Pannonius, Janus

(1434-1472)

   The outstanding figure of Renais-sance humanism in Hungary and one of the major neo-Latin poets of the Renaissance. His uncle, a prominent bishop, sent him to study at Ferrara in the school of the famous schoolmaster Guarino Guarini. His brilliance at school impressed his teachers and fellow students, and his poem Silva Panegyrica is an important description of the in-ternational scope of Guarino's school. From Ferrara he moved to Padua to study law and theology. After these studies, in 1458 he vis-ited Rome and then returned to Hungary, where he took up the ad-ministrative career that his uncle had planned for him. He became an adviser to King Matthias Corvinus and was made bishop of Pécs. Pannonius' poems from this period show that he felt isolated in his remote and barbarous homeland and longed for Italy. In 1465 he did return to Italy on an embassy, meeting Marsilio Ficino and Ves-pasiano da Bisticci. He became disillusioned with the policies of King Matthias in response to Ottoman expansion and together with his uncle joined a conspiracy to overthrow the ruler. The plot was dis-covered, and Pannonius fled to Italy for safety but got only as far as Zagreb, where he died of pneumonia.