Hungarian Court Chancellery

The Hungarian Court Chancellery (Latin: Cancellaria Aulica Hungarica; German: ungarische Hofkanzlei; Hungarian: Magyar Udvari Kancellária) was an important institution in the Kingdom of Hungary's self-government under the Habsburg monarchy.

After the defeat at the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the Kingdom of Hungary became an internal state of the Habsburg Empire. In the period between the 16th and 19th centuries, the Hungarian Court Chancellery, established by the Habsburg monarch, played an important role in Hungarian self-government, which was headquartered in Vienna. The affairs of the Austrian hereditary provinces and Bohemia were handled by two similar offices, the Austrian and Bohemian Court Chancelleries. From 1694, it became a sister institution of the Transylvanian Court Chancellery.^[1]

The primary task of the Court Chancellery was the exercise of the sovereign's rights, the granting of estates and various secular and ecclesiastical offices, the administration of ennoblements and other promotions, appointments, and contact with the various Hungarian government bodies. The direct connection with Hungary gave the Chancellery the opportunity to act as an intermediary between the monarch and the Hungarian estates. Thus, the chancellery and the chancellor became an indispensable factor in Hungarian estate politics.^[1]

The Hungarian Court Chancellery was established by Ferdinand I in Pressburg (present-day Bratislava). During the reign of Rudolf II, it operated in Prague between 1576 and 1612, and then again in Pressburg. In 1690, it was transferred to Vienna, where it moved to Bankgasse 6 in 1747, in the former Strattmann Palace. This building was built in 1692–94, during the reign of Leopold I, according to the plans of Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, originally for Count Theodor Heinrich von Strattmann (1637–1693), Imperial Court Chancellor, and in 1747 was purchased by Count Lipót Nádasdy, head of the Hungarian Court Chancellery, for himself and his office. The late Baroque façade of the palace was rebuilt in Rococo style betwee 1766 and 1767 based on designs by Nicolò Pacassi, and the building was expanded to include house number 4, whose façade was designed by Franz Anton Hillebrandt in a style matching that of house number 6. Since the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, this building (Bankgasse 4-6) has housed the Hungarian Embassy in Vienna.^[1]

• Imperial Court Chancellery
• Austrian Court Chancellery
• Bohemian Court Chancellery
• Transylvanian Court Chancellery

• *Fazekas István: A Magyar Udvari Kancellária és hivatalnokai 1527–1690 között; ELKH BTK TTI, Budapest, 2021 (Magyar történelmi emlékek. Értekezések)