Mérey tomb

On the northern wall of the sanctuary, next to the entrance to the sacristy, is one of the most beautiful tombstones of the 16th century, the Mérey epitaph made of red and white marble. Alnádor Mihály Mérey and his son are buried in the crypt under the sanctuary. The tombstone was erected by his children. Under the central cornice of the relief, we see two relief portraits carved from red marble and attached to the wall without any background, one of which preserves the marked facial features of Mihály Mérey, broken by old age, and on the other side is the face of his son, István, who died young. ; ; Mihály Mérey was a landowner of the village. After the extinction of the Szentgyörgyi family, the estate reverted to the king, and in 1544 Ferdinand gave it to Mérey Mihály, along with Éberhard Castle and the estates belonging to it, including part of the market town of Csütörtok. ; Mérey Mihály came from Somogy County. It is likely that he studied at the University of Krakow and acquired his knowledge of public law as the secretary of the regional judge Elek Thurzó. He first became a member of the governing council, and then from 1554 a regional judge. He was the arbiter of several border adjustments. From 1564, he was the deputy of the royal governor alongside Archbishop Miklós Oláh: “Pro-Palatinus Regni Hungariae”, or sub-regent. His most significant legal work is the so-called Book of Four, which is the most complete collection of Hungarian law after the work of Werbőczy. ; In 1572, Mihály Mérey died, and not long after, his eldest son István. The first husband of his daughter Anna was Gáspár Serédy, and her second husband was András Balassa, both of whom were later owners of Csütörtok. (The Balassa family owned the village until the modern era.) ; This beautiful relief tomb is divided into three parts. At the top is a semicircular relief carved from white marble depicting the resurrection of Christ. Below it, on the marble slab of the eyebrow beam placed on the columns, a Latin text was carved into two parts, which in Hungarian reads as follows: ; “Mihály, the glory of the Mérey family, a great and remarkable man in piety, at the same time the light of Hungarian jurisprudence and a public figure, is buried here. There was no one like him in our century, although he was greatly affected by his final old age. He was taken by an envious death from our unworthy hands. This immeasurably great loss was mourned by the homeland with a speedy burial and sad mourning. And to you, blessed old man, may your decay be easy, and for your excellent virtues you may join the high heavens.” ; The central part of the monument is a white marble relief placed between two red half-columns, depicting the crucifixion of Christ, with angels catching Christ’s spilled blood in goblets. In the background of the cross we see a cityscape, and at the foot of the cross a group of family members dressed in period clothing kneel and pray. ; At the bottom there is a tablet framed by a leafy tendril, also made of white marble, which is closed in a semicircular arc by the coats of arms of the Mérey and Forgách families. The inscription on the tablet reads in Latin the following in Hungarian: ; “To Mr. Nagyságos Mérey from Somogy County, who while he was alive was a loyal and steadfast colleague of the Roman Emperors Ferdinand and Maximilian, the kings of Hungary, from whom he received the dignity of deputy palatine, and as an irreproachable man in the administration of justice, as an elder of exemplary piety, he was an ornament to the country. This monument was erected by his living children: Imre, Mihály, Zsófia and Katalin, to the dearest parent and spouse. He lived 72 years, dying in the year 1572 after Christ, on February 26. His wife, Julianna, and his child, István, who lived 32 years, followed him in the same fate, shortly after. Therefore, they are also buried here. ; Those of you who are alive, remember mortality." ; (Translation of both Latin texts by Ferenc Sill.) ; Arnold Ipolyi believes that the Latin text on the tombstone was probably edited by Miklós Istvánffy, a landowner and classical scholar from nearby Felbár. The monument is one of the most artistically designed tombstones of the Renaissance period, and is still in very good condition.