Emerich Szerencsés (also known as Fortunatus; died August 1526) was deputy treasurer of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

and a Jewish convert to Christianity.

Life

He was born Jewish but had to convert when it became known that he had sex with a Christian woman. He was baptised by Ladislaus Szalkai, Archbishop of Grau, and took the baptismal name Emerich after his sponsor Emerich Perényi,

Palatine of Hungary The Palatine of Hungary ( hu, nádor or , german: Landespalatin, la, palatinus regni Hungariae) was the highest-ranking office in the Kingdom of Hungary from the beginning of the 11th century to 1848. Initially, Palatines were represe ...

. His wife and his sons Abraham and Ephraim remained practising Jews. After his conversion he was appointed deputy treasurer, using his position to send coded letters warning Hungarian Jews on imminent persecution, to secure the revocation of the expulsion of the Jews from Prague and to save a Jewish man and woman who had been condemned to death by fire. He also became a favourite of

Louis II of Hungary Louis II ( cs, Ludvík, hr, Ludovik , hu, Lajos, sk, Ľudovít; 1 July 1506 – 29 August 1526) was King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia from 1516 to 1526. He was killed during the Battle of Mohács fighting the Ottomans, whose victory led to ...

. When the Jewish community of

Ofen Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech language, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungary, Hungarian c ...

was accused of

ritual murder Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...

he convinced Louis to hand the accuser over to him. He gave a Jewish education to the children of another baptised Jew and gave to Jewish charities every Friday until his death. As a reward the rabbis of Ofen,

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

and

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

ordered that Szerencsés' sons Abraham and Ephraim should be called up to the Law by their father's name - usually the sons of baptised Jews had to be called up by their grandfather's names. This also recognised their view that, at heart, Szerencsés was still a Jew. Stephan Verböczi and other Hungarian nobles accused him of causing the country's financial problems and some members of the 1525 Diet moved for him to be burned at the stake. The accusations of gross negligence proved justified, since he had used state funds for private ends, as did many respected noblemen at the time. Louis II briefly imprisoned him and his home was attacked and looted by a mob led by the nobles' servants, though Szerencsés himself managed to escape. Another mob simultaneously stormed and looted the city's

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

. With the invasion threat from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

looming large, Szerencsés was restored to favour at the 1526 Diet but died later that year, with many Jews at his death-bed.

Sources

*http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14177-szerencses-fortunatus-emerich *http://www.geschichteinchronologie.com/eu/ungarn/EncJud_juden-in-Ungarn01-roemer-bis-1919-ENGL.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Szerencsés, Emerich category:Hungarian Jews category:1526 deaths Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism category:Kingdom of Hungary