2023

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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.
 

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.

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.

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.