IMRE DÁNIEL ÎN SLUJBA EPISCOPULUI TRANSILVĂNEAN IGNÁC BATTHYÁNY
Imre Dániel in the Service of the Transylvanian Bishop Ignác Batthyány

Summary/Abstract: Due to his ecclesial duties bishop Ignác Battyány was unable to carry out the numerous scientific activities in which he was involved. That is why he used the services of students sent abroad to Austria or Hungary through his financial support. One of them was Imre Dániel, an Armenian catholic from Dumbrăveni (Elisabethopolis). Upon the request of the bishop he began studying codicology and the history of the church in order meet Batthyány’s academic demands. The Batthyaneum Library in Alba Iulia preserves part of Imre Dániel’s correspondence. It dates back to the period when he was student in Vienna and when he was sent by the bishop to Italy in order to copy documents concerning the history of Hungary and Transylvanian (topics in which the bishop was interested). In the library we found a list of postal expenses dated between December 1783 and January 1786. Dániel kept very precise bookkeeping records per year, month, and day, including the amount paid for each letter he wrote. From Italy he corresponded with bishop Ignác Batthyány, cardinal Garampi and other important persons for the Transylvanian Catholic Church at the end of the 18th century. Imre Dániel was the person who kept the bishop up to date with the latest publications and library sales from Vienna and the surrounding areas while he was a student abroad; he was the first librarian in the library founded by bishop Batthyány in Alba Iulia, and he used his knowledge to purchase books for his bishop’s benefit.

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