Tamás Bakócz OP (, Erdőd,

Esztergom Esztergom (; ; or ; , known by Names of European cities in different languages: E–H#E, alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the righ ...

) was a Hungarian archbishop,

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

and statesman. He was a serious candidate in the 1513 papal conclave.

Life

Born in

Szatmár County Szatmár County ( ) was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary, situated south of the river Tisza. Most of its territory is now divided between Romania and Hungary, while a very small area ...

, Bakócz was the son of a wagoner and was adopted by his uncle, who trained him for the priesthood and whom he succeeded as rector of Tétel (1480). Through the generosity of his same brother Valentine, he was able to pursue a thorough course of studies first in the town of Szatmár-Németi, then in Cracow, Poland, and finally in the Italian cities of

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

and

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

. Schaefer, Francis. "Thomas Bakócz." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 20 August 2023 He returned to his native country about the year 1470, with the doctor's degree. Bakócz was introduced to the king about the year 1474. Shortly afterwards he became one of the secretaries of

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

, who made him bishop of

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

and a member of the royal council (1490). Under Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary (1490–1516) he became successively bishop of Eger, the richest of the Hungarian sees, archbishop of

(1497), cardinal (1500), and titular Latin Patriarch of Constantinople (1510). BakoczCimerFotoThalerTamas

From 1490 to his death in 1521 he was the leading statesman of Hungary and mainly responsible for foreign policy. It was solely through his efforts that Hungary did not accede to the league of Cambrai, was consistently friendly with

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, and formed a family compact with the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

. He was also the only Magyar prelate who seriously aspired to the papal throne. In 1513, on the death of Julius II, he went to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

for the express purpose of bringing about his own election as pope. He was received with more than princely pomp, and all but succeeded in his design, thanks to his extraordinary adroitness and the command of an almost unlimited bribing-fund. But Venice and the emperor played him false, and he failed. He returned to

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

, bringing with him the

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...

of Leo X proclaiming a fresh

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

against the Turks. But the crusade degenerated into a jacquerie which ravaged the whole kingdom, and much discredited Bakócz. He lost some of his influence at first after the death of Wladislaus, but continued to be the guiding spirit at court, till age and infirmity confined him almost entirely to his house in the last three years of his life. He left a fortune of many millions. He and his family are buried in a separate chapel of the Esztergom Basilica, the most precious artwork of the Hungarian Renaissance.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakocz, Tamas 1442 births 1521 deaths People from Satu Mare County Archbishops of Esztergom 15th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Hungary 16th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Hungary Hungarian politicians Latin Patriarchs of Constantinople Burials at Esztergom Basilica Bishops of Eger 16th-century Hungarian cardinals

Life

See also

References

Sources