Pro salute anime . Holy Mass and salvation of the nobility in late medieval Hungary

FEDELES, Tamás. Pro salute anime. Holy Mass and salvation of the nobility in late medieval Hungary. The people of the Medieval era strived to ensure salvation for themselves, their ancestors and their descendants in any way their social and financial status permitted. One possible means to this end was available through Mass-endowments. The current study is based on an analysis of 85 Mass-endowments from 34 Hun-garian aristocratic families (1406 – 1531). Besides barons, family members—and

in the works of medieval theologians. In all likelihood, the good clerk took inspiration from the most famous medieval theological manual in the cathedral library, the Summa of St. Thomas Aquinas, in inscribing the above quotation. 2 In the 15 th century, it was common practice for believers to offer material goods to the church for sins committed. These offerings, known collectively as indulgence (pro remedio anime, pro salute anime, pro refrigerio anime), 3 were considered meritorious acts intended to reduce the time one's soul spent in purgatory. The disciples, including the magnates, sought to secure a way to salvation (via salutis) for themselves and their families through the Church and as such, according to the well-known "do ut des" principle, the nobility invested heavily in the foundation or support of ecclesiastical institutions, expecting clerics to offer Masses for them and their families in return in order to ensure their own memory as well as spiritual salvation. As Holy Mass was considered to have a particularly meritorious effect, there was an observable late medieval rise in the popularity of Mass foundations among the Hungarian lords. This study examines this phenomenon, one of the many manifestations of devotion of late medieval Hungarian aristocracy, the foundation of Masses.

The medieval Mass
Mass has been central to the life of Christian people since the foundation of the Church. 4 In addition to public worship (missa publica, missa generalis, missa maior), a new style emerged in the early Middle Ages when priests began to offer the sacrifice of Mass for a single person, a specific group, or a specific intention (missa specialis, missa votiva, missa privata), in exchange for certain donations. 5 Seeking to ensure their own remembrance and spiritual salvation, the nobility invested heavily in founding or supporting monasteries, churches, hospitals, chapels and altars, where clerics celebrated Masses for them and their families. The doctrine of the special benefits of Mass (utilitates, virtutes, fructus missae) formed the dogmatic basis for founding Masses. The benefits, or "fructi, " were acquired when priests offered the sacrifice for living or deceased persons, or for intentions set out in the foundation. 6 In the twilight of the Middle Ages, the real impact of the ideals and benefits of the Mass on the faithful was a common theme in sermons. 7 In one of his speeches, Pelbartus Temesvári listed the values conveyed by the Holy Mass in ten points. Among these we find "relief from the suffering of purgatory, " "escape from eternal damnation" and finally, of course, "the attainment of eternal life. " Pelbartus Temesvári's contemporary, Osvaldus Lasco, also a Franciscan, pointed out in one of his sermons that a Holy Mass founded during one's life for one's own spiritual salvation is much more effective than a Mass initiated by others after death. Believers then from all walks of life-more than ever before in the decades preceding the Reformation-made efforts to ensure that in their last hour, they had at least enough earthly goods to found a Mass. 8 Hardly any medieval wills exist in which the testator did not make at least one provision for funeral Masses or other liturgical act after death. 9 The importance of founding Masses in late medieval times is illustrated aptly in the example of Nicolas Rolin ( †1462), chancellor to Prince Philip the Good of Burgundy, whose name is widely known, especially through a panel painting by Jan van Eyck. 10 He first established three chaplaincies in the Our Lady of Autun Church (1426). In return for an annual stipend of sixty pounds, the chaplains were required to offer one Mass a day for the salvation of the chancellor and his ancestors buried in the church. In the cathedral of Autun, he ordered an anniversary Mass with a procession during Lent for his own and his deceased wife's salvation (1427). Two years later, he again founded an anniversary Mass in the same church in return for a donation of wine and bread to the clergy of the cathedral. Similar foundations were also made in the priory of Val-Saint-Benoît (1438) and in Chalon-sur-Saône. In the Celestine monastery of Avignon, Rolin and his son, who was by then bishop of Autun, founded a chapel where one of the monks celebrated Mass for them, the chancellor's deceased wife and their relatives every day (1446). In the parish church dedicated to Our Lady in the castle of Autun, he founded a co-chaplaincy and issued a statute for the collegiate church chosen as a burial place, regulating the order of the presentation of the Masses in detail (1450) lag Herder, 1958, p. 170;FRANZ 1963, pp. 38-44;MIHÁLYFI 1933, pp. 380-385;ANGENENDT 2013, pp. 451-452. 8 PÁSZTOR 2000 MEYER, Hans Bernhard.

