Janus Pannonius ( or , , ; 29 August 1434 – 27 March 1472) was an influential intellectual in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, a Latinist,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and

Bishop of Pécs A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

. He was the most significant poet of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

in the

and one of the better-known figures of

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

poetry in Europe.

Life

Born in

Slavonia Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...

,Ádám Makkai
''In quest of the 'miracle stag': the poetry of Hungary : an anthology of Hungarian poetry in English translation from the 13th century to the present in commemoration of the 1100th anniversary of the foundation of Hungary and the 40th anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising of 1956''
University of Illinois Press, 1996, p. 41 Janus's father's social status and relation to the nobility is unclear. His mother, Borbála Vitéz, was the sister of John Vitéz.

Pope Pius II Pope Pius II (, ), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death in 1464. Aeneas Silvius was an author, diplomat, ...

wrote that Pannonius was of Slavonian origin (''de origine Slavonica''). His biographer and friend

Vespasiano da Bisticci Vespasiano is a municipality in the Belo Horizonte metropolitan region in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, located north of Belo Horizonte. Vespasiano is home to Cidade do Galo, the training grounds of Campeonato Brasileiro Série A tea ...

said that he was of Slavic nationality. According to Ronsano of Palermo, he was from Dalmatia (''di natione Dalmata''). M. Franičević, in citing Ronsano, notes that many Italians saw all “Croats” as Dalmatians. Ludovik Tuberon Crijević, writing of Pannonius, says that he was born a Slav (''genere itidem Sclavenum'') in that part of interior Dalmatia that lies between the Sava and Drava rivers. Pannonius was brought up by his mother; in 1447 his uncle sent him to Italy for a

schooling. He attended the School of

Guarino da Verona Guarino Veronese or Guarino da Verona (1374 – 14 December 1460) was an Italian classical scholar, humanist, and translator of ancient Greek texts during the Renaissance. In the republics of Florence and Venice he studied under Manuel Chryso ...

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

, where the pupils were educated in Latin and Greek authors under the guidance of a noted teacher of the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

. The boy was considered the brightest pupil of his generation by both his teachers and fellow-students. He wrote poetry according to the rules of classical prosody; he was around thirteen when he wrote his first epigrams. His higher education was completed at the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

in canon law. After making an educational tour of Rome, he returned to Hungary in 1458, the year of Matthias's accession to the throne. For a time, he worked at the Royal Chancery, and soon was appointed as the

and later Vice-Chancellor of the country. Janus Pannonius was an influential intellectual in the kingdom; he kept his connections with some of the leading philosophers of his time. He also collected a significant library of humanist works (probably dispersed in 1526). He served as the

Ban of Slavonia Ban of Slavonia (; ; ) sometimes also Ban of "Whole Slavonia" (; ; ), was the title of the governor of a territory part of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary and Croatia in union with Hungary, Kingdom of Croatia. From 1102, the title Ban (title), ...

in 1469. He died in the

Medvedgrad Medvedgrad (; Croatian language, Croatian for ''bear-town''; ) is a medieval Fortification, fortified town located about 10 km north of Zagreb, on the south slopes of Medvednica mountain, approximately halfway from the Croatian capital Zagreb t ...

castle near

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

. János Zsambóky (Johannes Sambucus) and Count Sámuel Teleki prepared the first editions of the poet’s opera omnia.

References

Sources

* * * Lombana Sánchez, A. (2024). ''Un libro sobre Janus Pannonius''. Escolar. ISBN: 978-84-19782-33-5. *

Works

Opera
Basel, 1555 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pannonius, Janus 1432 births 1472 deaths 15th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Hungary 15th-century writers in Latin 15th-century Croatian poets 15th-century Croatian nobility Hungarian male poets Hungarian people of Croatian descent Baranya (region) History of Baranya (region) People from Čazma Bishops of Pécs Royal treasurers (Kingdom of Hungary) Chief justices of Hungary Hungarian book and manuscript collectors Croatian male poets 15th-century Hungarian poets