Johannes de Thurocz

Latin: magister ("judge") Johannes de Thurocz
The first page of Thuroczy's chronicle
Native name	Thuróczy János
Born	c. 1435
Died	1488 or 1489
Occupation	Historian
Language	Latin
Nationality	Hungarian
Alma mater	Premonstratensian monastery in Ipolyság
Notable works	Chronica Hungarorum
Years active	1486 – 1488

Johannes de Thurocz (Hungarian: Thuróczy János; Slovak: Ján z Turca or Ján de Turocz, German: Johannes de Thurocz, variant contemporary spelling: de Thwrocz) (c. 1435 – 1488 or 1489), was a Hungarian historian and the author of the Latin Chronica Hungarorum ("Chronicle of the Hungarians"), the most extensive 15th-century work on Hungary, and the first chronicle of Hungary written by a layman.

Thurocz's parents came from Turóc County (formerly also spelled as Thurocz), Upper Hungary (now Turiec region, Slovakia) where they were members of a yeoman family recorded since the first half of the 13th century (the village of Nádasér). Johannes' uncle Andreas received a property at Pýr as a donation from King Sigismund of Luxembourg, and Johannes' father Peter inherited this estate.

Thurocz was educated in a Premonstratensian monastery in Ipolyság (now Šahy, Slovakia), where he studied Latin and law. In 1465 he appeared in Buda, as a prosecutor of the Premonstratensian monastery of Ipolyság. From 1467 to 1475 he served as a notary of the judge royal Ladislaus Pálóci, from 1476 to 1486 as the main notary of the judge royal Stephen Báthory at the royal court, and from 1486 to 1488 as a head notary and judge of the royal personnel clerk Thomas Drági. No evidence of any university studies has been preserved, and it is possible that the title Latin: "magister" in front of his name was merely a polite title for an official or civil servant.