Oldal 20 [20]
OCR
Libraries were formed by and by in the centres of the German principalities both in the southern and northern territories egually, but bibliophilia only spread with printing. Ihe German prince-electors developed large court collections with the assistance of the Reformation and its emerging institutions (churches, schools, printing-houses, etc.) or precisely resisting it with the support of the Catholic side." As can be seen, the Buda library of Matthias differed in many respects from the contemporary European examples. Only the papal library could be compared to it in size. Since we do not know the exact size of the Bibliotheca Corvina, it is usually stated that Matthias’s library was the second largest collection in the 15th century. Matthias did not inherit a notable number of books from his parents or from his precessedors, while the papal library, despite its turbulent history, has had a continuous history behind it from the centuries of early Christianity. Thus, the Hunyadi scion’s achievement in developing the collections was by all means outstanding. Aside from the size of the library, it is much more important what the linguistic and thematic composition of the Buda collection was. This question leads us to the problem with the recognition of the role of the Bibliotheca Corvina, and more so of the doubt about whether the books were used by Matthias himself or not. It is clear that on the shelves of the contemporary royal libraries mainly vernacular literature could be found. Only one reason for this was that the French, Italian, Catalan, Spanish, English, or even Flemish literature was present in greater numbers in the 15th century kingdoms than in the Kingdom of Hungary. This can also be said about the smaller German principality libraries, about the proportion of German language histories or chivalry epics (Rittersgeschichte) compared to Latin works. This phenomenon is closely related to the level of embourgeoisement of each country, or rather how much the education of the royal court was linked to a vernacular culture. The dominant role of the French language in Burgundy, in the Low Lands, or in England (after the Norman conquest) is evident. It is interesting that only the Spanish governors became aware of the value of Flemish medieval literature and Philip II as Spanish king bought codices which were to be thrown away for himself from the Northern (seceded) territories as well. Our understanding of the former Bibliotheca Corvina’s collection is not complete, but we possess key pieces of knowledge.“ It is indisputable that a state-ofthe-art bibliotheca was assembled in the Buda court. Besides the standard medieval works — encyclopaedias, works of Scholasticism, etc. — firstly the late antique Church Fathers’ writings were present, then the ancient authors, among them the newly explored and translated Greeks as well, later works in the original Greek language, in addition to contemporary humanist literature.” Taddeo Ugoleto, * Matthias’s librarian, requested Naldo Naldi, the Florentine poet, to write a poem In summary: Buzas L. 1976; FIEDLER-STICKLER-UNTERKIRCHNER 1980. A Csaponpı 1973; cf.: MıR6 2002. 2 Karsay 1991. 8 Cr. Arrö 1781. 18
