Everything about Nicolaus Olahus totally explained
Nicolaus Olahus (
Latin for
Nicholas, the Vlach;
Hungarian:
Oláh Miklós;
Romanian:
Nicolae Olahus;
January 10 1493,
Sibiu-
January 15 1568,
Trnava/Nagyszombat) was the
Archbishop of Gran (
Esztergom),
Primate of
Hungary, and a distinguished
Roman Catholic prelate.
Early life
His father, Stephen (István), a brother-in-law of
John Hunyadi, was of
Romanian descent; his mother was
Barbara Huszár (also known as
Csaszar).
His autobiographical notes and correspondence throw light on his life. After having studied at the
Chapter School of
Nagyvárad (now officially Oradea) from
1505 to
1512, he became a
page at the court of
Ladislaus II, but shortly afterwards chose an ecclesiastical career, and was ordained a priest in
1516 or
1518.
While acting as secretary to
Georg Szatmáry, Bishop of
Pécs, he was appointed a
canon of that chapter, later of Esztergom, and
1522 became
Archdeacon of
Komorn. In
1526 he was made secretary to King
Louis II; but was transferred to the service of
Mary of Habsburg. After the
battle of Mohács, Olahus attached himself to the party of King
Ferdinand I, but retained his position with the queen-
dowager.
High office
In
1527 he was appointed
Custos or head of the Chapter of
Székesfehérvár, and accompanied the queen-dowager in
1530 to the
Imperial Diet at
Augsburg. When in
1531 she became
Governor of the
Netherlands, he went with her to what is today
Belgium, where he remained (with a brief interruption in
1539) until his return to Hungary in
1542. In the following year he was made Royal
Chancellor and
Bishop of Agram (
Zagreb) by King Ferdinand.
In
1548 he became Bishop of
Eger, and in
1553 Archbishop of Gran. As such, he crowned
Maximilian King of Hungary, and performed the solemn obsequies (
1563) over Ferdinand I. As Archbishop of Gran, Olahus' first care was to put order into the finances and property of the archdiocese. He enforced yet again the
Jus Piseti, for example the right of supervision over the
mint at
Kremnica (Körmöczbánya), for which surveillance the archdiocese enjoyed a large revenue. At his own expense, he redeemed the
hypothecated provostship of
Turiec (Turócz), also the encumbered possessions of the Diocese of
Nitra. As Archbishop of Gran, Olahus exercised a supervision over the Diocese of
Eger, and (with the consent of the
Holy See) administered the Archdiocese of
Kalocsa, vacant for 20 years. After the capture of Gran by the
Ottomans, the new archiepiscopal residence was moved to either Nagyszombat or
Bratislava (Pressburg).
Activities
Olahus was particularly active in the
Counter-Reformation; even before his elevation to the Archbishopric of Gran, he'd been a very zealous opponent of the new
Protestant teachings. As Primate of Hungary he threw himself with renewed energy into the great conflict, aiming especially at the purity of Catholic Faith, the restoration of ecclesiastical discipline, the reformation of the
clergy, and the establishment of new schools. The mountain cities of
Upper Hungary, in which the doctrines of the
Reformation had made considerable progress, attracted his particular attention.
He organized a visitation of the archdiocese, which he in great part conducted in person, besides convoking, with a similar intention, a number of diocesan
synods. The first of these synods was held in
1560 at Nagyszombat; during its closing session he promulgated a code of dogmatic and moral instructions, intended for the clergy, published during that and the following year. In
1561 a provincial synod was held, likewise at Nagyszombat, to discuss the participation of the bishops of Hungary in the
Council of Trent, which had just re-convened. While it isn't certain whether Olahus took part in the Council, or if he promulgated in Hungary its decrees of
1562 and
1564, it's known that he followed its deliberations with close attention and put in practice some of its decisions.
In 1563 Olahus submitted to the council a lengthy
memorial, in which he urged the importance of dealing with the critical situation of the Hungarian Church and describing in strong language the efforts he'd made to overcome the demoralization that had seized on the clergy. It was particularly through school reform and the proper instruction of youth that he hoped to offset the progress of the Reformation. He restored the
Cathedral school at Gran, which had fallen into decay when the city had been captured by the Turks; he transferred it, however, to his archiepiscopal city of Nagyszombat and confided it to the
Jesuits, whom he invited to Hungary in 1561, and who, through their preaching and spiritual
ministry, profoundly influenced the religious life of the nation.
Among the publications initiated by Olahus were the
Breviarium Ecclesiæ Strigoniensis (
1558), and the
Ordo et Ritus Ecclesiæ Strigoniensis (1560). The revival of the custom of ringing the
Angelus was due to him. As chancellor and confidant of Ferdinand I, Olahus possessed much political influence, which he exercised in the special interest of the Catholic religion. In 1562 he acted as Regent. He was a diligent writer.
Writings
- Hungaria et Attila
- Nicolai Olahi metropolitae Strigoniensis Hungaria et Attila sive de originibus gentis regni Hungariae [...] emondato coniumctim editi. Edited, annotated and republished by Adam F. Kollár. Vienna: 1763.
- Genesis filiorum Regis Ferdinandi
- Ephemerides
- Brevis descriptio vitæ Benedicti Zerchsky
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