The Grand Commander of the Sovereign Order of Malta at the National Széchényi Library

 

His Excellency Fra’ Emmanuel Rousseau, Grand Commander of the Sovereign Order of Malta, visited the National Széchényi Library on 9 September. During his visit, he had the opportunity to view one of the most precious linguistic treasures of the national library, the Pray Codex.

Fra’ Emmanuel Rousseau was accompanied by János Wettstein, Archivist of the Association of Hungarian Knights of Malta. The guests were welcomed on behalf of the National Széchényi Library by Dr. Gergely Bokodi-Oláh, Head of Department at the Department of Research and Special Collections, and Sarolt Bognár, International Relations Officer.

 

As a highlight of the professional programme, Anna Boreczky, a member of the HUN-REN–National Széchényi Library Fragmenta et Codices Research Group, presented the guests with the Pray Codex, dating from the late 12th century, it is one of the National Széchényi Library’s most significant medieval manuscripts.

The codex preserves the Funeral Sermon and Prayer (Halotti beszéd és könyörgés), recorded around 1195 and the earliest surviving continuous text in the Hungarian language. The guests thus had the opportunity to view this exceptionally important treasure of Hungarian linguistic and cultural history in the original.

The visit was also a particularly special meeting from a professional perspective: Fra’ Emmanuel Rousseau is trained as an archivist and librarian and previously served as curator of the archives and library of the Grand Master’s Palace of the Sovereign Order of Malta for more than a decade.