Testaments and other sources
Surviving charters and diplomas provide the primary source base for the study of Mass foundations by the late medieval Hungarian aristocracy. Wills are the starting point, but these documents are not the only source of value for the present research. 12 Among the 69 diplomas examined, only 16 contain testaments (23%), since in the majority of cases, the diplomas contain information on alms and gifts of spiritual blessings. 13 Some of the charters issued by monastic orders, especially the Pauline generals, also commemorate the celebration of Masses for benefactors. 14 In the case of monks, works on the history of the order are also worth interrogating-specifically the compilations of Pauline Gregory Gyöngyösi 15 and Dominican Antonius Fabri from Segesvár deserve a mention. The latter has been preserved for posterity in, among other things, the text of the rich Mass-foundation of Nicholas Bethlen (1498 the citizens of Bratislava is outstanding in this respect, 20 detailing a number of Mass foundations among other things. 21 In addition to or in connection with pious donations, wealthier citizens also sought to ensure the salvation of themselves and their families by ordering Holy Masses. 22 Given the amount of urban sources-approximately 2000 civil testaments survive from the period before 1526 23 -it is not surprising that the devolution of this social stratum, or certain segments of it, has attracted the most attention of researchers. 24 Such interest is all the more understandable since copies of the documents containing wills are usually kept in a single volume (protocollum testamentorum), so collection does not create additional work for historians.
It goes without saying that the upper classes of society, including the nobility, sought to ensure a path to salvation for their ancestors and their descendants as well as themselves in accordance with their rank and financial means. One method was donations made for the presentation of a Holy Mass. Especially in the baronial families of the noble elite, efforts were made to prepare for the afterlife, which, in addition to personal faith and accepted social patterns and expectations, were mainly provided by appropriate existential circumstances. Research of Hungarian aristocratic Mass foundations is certainly not the most popular topic due to the difficulty of finding and collecting sources. The number of noble wills is significantly lower than the number of civil wills, largely due to the mentality of medieval noble society which preferred a verbal form of the will and the inheritance system of the time. The number of noble wills written before 1526 is estimated at around 100. 25 Even if this seems low, is undoubtedly well below the number of civil wills and understandably, the number of surviving nobility wills is even smaller. Indicatively, only 13 of the 50 wills of nobles and noblemen (26%) collected by András Kubinyi from the Jagello period can be attributed to the aristocracy. 26 breceni Egyetem Történelmi Intézet, 2011, pp. 195-196. 25 PT, p. 6. 26 KUBINYI 1999 which makes the process of collecting material rather time-consuming, and even the most persistent work is unlikely to be complete. Nevertheless, an analysis of the 85 Mass foundations examined for the present study allows for some nuance and polish to the picture drawn by previous research. 27

Clients of the Mass foundations
The period covered in this analysis extends from the beginning of the 15 th century to the first third of the 16 th century. Sixty-nine sources containing Mass foundations were identified in the course of continuing collection activity source on the subject of late medieval Hungarian aristocratic religiosity, the first of which dates from 1406 and the last from 1531. Dividing the period into shorter time segments, two decades stand out. The large number of foundations in the years 1451 -1460 was provided by John Marcali, who ordered Masses in no fewer than 16 different ecclesiastical institutions in his will. After that, the first decade of the 16 th century also saw a greater number. This is not supported by a cumulative provision similar to the previous one, but by three foundations each by Beatrice Frankopan and the Zápolya family. In conclusion, it is clear that throughout the period in question, orders by the nobility were typical and in light of the material analysed, it seems that there was an increasing trend in the years 1441 -1480 and as well from the beginning of the 16 th century onwards.
