PETER PAZMANY. — Cardinal, theologian and controversialist, restorer of Catholicism in Hungary, born at Nagyvárad (Gran Varadino) on 4 Oct. 1570, died at Poszony (Presburg) on 19 March 1637.
Educated in Calvinist heresy by his father, vicegerent of Bihar, he abjured at the age of 13 (1584) in the Jesuit college at Kolozsvár under the influence of the first Hungarian Jesuit S. Szántó, and at 17 (1587) entered the Order at Cracow. After completing his philosophical studies at Vienna, he moved to the Collegio Romano for theology (1593). In 1597 he was sent to Graz as professor of philosophy; in 1601 he returned to Hungary as a preacher; two years later he went back to Graz as professor of theology for five years, becoming a skilled and unassailable polemicist through his study of Bellarmine’s works. In 1607 he was summoned by the cardinal archbishop of Strigonia as his counsellor and collaborator, opening the way for a broader and more effective campaign against the “Reformation.” He never gave his adversaries respite and became their terror, none daring to invite him to debate or accept his challenge. He complemented his spoken word with writings, publishing several works in classical Hungarian style. As early as 1603 he composed a Reply to the book by István Magyari, preacher at Sarvár, on the causes of Hungary’s decline, in which the latter blamed the “papists”; in 1604 he translated the Imitation of Christ into Hungarian; in 1605 he published Ten Demonstrations on the Falsehoods of Present-Day Science; in 1606 a book of prayers still in use today; in 1609 Five Letters to Péter Alvinczy. But the work that struck at the heart of heresy, demonstrating its scientific inconsistency, was the *Hodogus. Guide to Divine Truth* (15 vols., Presburg 1613), a collection of his polemical writings (about 40 works), the most splendid Hungarian apology for the clarity of its form and the effectiveness of its arguments.
Returning in 1616 from Rome, where he had been sent regarding the college at Nagy-Szombat (Tyrnau), he transferred to the Somascan Congregation without taking vows, this being at the Pope’s wish and with the assent of his superiors, so as to avoid his assumption of ecclesiastical dignity to which he had bound himself to renounce. He always considered himself a member of the Society of Jesus and maintained its way of life, viewing his transfer to the Somascans as a mere formality. He was immediately promoted (24 Nov. 1616) to archbishop of Strigonia and primate of Hungary, and in 1620 was created cardinal.
With his new dignity, he employed himself in consolidating and deepening, with energy and abundant means, the restoration of the Catholic faith. From 1629 he held an annual diocesan synod; during his episcopate he convened two national synods. The publication of the 1629 diocesan synod, to which he added fundamental dissertations on the privileges of his Church and the monastic orders, earned him the title of father of historical criticism in the Hungarian Church (cf. K. Péterfi, *Sacra concilia ecclesiastica... in regno Hungariae*, 2 vols., Vienna 1742). His zeal also extended to the foundation of institutions for youth and the clergy; besides generously supporting the Hungarian-German College in Rome, in 1624 he opened the Pazmaneum in Vienna, still flourishing; in 1631 the first permanent seminary, and in 1635 the University of Nagy-Szombat (Tyrnau), entrusting all three institutions to the Jesuits. The University initially had only the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy, but later grew to include faculties of law and medicine through the efforts of Empress Maria Theresa, who in 1777 transferred it to Buda; Joseph II moved it to Pest in 1783.
Pázmány served religion and country also through political influence, remaining faithful to the Habsburgs, whom he saw as the sole earthly bulwark of the Catholic faith, and neutralizing offers from the Sultan who promised the country’s autonomy in exchange for its possession. He was also sent to Rome (1632) by Emperor Ferdinand II to counter Richelieu’s influence and dissuade the King of France from allying with the Swedes. Though he did not achieve all his aims, he did secure from Urban VIII promises of aid for the Emperor (cf. A. Mednyánszky, *Legatio Romana*, Pest 1830). Moreover, the Habsburgs owe to him the consolidation and perhaps even the preservation of the Hungarian throne; for if he had not stemmed the Protestant advance in Hungary, wresting noble and powerful families from heresy, the dynasty could not have maintained its position there. It was said of him that, born in a Protestant Hungary, he died in a Catholic Hungary. The University of Budapest and the Association of Catholic Writers were dedicated to his name.
Stefano Markus-Celestino Testore