia Apostolica di Aratore: la sua edizione e papa Vigilio. On this occasion, the Fraknói Research Group was represented by its Vatican Archives Research Resident, Katalin Nagy.

The lecture was opened by Roberto Regoli, Head of the Department of Church History and Associate Professor at the Pontificia Università Gregoriana, and Andrea Verardi, also Associate Professor at the Pontificia Università Gregoriana, who introduced the seminar series with encouraging words.

Prof. Samu Niskanen summarized his research on the edition of the Historia Apostolica by Aratore. The aim of his research is to study the circumstances in which medieval works were published. He explained that papal involvement in the publication of new works in the Middle Ages was a constant phenomenon from the fourth century onwards. In his case study, he focused on showing how the late antique writer Aratore's relationship with Pope Virgil drove his literary activity forward. He concluded his presentation with a monograph on Publication and the Papacy in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages.
 

On February 24, 2023, the event "L'Assistente della Fuci e il Sostituto della Segreteria di Stato, Nuove fonti storiche per lo studio di Giovanni Battista Montini", was held at La Libera Università Maria Santissima Assunta University (LUMSA), organized by the Vatican Apostolic Archives (Archivio Apostolico Vaticano) and the Istituto Paolo VI di Brescia. The Fraknói Research Group was represented at the event by its Vatican Archives Research Resident, Katalin Nagy.

The prestigious event was opened by Mons. Angelo Vincenzo Zani, Church Archivist and Librarian.  He summarised the past activities of Mons. Giovanni Battista Montini and the new resources published on him: the so-called "Carteggio montiniano" volumes published by the Istituto Paolo VI di Brescia (Carteggio / 2 1924-1933 Tomo 3 1928-1929 / Giovanni Battista Montini, Paolo VI; a cura di Xenio Toscani, Cesare Repossi, Maria Pia Sacchi con la collaborazione di Caterina Vianelli [und weitere]).

Mons. Sergio Pagano, Prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Archives, took the floor and presented the work carried out over several years in the Vatican Apostolic Archives. He highlighted the main themes of Montini's notes.
Other speakers at the event were Pietro Doria and Prof. Jean-Domunuque Durand, Associate Professor at the Université de Lyon.

In closing, Prof. Francesco Bonini, Rector of LUMSA University, also expressed his thanks to the Istituto Paolo VI di Brescia and to the management and staff of the Vatican Apostolic Archives for their cooperation with LUMSA Univers

Tamás Fedeles, professor at the University of Pécs, scientific advisor and co-leader of the Fraknói Research Group, received his DSc (Doctor of Hungarian Academy of Sciences) degree today. (Information about the graduation last March here.)

Congratulations!

Despite its limited resources, the Fraknói Research Group is actively involved in the academic life of Rome. In addition to the Vatican Archives, its active and creative contacts extend to several foreign institutes and universities in Rome. The result of almost two decades of collaboration is the newly published monograph in Italian by Giulio Merlani. The latest volume I/22 of the Collectanea Vaticana Hungariae is entitled: 'Papato e politica internazionale nel Seicento. Il nunzio Francesco Buonvisi alla corte di Leopoldo I d'Asburgo imperatore e re d'Ungheria' (Budapest–Rome 2023). The volume (downloadable here) focuses on the foreign policy activities of the Lucca-born papal diplomat Francesco Buonvisi until 1678, with particular reference to his early years at the imperial and royal court of the Holy Roman Emperor I. Leopold. 

At the same time, through the prism of the nunciatures, it describes the aims and effects of the complex process of redefining the papacy in the second half of the seventeenth century, through the guidelines of the Secretariat of State. The Roman efforts that led to the liberation of almost all of Hungary from a century and a half of Ottoman rule in the 1680s and 1690s.
Giulio Merlani, author of the doctoral dissertation on which this monograph is based, which follows a fresh approach and excellent methodology, was defended in February 2020 at Sapienza Università di Roma. (Two previous dissertations, written at Università Pontificia Gregoriana, were published in either the Vatican–Hungarian History series: CVH II/2 and CVH I/6.

