Hiding Patrons or Lords without Patronage? Additions to the Patronage Activity of the Presidents of the Hungarian Chamber with an Outlook on the Habsburg Monarchy

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In the early 16 century Ferdinand Habsburg I implemented a huge financial reform in his lands: the old treasury was turned to a modern chamber system. After 1526, Ferdinand became the king of the Czech lands and a year later the king of Hungary. After his coronation he organised the same financial system in both of these new lands. The new Chambers institutions created new career opportunities for the nobility in the Habsburg states under the rule of Ferdinand I. th The reforms of the emperor/king coincided with the beginning of the changing of the nobility in the early 16th century. During the 1617th century many noble families, who later played an important role in the history of the Hungarian Kingdom, succeeded in ascending and clinging to the aristocracy. One of them was the Zichy family which, thanks to István Zichy (1616–1693), managed to incorporate themselves into the aristocracy by the 1650s. Although research on István Zichy is still in its infancy, it is slowly becoming clearer what role he played in the Hungarian political landscape during the 17th century. Pro&Contra 2 (2021) 5–29. 1 2 In my current brief review, I will proceed to detail the life and the correspondence of István Zichy, the president of the Hungarian Chamber (1655–1672), to demonstrate that as chamber president, what kind of patronage did he provide. My main source of information is his correspondence, but I also employ other sources to get a more complete picture. Where it is possible, I have tried to draw a parallel between the work of the protagonist of my article and the activities of the other secular chamber presidents of the 17th century.