Péter Pázmány

Cardinal-Primate Péter Pázmány

Cardinal's coat of arms

Péter Pázmány de Panasz [ peːtɛr paːzmaːɲ ] ( latin Peter Pazmanus , German and Peter Pazman , Slovak Peter Pazman ; * 4. October 1570 in Oradea German ( Oradea , Hungarian Nagyvárad ), Transylvania , now Romania ; † 19th March 1637 in Bratislava ( today Bratislava , Hungarian Pozsony ), Royal Hungary , today Slovakia ) was a Hungarian philosopher and Catholic theologian . Born in a Calvinist family in Transylvania, the convert first became a Jesuit , later Archbishop of Gran and thus Primate of Hungary. Pázmány was the main figure of the Counter-Reformation in royal Hungary of his time (largely on the territory of today's Slovakia).

Life

Péter Pázmány, the son of Calvinist parents, accepted the Catholic faith under the influence of his Catholic stepmother and the Jesuit István Szántó in 1583 and entered the Jesuit college in Cluj (German Klausenburg , Hungarian Kolozsvár ). In 1583 he entered the order of the Jesuits. During the novitiate he was in Cracow and Vienna, where he studied at the Philosophical Faculty, and from 1593–1597 he studied theology in Rome. In Rome he also became a priest and doctor of theology. There he got to know Robert Bellarmin , the famous "fighter" of Giordano Bruno . Pázmány's views and recatholization efforts emerged during this time.

After completing his studies, he came to Graz on the appointment of Archduke Charles . There he was initially from 1597 to 1601 professor of philosophy (he taught logic , ethics and natural sciences ), later also for theology (1603-06). One of his theology students in Graz was St. Marko of Križevci . In 1601 he was sent to his homeland as a mission preacher, where he worked in Šaľa , later in Košice (German Kaschau , Hungarian Kassa ). 1607-1616 he was in the service of Ferenc Forgáchs , the Archbishop of Esztergom (German Gran ). On his initiative Pázmány was released from the religious vows of the Jesuits and on April 25, 1616 was appointed provost of the tumult by the Pope . Since Forgách died in the same year, Pázmány was appointed Archbishop of Gran and Prince Primate of Hungary in 1616. In addition, Pázmány received the cardinal dignity in the consistory of November 19, 1629 by Pope Urban VIII .

He died on March 19, 1637 in Bratislava and was buried there in St. Martin's Cathedral.

The grave of Peter Pázmány was rediscovered on September 12, 1859 during renovation work on the Bratislava Cathedral by the Catholic priest Ferdinand Knauz . His remains were very well preserved, even his hair under his Jesuit hat and his whiskers were still there. He was dressed in a red cassock with simple leather shoes on his feet. 

Act

Péter Pázmány was the most important representative of the Catholic restoration in royal Hungary. His opponent was the Protestant István Magyari , who saw all calamities in Royal Hungary as a punishment from God for “Catholic idolatry” in the country.

In 1619 Pázmány founded an educational institution for Catholics in Trnava, in 1623 the Pazmaneum in Vienna , which was temporarily moved to Trnava in 1761, and in Trnava the Adalbertinum as a seminary. In Bratislava he founded a theological school with a dormitory for the Jesuits and monasteries for the Franciscans in Nové Zámky (Neuhäusl) and Kremnica ( Kremnica ) . In 1635 he founded an important university in Tyrnau / Trnava / Nagyszombat, which was moved to Budapest in 1777 : today's Eötvös Loránd University and the Catholic Péter Pázmány University .

Pázmány is considered to be the founder of Hungarian-language baroque literature . He wrote several pamphlets against the ideas of the Calvinists, which he knew well, but also many sermons and catechetical writings. He also dealt with the translation of Latin religion and prayer books; among other things, he translated The Imitation of Christ into Hungarian. In his works, which are written in vivid, powerful language, he contrasts the glory of God with human imperfection and urges humility. The most important of his writings is the Isteni igazságra vezérlő kalauz ("Guide to Divine Truth").

Honors

In 1992 the Catholic University in Budapest , which bears Péter Pázmány's name, was reactivated. The Pazmaneum seminary he founded in the Alsergrund district of Vienna now functions as a study and guest house for the Esztergom-Budapest Archdiocese . In the Leopoldstadt district of Vienna, Pazmanitengasse is named after the seminarians of the Pazmaneum ("Pazmaniten").

Most important writings

• Felelet az Magyari István sárvári prédikátornak az ország romlása okairul írt Königyvére (Answer to the book of the Sárvár preacher István Magyari on the reasons for the corruption of the country, 1603)
• Az mostan TAMAT uy tudomaniok hamissaganak, tiiz nilvan valo bizonisaga: It reovid intes a teoreok birodalomrul it vallasrul (Ten obvious evidence of the falsity of the recently arisen new sciences: And brief reminder about the empire of the Turks and their religion , 1605)
• Keresztyéni imádságos Königyv (Christian prayer book, 1606)
• Alvinci Péter uramhoz írt öt szép levél (Five beautiful letters to Mr. Péter Alvinci, 1609)
• Isteni igazságra vezérlő kalauz (Guide to Divine Truth, 1613, 1623, 1637)
• Vasárnapokra és egynéhány ünnepekre rendelt evangéliumokról prédikációk (Sermons on the Gospels of Sundays and some Holidays, 1636)

Collective issues :

• Graz philosophical disputations by Péter Pázmány, ed. Paul Richard Blum and Emil Hargittay, Piliscsaba (Catholic Péter Pázmány University) 2003.
• Pázmány Péter és kora [PP and his time], ed. Emil Hargittay, Piliscsaba (Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem) 2001.

literature

• Walter Troxler:  PÁZMÁNY, Peter. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 7, Bautz, Herzberg 1994, ISBN 3-88309-048-4 , Sp. 116-120.
• Márk Zsoldos: Pázmány Péter as a leading figure of the Counter Reformation and the Catholic rebirth in Hungary . Thesis. Faculty of History and Cultural Studies at the University of Vienna, 2013 ( PDF file; 2358 kB ).

Web links

Commons : Péter Pázmány  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Pázmány, SJ, Péter. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed July 23, 2016.
• Entry on Péter Pázmány in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
• Publications by and about Péter Pázmány in VD 17 .
• Publications by and about Péter Pázmány at Litdok East Central Europe / Herder Institute (Marburg)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ After Gran  (Esztergom in Hungarian) was occupied by the  Turks  in 1543  , the archbishopric was moved to  Tyrnau  . However, a large number of the archbishops resided in Pressburg, as Pressburg was the capital of Hungary at that time. Only in 1820 did the archbishops return  to Gran at the instigation of Cardinal  Alexander Rudnay .
2. ↑ Pázmaň v Dóme sv. Martina 1/2010, accessed February 1, 2013
3. ↑ Jozef Halko: Pázmán v dome sv. Martina, in Impulz No. 1/2010 (Slovak)

predecessor	Office	successor
Ferenc Forgách	Archbishop of Gran 1616–1637	Emmerich Lósy