Róma és Bécs között. Rudnay Sándor esztergomi érsek stratégiája az 1822. évi magyar nemzeti zsinat sikere érdekében
Between Rome and Vienna. The Strategy of Archbishop Sándor Rudnay of Esztergom in Order to Secure the Success of the Hungarian National Synod in 1822

Summary/Abstract: The study presents the strategies which were applied by the leaders of the Hungarian church, and especially primate Sándor Rudnay, in order to secure the success and liberty of the Hungarian national synod (1822) against the Josephinist administration of Vienna. In analyzing the major conflicts between the views of the ecclesiastical and governmental authorities, it points out that Rudnay showed himself ready to compromise in matters that seemed less important for the church, subordinating such issues to his overall aim of securing the acceptance of decisions which served the interests of the church and obtaining the canonically regular proclamations of the synod’s results. In the solution of cases of special importance in favor of the church, Rudnay also relied on the piety and benevolence of king Francis I. The study comes to the conclusion that this political strategy proved successful only as long as Rudnay had an effective ally, committed to the case of the synod, in the person of state-councilor Martin Lorenz. As soon as the councilor had grasped the core of the primate’s strategy, however – namely that Rudnay’s aim was not the synodal ratification of the Josephinist ideas of ecclesiastical policy, but to obtain the approval of Rome to decrees accepted in the spirit of the church, and tried to accomplish this aim by turning directly to the ruler above the heads of the councilors –, the strategy failed immediately, for Lorenz turned decisively against the Hungarian primate and the synod, and put his influence to work to thwart Rudnay’s plans.

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