Astronomers Theologians and Vagabonds – The Cultural Circle of Bishop John Vitez, a 15th century Central European Humanist
Lecture by Tomislav Matić, Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow
Wednesday, May 10, 12 p.m.
UCLA Center for European and Russian Studies
The CMRS Center for Early Global Studies in co-sponsorship with UCLA Center for European and Russian Studies, UCLA Department of European Languages & Transcultural Studies, and UCLA Department of Slavic, East European & Eurasian Languages & Cultures invite you to an in-person lecture Astronomers, Theologians and Vagabonds – The Cultural Circle of Bishop John Vitez, a 15th Century Central European Humanist by Tomislav Matić, Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow. The event will take place in Royce Hall 236 on Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 12pm.
Abstract
In most of the older studies of the Renaissance, Eastern Central Europe was a “dark area” about which very little was said. We have since come a long way in understanding 15th-century culture in Hungary, Slavonia and Croatia. A thriving Renaissance movement was spreading, and its focal point was Bishop John Vitez, a generous patron of the arts and a scholar himself. This native of Slavonia and son of Croatian-speaking petty nobles brought together an international circle of artists and scholars, who would meet at his court in Oradea in today’s Romania and, later, in Esztergom in today’s Hungary. His cultural network spread as far as Rome, Florence, Padua, Ferrara, Nuremberg, and Cracow, and many contemporary Italian, Polish, and German dignitaries were his friends who exchanged books with him. The keystone of Vitez’s efforts was Vienna with its advanced university, where Vitez himself had studied. With the help of Viennese scholars, Vitez founded a university in Bratislava, which aimed to become one of the focal points of astronomic and theological studies east of the Danube. This lecture will discuss the development, composition, and achievements of Vitez’s cultural circle, in order to present this exceptional individual and his efforts to spread the culture of the Renaissance, but also to show that Eastern Central Europe was a participant in broader European cultural movements as early as the 15th century.
Speaker
Tomislav Matić, is a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow who obtained his Ph. D. in medieval history from the University of Zagreb in 2017. Since 2022, he holds the position of research associate at the Croatian Institute for History. Previously he taught at the Catholic University of Croatia (2012-2022). His work has been supported by several institutions, including the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Fulbright Program. He participated in several research projects, including one at the University of Oxford. Among his works are two popular-scientific books, a number of research papers and a series of popular-scientific articles. His newest monograph is Bishop John Vitez and Early Renaissance Central Europe – A Humanist Kingmaker.
Venue
Royce 236
10745 Dickson Plaza
Los Angeles, 90095
Izvori:
https://hr-hr.facebook.com/HIP.Zagreb/
https://goarts.ucla.edu/events/astronomers-theologians-and-vagabonds