As regards to the families studied, the selection criterion was baronial rank. Those who can be identified as baronial dignitaries and their family members, mainly surviving widows and descendants, were included. In the 69 cases examined, a total of 82 members from 34 families contributed to the foundation of Masses. In keeping with the social norms of the time, the majority of the founders were men, and in some cases, several people founded together, making a total of 69 men (84%) and 13 women (16%).

Frequency and Purpose of the Masses
According to the late medieval beliefs, since Masses presented for a specific purpose were considered the most valuable for the relief of purgatorial suffering, members of the Hungarian aristocracy also sought to determine the number and purpose of Masses in such a way that would best serve their own salvation as well as that of their relatives. Following is an examination of the frequency and purpose of the Masses ordered.
The primary goal of these Masses was to provide peace to the soul of the deceased during the transition period between death and the Final Judgement, which was intended to be ensured through a continuity of Masses and prayers, thought to be best achieved by foundations for "eternal times. " It is not surprising then that perpetual Mass foundations account for the vast majority (83 -97.6%) of the Masses analysed. There are only two exceptions; Catherine Hédervári asked her husband to say two unique Masses in her will and the second example is a provision for a fixed term-Emeric Czobor of Czoborszentmihály sold his house in Dlhá Street in Bratislava to the local chapter for 220 florins, the purchase price of which was repaid by the canonry community at the rate of five florins per year, including two Masses per week until the full amount was paid. A simple calculation shows that this particular Mass foundation was ordered for a period of 44 years. As for the frequency of Masses, the table above shows that daily Masses were the most popular among founders, followed by weekly. There were only a few Mass foundations scheduled for two to four times a week, and the number of annual and anniversary Masses was also quite low. In none of the cases do we find the 1/7/30 day schedule, a common practice in Western Europe and which, it seems, was only chosen by the burghers in the Carpathian Basin, as the example of Bratislava shows. 28 The only exception to a daily celebration of the Mass was the Triduum Sacrum, when the focus of the liturgical action was on preparations for Easter. 29 The Cudar brothers of Ónod decreed in 1465 that the Paulines of Sajólád had to celebrate a funeral Mass every day except Easter, the Ascension of Jesus Christ, Pentecost, Lord's Day, Assumption, All Saints' Day and Christmas, but the dead and their families still must be prayed for on these days. 28 MAJOROSSY 2006, p. 142. 29  Of course, the actual number of ordered Masses was much higher than the table shows because the series of foundations changes the data significantly. 30 The Bánfi brothers of Lendava founded a series of 40 Masses in 1487 and 35 the following year. In her will, Catherine Hédervári gave her husband the right to say seven Masses before her death and 40 Masses after. 31 In a will written before the cataclysm at Mohács, Antonius Pálóci ordered the celebration of a hundred Masses a year for the clergy of the Sárospatak parish for the salvation of his family. It should also be mentioned here that Wilhelm of Forchtenstein and his wife asked for a total of three missa specialis, which are included in the "other" category. In some cases, the founders did not specify the exact number of Masses requested, which is not unusual for regular foundations. 32 It seems this is the case of the foundation of John Marcali at the Franciscan monastery of Segesd as well. In his will, he gave five plots of land for the purpose of "enriching the Masses" (divina augmententur officia) ordered by his ancestors, which are not specified in the document. 33 The wording indicates that, along with confirmation of the provision made by his ancestors, Marcali was seeking to secure the financial backing of the foundation for the future, i.e. it was not a new foundation. From the wording it can also be assumed that this was a way of increasing the solemnity of the liturgy, which also served to maintain the memory of the family and to raise its prestige. Such intention is understandable, since the monastery church also served as the family burial place. 34 30 These series foundations were usually linked to monasteries. In the Middle Ages, only one Mass could be celebrated by priests, but the larger clerical community in monastic houses could fulfil such requirements. SOLYMOSI 1999, p. 213. 31 Lajos Pásztor speculated that the practice of saying Mass before death became known in the Carpathian Basin as an effect of the practice that was considered common in German areas. It is believed here, however, that this measure, which is indeed a rarity in Hungary, can be duly justified on the one hand by the symbolic meaning of the number seven (e.g. seven sacraments, the days of the week) and on the other hand-with reference to the above-mentioned Laskai sermon-by the assumption of the greater effectiveness of Holy Mass celebrated while still alive, which was also known in Hungary. In a testament from 1499, Stephen Zápolya donated the town of Gönc with all its appurtenances to the Companion Chapel of Spiš and ordered the provost: "after having determined the total annual income of this town, to set, consider and determine the type and number of Masses that can be performed annually and daily in that church from this income, and to order the Masses to be performed and sung there forever." 