John Vitéz de Zredna (, , ; 1408 – 8 August 1472) was a Hungarian and

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

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 ...

, diplomat,

Latinist Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansion of ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

, astrologist and

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

. He served as

Archbishop of Esztergom In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

from 1465 until his death.

Early life

Vitéz was born in Sredna near

Križevci Križevci (; ; ; ) is a town in northern Croatia with a total population of 21,122 and with 11,231 in the town itself (2011), It is the oldest town in its county, the Koprivnica-Križevci County. History The first mention of "Upper Križeva ...

in a

- Hungarian family which was already influential at the Hungarian court. Vitéz's mother was originated from the Garázda genus (originally from

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, genus is named after

Goražde Goražde ( sr-cyrl, Горажде, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of the Drina rive ...

). On his father's side he derived from

Pilis county Pilis () is a town in Pest County, Hungary. History The town was inhabited in prehistoric times, but was abandoned at the end of the Roman rule. Pilis was then first mentioned in 1326. It was destroyed during the Ottoman rule in the 16th cent ...

(his father's surname was originally ''Csévi'').Vince Bunyitay
A VÁRADI PÜSPÖKSÉG TÖRTÉNETE ALAPÍTÁSÁTÓL A JELENKORIG
Nagyvárad, 1883 His father was the secretary of the

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

John Hunyadi John Hunyadi (; ; ; ; ; – 11 August 1456) was a leading Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian military and political figure during the 15th century, who served as Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1301–1526), Kingdom of Hungary ...

, from 1446 to 1452. Vitéz became a

prothonotary A prothonotary is the "principal clerk of a court," from Late Latin, L.L. ''prothonotarius'' (Wiktionary:circa, c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the Byzantine E ...

in his government. Vitéz studied in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he graduated in law and became knowledgeable in physics, astronomy and

alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

due to frequent contacts with other humanists. In the chancery of

King Sigismund Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1437. He was elected King of Germany (King of the Romans) in 1410, and was also King of Bohemia from 1419, as well as prince-elect ...

, he probably met the excellent Italian humanist

Pier Paolo Vergerio Pier Paolo Vergerio ( 1498 – 4 October 1565), the Younger, was an Italian papal nuncio and later Protestant reformer. Life He was born at Capodistria (Koper), Istria, then part of the Venetian Republic and studied jurisprudence in Padua, ...

. For a while (around 1437) he was the

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

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 ...

. In that period, he helped strengthen the relations between the

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n capital and the thriving Italian cultural and scientific centers. Then he left for

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, where he was to play a major role in the development of cultural and scientific institutions.

Career

Vitéz was one of the educators of Hunyadi's son

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

, who became

King of Hungary The King of Hungary () was the Monarchy, ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Magyarország apostoli királya'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 ...

. Vitéz became the bishop of

Oradea Oradea (, , ; ; ) is a city in Romania, located in the Crișana region. It serves as the administrative county seat, seat of Bihor County and an economic, social, and cultural hub in northwestern Romania. The city lies between rolling hills on ...

in 1445 and turned it into a humanist centre, where he invited a number of Polish and German humanists, such as Gregory of Sanok. He was a

book collector Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given collector. The love of books is '' bibliophilia'', and some ...

and built a library there. Both his court and the library moved from Oradea to Esztergom in 1465, when he became the

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

of Hungary, or the

archbishop of Esztergom In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

– one of the two bishoprics in Hungary. In the government of

, he fulfilled many positions. First of all, due to his earlier practice, he was an excellent diplomat to the king. In 1458 he was sent to

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

George of Poděbrady George of Kunštát and Poděbrady (23 April 1420 – 22 March 1471), also known as Poděbrad or Podiebrad (; ), was the sixteenth King of Bohemia, who ruled in 1458–1471. He was a leader of the Hussites, but moderate and tolerant toward the ...

to redeem the king and then he (according to Bonfini) welcomed the king when he entered the kingdom. He served the king in a few diplomatic missions, especially to the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. After 1464 he became active in the highest and secret

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

(together with Stephen Várdai), but did not take many actions in the position. During the late 1460s he became estranged to the king and in 1471 he led a plot against the ruler. Vitéz, who spoke and wrote in excellent

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, had a major role in the international circle of

humanists 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" has ...

at Corvin's court, some of whom were prominent scientists, such as

Regiomontanus Johannes Müller von Königsberg (6 June 1436 – 6 July 1476), better known as Regiomontanus (), was a mathematician, astrologer and astronomer of the German Renaissance, active in Vienna, Buda and Nuremberg. His contributions were instrument ...

, Bylica,

Peuerbach Peuerbach is a town in Austria, in Grieskirchen (district) in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. On 6 November 2016 there was a vote on whether Peuerbach would be merged with the neighbouring municipalities of Bruck-Waasen and Steegen. The ...

, Hans Dorn. He was especially interested in natural sciences and promoted their study. He founded the academy and library in

(moved to Esztergom) and the

Universitas Istropolitana The Universitas Istropolitana (since the 16th century frequently – but incorrectly – referred to as Academia Istropolitana) in Bratislava ( / ) was arguably the third university to be found in the Kingdom of Hungary and the first university to ...

in Pozsony (currently

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

). He promoted astrologic and astronomic research, had astronomic instruments of his own, and founded the observatory in Esztergom. He is sometimes referred to as the Father of Hungarian Humanism. As the initiator of a rebellion against the king (1471–1472), he lost his privileges and estates. Soon after, he fell ill and died in

Esztergom Esztergom (; ; or ; , known by Names of European cities in different languages: E–H#E, alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the righ ...

. His nephew was the great Latin humanist

Janus Pannonius Janus Pannonius ( or , , ; 29 August 1434 – 27 March 1472) was an influential intellectual in the Kingdom of Hungary, a Latinist, poet, diplomat and Bishop of Pécs. He was the most significant poet of the Renaissance in the Kingdom of Hun ...

References

In Croatian:
Ivan Vitez od Sredne
in ''Prominent Scientists and Works in the Middle Ages'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Vitez, John 1400s births 1472 deaths 15th-century Hungarian cardinals 15th-century Croatian writers 15th-century astronomers Croatian astronomers Croatian astrologers 15th-century astrologers Croatian Renaissance humanists Croatian Latinists Hungarian nobility Archbishops of Esztergom Bishops of Várad Catholic clergy scientists Hungarian Renaissance humanists 15th-century Hungarian writers 15th-century mathematicians Medieval Hungarian astronomers

Early life

Career

See also

References