Due to a conflagration, the church of the Pannonhalma Archabbey built in the age of Saint Stephen had to be restored before 1137. The restoration that took place in the period of Béla II and Abbot David was followed with another large-scale process of construction in the 1210s. The church of Abbot Uros was completed just 800 years ago in 1224, and it was consecrated in the presence of King Andrew II.

The 25th Archivists’ Day in Győr and the 11th Archivists’ Day of the Little Plain was held in the ceremonial hall of Brenner János Theological College on 25 October. The Director of our Archives gave a talk entitled Benedictine Wills from the 17th–18th Centuries. According to their Rules, Benedictine monks had to dispose of their inherited wealth prior to their vows. In his talk, based on wills from the period between 1661 and 1778, Tamás Dénesi discussed the social background, the scheme of connections, education, and spirituality of those who joined the Order.

In honour of the 250th anniversary of the dissolution of the Jesuit Order and the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Jesuit historian, György Pray, a two-day conference was organised by the ELTE University Library and Archives, the National Széchényi Library, the Institute of History, and the Province of the Society of Jesus in Hungary in Budapest.

On 4 Oktober, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, the friars of the Franciscan convent of Pasarét visited Pannonhalma. During their day here, they visited the Archabbey, its Library and Archives, they had an informal conversation with the Benedictine community, and they attended the Divine Office. As the conclusion of their programme, they visited the wine cellar.

On 28 September 2023, the tenth conference on diocesan history was organised at the Archiepiscopal College of Veszprém. This time, the talks concentrated on the history of the Bishopric of Veszprém between 1850 and 1917. The conference was one of the series of programmes of the Katolikus Társadalmi Napok (Days of Catholic Society) organised in Veszprém this year.

Accepting the invitation of the Archabbey in Pannonhalma, Patriarch Bartholomew I arrived in Hungary for a six-day visit on 20 September. His visit distinctly concentrated on ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue, in addition to promoting peace. He gave the main address of the international ecumenical conference – with the motto “Seek peace and pursue it!” – organised in Pannonhalma on 22 September.

During the summer, with the support of the National Cultural Fund of Hungary, two autograph maps of our collection of maps were conserved. One of them was made in 1799 depicting the forest of Füss in Upper Hungary, and two islands of the Danube (Altering and Scooping islands). The other map of 1822 depicts the forests and pastures of the Abbey in Bakonybél. The conservation was completed by Ars Alba Bt. in Szentendre.

During the Days of Wine-history in Győr, professional discussions were organised by Mathias Corvinus Collegium on Chapter Hill on 25 August. In the last panel, the tradition of vine-growing and viticulture on estates of bishoprics and those of religious orders was recalled by Gábor Nemes (Diocesan Archives, Győr) and Tamás Dénesi (Director, Archives of the Archabbey, Pannonhalma). The discussion of spirit was concluded with an informal exchange of ideas and wine-tasting.

Saint Stephen’s monogram, i.e. the graphic sign concealing his name and title, is known by every educated Hungarian person. Seeing the monogram, first the disc-cover of the Szörényi-Bródy rock opera is always in the minds of the elder generations. However, undoubtedly fewer people know that the king’s monogram has been preserved for us on the letters-patent of Pannonhalma. As a matter of fact, the earliest chart in Latin in Hungary is Saint Stephen’s only letters-patent still extant in its original form. Its form is original, but it is not original.

In Bakonybél, the archaeological excavation started last year was resumed in the first half of the summer. The most important result of the excavation directed by Szabolcs Balázs Nagy – lecturer, Institute of Archaeology, Eötvös Loránd University – is that it was the first time that the location and remains of the mediaeval monastery were successfully and clearly identified. The former cloister was found to the south of the present monastery.