János Vitéz (archbishop)

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The native form of this personal name is Vitéz János. This article uses the Western name order.

János Vitéz (in Croatian Ivan Vitez od Sredne; 1405 or 1408 – 1472) was the archbishop of Esztergom and a prominent humanist, diplomat, Latinist, mathematician, astrologist and astronomer.

Vitéz was born in Sredna near Križevci, in a Croatian family which was already influential at the Hungarian court. His father was the secretary of the regent John Hunyadi, "The White Knight", from 1446 to 1452.

János studied in Vienna, Bologna and Padua, where he graduated law and became knowledgeable in physics, astronomy and alchemy. For a while (around 1437) he was the canon in Zagreb. In that period, he helped strengthen the relations between the Croatian capital and the thriving Italian cultural and scientific centers. Then he left for Hungary, where he was to play a major role in the development of cultural and scientific institutions.

He was one of the educators of Hunyadi's son Matthias, who would become the king Matthias Corvinus of Hungary. Soon he became the prothonotary of the king's government. The pinnacle of his political career at the court was the position of the prince primate of Hungary, or the archbishop of Esztergom - a position with extraordinary privileges.

Vitéz, who spoke and wrote in excellent Latin, had a major role in the international circle of humanists at Corvin's court, some of whom were prominent scientists, such as Regiomontanus, Bylica, Peuerbach, Dorn and Vergerio. He was especially interested in natural sciences and promoted their study. He founded the academy and library in Buda and the Universitas Istropolitana in today's Bratislava. He promoted astrologic and astronomic research, had astronomic instruments of his own, and founded the observatory in Esztergom.

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.

His nephew was the great humanist Janus Pannonius.

[edit] References

In Croatian:

• Ivan Vitez od Sredne in Prominent Scientists and Works in the Middle Ages