Bulletin 2006 [antikvár]

"BLUE BLOOD, BLACK INK" ARISTOCRATIC BOOK COLLECTIONS 1500-1700 1 A selection from the libraries of the Frangepán-Zrínyi, Valvasor, Bánffy, Nádasdy, Batthyány, Esterházy, Pálffy, Thurzó-Illésházy and Révay families National Széchényi Library, 25 November 2006-31 March 2007 The over 150 rarities in the international Blue Blood, Blac\ Itif{ travelling exhibition - presented in the co-operation of five institutes in four countries, namely the Slovak National Library, the Croatian National and University Library, the Library of the Province of Burgenland, the Esterházy Private Foundation and the National Széchényi Library — introducés the (book) culture of aristocratie families living along the north-eastern borders of the Carpathian Basin in the late Middle Ages and early modern ümes. In addition to the development of ecclesiastic, aristocratie and school libraries, book collecting was growing also among private persons. This process was characteristic also of the aristocratie libraries in the Carpathian Basin. Over the next century, reading became a natural part of everyday life. The Zrínyi, Valvasor, Bánffy, Nádasdy, Batthyány, Esterházy, Pállfy, Thurzó, Illésházy and Révay families living in present-day Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Croatia were mostly converted to Protestant faith in the 16^ century. However, due to effective Counter-reforma-tion efforts, by the early- 17th century they were mosdy recatholicised. In the lő^1 century, a period full of reli-gious polemics, and in the 17 century, which was emerg-ing with new spiritual genres, the primary political profile of the Carpathian Basin was determined by the Turkish occupation. The organisational and cultural roles of the no longer existing royal court were taken over by noble families, who acted as sponsors of arts, as well as defend-ers of national borders. Organisbmg religious life and supporting printing sites Owing to their network of contacts and their education, aristocratie families strengthened the tolerant tone of western Hungárián religious debates, and had an important role in keeping religious changes from drifting into extreme directions. In the Batthyány court, the Protestant Robert Estienne's religiously multicoloured prints were well known. Ferenc Révay (1489-1553) voiced his concerns about Luthers teachings, while Luther himself wrote him a letter warning against Calvinist ideas. Gáspár Illésházy (1593-1648) and György Thurzó (1567-?) were significant patrons of the Evangelical Church. The latter had strong ties to the University of Wittenberg, where his son later became rector. Despite his religious commitment, he was loyal to the House of Habsburg and enjoyed the trust of both Rudolph II and Matthias II. The Pálffys established monasteries and schools and sup-ported students. Prebend of Pozsony and Esztergom, András Monoszlai, dedicated his De cultu imaginum to the Turk-defeating Lord Lieutenant Miklós Pálffy (1552-1600), whose son Palatine Pál Pálffy (1590-1653) was a pillar of the Catholic faith, to whom students at the Szepeshely Jesuit college dedicated school dramas. He himself was the founder of a Franciscan monastery at Malacka, and after his death his widow established Piarist monastic quarters and a church at Privigye in present-day Slovakia. Anna Katalin Frangepán (1625-1673), Kristóf s sister and Péter Znnyi's wife supported writers using the Croatian Kajkavian dialect, while she was the author of the prayer book Putni tovarus [Fellow-traveller] (Venice, 1661.). Aristocratie courts also served as centres of book printing, an important element of the educational infrastructure. Rudolf Hoffhalter's workshop found refuge in Miklós Bánffy's Alsólendva estate, and that is where three of the court priest György Kultsár's pieces were published. The costs of printing János Sylvester's New Testament (1541) were fiilly covered by Tamás Nádasdy. Ferenc Nádasdy was very active in the religious debates of his day: his printed publications shed light on Helvetian-Lutheran and Protestant-Catholic polemics. György Thurzó himself also sponsored Lutheran printing houses. Pál Esterházy's (1635-1713) library housed several important books related to the cult of the Virgin Mary, which he backed and supported. Humanism, Renaissance courts and peregrination Aristocratie courts fiinctioned also as cultural centres. Besides aristocratie families, those noblemen's children too who served aristocrats had the opportunity to use the