On 28 March 2023, at the Central Seminary were organized the presentation of the volume I/19 (Lósy, Lippay, Szelepchény. Three microbiographies from the early modern period with the publication of the Vatican investigation reports, 1625–1666), Budapest–Róma 2022 of the Vatican–Hungarian history series (Collectanea Vaticana Hungariae). The author, Péter Tusor, presented the research, its methods and the main results to the students of the Catholic University and other attendees.
In his preface, he emphasized that the canonical investigation records of the 17th century are an important source base for the scientific work of the Fraknói Research Group. Continuing the work begun with the publication of the processus informativus of Péter Pázmány (1616-1637) (CVH II/6), the present volume contains and analyses the sources from the appointment of three of Pázmány's successors: Imre Lósy (1637-1642), György Lippay (1642-1666) and György Szelepchény (1666-1685).
One of the important theses of the research is that although Lósy, Lippay and Szelepchény do not yet have the princely crown in their coat of arms, which symbolises their secular rank and feudal autonomy, it is already present in their aspirations, demands, and actual ecclesiastical and political practice. In fact, their real power and actual influence on national politics, based on Pázmány's aspirations, was far greater than that of their successors in the following three centuries.

You can download the volume here.

The Fraknói Research Group has widely applied, promoted and updated the results of its Vatican research in the context of the Pope's visit. On 11 April, it participated in the preparation and implementation of a roundtable discussion organised by Pázmány Péter Catholic University; it contributed to the editing of the Rubicon issue on the history of the papacy (90% of the articles were written by members of the Research Group); it was interviewed by the Research Group in a podcast of the PPKE BTK, and Gábor Nemes and Péter Tusor gave a lecture in the framework of the Latinitas Hungarica series.

Péter Tusor and Balázs Rétfalvi acted as commentators on some public media channels during the days of the Pope's visit. On Pope Francis' arrival (here at 16:45 and  here at 16:18) and on his return, Péter Tusor spoke on M1 and on Híradó (21:25), and Balázs Rétfalvi on Kossuth Rádió's Reggeli Krónika (7:32). Péter Tusor also appeared on the TV show "Az Ezeréves szövetség. Magyarország és Szentszék" ("Thousand-year-old alliance: Hungary and the Holy See") from 2:00 to 8:35.

Central and South-Eastern Europe between the Christian and Ottoman worlds: conflicts, encounters and compromises (XVI-XVIII centuries) is the title of the 2022 issue of the Eastern European History Review. The issue was co-edited by the Fraknói Research Group thanks to Katalin Nagy. 
In addition, several members of the Research Group have contributed to the journal. Tamás Kruppa (The written and oral disputies of István Szántó (Aratott)), Gábor Nemes (Instead of Anti-Ottoman Help an Anti-Imperial League: Papal Nuncio Giovanni Francesco Capi’s Mission of 1526), Tamás Fedeles (From the army of King Matthias to the service of God.: A case study on the role of the apostolic penitentiary in the promotions of clerics in the time of King Matthias Corvinus) and Viktor Kanász (Nuncio Girolamo Martinengo’s reports on the military events of 1552).

This publication is another important step and proof of the international cooperation and functional presence of the Fraknói Research Group in Italian and Vatican scholarship.

The full issue and the individual studies can be downloaded here.

Viktor Kanász, research fellow of the Research Group, gave an interview in Mária Rádió. On the morning of 30 May, in the programme "Day Starter", in response to questions from Éva Perczel, he described how the Research Group is carrying forward the intellectual heritage of Vilmos Fraknói through systematic Vatican research and the discovery and publication of sources.  He stressed that the results will be made available to researchers in Hungary and abroad, and that the Research Group will pay special attention to making its volumes available online in their entirety, free of charge. (check here)

Mentioned interview is available here.

