Antun Vrančić

Antun Vrančić or Antonio Veranzio (May 29, 1504 – June 15, 1573) was a Croatian prelate, writer, diplomat and Archbishop of Esztergom of the 16th century. Antun Vrančić was from Dalmatian town of Šibenik (modern Croatia), then part of the Republic of Venice. Vrančić is also known under his Latinized name Antonius Verantius, while Hungarian documents since the 19th century refer to him as Verancsics Antal.

Early years

Vrančić was born and raised in Šibenik, city in Dalmatia in the former Republic of Venice. Most historians accept a hypothesis that the Vrančić family was one of the Bosnian noble families that had moved to Šibenik in the era of Ottoman military incursions. Vrančić's uncle Ivan Statilić and his other relative, Croatian viceroy Petar Berislavić, took care of his education. After studies at Padua, Vienna and Kraków, Vrančić entered diplomatic service, aged only 26. He spent 20 years as a diplomat at János Szapolyai's court in Erdély.

He was bishop of Eger (July 17, 1560 – September 25, 1570) and archbishop of Esztergom (17 Oct 1569 - 15 Jun 1573).

Influences and death

Antun Vrančić was in touch with German philosopher, theologian and reformer Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560); and with Nikola Šubić Zrinski (1508–1566), Croatian ban, poet, statesman and soldier. In Viaggio in Dalmazia (1774), Alberto Fortis noted that Vrančić's descendants still kept a letter to Vrančić from Dutch philosopher, humanist and writer Erasmus (1465–1536), but no other evidence of correspondence between the two exists today, and modern scholars find it unlikely.

After the Battle of Szigetvár, as one of Maximilian's ambasadors, Antun has arrived in Istanbul on 26 August 1567. After five months negotiations with Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and Selim II, agreement had been reached by 17 February, and the Treaty of Adrianople was signed on 21 February 1568, ending the war between the Austrian and Ottoman empires.

He died in Prešov, Kingdom of Hungary, just days after having learned that the Pope appointed him cardinal. Following his own wish, Vrančić is buried in Saint Nicholas church in Trnava, Slovakia.

After Antun's death, his nephew Faust, who was a well known humanist, linguist and lexicographer of the Renaissance, took over writings from his estate. Two years later, in 1575, he wrote Life of Antun Vrančić, a biography of his uncle, but did not manage to have it published.

Antun Vrančić high school in Vrančić's native Šibenik has been named after him since 1991, while a street in the old town centre also bears his name.