35 So in this case, the frequency and number of Masses was decided by the clerical body. There is one more aspect to consider in relation to the foundation by Zápolya. In his monograph, Lajos Pásztor was quite dismissive about the religiousness of the Palatine, as is reflected in his will. His concludes that Zápolya: "seems to have given the church a generous donation in his will only to support his proudly proclaimed generosity. However, if he simply wanted to purchase the Mass, he says 'let the provost assess the village's worth and then let them decide what Masses can be said for it for eternity. '" 36 However, these lines are not at all suggesting the image of an arrogant, self-glorifying lord, flaunting his material possibilities and wishing to buy himself some peace of mind. Examining further sources, we get a much more nuanced picture of the Zápolya family's devotion, of which Stephen was a part. The family founded the Pauline monastery in Tokaj, took care of several Pauline communities (Porva, Gönc, Lád, Diósgyőr, Regéc) with generous donations, and supported three of the six medieval Hungarian Carthusian monasteries (Kláštorisko/Letanovce, Legnica, Lövöld). 37 One of Stephen's brothers, Nicholas, became the head of the Transylvanian bishopric (1461 -1468), 38 showing the close connection between the family and the ecclesia. Taking all this into consideration, the will made by the Palatine Stephen on his deathbed and the foundation of the Mass ordered in it, is not a document that captures the pretence of a haughty aristocrat who put his wealth first. Although the charter's introduction and the poem engraved on his tombstone focus on personal merit and fame, 39 this is rather an expression of his desire to maintain his memory after the end of his earthly life, a custom that was an integral part of the religious aristocracy of the period. 40 In each founding document, the people intended to be helped with the benefits of the Masses were specified. In addition to securing their own salvation, the clergy also celebrated Masses for living and deceased family members. This was indicated by a general formula, which can also be observed in the case of simple gracious donations. 41 A very detailed list is found in a foundation from  , 2012, pp. 112, 121-122, 143-144, 145, 254, 291, 298-300, 302, 314-315, 385-386, 423, 441-442, no. 93, 105, 134, 136, 287, 332, 342, 346, 354, 441, 503, 517 Occasionally founders also referred to their homage to the patron saint of the institution, such as Nicholas Treutul of Levanjska Varoš did in his deed of donation. 42 Out of reverence for the Holy Cross, Emeric Zápolya exempted the parish priest of Kežmarok from paying taxes in return for the celebration of specific Masses. 43 In most cases, the sacrament was offered in honour of a holy, divine person, seemingly with the idea that through their help, salvation could be more effectively secured. The role of the saints as intermediaries has been well known since the early Middle Ages one need only refer to the holy sites which attracted crowds of pilgrims. 44 An idea that became common by the 14 th century was that the Church, through Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and the merit of the saints, had an inexhaustible treasury from which the faithful could benefit 45 and that an important channel for this was the Holy Mass.
In addition to Masses offered to the saints, the founders most often (26 cases) requested the celebration of funeral Masses, since the requiem was considered to have the greatest merit-making effect in that period. 46 There is also a higher rum…;" Zsigmondkori oklevéltár XI (ZsO  (pro peccatis). Repentance played an important role in the lives of the faithful, who were aware of their weaknesses and wished to be purified. In addition to confession, another form of atonement for sins was the offering of a Mass, which was particularly useful for deceased relatives. Only on one occasion was a Mass requested for the sick (pro infirmis), which as we will see below, could have been linked to a specific situation. Most frequently, in a total of 33 foundations, the intervention of the Virgin Mary was requested at Masses offered to her, illustrating how popular Mary's worship was in medieval Hungary. However, the number of Masses offered to the Blessed Virgin in total was much higher (72), as the founders sometimes celebrated several Masses a week for this purpose, such as John Hunyadi and his sons, who held a Mass in honour of Mary on both Saturday and Sunday. It goes without saying that the founders offered Masses primarily to their own patron saints or those of their families. Although St. Nicholas, who appears in the foundation of Lawrence Újlaki in Veszprém, was indeed one of the favourite saints of the period, it is much more plausible to think that the Bosnian prince was inspired by the memory of his father, Nicholas Újlaki King of Bosnia ( †1477). A similar situation with regard to the ordination of Stephen Zápolya's widow and sons was seen in 1510. The only St. Emeric to appear here in the entire source base examined is certainly a reference to Stephen's brother, Palatine Emeric ( †1487). One final example; St. Ladislaus appears once. It is well known that in the pantheon of Hungarian saints from the 15 th century onwards, King Ladislaus outranked both the founder of the state, St.