During the month of May, György Sági attended three conferences in three different locations in Hungary. The first of these was the XXVI Tavaszi Szél (Spring Wind) Conference in Miskolc, where he gave a presentation entitled "Report of József Grősz, Archbishop of Kalocsa and Bács, to the Apostolic Holy See on the relationship between the Hungarian state and the Church in 1949". 
On 9 May 2023, György Sági was an invited speaker at a conference organised by the National Széchényi Library and the Szent István Society on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the founding of the Szent István Society, held at the National Széchény Library in Budapest. György Sági gave a lecture entitled Miklós Esty and the Szent István Society.  The topic has previously been also published in a book: CST II/2.
Finally, at the XIX National Conference of Publication Editors held in Tatabánya from 19 to 21 May, Sági gave a lecture on the importance of Historia Domus in historical research.

The Fraknói Research Group is the intellectual heir and successor to the work of the eponymous Vilmos Fraknói. Its historical series, the Collectanea Vaticana Hungariae, published since 2004, is a continuation of Fraknói's Monumenta Vaticana Hungariae.  The essence of the research group's work is that while the place of research and presentation of results is predominantly Rome, the processing work is carried out in domestic research centres, above all at the PPKE (Péter Pázmány Catholic University, Budapest). Research in the Vatican is usually carried out individually or in small units. For the first time in the history of its existence, the Fraknói Research Group has organised a joint research trip to Rome, from 29 May to 4 June 2023. The archival expedition included Kornél Szovák, Director of the Moravcsik Institute, who is a leading member of the team as Secretary of the CVH Editorial Board. The infrastructure was provided by the renovated St. Stephen's House. On Wednesday morning, 31 May, members of the Research Team paid a courtesy visit to the Bishop-Prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Archives. Mons. Sergio Pagano has been a supporter of the work of the Fraknói Research Group since the CVH's inception, presenting and praising its achievements in Budapest in 2015 and in Rome in 2022.

On May 25 and 26, 2023, the Pontificia Università Gregoriana and the Archivum Historiae Pontificiae organised the conference I modi di governo del papa. Il tempo della sede vacante.
At this occasion, the Fraknói Research Group was again represented by its Vatican Archives Research Resident, Katalin Nagy. 
The symposium was opened by Délio Mendonça SJ, Dean, François Jankowiak, Director of the Centre de recherches Droit et Sociétés Religieuses, and Roberto Regoli, Professor at Pontificia Universitá Gregoriana. The two-day series of conferences focused on the Sedes vacans periods in papal history when the papacy was vacant.
On the first day of the international conference, which brought together historians from all over Europe, Simone Raponi, Edouard Martin, François Jankowiak, Alessandra Rodolfo and others gave presentations.
The following day's presentations analysed the conclave from the perspective of the Church and the State, rather than from a symbolic, rhetorical approach. So did Massimo C. Giannini, Stefano Brancatelli, Roberto Regoli and Domenico Rocciolo. Finally, Maria Antonietta Visceglia, a renowned professor at La Sapienza Università di Roma, analysed the significance of the successive vacans of the See in the history of the papacy. The proceedings of the conference will be published in book form.

From 3 to 5 August 2023, the city of Kalocsa hosted the IX Fraknói Summer Academy. Sixteen lectures were presented in five sessions of the three-day conference on Church History. New research results were presented in three venues this year. It was organised by the ELKH-PPKE-PTE Vilmos Fraknói Vatican Historical Research Group, the ELKH Gyula Moravcsik Institute and this time the PPKE BTK. This year the three-day event was organised in cooperation with the ELKH-OSZK Fragmenta et Codices Research Group, the András Kubinyi Historical Workshop of the PPKE BTK and the Károly Viski Museum. As in previous years, this year's conference served as a community-building event, in addition to interpreting current research results.

