Miklós Oláh (1493-1568)

Miklós Oláh 1
Funerary monument of Miklós Oláh
He was a Hungarian humanist from the Havasalföld, the Bishop of Eger, the Archbishop of Esztergom and royal governor. After the defeat at Mohács he accompanied Queen Maria to the German Plain, where he got acquainted with the best-known humanists of Europe, such as Erasmus. He wrote his major works - Hungaria and Athila - then, they were parts of a huge historic work, which was never finished. He compiled his book of letters, which contains several epistles to Erasmus, and he composed his Latin and Greek poems at that time, too - they were very popular among humanists. He was a collector of artistic works and a supporter of arts. He returned home in 1542, as he was homesick. He rose to the highest ecclesiastic ranks at home, and he started to reorganise the institutions of the disarranged Catholic church. He put a great emphasis on the development of humanist education. In 1561 he handed over the reformed Nagyszombat school to the Jesuits, who had little influence in the country at that time, and they were forced to leave the school soon.

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