The finals of the 24^th Cultura Nostra History Competition in the Carpathian Basin was organised in the Archabbey on 14^th March. This year, the theme of the contest organised by the Rákóczi Association and the Archabbey of Pannonhalma was Hungary’s history between 1301 and 1526. Seven hundred secondary-school pupils of the Carpathian Basin took part in the competition. In the finals, the ten teams of the best results tested their knowledge; the team of Lévay József Református Gimnázium from Miskolc had the best of it.

On 7^th March, led by Archabbot Asztrik, Benedictine and lay colleagues (our archivists among them) visited the remains of the mediaeval buildings excavated on Bolt-peak of Abasár. The ruins of the Benedictine abbey that once serves as the burial place of our King Aba Sámuel and the archaeological findings were introduced to us by the archaeologists: Feld István, Csornay Boldizsár, Ringer István and Horváth Ciprián.

Within the framework of the multidisciplinary research programme entitled “Kings, Saints, Monasteries”, archaeological research was conducted in Tihany, Bakonybél and Pannonhalma between 2021 and 2023. The work was in progress under the auspices of the superiors of the monastic communities.

“Kings, Saints, Monasteries – Early Benedictine Universe in Hungary in the Light of the Latest Academic Research”; this is the title of the exhibition opened in Pannonhalma on 14 February. Following Archabbot Emeritus Várszegi Asztrik’s welcoming words, Balogh Balázs, the Director General of HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities gave an inaugural address.

On 6 February, Hankó Balázs, the head of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, visited our monastery, where he had a talk with the superiors of the Archabbey. As a part of the programme, he visited our Archives and had a look at its treasures, especially at the documents related to medicine and the monastery’s garden.

Our programme of map-restoration was carried on, two of our manuscript maps were restored due to the support of NKA (National Cultural Fund of Hungary). One of them records an estate-division of 1778 in the land of Nagy- and Kisbaráti, and the other one is a boundary-map of Ravazd drawn in 1844. The restoration was completed by Ars Alba Bt. of Szentendre.

The monks of Montecassino and Pannonhalma have prayed for each other for more than 800 years. Abbot Uros of Saint Martin and Abbot Adenulfus of Cassino concluded the prayer union in 1212. According to the document recording it – kept in our Archives –, the communities annually pray for each other on 25 January, the Feast of Saint Paul’s Conversion.

Being led by Archabbot Hortobágyi T. Cirill, a delegation of Pannonhalma visited Rome and Montecassino. On 25 January, they joined Pope Francis in the Vespers concluding the oecumenical week of prayer in the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls. The abbot of the Basilica’s Benedictine monastery, Donato Ogliari visited Pannonhalma last year. He preached a sermon in the Hungarian monastery’s 800-year-old church on 15 April.

On the ground floor of the Monastery in Pannonhalma, we make use of five smaller storerooms. One of the baroque cells – the largest – was suitable for housing wheeled carriages to double the store-capacity of documents in this room. According to our plans, the archival documents of the Benedictine schools will be kept here, and – as a part of the restitution process – the documents of 28-running-metre of the notarial archives of the convents of Kapornak and Zalavár will also be deposited here. The shelves sliding along rails has been installed by Vasszer Raktártechnika Kft.

On 26 and 28 November, the library, the archives and the museum received the Archabbey’s co-workers of different branches. In the Archives, not only our office and storeroom were opened, but we also talked about our everyday work and plans. Within the framework of the programme, our colleagues could finally have a look at the most important documents entrusted to our care.