On 3 August, the participants of the Academy attended an Archbishop's Mass celebrated by Archbishop of Kalocsa-Kecskemét, Balázs Bábel. In his homily, the archpastor encouraged the participants of the Fraknói Summer Academy to work towards the full truth in the spirit of historical authenticity. Afterwards, researchers and students interested in church history gathered at the Károly Viski Museum, where they were welcomed by Nándor Birher, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Péter Tusor, founding curator of the Academy. In his speech, the Dean praised the work of the Vilmos Fraknói Roman History Research Group. In his speech, Péter Tusor spoke about the mission of Sumer the Academy, Pázmány Péter catholic University's community-building task, and its increasingly academic character, as the papers of last year's Piliscsaba conference have already been published in a separate volume (Collectanea Vaticana Hungariae I/21).
The first session was followed by presentations on medieval and early modern topics by Gábor Nemes, Tamás Fedeles and András Forgó. The second session was entirely devoted to early modern themes. Among the speakers were Mons. Tamás Tóth, Adél Lakatos and Imre Romsics. The sessions ended with a museum and city walk led by Imre Romsics.
On the second day, 4 August, 19th and 20th century church history topics were on the table. Presentations were given by Béla Vilmos Mihalik, Norbert Csibi, György Sági and Andor Lakatos. On this day, a panel discussion took place with Archbishop Balázs Bábel, who spoke to the Academy about the church politics of the communist era.
On 5 August, lectures were given by members of the Fragmenta et Codices Research Group, during which the Summer Academy was able to learn about the work of this research community.
In addition to the professional and cultural programmes, this year's event also provided an opportunity for academic and professional discussions between teachers, current and former students of the Catholic University and participants from other universities, thus strengthening the present and future of research in the field of Church history in Hungary. The three-day event was rounded off with a closing curatorial speech by Kornél Szovák. The Director of the Moravcsik Institute said that the Fraknói Summer Academy has proved in recent years that its establishment was not just a one-off initiative, but a timeless tradition.

The records of the academy will be published next year with the support of the PPKE BTK.

PROGRAM

További képek

Kalocsa Bónusz

The Institute of History of the Czech Academy, in cooperation with several institutions, organised a scientific conference in Prague on 26-27 September 2023, entitled Die Diplomaten am Hofe von Kaiser Rudolf II. in Prag: diplomatischer Raum/diplomatische Räume und Topografie(n) einer mitteleuropäischen Metropole in der Frühen Neuzeit, which took place at the Academy's conference centre. The event featured presentations in German and English by Czech, German, Italian and Spanish scholars. Tamás Kruppa, Senior Research Fellow os Fraknói research Group, presented a paper entitled Die Ungarn/Die Magyaren und die Prager Nuntiatur.

Program

On September 19, 2023, Péter Tusor gave a lecture in the framework of the 'Personal History' series entitled 'A famous painting from the era of Wesselényi's conspiracy (Historical analysis)' at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Pécs. In the extended university course he partly summarised and partly continued, supplemented and nuanced the lecture given a week earlier in Győr. Both lectures were preliminary reports on the results of a historical monograph on the subject. Publication as CVH Volume II/12 is expected in July 2024.

As part of the Latinitas Hungarica series, following the April presentations by Péter Tusor and Gábor Nemes, Viktor Kanász introduced the nature of the papal sources related to Girolamo Martinengo's nunciature (1550-1554). In his presentation titled "Vatican Sources on Martinengo's Nunciature," during his one-hour lecture, he elaborated in detail on the nature of the sources produced by the nunciature as a document-forming institution. These sources included reports sent to Rome, Martinengo's correspondence, documents from the nunciature's court, and the extensive records related to the Holy See's investigation into the murder of György Fráter. He presented where these unique Hungarian-related sources from the 16th century are preserved in various collections and discussed the 16th-18th-century copies made of these documents.

Lastly, he outlined the history and publication principles of the Nuntiaturberichte aus Deutschland source edition series, particularly relevant from the Hungarian perspective, as well as their usability in Hungary, the problems that arose during the publication, and the tasks that Hungarian researchers face in this regard.

Invitation

The members of the Fraknói Research Group presented their Vatican-related research on Transylvania in a separate section at the event titled "Hungarian Science Day in Transylvania 2023," upon the invitation of the Transylvanian Museum Association on November 18. In the headquarters of the Transylvanian Museum Association, four members of the Research Group held their presentations under the chairmanship of Zsolt Bogdándi.

