Várdai Ferenc pályája az erdélyi püspöki szék elfoglalásáig
The Career of Ferenc Várdai before Becoming Bishop of Transylvania (A Prosopographic Case Study with an Archontology)

Summary/Abstract: In the present paper, based on a collection of archontological and prosopographic data, the author reconstructs Aladár Ferenc Várdaiʼs ecclesiastical and secular career leading to his position of bishop of Transylvania. It is little known that the first step of his ecclesiastical career was not the position of treasurer canon (custos) of the chapter of Székesfehérvár. As a first step, Várdai was awarded the income from the abbacy of Dombó (1495–1500), then, enjoying the support of the archbishop of Esztergom, Tamás Bakóc, he was elevated to the position of archdeacon of Komárom (1498–1512) in the cathedral chapter of Esztergom. Only later, in the spring of 1500, was he appointed treasurer canon of the chapter of Székesfehérvár, which position he held until 1508. In the spring of 1507, Várdai was appointed royal secretary and held the office for two years, until receiving the positions of bishop of Vác and royal treasurer (1509). He served as royal treasurer for only one year. In the summer of 1513, after having come to an agreement with Palatine Imre Perényi, father of the earlier bishop of Vác, the underage Ferenc Perényi, Várdai exchanged his bishopric to the title of bishop of Transylvania, which he kept until his death in October 1524. The earlier literature attributed the provostry of Hájszentlőrinc to Várdai, which has to be corrected in the light of the findings of the present paper: this offi ce was held in 1507–1508 by another royal secretary, Ferenc Szeremlényi (provost of Transylvania from 1508).

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