Ferdinand I.

This study focuses on the relation between the Prague Utraquist University and towns in Bohemia between the years 1526 and 1564. The first part examines the mutual relation of the university with the political practice of Bohemian estates, due to connections with the royal towns. Further is examined the relation of the university within the framework
of local political conditions, i.e. careers of graduates in municipal schools, priesthood, and territorial autonomy.

The study deals with the purchase, cultivation and use of exotic fruits, particularly citruses, in the residences of King Ferdinand I in Prague and Innsbruck. It provides a number of unknown archival reports on the details of such trades, from which the significant role of Queen Anna of Jagiello is apparent. It arises from the analysis that a complicated and lengthy transport of this luxurious good from Italy could have been the reason of the interest of Ferdinand I in its cultivation in Prague, which was developed here a little earlier than in Vienna.

in: Exhibition catalogue Wolfgang Meighörner (Ed.), Nur Gesichter? Porträts der Renaissance, Innsbruck (Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum), Innsbruck 2016, p. 157-172.

The paper discusses the portait paintings of Hans Maler who worked in the mining city of Schwaz near Innsbruck in about 1520. The focus of the Text lies on the social significance and practical use of Maler's portrait paintings.

The history of the Austrian National Library in Vienna has been associated with a great many Bohemical manuscripts since their medieval beginnings. This situation arises from the close link between Austrian and Bohemian political and cultural history. Unfortunately, we lack primary sources for the history of the Imperial Court Library in the epoch after the death of Maximilian I until 1575, when Hugo Blotius was appointed the first official librarian. Individual acquisitions for the book collection connected with Ferdinand I of Habsburg are less well reconstructed in
comparison with the Ambras library of his son Ferdinand of Tyrol. Other manuscripts could be identified on the basis of their personal dedications to Ferdinand I. Among those manuscripts is a tiny illuminated prayer book incorporated by librarian Hugo Blotius into Turcica (Cod. 11704). On the basis of the illuminations this prayer book can be newly identified as an unknown Bohemical manuscript. The decoration is dated and signed. It may be connected with the Prague Old Town guild painter Fabián Puléř (died after 15 December 1562), who has been known as the author of illuminated music manuscripts and contractually documented altar retables. The manuscript was written by Italian Johannes Cavalerius (1524–1580), chaplain and confessor of Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol, who dedicated the illuminated prayer book to Emperor Ferdinand I. There are documented contacts between Cavalerius and the Prague Catholic church representatives: he was quite close to the St Vitus
and Vyšehrad prelates. We presume that the manuscript illuminated in 1557 may have been meant as a gift expressing Cavalerius’ gratitude for being appointed provost of Vyšehrad Chapter of Saint Peter and Paul. In fact, Cavalerius was appointed in 1557. The commission of such a specific manuscript completes the existing image of the relations in the court cultural circle, Catholic representatives
of the Church, and the Prague community of guild painters from around the mid-16th century.

Pressburg council in 1548 introduced eight legal articles on religious matters. Compared with the interpretation common in the historic Protestant tradition, there is no mentioning of the tolerance of the Augsburg Confession. The basic objective of the legal regulations was to reform the Roman Catholic Church, already under the so called Reintegratio Ecclesiae, so that true masses were restored. The prelats were to do visitations in local churches and the service was to be only provided by properly ordained clergy. Thus, local churches were endangered where royal appointees or chief priests would find violations of the state law, but also the churches where there would applied the Wittenberg doctrine. Attempts were made in expert literature at introducing relations between the German Imperial Assemblies and Hungarian laws, but as the German Interims were unsuccesful, it would seem that such trials were unnecessary. In fact, it is important to look at the relationship between the Hungarian beginnings of Reformatio et Reintegratio Ecclesiae and the so called Formula reformationis, submitted by the German-Roman emperor and approved by the Augsburg Assembly in 1548.

Despite fragmentation, heterogeneity and the continuous pressure of the Ottoman Empire, early modern “divided Hungary” witnessed a surprising cultural flourishing in the sixteenth century, and maintained its common cultural identity in the seventeenth century. This could hardly have been possible without intense exchange with the rest of Europe. This three-volume series about early modern Hungary divided by Ottoman presence approaches themes of exchange of information and knowledge from two perspectives, namely, exchange through traditional channels provided by religious/educational institutions and the system of European study tours (Volume 1 – Study Tours and Intellectual-Religious Relationships), and the less regular channels and improvised networks of political diplomacy (Volume 2 – Diplomacy, Information Flow and Cultural Exchange). A by-product of this exchange of information was the changing image of early modern Hungary and Transylvania, which is presented in the third and in some aspects concluding volume of essays (Volume 3 – The Making and Uses of the Image of Hungary and Transylvania). Unlike earlier approaches to the same questions, these volumes draw an alternative map of early modern Hungary. On this map, the centre-periphery conceptions of European early modern culture are replaced by new narratives written from the perspective of historical actors, and the dominance of Western-Hungarian relationships is kept in balance due to the significance of Hungary’s direct neighbours, most importantly the Ottoman Empire.

