Medieval Hungary: Medieval Manuscripts in Esztergom

From the 11th to the 31st of March, an exhibition presents the medieval manuscripts of the Cathedral Libray of Esztergom. Titled “For They Look at for Your Souls…” – Codices in the Cathedral Library of Esztergom, the exhibition is on view in the newly restored exhibition rooms of the Bibliotheca.

The Cathedral Library of Esztergom preserves forty-5 medieval manuscript textbooks, which are exhibited with each other for the 1st time now, in March 2022. The exhibition honors the archbishops and canons of Esztergom as well as the donators and former owners of the manuscripts, by whose generosity the library grew to become the major collection of codices between ecclesiastical libraries of Hungary. The written tradition of medieval Hungary is represented by fourteen codices copied in various Hungarian scriptoria. Two outdated Hungarian manuscripts – early linguistic information – stand out from amongst the Latin books on account of their unique price. The Nagyszombat Codex was well prepared in the monastery of the Inadequate Clares in Óbuda. It is made up of meditations and guides for penance and confession. The Jordánszky Codex is the most entire medieval Bible translation into Hungarian, and is named right after is previous operator, Elek Jordánszky, a canon of Esztergom. Out of the codices preserved in the Cathedral Library of Esztergom, without having a doubt a few ended up applied in Esztergom before 1543. These are the 12th-century Expositiones tremendous Cantica Canticorum, László Szalkai’s (1475-1526) schoolbook composed by the foreseeable future archbishop between 1489 and 1490, and the codex of vicar-common Albert Pesthy. The manuscript selection owned by the Archbishop and the Chapter of Esztergom was further enriched for the duration of the sojourn of the Archbishopric in Nagyszombat (Trnava, Slovakia). Liturgical guides and astronomical operates ended up obtained, as perfectly as a manuscript made up of letters by Saint Gregory the Good, copied in the Benedictine Abbey of Moissac in the 11th century. In 1555, Nicholaus Olah )1493-1568), archbishop of Esztergom, donated the two-volume Bakócs Gradual to the church of Esztergom The lavish Wladislav Gradual originates from Prague from the first decade of the 16th century. It holds Bohemian musical materials, richly illuminated with historiated initials as well as border decorations with floral motifs, animal figures, and scenes from daily daily life.