Antun Vrančić

Antun Vrančić
Antonio Veranzio

Engraving of Vrančić by Martin Rota
Born 1504
Šibenik, Republic of Venice
(today in Croatia)
Died 1573
Prešov, Kingdom of Hungary
(today in Slovakia)
Nationality Croatian[1]
Field Writer, diplomat and Archbishop of Esztergom

Antun Vrančić also Antonio Veranzio (May 29, 1504 – June 15, 1573[2]) was a prelate, writer, diplomat and Archbishop of Esztergom of the 16th century. Antun Vrančić was from Dalmatian town of Šibenik (modern Croatia), then part of the Republic of Venice.[3] Vrančić is also known under his Latinized name Antonius Verantius, while contemporary or close contemporary Hungarian documents refer to him as Verancsics Antal.[4][5]

Contents

Biography

Early years

Vrančić was born and raised in Šibenik, city on the Dalmatian in the former Republic of Venice.[3] Most historians accept a hypothesis that the Vrančić family was one of the Bosnian noble families that had moved to Šibenik in the era of Ottoman military incursions.[6] Vrančić's uncle Ivan Statilić and his other relative, Croatian viceroy Petar Berislavić, took care of his education.[2] After studies at Padua, Vienna and Kraków, Vrančić entered diplomatic service, aged only 26.[3] He spent 20 years as a diplomat at János Szapolyai's court in Erdély.[7]

He was bishop of Eger (July 17, 1560 – September 25, 1570) and archbishop of Esztergom (17 Oct 1569 - 15 Jun 1573).

Influences and death

Antun Vrančić was in touch with Dutch philosopher, humanist and writer Erasmus (1465–1536); with German philosopher, theologian and reformer Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560); and with Nikola Šubić Zrinski (1508–1566), Croatian ban, poet, statesman and soldier.

After the Battle of Szigetvár, as one of Maximilian's ambasadors, Antun has arrived in Istanbul on 26 August 1567.[8] After five months negotiations with Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and Selim II, agreement had been reached by 17 February, and the Treaty of Adrianople was signed on 21 February 1568, ending the war between the Austrian and Ottoman empires.[8]

He died in Prešov, Kingdom of Hungary, just days after having learned that the Pope appointed him cardinal.[2] Following his own wish, Vrančić is buried in Saint Nicholas church in Trnava, Slovakia.[2]

After Antun's death, his nephew Faust, who was a well known humanist, linguist and lexicographer of the Renaissance, took over writings from his estate.[3] Two years later, in 1575, he wrote Life of Antun Vrančić, a biography of his uncle, but did not manage to have it published.[9]

References

  1. ^ Setton, Kenneth Meyer (1984). The Papacy and the Levant, 1204–1571: The Sixteenth Century. IV. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. p. 921. ISBN 0-87169-162-0. 
  2. ^ a b c d "Na današnji dan: Umro Antun Vrančić" (in Croatian). Croatian Radiotelevision. June 15, 2009. http://www.hrt.hr/index.php?id=76&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=40943&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=93&cHash=0d9124dc46. Retrieved 2009-08-17. 
  3. ^ a b c d Cvitan, Grozdana (May 19, 2005). "Kako sam služio ugarskog kralja" (in Croatian). Zarez (132). http://www.zarez.hr/155/tema2.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-17. 
  4. ^ Google Books Andrew L. Simon: Made in Hungary: Hungarian contributions to universal culture
  5. ^ The Hungarian Quarterly, Vol. XLII * No. 162 *, Summer 2001 László Sipka: Innovators and Innovations
  6. ^ Morić, Živana (June 12, 2004). "Europski obzori hrvatskoga humanista" (in Croatian). Vjesnik. http://www.vjesnik.hr/pdf/2004%5C06%5C12%5C23A23.PDF. Retrieved 2009-09-20. 
  7. ^ Vratović, Vladimir (May 30, 2004). "Hrvatski latinist svjetskoga glasa" (in Croatian) (PDF). Vjesnik. http://www.vjesnik.hr/pdf/2004%5C05%5C30%5C19A19.PDF. Retrieved 2009-08-24. 
  8. ^ a b Setton, Kenneth Meyer (1984). The Papacy and the Levant, 1204–1571: The Sixteenth Century. IV. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. pp. 921–922. ISBN 0-87169-162-0. 
  9. ^ Lisac, Josip (December 22, 2001). "Svestranik iz Šibenika" (in Croatian) (PDF). Vjesnik. http://www.vjesnik.hr/pdf/2001%5C12%5C22%5C18A18.PDF. Retrieved 2009-08-19.