The editors of the volumes—Gábor Almási, Szymon Brzeziński, Ildikó Horn, Kees Teszelszky and Áron Zarnóczki—are based at Hungarian, Polish and Dutch institutions of historical research. Their collaboration is the result of a joint research programme generously financed by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund and carried out at the Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest.

L'autore della relazione del 7 novembre 1605 qui pubblicata integralmente è Antonio Grimani, esponente dell'alto patriziato veneto. Figlio di Fulvio e nipote di Giovanni patriarca di Aquileia, Antonio Grimani, nominato vescovo di Torcello nel 1587, era giunto alla guida della nunziatura del Granducato nell'estate del 1605. Al momento dell'incarico, Grimani aveva già avuto precedenti esperienze diplomatiche in veste di ambasciatore di Venezia in Francia e in Belgio. A tali precedenti si era aggiunta poida ecclesiastico -la partecipazione alla legazione guidata dal cardinale Alessandro de' Medici ancora in terra francese nel 1596. 1 Senza dubbio l'esperienza vissuta al seguito di Alessandro de' Medici, insieme ai preesistenti rapporti amichevoli sviluppati con Ferdinando, avevano reso la sua designazione alla nunziatura gradita a Firenze. 2 Nel contempo, la nomina di Grimani si inscriveva nella ritrovata sintonia di rapporti tra Roma e Firenze, prodotta dall'avvento al pontificato di Paolo V, rispetto ai non pochi momenti di frizione, che si erano verificati nel corso del papato di Clemente VIII. 3 L'elezione del nuovo pontefice era stata il risultato di una mediazione, che aveva frustrato le candidature avanzate da Pietro Aldobrandini e la linea fortemente personalistica da lui portata avanti nel corso del conclave, fermamente contrastata da parte fiorentina. 4 La lunga lettera relazione del 7 novembre 1605 prende le mosse dai «sospetti che corrono» tra Spagna e Firenze. In una precedente missiva inviata al cardinal Borghese, segretario di Stato, il 24 ottobre, Grimani aveva segnalato che «si mandano da Napoli a Portolongone sei galere con sei compagnie di fanti», riferendo come il granduca «duole assai questo sospetto di Spagnuoli». 5

A Magyar Királyság 16. századi szétesése azzal a következménnyel is járt, hogy új karrier-, illetve vagyonosodási lehetőségeket nyitott meg. A középkori Magyarország területén két egymással versenyző hatalomközpont szerveződött, ami kedvezett az eliten belüli átrendeződéseknek és előléptetési kísérleteknek, akár a Habsburg jogar alatt, akár a Szapolyaiak oldalán. Több kutatás bizonyította, hogy ebben a folyamatban gyakran jelentős szerephez juttottak a külföldről érkezők. A politika és diplomácia területéről olyan kiemelkedő példák említhetőek, mint Lodovico Gritti, Fráter György vagy Hieronim Łaski. Ezt az utat rajtuk kívül még több, talán kevésbé ismert szereplő is követte. A jelenségnek voltak előzményei, amelyet számos késő középkori példa bizonyít lengyel magyarországi karrierek esetében, tekintettel a világi és egyházi pályákra egyaránt.

Studie se zabývá problematikou úvěru jako jednoho z nástrojů vnitřní politiky Ferdinanda I. v první polovině jeho vlády (1526-1545) v zemích Koruny české. Zaobírá se praktikami, které panovník využíval při uznávání dluhů po svých předchůdcích vůči svým politickým přívržencům a oponentům. Těžiště práce se soustředí na vznikání klientských vazeb vzniklých na pozadí věřitelských vztahů mezi Ferdinandem I. a zástupci české šlechty. Studie definuje základní typy věřitelů, kteří panovníkovi v první polovině 16. století půjčovali finanční obnosy, a odhaluje motivace ke vstupu do úvěrových vztahů.

This contribution follows the relation of the Prague Utraquist university to the towns of Prague and, in parallel, its relation to Ferdinand I (1526-1564), Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Czech Lands. In the power struggle between the nobles and the burghers, the university tended to side with the towns, especially with Prague. The policy of Ferdinand I was, however, openly anti-burgher, anti-town. Within this political environment, university's good relations with the towns and cities were therefore of a diminishing importance, although in the university's daily operations, they remained essential since most of its students were burghers. Prague university's relations with Ferdinand I were cautious, but not openly hostile. Its relations to the towns of Prague is traced not only on the level of political connections but also in terms of their daily coexistence, which included e.g. conflicts between the justice systems of the university and the towns, repairs to university buildings, or issues pertaining to ecclesiastic administration. Despite various efforts of Utraquist estates, proposed university reforms either did not take place or were merely partial.