Peter Pazmany

* Nagyvárad, October 4, 1570 – Bratislava, March 19, 1637 / Cardinal-Archbishop of Esztergom, founder of the University of Nagyszombat ; ; He came from a Protestant family, converted to Catholicism in 1583 under the influence of his stepmother while he was a student in Cluj-Napoca. He entered the Jesuit order in 1587. He studied in Cluj-Napoca, Krakow, Vienna, and finally in Rome, and then worked in Graz (at that time the great German astronomer Johannes Kepler also taught here). In 1601 he returned to Hungary as a proselyte, and from 1603 he taught at the University of Graz. In 1607 he was admitted to the court of Archbishop Ferenc Forgách of Esztergom. In 1616, after the Pope had previously released him from his monastic vows, he was appointed first provost of Turóc and then archbishop of Esztergom. In 1629 he became a cardinal. In 1619 he founded an educational institution and a seminary in Nagyszombat, in 1623 a higher seminary in Vienna (the later Pazmaneum), and finally in 1635 a university in Nagyszombat with a theological and humanities faculty (the current ELTE). He established a Jesuit college and school in Bratislava, and Franciscan monasteries in Érsekújvár and Körmöcbánya. In Hungary – both politically and ecclesiastical – he was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation. His activities primarily served the Habsburg court, although he saw the dangers of Habsburg hegemony for the interests of the Hungarian order. At the same time, he represented the aspiration of the entire Hungarian landed class to consolidate the system of the second serfdom, for which both the political support of the court and the ideological armament of the Catholic Church, which had been reorganized and modernized in the Counter-Reformation struggles, were necessary. With his work in church politics and even more so with his controversial writings, he played a decisive role in the re-Catholicization of Hungary. He converted several noble families (Miklós Forgách and Zsigmond, Kristóf Thurzó, Miklós Esterházy, György Zrínyi, etc.) to the Catholic faith. His thoughts influenced the development of Miklós Zrínyi's views. His polemics against Protestant preachers (István Magyari, Péter Alvinczy), as well as his sermons and prayers, which he wrote in vernacular Hungarian, played an outstanding role in the creation of the Hungarian literary language, and with their powerful style they are lasting values of Hungarian literature. ; ; His main works: ; Answer, 1603, ; Christian Prayer Book, 1606, ; Five Beautiful Letters, 1609, ; Guide to Divine Truth, 1613, ; Sermons on the Gospels for Sundays and Certain Feasts, 1631, ; Complete Works of Cardinal Péter Pázmány, Archbishop of Esztergom I – VII., 1894–1905, ; Collected Letters of Péter Pázmány I – II., 1910–1911.