In his presentation titled "Vatican Hungarian Historical Research and Transylvania," Péter Tusor reviewed the Monumenta Vaticana Hungariae, the Fraknói Institute, and the subsequent period of institutional interregnum. He highlighted the Transylvanian aspects of significant publications and emphasized that the systematic collection of Vatican materials was originally conceived by Ignác Batthyány, the Transylvanian bishop. In the concluding part of his presentation, he illustrated the development of the CVH and the Fraknói Research Group, emphasized works related to Transylvanian history, and outlined research perspectives concerning Transylvania at the Vatican.

Tamás Fedeles provided a synthesis of entries concerning the consecration of Transylvanian clerics in the series of Libri formatarum located in the Vatican Secret Archive's Camera Apostolica collection in his presentation titled "Consecration of Transylvanian Clerics in the Roman Curia (1426–1523)." By expanding this source material with other sources and embedding it into an international context, he portrayed a nuanced picture of the late medieval Roman consecrations of Transylvanian clerics. He drew attention to the fact that despite the distance from Rome, nearly as many individuals from Transylvania traveled to the Eternal City as from the geographically closer diocese of Zagreb.

Viktor Kanász presented the mid-16th-century connections between Transylvania and the Holy See's diplomacy through the activities of nuncios. He highlighted that contrary to popular belief, Rome paid serious attention to the Kingdom of Hungary. Nuncios assigned to King Ferdinand I dealt not only with religious affairs but also focused on events related to anti-Ottoman wars. In the early 1550s, significant attention was given to the fate of the eastern region, the later Principality of Transylvania, Fráter György's attempt at national unification, and the assassination of the Bishop of Várad. The latter part of his presentation delved into the creation of Cardinal Fráter György, outlining Ferdinand I's efforts in this direction. Although Fráter couldn’t perform any activities as a cardinal due to his death, he can still be regarded as the last Hungarian cardinal of the Crown until the 18th century.

Titled "A Brief Yet Decisive Period in the History of the Principality of Transylvania," Tamás Kruppa's presentation introduced new perspectives by emphasizing the significant role of personalities in shaping events, especially the activities of VIII. Kelemen in the holy war against the Ottomans. Kruppa highlighted, based on new research findings, the previously unknown fact that the papal troops dispatched to the Hungarian theater of war in 1595 were originally intended to be stationed entirely in Transylvania. Another key point was that the failures of the fifteen-year war significantly contributed to the formation of the later political doctrine of the Principality of Transylvania. This doctrine primarily aimed to maintain the alliance with the Ottoman Empire, leading Transylvania to abstain from participating in the end-of-century liberation wars, resulting in its exclusion from Ottoman influence.

The written versions of the presentations will be published in the 12th volume of the Certamen series.

22th Győr Book Salon featured the unveiling of Issue 61 of Arrabona on November 10 at the Kisfaludy Károly Library (Győr). Gábor Nemes, alongside Emese Pápai and Zoltán Székely, who were involved in editorial tasks, presented the volume of the Rómer Flóris Museum's Regional Scientific Yearbook. During this presentation, they highlighted the study group titled "North Transdanubia in the Ottoman Era," the precursor of which was the conference titled "Győr as the Bastion of Western Christianity" held on May 18 (see here). The collection of studies includes Péter Tusor's work titled "Another Turkish War after Vasvár? Reports of Nuncio Antonio Pignatalli (1668–1670)" (download here) and Viktor Kanász's piece "Móric Szász's 1552 Campaign in Hungary and Camp in Győr" (download here).

Viktor Kanász delivered a lecture titled "Ambassadors, Soldiers, and Captains from Kanizsa in the Balaton Museum in Keszthely. Military and Diplomatic Sources on the History of Kanizsa from Vatican and Northern Italian Archives, as well as at the Thúry György Museum," as part of the Zala County Museological Days on November 7, 2023.

