John Vitéz the Younger, Hyppolite d'Este, George Szatmári, Francis Várdai
John (János) Vitéz the Younger († 1499)
Archbishop Vitéz's nephew. His uncle supported his studies in Italy, where he studied law. He was Galeotto Marzio's student. In 1493 he became Bishop of Bács, while he was still Bishop of Veszprém. He was also the governor in Bács. He supported several Italian humanists, from 1479 he was president of the Danubian Scientific Academy until his death.
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Hyppolite d'Este (1479-1520)
Queen Beatrix's nephew, who was appointed Archbishop of Esztergom (1487-1497) by king Matthias at the age of seven. He received the finest education in Hungary, and he had a rich collection of humanist books by the age of 11. He swapped his Archbishopric of Esztergom with the Bichopric of Eger of Thomas Bakócz (1497-1520). From 1493 he was cardinal and the Archbishop of Milan (from 1598), then Archbishop of Capua (from 1502) and Bishop of Ferrara (from 1503). He supported writers and poets, his favourite protégé was Ariosto, who dedicated his Orlando Furioso to him. At his court in Eger he employed two Italians in the 1510s: Giovanni Manardi, a doctor, and the humanist Celio Calcagenini. The book of accounting records of his archbishopric of Esztergom and bishopric of Eger (the so-called Hippolit codices) are important sources from the point of view of the history of economics.
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George (György) Szatmári (1457-1524)
The greatest Hungarian patron of humanism in the Jagello age, a bishop and chancellor. He originated from a bourgeois family, at first he was the employee of the royal chancellery (royal secretary, 1494-1499), then became its leader (secret chancellor, 1499-1521; from 1521 until his death the chief chancellor). He was consecrated as a priest in 1506. He had chapter estates, he was the Bishop of Veszprém (1499-1501), then the Bishop of Várad (1501-1505), the Bishop of Pécs (1505-1522), and finally the Archbishop of Esztergom (1522-1524). In the 1500s he was in charge of the foreign matters of the country. In his testament he left 70,000 pieces of gold to get back the western fortresses, which were in the hands of the Austrians. He was interested in sciences and arts. Italian humanists and Hungarian students in Italy dedicated their works to him. He founded a humanist centre in Pécs, where he had a new bishopric palace and an altar - which survived until today - built. He also had a chapel built in Kassa.
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Francis (Ferenc) Várdai (1474 ? - 1524 ?)
He was the leader of the Gyulafehérvár humanists. He studied humanism in Italy. He was a treasurer, then the Bishop of Vác and Transylvania. He supported Stephanus Taurinus, Adrianus Wolphardus amd Celio Calcagnini, among others.
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