Today I am going to cheat a tiny bit. While we discussed the Illuminated Chronicle last week, you might have noticed that I did not talk much about the man who wrote it. There were a few small reasons, most prominent amongst them is that I wanted to keep focus on the work itself. You see, the Illuminated Chronicle is actually a copy of the work that today’s protagonist likely put together – an unfinished work, by all accounts.
Márk of Kalt was born into the lower nobility in the county of Veszprém, and would not be the first of his family to be pushed towards a career in the church. As a Fransiscan friar, he began to accumulate a significant political career, alongside his ecclesiastic one, as he became the court priest for the Queen of Hungary, Erzsébet – or Elżbieta in her native tongue – of Poland. It was this service which earned him the estate of Kált in his native Veszprém county. He advanced in rank until he would become the guardian – őrkanonok – of Fehérvár, a prestigious position within a very important chapter, both within the Church hierarchy and relating to the royal power. He began work on his chronicle while he was still advancing in the Church hierarchy, and either died or retired before he could finish it, as the work ends somewhat abruptly.
Or did he?
There are multiple sources questioning the neat little career I just described above. The reality of the matter is, Márk of Kált is only identified as the writer of the Illuminated Chronicle’s text in the 16th century, a solid 200 years following the Illuminated Chronicle. Given that we only know his first name for sure, and Márk being a somewhat common name amongst priests in Hungary in this time, we cannot be certain he held all these titles in this order. Especially as the chronology set up by other researchers is full of contradictions.
I separated this little biography to illustrate an issue that researchers into Hungary’s medieval past face: the uncertainty. As new information becomes available, it often does not help clean up the questions, but rather, gives birth to many new ones. It’s a fascinating dichotomy, that many people much smarter than myself had to learn to navigate. It is due to their expertise that I can bring you this show, and for that, I am eternally grateful.