Johannes Caioni
Johannes Caioni (Ion Căian or Căianu in Romanian

Romanian language

Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...

 or Kájoni János in Hungarian

Hungarian language

Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

 ; 8 March 1629 – April 25, 1687 ) was a Transylvania

Transylvania

Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...

n Franciscan

Franciscan

Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

 monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

 and Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 priest, musician, folklorist, humanist

Humanism

Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....

, constructor and repairer of organs

Organ (music)

The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...

 of Romanian

Romanians

The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....

 origin (according to his own testimony, "Natus valachus sum" - "I was born a Vlach

Vlachs

Vlach is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. English variations on the name include: Walla, Wlachs, Wallachs, Vlahs, Olahs or Ulahs...

").

Biography

Caioni was born in Căianu Mic

Caianu Mic

Căianu Mic is a commune in Bistriţa-Năsăud County, Romania. It is composed of four villages: Căianu Mare, Căianu Mic, Ciceu-Poieni and Dobric. It also included two other villages until 2004, when they were transferred to Spermezeu Commune.-References:...

, at the time part of the Szolnok-Doboka

Szolnok-Doboka

Szolnok-Doboka is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in northern Romania . The capital of the county was Dés .-Geography:...

 comitatus

Administrative divisions of the Kingdom of Hungary

The following lists show the administrative divisions of the lands belonging to the Hungarian crown at selected points of time. The names are given in the main official language used in the Kingdom at the times in question....

 (now in Bistriţa-Năsăud County

Bistrita-Nasaud County

Bistrița-Năsăud is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Bistrița.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 311,657 and the population density was 58/km².*Romanians – 90.3%*Hungarians – 5.9%*Roma – 3.6%...

, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. He was raised in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca

Cluj-Napoca

Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...

) and Csíksomlyó (now:Şumuleu Ciuc

Sumuleu Ciuc

Şumuleu Ciuc is a neighborhood of Miercurea-Ciuc, Harghita County, Romania. Until 1959, it was a separate commune. It is the site of an annual Roman Catholic pilgrimage, when Catholics from all over Hungary and Romania gather there.-Location:...

). He was of a noble family

Nobility and royalty of the Kingdom of Hungary

This article deals with titles of the nobility and royalty of the Kingdom of Hungary.-Earlier usage :Before the accession of the Habsburgs, the nobility was structured according to the offices held in the administration of the Kingdom...

—Caioni's aunt was the wife of a garrison

Garrison

Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....

 commander in Csíkszereda

Miercurea-Ciuc

Miercurea-Ciuc is the county seat of Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, and is situated in the Olt River valley.The city administers three villages:* Ciba / Csiba...

. Through her connections, he was admitted in the Franciscan monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 of Csíksomlyó.

Caioni studied with the Jesuits

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

 in Kolozsvár, and continued his studies in Şumuleu Ciuc. In 1647, he became a monk, and continued his studies in Nagyszombat (Trnava

Trnava

Trnava is a city in western Slovakia, 47 km to the north-east of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a kraj and of an okres . It was the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishopric . The city has a historic center...

), training in music. He was ordained

Ordination

In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...

 in 1655. Subsequently, he lived in Csíksomlyó, Gyergyószárhegy (Lăzarea

Lazarea

Lăzarea is a commune in Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, and is composed of two villages:* Ghiduţ / Güdüc* Lăzarea / Gyergyószárhegy...

), and Călugăreni

Eremitu

Eremitu is a commune in Mureş County, Transylvania, Romania composed of five villages:*Călugăreni / Mikháza*Câmpu Cetăţii / Vármező*Dămieni / Deményháza*Eremitu*Mătrici / Nyárádköszvényes-Demographics:...

 (now a village in Eremitu

Eremitu

Eremitu is a commune in Mureş County, Transylvania, Romania composed of five villages:*Călugăreni / Mikháza*Câmpu Cetăţii / Vármező*Dămieni / Deményháza*Eremitu*Mătrici / Nyárádköszvényes-Demographics:...

 commune

Communes of Romania

A commune is the lowest level of administrative subdivision in Romania. There are 2686 communes in Romania. The commune is the rural subdivision of a county .There is no clear restriction on the population of a commune, even though when a commune...

, Mureş County

Mures County

Mureș is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș.-Geography:The county has a total area of 6,714 km²....

). He died in Lăzarea and was buried, in accordance with his last wish, in an unmarked grave.

Works and legacy

A Renascentist

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

 and precursor of the Age of Enlightenment

Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...

 in Transylvania, he is best known for his most important works:

• Codex Caioni,
• Organo Missale,
• Cantionale Catolicum,
• Sacri Concentus,
• Calendarium,
• Antiphonarium Romanum and others.

His mentioning of the traditional Căluşari

Calusari

The Căluşari were the members of a Romanian fraternal secret society who practiced a ritual acrobatic dance known as the căluş. According to the Romanian historian Mircea Eliade, the Calusari were known for "their ability to create the impression of flying in the air" which he believed represented...

 dance in his musical notations makes this among the first to have ever recorded the custom.

In 1675, Caioni founded a printing press

Printing press

A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...

 in Csíksomlyó, printing both his works and textbooks for the local Franciscan school. His Cantionale Catolicum went through four editions—1676, 1719, 1805 and 1806. The press was noted for serving the cultural needs of Roman Catholics in the Székely Land

Székely Land

The Székely Land or Szekler Land refers to the territories inhabited mainly by the Székely, a Hungarian-speaking ethnic group from eastern Transylvania...

 and neighbouring Moldavia

Moldavia

Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...

. It was later used by Hungarian

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 revolutionaries of 1848

Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas

From March 1848 through July 1849, the Habsburg Austrian Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalist character: the empire, ruled from Vienna, included Austrian Germans, Hungarians, Slovenes, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians,...

 to print their Hadi Lap newspaper, and other publications.