Stephen, and his son Prince Emeric, 48 though King Ladislaus, who appears in Masses ordered by Ladislaus Kanizsai (1501), is more likely to be associated with his own and his father's patron saint.
In addition to individual commitment and family tradition, the choice of saints could be influenced by the patronage of the church they were ordained to. In the Benedictine abbey of Dombó founded by John Maróti, the Ban of Macsó, in honour of St. George, a daily Mass was celebrated in honour of the patron saint of the monastery. In the case of Martin Dersfi of Središče, the patron saint of his own and of the ecclesiastical institution was the same. The former Master of the Horse built a chapel in honour of St. Martin at the family burial place, the Pauline monastery in Središče, and also held funeral Masses  49 The choice of patron saint is duly confirmed by the Kanizsa family's estates and connections in Western Hungary where 14 patron saints appearing on two occasions were usually invoked to help against the plague. In the foundation of Ambrose Sárkány in Bratislava (1507), a Mass was also offered in honour in connection with the epidemic, to which the temporum pestilenciarum in the charter refers.
For three of the foundations, a change of intentions must be mentioned, which were fixed in advance at the time of the ordination. In all three cases, the change was linked to the death of the founders. Job Garai stipulated that during his lifetime, Masses were to be offered for the sick and after his death, for the deceased. The Mass for the sick was presumably related to the poor health of Job or perhaps a member of his family. According to Dorothea Kanizsai's foundation at the Pauline monastery in Bajcs (present-day Nagytótfalu), during her lifetime, atonement for sins was offered while after her funeral, the monks celebrated a funeral Mass. In their 1463 foundation, James and Simon Cudar of Ónod decreed that during their lifetime, they should offer Masses for sins on Sundays and Tuesdays while on the other days of the week, they asked for a celebration of the requiem. Finally, after their deaths, the Paulines of Sajólád sang a mourning Mass every day.
In an authoritative monograph, Pásztor also points out that in the Jagello period, saints and other reasons for Mass began to be associated with specific days, a practice that then continued in the early modern period. the graph stand out among them. Tuesday and Wednesday, however, do not seem to have been closely associated with any saint or Mass at that time, at least for the aristocrats. Although the connection between Tuesday and St. Anne is given, there are also three occurrences of the pro peccatis intention. On Wednesday, a day which, according to Pásztor's research was not linked to any specific intention, four Masses were given for sins and three for the deceased and All Saints.

Financial issues
For each Mass, the founders was required to provide adequate financial resources, including the living expenses (salaries) of the clergy, the costs of construction for newly established institutions as well as maintenance of existing ones (fabrica), including the necessary supplies for liturgical celebrations (vestments, altar cloths, candles, chalices, Mass books, etc.). 51 It was a common belief of all social classes of the period that in return for pious donations to the church, the clergy gave spiritual goods to the donors-a fact clearly indicated in the charters. In the vast majority of cases, the donor (i.e. the founder) conditioned his alms on the celebration of Masses, the singing of psalms and other prayers (conditio). In some sources, the concept of donation and compensation (reconpensatio, remuneratio) appears as a common practice in the profane sphere. As a repayment for earlier donations by the Pauline General Ladislaus and of newer alms, he ordered the celebration of perpetual Masses for the monks of the family monastery to reach salvation for Martin  (1508) donated a whole oppidum to a church institution. Items in the "other" category also indicate the dominant role of real estate at the top of society. Here, a provision by Stephen Rozgonyi's widow that, among other things, the future proceeds from the sale of the baths in Trnava should be used for the foundation of a Mass has also been taken into account.
