Ransanus: Epitome rerum Hungaricarum
The manuscript is a decorated copy of Ransanus’s work made for the royal library. The core of the text was written in Buda in 1490. The title-page perfectly reflects the period of transition as while on the miniature we can see Matthias and Beatrice, the coat of arms on the bottom left is already of Vladislaus II. Ransanus took the uncompleted manuscript to Italy, and after his death, his nephew Johannes who belonged to the same religious order, found it in his legacy. Johannes added a new preface and in 1513, gifted the volume to Tamas Bakocz who was at that time in Rome on the papal election. That is why we can see the coat of arms of Bakocz on the title-page. The manuscript later became property of the Thurzo family, and palatin Gyorgy Thurzo had it bound in Pozsony before 1611. When his daughter Ilona married Gaspar Illeshazy, the manuscript became a treasure of the Illeshazy family. It cannot be ruled out that Samuel Litterati Nemes, a smart artwork trader who sometimes was not even afraid of forgery, contributed to that the book got out of that library between 1806 and 1832. What we know for certain is that Miklos Jankovich purchased the book from Litterati Nemes, and then it entered the national library together with Jankovich’s collection. (Edina Zsupán)
DATA SHEET
Shelfmark: Cod. Lat. 249.Country: Hungary
City: Budapest
Keeper location: National Széchényi Library
Author: Petrus Ransanus (Pietro Ranzano)
Content: Epitome rerum Hungaricarum
Writing medium: parchment
Number of sheets: 169 fol.
Sheet size: 247 × 163 mm
Place of writing: Buda
Date of writing: 1489/90
Illuminator: "first" heraldic painter, "second" heraldic painter
Place of illumination: Buda
Date of illumination: 1489/90
Crest: f. 1r: Cardinal's coat-of-arms of Tamás Bakócz; f. 17r: Hungarian and Bohemian royal coat-of-arms of King Ulászló II; "second" heraldic painter, Buda, 1490 - Cardinal's coat-of-arms of Tamás Bakócz
Possessor, provenience: Petrus Ransanus, Johannes de A., Tamás Bakócz, Péter Révay; Palatine György Thurzó (1611, comp. f. 1r); library of the Illésházy family in Dubnic; Miklós Jankovich
Binding: 16th-century binding, presumably from Pozsony (today's Bratislava) (Marianne Rozsondai)
Language of corvina: latin
Hungarian translation(s) of work(s) included in the corvina: A magyarok történetének rövid foglalata / Petrus Ransanus ; [ford., az utószót és a jegyzeteket írta Blazovich László és Sz. Galántai Erzsébet] ; [a Corvinus János c. részt ford. ... Kulcsár Péter]; Budapest : Osiris, 1999 ([Budapest] : Osiris Kft. ; Szeged : Szegedi Kossuth Ny.)