Upon his arrival he became a successful goldsmith in London, visiting Hungary several times before settling in England upon his marriage to Dorothy Colton in 1619, to whom he had 4 children.
Banfi Hunyades kept up his contacts with several eminent Hungarian figures and, in 1633, he was invited by the Prince of Transylvania to occupy a position at his planned academy.
Maurice of Hesse-Kassel's court was an epicenter of occult and alchemical activity in Europe at the time, with several English alchemists and natural philosophers visiting it.
[9] It is not definitely known that he passed through either country, but a later notebook reveals a method of transmutation which he attributes to 'a certain famous and generous Bohemian lord', alongside a reference to Edward Kelley, who worked in the court of Rudolf II.
[11] In 1613, he sent a letter to his brother informing him of his position and wealth, promising to visit Nagybánya the next year and asking him to take care of his books and instruments left in Hungary.
[13] On 5 July 1617, he donated a lavishly bound German edition of the Hungarian Károli Bible to the Bodleian upon a visit to Oxford, as a parting gift for a trip to Hungary.
[20] In 1633, Prince of Transylvania George I Rákóczi saw Banfi Hunyades fit to occupy a professorship at his planned academy in Kolozsvár (present-day Cluj-Napoca, Romania), being that he had experience within the English academic system and knowledge in chemistry.
[17] Around 1633, Banfi Hunyades became the assistant of natural philosopher Kenelm Digby at Gresham College, though this position was not an official post for either of them and they were not paid for their work.
[29] This alchemical preoccupation has been criticized with the biographer Reverend James Granger describing him as "far gone in his philosophical fanaticism"[33] and Martyn Rady suggests the red powder was probably only oxidized mercury.
[36] Schultheisz and Tardy claimed that, in his experiments, "the ingredients of the prescriptions, the chemical techniques applied, the methods of preparation all doubtlessly prove that Bánfihunyadi must have been a true chemist".
Antimony was professed by several alchemists, notably Basil Valentine, as being a prima materia and the purest form was thought to be found in from Hungary.
Johannes was educated in the Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, beginning as the alchemist of Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke, but ending as a rich usurer of poor reputation in London.
[45] The engraved portraits show Banfi Hunyades bearded and elderly, holding the glass vessel which he utilized in his mercurial experiments.
[46] The engraved portraits are all enclosed within a frame of alchemical quotations and biographical inscriptions on Banfi Hunyades, revealing his preoccupation with alchemy, mathematics and mercury as well as his birthplace of Nagybánya.
[31] The fifth extant portrait of Banfi Hunyades was discovered by Hungarian medical historian, Julius von Magyary-Kossa [hu], in 1929 during research for his historical work, Ungarische Medizinische Erinnerungen.
[3] The inscription begins with the first gold lettered page, signed with a date of 1617 and the initials of Banfi Hunyades (H x I x NB for Hunyadinus Iohannes Nagybánya).