PÁZMÁNY, PÉTER

Cardinal, archbishop of Esztergom, often called Hungary's second apostle because of his leadership of the counter reformation; b. Nagyvárad, Oct. 4, 1570; d. Pozsony (now Bratislava, Slovakia), March 19, 1637. He was born of a noble Protestant family, but his Catholic stepmother and the first Hungarian Jesuit, István szÁntÓ, brought him into the Catholic Church when he was 13. At the age of 17 he entered the Society of Jesus (jesuits) at Kolozsvár (Transylvania) and he was an outstanding student at the universities of Cracow, Vienna, and Rome. He taught philosophy and theology at the University of Graz, Austria (1597–1607), and then at the request of Hungary's primate, Cardinal Francis Forgách, he returned to his homeland. As the primate's counselor, he became the chief promoter of Catholic restoration. Pázmány wrote about 40 books in both Latin and Hungarian, of which As Isteni Igazságra Vezérlő Kaulauz (1613, "A Guide to the Divine Truth," since 1637 known as Hodoegus ) is the most important; all his works are apologetic and polemical. His translation of Kempis's imitation of christ and his sermons, characterized by a matchless vigor of speech, led 30 noble families and whole communities to the Church. His masterly prose style set a standard unmatched for three centuries. In 1616, after Cardinal Forgách's death, King Matthias, with the approval of Pope Paul V, appointed Pázmány archbishop of Esztergom, and in 1629 Urban VIII made him a cardinal. He founded the Pazmaneum in Vienna (1623), for the education of the clergy, and the University of Nagyszombathely (1635), now the University of Budapest. In his political views, despite severe criticism, Pázmány was faithful to the Hapsburg kings, seeing them as the defenders of Christianity against the Turks.

Bibliography: Opera omnia: Series latina, 6 v. (Budapest 1894–1904); Ungarische Serie, 7 v. (Budapest 1894–1905); Epistolae collectae, 2 v. (Budapest 1910–11). j. kornis, Le Cardinal Pázmány, 1570–1637 (Paris 1937). s. sÍk, Pázmány (Budapest 1939). n. Öry, Doctrina Petri Cardinalis Pázmány de notis ecclesiae (Chieri 1952).

[o. j. egres]