Cash payments, at least according to available data, seem to be less common among the barons. This contrasts quite markedly with the burghers, who paid cash for the Masses they founded in Bratislava (56%). 52 From the 15 th century onwards, the number and amount of donations to the church, especially to the Paulines, increased and the nobility can be identified among the donors. 53 Though, compared to such a common practice among the burghers, the use of cash was significantly lower in case of the nobles. The wealth of the baronial families consisted mainly of real estate, and although more and more of them accumulated large amounts of money, most of it was spent on the expenses of worldly representation, above all on courtly maintenance. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Ambrose Sárkány, who is known to have been involved in 52 MAJOROSSY 2006, p. 162 the wine and cattle trade, made two cash donations. 54 He is also responsible for the largest Mass foundation of all. In his will (1522), he left a considerable sum of 1000 florins, a house in Buda, all his silverware and the proceeds from the sale of his clothes as financial cover for the foundation of a Mass in the parish church of Érd, which he chose as his burial place. Using cash is not surprising in the context of John Ernuszt's Mass foundation either, since it is a direct consequence of the mentality and occupation of the merchant-treasurer turned baron of burgher origin. 55 He left 50 florins for the construction costs of the Buda cemetery-chapel he founded, and 100 florins for a perpetual Mass.
In addition to lump-sum donations, annuities were sometimes provided to cover the cost of Mass foundations. Nicholas Frankopan paid 60 golden florins annually to the Senj Chapter for a daily Mass. In his will, Ladislaus of Svätý Jur and Pezinok made pious donations to the Franciscan conventuals in Bratislava; he gave four Viennese denarii a year from the income of the Pezinok baths, 15 bushels of flour from the mill and 26 barrels of wine from the mountain toll as alms, in return for which the Franciscans offered two Masses a week for his and his ancestors' salvation. In the case of the aforementioned Czobor foundation, there was a very different arrangement. As detailed above, he secured the operation of his foundation through a real estate transaction, as the purchase price of 220 florins for his house sold to the Chapter was settled by the canons by paying five florins a year. In addition, he also donated liturgical equipment and two Masses were celebrated every week in return. A nearly equal proportion of houses, mills and vineyards were offered as capital cover for foundations. A similar distribution is found in the categories of goods donated in return for Masses (clothes, precious metals, jewelry, i.e. 7% of foundations) and crops and animals together (6%). In addition to those mentioned above, there is also an example of an indirect endowment. the condition (tali conditione et eo pacto) that he would make a perpetual endowment for the salvation of Stephen and his family in the church of Nyás.

Chapels, parish churches, monasteries
The proportions of the various types of Mass foundations established in different types of church institutions cannot be ignored. What follows seeks to answer the following questions: What factors motivated the barons and their families to choose the type of institution they did? How much did family tradition influence their decision? Did they prefer churches of their own establishment? Is it possible to identify a preference for the two monastic orders that were popular in all social classes in the period, the Paulines and the Franciscan Order of the Friars Minor? As far as the types of institutions are concerned, the predominance of the Hungarian-based Pauline Order is striking. Almost half of the Mass foundations, 42.3% to be precise, were established in a monastery church of this Order, clearly confirming the well-known popularity of the Paulines in the late Middle Ages, which remained unbroken among the upper ranks of the nobility. 56 The Franciscans lagged far behind the Paulines in this regard, although the barons in particular supported the Observant branch from the mid-15 th century onwards. 57 This is somewhat different from the picture that emerges from the Jagellonian-era noble wills in which the proportion of assets left to the Franciscans exceeds that made to the Paulines, although it is true that the wills analysed by Kubinyi are mainly from the lower ranks of nobility. 58 Of the mendicant orders, the Dominicans and the Augustinian monks each celebrated a Mass in two monasteries, the latter not in a monastic house in the Kingdom of Hungary but in Vienna. the Benedictines alone, while the canonical communities are represented by the Augustinian and the Premontrian orders, confirming the well-known fact that monastic orders were seldom favoured in the concerned period. Looking at the ratio between monastic and secular institutions, the balance tips in favour of the former; the number of Masses founded in monastic houses is almost 58%. This is a different picture compared to the practice of the burghers in Bratislava, who preferred the parish churches of the city. 59 In terms of Masses celebrated by secular clergy, parish priests were clearly favoured by members of the upper classes (27%), followed by cathedrals and chapels, which were almost neck and neck (7% and 8% respectively).
