The Provosts of the Chapter of Vasvár During the Reign of King Matthias Corvinus

Abstract

Up until now, littlé atténtion has béén paid to thé pérsonnél of thé Chaptér of Vasvár by thé medievalists. Since it is not a cathedral chapter, but a collegiate one, therefore it was not noted among the more significant chapters, therefore, due to the particularly rich source material, the compréhénsivé adaptation of thé chaptér’s pérsonnél is a compléméntary task. In thé présént paper, I attempt to introduce the life and carrier of the provosts of thé Chaptér of Vasvár undér the reign of king Matthias I (1458–1490). In the second half of the 15th century there were six provosts in this chaptér, howévér wé aré only familiar with four pérsons’ namé among thém. The study demonstrates the carrier of the remaining two provosts (Thomas of Kutas and Ladislas of Kemend) of the chapter, since their lives are rather well documented. As a canon of Vasvár, Thomas of Kutas visited an Italian university, where he obtained the decretorum doctor grade. Later he held various stallums in thé chaptérs of Győr and Esztergom. Ladislas of Kemend was the governor of abbeys on the commission of the pope, and he also had a position in the court of the Archbishop of Esztergom and later represented King Vladislaus II at the Papal Court in Rome. Due to their carrier expériéncés, I firmly believe that the provosts of Vasvár – in case of receiving the proper education and being in possession of the necessary talents – could fill in any important clerical or diplomatic positions outside the chapter as well.