György Pray was a Hungarian Jesuit Abbot, canon, librarian of the University library of Buda

Buda

For detailed information see: History of Buda CastleBuda is the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest on the west bank of the Danube. The name Buda takes its name from the name of Bleda the Hun ruler, whose name is also Buda in Hungarian.Buda comprises about one-third of Budapest's...

 and important historian.

Biography

He was born at Ersekujvár (Nové Zámky

Nové Zámky

Nové Zámky is a town in southwestern Slovakia.-Geography:The town is located on the Danubian Lowland, on the Nitra River, at an altitude of 119 metres. It is located around 100 km from Bratislava and around 25 km from the Hungarian border. It is a road and railway hub of southern...

) on 11 September 1723 in a family which came from the Pustertal

Pustertal

The Puster Valley is a valley in the Alps that runs in an east-west direction between Lienz in Tyrol, Austria and Mühlbach near Brixen in South Tyrol, Italy...

 in the County of Tyrol

County of Tyrol

The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...

. He studied in Pressburg (present day Bratislava

Bratislava

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...

), entered the Society of Jesus

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

 in 1745, spent two years in the Jesuit college (St. Ann's) in the Austrian imperial capital Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 and completed his higher studies at Nagyszombat (Trnava

Trnava

Trnava is a city in western Slovakia, 47 km to the north-east of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a kraj and of an okres . It was the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishopric . The city has a historic center...

).

He taught at Nagyvarád (Oradea

Oradea

Oradea is the capital city of Bihor County, in the Crișana region of north-western Romania. The city has a population of 204,477, according to the 2009 estimates. The wider Oradea metropolitan area has a total population of 245,832.-Geography:...

), Trencsén (Trenčín

Trencín

Trenčín is a city in western Slovakia of the central Váh River valley near the Czech border, around from Bratislava. It has a population of more than 56,000, which makes it the ninth largest municipality of the country and is the seat of the Trenčín Region and the Trenčín District...

), Nagyszombat and Pressburg. In 1754 he was ordained priest and continued teaching, now in Rozsnyó (Rožňava

Rožnava

Rožňava is a town in Slovakia, approximately 71 km by road from Košice in the Košice Region, and has a population of 19,120.The town is an economic and tourist center of the Gemer. Rožňava is now a popular tourist attraction with a beautiful historic town centre. The town is an episcopal seat...

) and in the Theresianum at Vienna, where he was professor of political science, and at the same time tutor

Tutor

A tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...

 to the princesses of Salm

Salm

-Rivers:* Salm , in Germany, tributary to the river Moselle* Salm , in Belgium, tributary to the river Amblève-Places:*Salm , a historic principality with territories in present Germany, Belgium and France*partitions of the state...

. He was professor in Györ

Gyor

-Climate:-Main sights:The ancient core of the city is Káptalan Hill at the confluence of three rivers: the Danube, Rába and Rábca. Püspökvár, the residence of Győr’s bishops can be easily recognised by its incomplete tower. Győr’s oldest buildings are the 13th-century dwelling tower and the...

 (1758), Nagyszombat (1759) and Buda (1760), where he lectured, among other subjects, on moral theology

Moral theology

Moral theology is a systematic theological treatment of Christian ethics. It is usually taught on Divinity faculties as a part of the basic curriculum.- External links :*...

.

At the suppression of the Jesuits

Suppression of the Jesuits

The Suppression of the Jesuits in the Portuguese Empire, France, the Two Sicilies, Parma and the Spanish Empire by 1767 was a result of a series of political moves rather than a theological controversy. By the brief Dominus ac Redemptor Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society of Jesus...

 in 1773, he went to the Archdiocese of Gran and Empress Maria Theresa appointed him imperial historiographer, with a yearly income of 400 florins. When the University of Nagy-Szombat was transferred to Buda in 1777, Pray was given charge of the library; he resigned this position in 1780, but resumed it in 1784. During this year he surrendered his manuscripts and collection of documents to the university library for a life annuity of 400 florins. He became canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 in Nagyvarád (Oradea) in 1790, and was sent by the chapter

Chapter (religion)

Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches....

 as its representative to the Hungarian Diet. Later he became Abbot of Tormowa. He died in Pest on 23 September 1801.

Works

His literary activity embraced the history of Hungary, especially the early centuries, the history of the Catholic Church in Hungary, and editing the sources of Hungarian history.

He was the first to draw attention to the oldest coherent text in the Hungarian language, Funeral Sermon and Prayer

Funeral Sermon and Prayer

The Funeral Sermon and Prayer is the oldest known and surviving contiguous Hungarian text, written by one scribal hand in the Latin script and dating to 1192-1195...

 (Latin title "Oratio funebris", meaning 'funeral oration'), dating probably from 1199, in a manuscript which was called after him the Pray Codex

Pray Codex

The Codex Pray, Pray Codex or The Hungarian Pray Manuscript is a collection of medieval manuscripts. In 1813 it was named after György Pray, who discovered it in 1770. It is the first known example of continuous prose text in Hungarian. The Codex is kept in the National Széchényi Library of...

.

Among his works may be mentioned

• "Annales veteres Hunnorum Avarorum et Hungarorum, 210 ad 997" (Vienna, 1761)
• "Annales regum Hungariæ, 997-1564" (5 volumes, Vienna, 1763–70)
• "Vita S. Elizabethæ" (Vienna, 1770)
• "Specimen Hierarchiæ Hungariæ" (2 volumes, Presburg, 1776-9).

Sources