- Baranyai Decsi János
Baranyai is a Hungarian
Renaissance writer from the 16th century. He lived in theTransylvania n court ofBáthory Zsigmond.Life
He was born in the Hungarian
Decs in the county ofTolna in 1560. His family name was Csimor. He belonged to theCalvinist Church.He completed his studies in
Tolna ,Debrecen andKolozsvár . In 1587, he travelled abroad accompanying the young Hungarian aristocrat, Losonci Bánffy Ferenc. The pair studied inWittenberg , where Bánffy was elected as rector.In 1590, they moved to
Strasbourg . The family estate had been ruined by the Ottoman Turks in Hungary. In 1592, he moved toKolozsvár , where the Duke, Báthory Zsigmond /Sigismund Báthory , supported him. The following year, he moved toMarosvásárhely where he began working as a teacher, which he held until his death.He travelled a great deal, to
Gyulafehérvár , toKolozsvár , and once even toStrasbourg to be granted a higher degree.Works
*Hungarian translation of
Sallustius 'sCatilina ,Iugurtha published in 1609 [http://www.antikvarium.hu/ant/book.php?func=gyorsszerzo&tipus=tema&kezdet=1&darab=50&talalat=11&rendezes=Cim_AZ&temakorID=0&sszam=2&ID=193998]
*Hodoeporicon
*History of Hungary 1592-1598 [http://www.antikvarium.hu/ant/book.php?func=gyorsszerzo&tipus=tema&kezdet=1&darab=50&talalat=11&rendezes=Cim_AZ&temakorID=0&sszam=3&ID=138745]
*Poems in Latin and Greek
*Thesis on theHun nic-Scythia n alphabet
*Hungarian translation ofErasmus of Rotterdam 's proverb collection
*Essay on the Hungarian Law "Syntagma institutinonum iuris imperialis ac Ungarici" published 1593 inKolozsvár History of
Hungary 1592-1598Baranyai was close to the official documents of the
Transylvania n court, he mentions as informators Pethe Márton, Napragyi Demeter, Dersffi Ferenc, Thököly Sebestyén, Hommonai László, Czobor Miklós. He even interviewed the beg ofLippa Mohamed in the prison.His source for earlier periods is often
Antonio Bonfini . His relation to the Catholic duke was contradictory; on the one hand Baranyai needed the prince's support to finance his own work, but Baranyai often spoke out against what he perceived as the duke's crimes and impotence in military or political matters. He often quotes the facts without commentary.The work would copy
Antonio Bonfini in its structure, written in the form of the ten decades of Hungarian history but Baranyai only wrote the the tenth decade.First editions are of Kovachich Marton 1798 and of Toldy Ferenc in 1866.
Literature
Baranyi Decsi Janos magyar historiaja (1592-1598) Budapest 1981 Helikon translated from Latin by Kulcsar Peter [http://www.antikvarium.hu/ant/book.php?func=gyorsszerzo&tipus=tema&kezdet=1&darab=50&talalat=11&rendezes=Cim_AZ&temakorID=0&sszam=3&ID=138745]
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