Turning to motives for the selection of church institutions, an important correlation can be observed. Churches and chapels that were founded by families were under the patronage of the family and, of course, designated as burial places for the family members, accounted for 35% of the Mass foundations.
Occasionally, provisions on the number and status of clergy were also included in founding documents. Emeric Czobor of Czoborszentmihály stipulated that the Masses could only be celebrated by canons from Bratislava. This condition could be based on a need to ensure a level of prestige that matched the social status of the founder. In her two foundations of Lepoglava (1507, 1508), Beatrice Frankopan required the Paulines to have at least 20 monks in addition to the vicar to ensure the solemnity of the Masses. This measure was also intended to meet the need for representation, since the monastery was the burial place of her late husband, Prince John Corvinus, and their son Christopher.
Ambrose Sárkány of Ákosháza entrusted the celebration of a Mass in the Bratislava Castle Chapel to the Franciscans of Bratislava. In order to ensure that it would not be interrupted in times of danger, he ordered that in times of plague or war, a priest from the monastic house should be sent to the castle to stay during the emergency.
In the case of ecclesiastical institutions established by the founders themselves, the canonical rights naturally belonged to the founders. Regarding the rector of the chapel of St. Wolfgang in Sereď, founded by George Kanizsai, the charter containing the Mass foundation stipulates that the right to elect and present rectors (electio) is vested in him during his lifetime, and in his heirs upon his death. Similarly, the chapel of the Body of Christ in Spišská Kapitula founded by the Zápolya family was under the family's patronage. The rector of the chapel was chosen among the canons by the provost of the chapel of the Chapter of Spiš, with the obligation of residence. The rector of the chapel was under the jurisdiction of the Prelate of the Church of Spiš. In addition to the rector, six ordained priests performed chaplaincy duties and four pupils were employed to sing daily psalms. The rector saw to it that the chaplains always performed their duties with due devotion and reverence, and if negligence was found, he worked with the provost or his deputy to remedy the situation. The chaplains were required to present four Masses a day, with one cleric being excused to take the place of one of the celebrants if one of them was unable to attend.

Liturgical equipment, regulations, sanctions
For the vast majority of the foundations examined, the beneficiary was an existing monastery, church, chapel or altar, often established by previous generations of the family, so there was no need to provide new liturgical equipment and consequently, no information on this is found in the documents. 60 Some of the new foundations, however, do provide relatively detailed information on this segment, so it is interesting to look at these as well.
In his will, Ladislaus Szécsényi designated the Chapel of the Holy Cross in the Franciscan Church in Szécsény as his burial place and at the same time he made a donation for the presentation of daily Masses. In addition to cash left for the renovation of the building, he had silver chalices and other equipment made and also provided for decoration of the chapel. 61 John Ernuszt ordered 29 candles for Saturday Masses in the cemetery chapel he founded. The building of the new institution was not yet complete, as is indicated by the prescription for a chapel door, and the founder also designated the production of the altarpiece and the altar cloth. For the confraternity of the Body of Christ, he had a reliquary made, which had to be displayed on the altar of the burial chapel on feast days. He also provided the church with sacred objects, ecclesiastical ornaments and books. 62 Emeric Czobor of Czoborszentmihály donated a red and a green velvet (priest) robe, an altar cloth made of atlas, a missal, a chalice and a crucifix to St. Wolfgang's Chapel in Bratislava. John Drágfi decreed (1524) that "three chalices worth of eight granum should be made for the chapel of Cehu Silvaniei for the priests to serve from." 63 The requirements for liturgical acts were regulated in detail by the donation charter of Nicholas Frankopan. Four canons and four prebendaries of the Senj Chapter were required to celebrate a dawn Mass in honour of the Virgin Mary. One canon celebrated the Mass while his companions and the prebendaries stood together in the choir and said the responses. The priest who celebrated the Mass had to pray the oration of the Virgin Mary while Nicholas was still alive, mentioning the name of the founder, while after his death, the priest was to pray for him during the prayer for the deceased. The Princess Gita of Troppau, wife of George of Svätý Jur and Pezinok, ordered the monks of the Augustinian Church of Vienna to celebrate daily Masses for the soul of her late husband, Paul of Wolfurt, in the Wolfurt chapel, where they placed a memorial stone. In addition, they were required to celebrate an anniversary mourning Mass, which, if it fell on a Sunday, was to be followed by a sung vigil with nine 60 On this see: MAJOROSSY 2009, passim. 61 To this end, he ordered the sale of a certain draconem magnum decorated with precious stones.
