Pécs Missal 1499 Facsimile Edition

The second edition of the Pécs Missal, printed in Venice on April 24, 1499, represents one of the most significant liturgical books produced for medieval Hungary. Commissioned by Bishop Zsigmond Ernuszt of Pécs and realized in the workshop of Johannes Emericus de Spira, the volume exemplifies both the devotional needs and the artistic aspirations of its time. Richly decorated parchment copies, alongside simpler paper editions, preserve a unique blend of local liturgical traditions and Renaissance humanist aesthetics.

Today, the surviving copies of this missal stand as rare witnesses to the religious culture of late fifteenth-century Pécs.

Historical Context

After the closure of Hungary’s first press in Buda (1473), the demand for liturgical texts continued to grow, particularly following King Matthias I’s 1477 decree mandating the production of missals and breviaries for Hungarian dioceses. In the absence of domestic printers, Buda’s booksellers turned to foreign workshops, commissioning works from German, Austrian, French, and Italian presses. Before the adoption of the unified Missale Romanum in the seventeenth century, each diocese relied on its own missals, which often reflected distinctive regional practices. The Diocese of Pécs thus joined other Hungarian sees in commissioning printed missals to safeguard and transmit its own liturgical traditions.

Commissioning and Printing

The second Missale secundum morem Alme Ecclesie Quinqueecclesiensis followed the earlier Basel edition of 1487. Its production in 1499 reflects both the limited circulation of the first edition and the diocese’s ongoing need for service books. The Venetian edition comprised 294 quarto-sized leaves and was issued through Johannes Paep, a Buda bookseller and patron of Spira’s press. While Paep’s role was central, Spira consistently omitted his name from the colophons of works printed for him, leaving modern scholars to reconstruct the history of the commission with care.

Material Features and Decoration

The missal was printed in two colors—black for the text and red for rubrics—and appeared both on paper and parchment. The parchment copies were lavishly illuminated: hand-painted initials, gilded frames, and delicate floral ornamentation enhanced the text at key sections. These decorations likely originated from a Buda workshop that drew inspiration from the celebrated Florentine artist Attavante degli Attavanti (1452–1525). In this way, the Pécs Missal reflects a fascinating intersection of Hungarian patronage and Italian Renaissance influence.

Surviving Copies

Four copies of the second edition survive today: three decorated parchment copies (housed in the National Széchényi Library, the Pannonhalma Archabbey Library, and the Diocese of Pécs) and one undecorated paper copy (also in the National Széchényi Library). The Pécs copy has a particularly notable history. Preserved locally until the Ottoman conquest of 1543, it disappeared for two centuries before resurfacing in Košice. In 1769, Bishop György Klimo successfully reclaimed it, incorporating it into the episcopal library of Pécs, where it remains today.

Liturgical and Cultural Significance

The value of the Pécs Missal lies not only in its craftsmanship but also in its preservation of distinctive regional practices. It records, for example, the celebration of the Holy Trinity in place of the octave of Pentecost and documents the veneration of Saint Livinus, bishop and martyr, within the diocese. It also includes the procession text instituted by Bishop Pál Széchy in the early fourteenth century. Such features make the missal a crucial source for understanding both the liturgy and the religious identity of late medieval Pécs.