In his presentation, he primarily reviewed the early modern Italian sources related to the history of Kanizsa. Accounts of bloody battles fought for the possession of Kanizsa in the 16th and 17th centuries were among the leading news across Europe. Due to the foreign archival materials and Hungarian source conditions, the significance of foreign archives' Hungarian materials is substantial. Besides Hungarian archives, numerous European institutions preserve unpublished and unknown sources related to the history of Kanizsa. Viktor Kanász highlighted in his lecture how archives and libraries in Italy can enrich our knowledge with crucial new information, primarily concerning the years 1580-90, the sieges of 1600, 1601, and 1664, as well as the successful recapture of the castle in 1690. He presented newly discovered sources from the Vatican Apostolic Archive, the State Archives of Parma, Modena, and Mantua, including reports from Viennese and Grazian papal nuncios, contemporary news arriving in Mantua, and letters written from the Christian camp during the siege of Kanizsa in 1601. Additionally, he emphasized the exceptional insight provided by the Haym protocol volumes preserved in the Thúry György Museum in Nagykanizsa into that era.

On September 30, 2023, on the occasion of the feast of the Guardian Angels at the parish of Szepetnek, two members of the Research Group, Balázs Rétfalvi and Viktor Kanász, gave lectures.

After the greetings from Rev. Róbert Gottfried Heiter and Boldizsár Batthyány, Balázs Rétfalvi presented the European, Hungarian, and Szepetnek-specific events of the year 1772. He highlighted the significance of the information found in the Archives of the Diocese of Szombathely related to Szepetnek. Following him, Viktor Kanász showcased the life, ecclesiastical career, political, and charitable activities of Cardinal József Batthyány's family, the donors of the main altar. Magdolna Nyáriné Alexa then discussed the history of the altarpiece.

Following the concert by the Sárvár String Ensemble, a vespers service was conducted by Bishop János Székely of Szombathely. 

After last year's event in Pécs (see details  here), the Mohács500 conference took place in Mohács on December 7, 2023, with the collaboration of the Fraknói Research Group.

In the first section chaired by Tamás Fedeles, Gábor Nemes and Tamás Kruppa delivered presentations. Gábor Nemes discussed the military expenditures of the Győr Cathedral Chapter based on data extracted from the medieval accounting book of the chapter between 1500 and 1526. He established that despite not being counted among the bandarim-holding landowners according to the 1498 20th regulation, from 1502, the Győr Cathedral Chapter evidently had mercenaries. Among these mercenaries were both mounted (heavy and light cavalry) and foot soldiers, each with their own captain and flag. The financial burden of paying wages and providing arms, clothing, and food strained the canons financially; they had to finance war expenses from their own incomes alongside military taxes.

Tamás Kruppa analyzed the immediate papal envoy reports preceding the Battle of Mohács. Despite these sources being long-known, they received little attention from historiography. He argued that the contemporary historical narrative of Ottoman-Hungarian diplomatic relations between 1524 and 1526 was incomplete and one-sided. Kruppa's new research results helped nuance this one-sidedness, demonstrating that the Hungarian side, before the Mohács catastrophe, was willing to pay tribute to the Ottoman Court for peace. According to the mentioned Vatican sources, there existed a specific document, although now lost to us, confirming this willingness for payment.

The afternoon session began with Viktor Kanász, who presented previously unknown 16th and 17th-century German and English works from Savoya, detailing the Battle of Mohács in depth and its consequences. He emphasized how the memory of the battle sparked interest across Europe in subsequent generations, transcending regions and denominations. The events were often interpreted in a stereotypical manner, highlighting the image of the young king, the reckless commander, and the stereotype of decline. This illustrates how the early modern European intelligentsia thought about Mohács and 1526.

Tamás Fedeles presented the Hungarian ecclesiastical council during the reign of King Louis II, analyzing its composition based on prosopographical methods. His presentation revealed that most of the era's 24 bishops were versed in humanistic culture, with many honing their minds at Italian universities. In terms of origin, common nobles constituted the majority, outnumbering the baronial, bourgeois, and serf families' offspring. Furthermore, most bishops were associated with Tamás Bakóc and György Szatmári, the era's two chief chancellors. Fedeles also outlined the preparatory work for a comprehensive ecclesiastical history handbook, the Late Medieval Bishop Lexicon (1458-1526).

The conference also featured the presentation of the study collection titled "The Sunken Mohács," which included writings by Gábor Nemes, Tamás Kruppa, and Viktor Kanász.