In Budapesti Könyvszemle, 2012, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 142-151. 63 MÉSZÖLY, Gedeon. Drágffy János 1524-iki végrendelete. In Magyar Nyelv, 1917 readings followed the next morning by a sung mourning Mass. Twelve candles were to be lit both during the vigil and at the requiem. If the anniversary occurred on a weekday, the usual Mass was to be held in the monastery.
The widow of Stephen Zápolya, Princess Hedwig of Cieszyn, and her sons John and George, laid out the duties of the clergy specifically in their foundation for a perpetual Mass in the Holy Cross Chapel (1510), the family burial place, in the Church of St. Martin in Spišská Kapitula. The chapel director, with six chaplains and four pupils, had to sing the Placebo requiem and the funeral requiem daily at the tombs of the Palatines Emeric and Stephen Zápolya. The rector and his chaplains were required to say a mourning Mass every day of the week, in addition to daily Masses of specific intent. The rector was responsible for the equipment of the chapel (candles, wine, books, chalices, ornaments), for keeping an inventory (a copy of which is kept at the chapel) and for preservation of the building. On Sundays and other feast days, and on the days of the cross (diebus Rogationum), the director of the chapel and his chaplains held a public procession. On feast days, the chaplains marched in procession from the chapel to the church sanctuary on the first and second vespers. Every day the chaplains sang the Marian chant and the matutinum with three readings, as well as the antiphon of Placebo.
Most of the documents also specified whether a sung or read Mass was to be celebrated. The former, by virtue of its solemnity, conferred greater prestige on the founder and consequently may have been considered to play a greater role in preserving the memory of the founder. 64 George Csupor of Monoszló appealed to the Pauline generals (1460) that in return for the pious donations previously given to the Paulines of Garić, the friends should, if possible, offer a daily sung Mass. If they were unable to do so, they were to sing at least four of the seven specific Masses, namely those for All Saints, the Body of Christ, the Passion of Christ and the Assumption. For Sigmund of Svätý Jur and Pezinok, the monks at the Pauline monastery of Marianka presented a sung Mass (cantando) in honour of the Assumption on Saturdays, while on the other days of the week, they celebrated a mourning Mass (legendo celebretur). Only 23 foundations required their presbyters to offer a sung Mass.
The intentions of the Mass and the prayers (collecta, oratio) were not necessarily the same, and in such cases, the intention was certainly to multiply the effect of the prayers. Ambrose Sárkány ordered a Mass on Tuesdays in honour of All Saints, at which the Collecta of St. Ambrose and St. Sophia was recited by the clergy. In this case, the prayers were addressed to the patron saint of the founder and his wife. In a foundation of Mass in Bratislava, George Kanizsai also ordered the supplication of his own patron saint (cum collecta sive oratione Sancti Georgii martiris) in connection with the Mass for sins.
The Mass founders, on behalf of themselves, their successors, heirs and even their officials, assured the ecclesial community of the preservation of their donations and guaranteed them protection. At the same time, they sought to ensure the continuity of the spiritual Masses requested in exchange for alms, which they hoped would avoid eternal damnation for them. In many cases, the provisions were enforced by imposing sanctions. Nicholas Frankopan ordered the payment of then solidus to anyone who obstructed the daily celebration of the Masses. The wife of George of Svätý Jur and Pezinok stipulated that if the monks of the Augustinian monastery in Vienna did not perform the required Masses, the donated property would be given to another monastery under similar conditions. According to a decree of Sigmund Frankopan (1449), if the Benedictine monks of Otočac failed to celebrate daily Mass, they would have to pay a fine of one florin. Ambrose Sárkány ruled that if the Franciscan fathers in the Bratislava castle chapel neglected to celebrate the Mass and did not continue after two or three warnings, the annuity would be taken from them and a suitable secular chaplain would be employed.