John III, Bishop of Nyitra
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John (Hungarian: János; died between 9 and 18 March 1328) was a Hungarian prelate in the first half of the 14th century, who served as Bishop of Nyitra (present-day Nitra, Slovakia) at least from 1302 until his death. He belonged to the earliest partisans of Charles I of Hungary and his dynasty. During his reign, which roughly coincided with the era of feudal anarchy, the diocese of Nyitra was constantly harassed and plundered by the troops of the powerful and greedy oligarch Matthew Csák.
Early life
John was born in the second half of the 1260s into a large and wealthy noble family. His unidentified parents, brothers and sisters were still alive in 1301, according to King Charles' royal charter issued in the next year.
When a group of powerful lords turned against Andrew III of Hungary and urged Charles II of Naples to send his grandson, the 12-year-old Charles, to Hungary in order to become king in the autumn of 1299, John also joined their movement. The young Charles disembarked in Split in August 1300, but majority of the powerful lords, however, shortly reconciled with Andrew, preventing Charles' success. Nonetheless, John remained a partisan of the Capetian House of Anjou and remained a strong confidant of Archbishop Gregory Bicskei who resolutely supported the claim of the Anjous and faced the entire high priesthood in this course. Andrew III died on 14 January 1301, With his death, the House of Árpád became extinct. A civil war ensued in the following years for the Hungarian throne. After learning the news, Charles hurried to Hungary with his small army. He was crowned with a provisional crown by Bicskei in Esztergom in May 1301. John also attended the ceremony, which most Hungarians considered unlawful because of disregard of customary laws.[3] The aforementioned charter preserves that John and his family were exposed to threats, attacks and impoverishment, and even humiliation, torture, or murder because of their loyalty to Charles. The neighboring lords were all considered nominal partisans of Charles' rival, Wenceslaus, including John's archenemy, Matthew Csák, who had established a large-scale domain in the area at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries; he ruled de facto independently the north-western counties of Medieval Hungary.[4]
Bishop of Nyitra
First years
John was first mentioned as bishop on 24 January 1302 by a document of papal legate Niccolò Boccasini,[5] but it is plausible he already served in this capacity from the previous year, as the legate referred to him simply "episcopus", without the phrases postulatus or electus. John's recent predecessor, Paschasius last appeared in contemporary records in August 1297. Historian Tamás Kádár considers the election of John was confirmed by Boccasini on behalf of Pope Boniface VIII sometime after October 1301.[3] The document narrates that John stayed in the vicinity of the papal legate's residence at Pressburg (present-day Bratislava, Slovakia). Hungarian prelates John of Nyitra, Paul Balog of Pécs and Anthony of Csanád advised the papal legate on legal issues concerning customary law, when declared the choice of the provost of Szepes chapter (today Spišská Kapitula in Spišské Podhradie) is the right of the members of the collegiate chapter and not of the Hungarian king. John participated at the synod of the Hungarian prelates convoked by Boccasini in the spring of 1302.[3]
For his loyal service and sacrifice, the grateful monarch, Charles donated
His godson, Abraham the Red donated his two lands, both named Keresnyen in Bars County (today Veľké Kršteňany and Malé Kršteňany in Slovakia) to the Diocese of Nyitra in May 1310. John requested the cathedral chapter of Esztergom (place of authentication) in January 1312 to transcribe the donation letter of Béla IV of Hungary from 1267, who attached the tithe of Bánya (today Banka, Slovakia) to his diocese. Upon his request, the chapter also transcribed the privilege letters of Pope Lucius III and Archbishop Lodomer (1285) in June 1313, which assigned the tithe of villages Preznec, Bossány and Kerencs (today Práznovce, Bošany and Krnča in Slovakia, respectively) and a quarter of income of the churches of Tapolcsány and Koros (present-day Topoľčianky and Krušovce in Slovakia, respectively) to the bishopric of Nyitra. John's ally and superior, Archbishop Thomas also confirmed the former donations simultaneously.[9] In addition, the archbishop and Charles himself confirmed the aforementioned 1302 donation of Nyitra County to the diocese in August 1313.[10][11]
Struggles with Matthew Csák
However, he could not enjoy his rights and incoming as a bishop or as a count at all, because the greater part of the lands of his diocese was occupied and unlawfully seized by the oligarch Matthew Csák,
John's charter from March 1318 (see below) details the oligarch and his henchmen's criminal record against the Diocese of Nyitra over the years. According to the document, the Csák troops plundered and burnt the episcopal villages of
In the following years, John spent his exile at the archiepiscopal court of Esztergom; his name disappears from contemporary records between 1313 and 1316.[14] He resided in Kakat (later Párkány, present-day Štúrovo, Slovakia) on 4 September 1317, alongside Archbishop Thomas and other prelates, when excommunicated Simon Kacsics for his crimes against the church.[17] John also took part in the subsequent royal campaign against Matthew Csák.[22] He was present at the successful siege of Komárom (now Komárno in Slovakia), which fell to Charles on 3 November 1317.[23] However, the Hungarian monarch concluded a short-lived peace with the oligarch. Accordingly, Matthew Csák was able to retain the Diocese of Nyitra and its usurped possessions and benefits, in addition to other captured lands which had belonged to the Archdiocese of Esztergom. Both Archbishop Thomas and Bishop John strongly protested against the agreement.[17][24] In response, the prelates of the realm summoned a national synod to Kalocsa and made an alliance in the spring of 1318 against all who would jeopardize their interests. During the meeting, John excommunicated Matthew Csák and his most loyal familiares and placed the Csák province under interdict on 3 March 1318.[25] According to historian György Rácz, John's act was a demonstrative tool for expressing dislike towards Charles' politically motivated agreement with Csák, who was then considered nominally "loyal" in the royal court.[18] John attended the Diet at Székesfehérvár in November 1320.[16]
Last years
Matthew Csák died on 18 March 1321. The royal army invaded the deceased lord's province, which soon disintegrated because most of his former castellans yielded without resistance. Charles personally led the siege of Csák's former seat, Trencsén which fell on 8 August.[26] The bishopric successfully recovered the castle and its cathedral after 8 years.[27] Returning to his diocese, John immediately began to assess the damage and the organization of renovation work of the cathedral and its accessories. Because of peaceful period and slow growth, the bishop gradually appears less frequently in contemporary records, which also reflects that he retired from public affairs and the royal court.[28] To his disappointment, Charles I did not renew his former donation of Nyitra County to the diocese after his victory and made his faithful partisan, Lampert Hermán as ispán of the county in 1322.[29] Despite that John was frequently styled himself as "comes perpetuus Nitriensis" in his charters and documents.[30]
for John's intercession, a certain Smaragd, son of Adam from
References
- ^ a b Kádár 2017, p. 6.
- ^ a b Rácz 2020, pp. 139–140.
- ^ a b c Kádár 2017, p. 8.
- ^ Kádár 2017, p. 7.
- ^ a b Engel 1996, p. 72.
- ^ Kádár 2017, p. 9.
- ^ a b Maléth 2020, p. 298.
- ^ a b c Kádár 2017, p. 10.
- ^ a b c Kádár 2017, p. 11.
- ^ Engel 1988, p. 104.
- ^ Kristó 2003, p. 313.
- ^ Kristó 2003, p. 308.
- ^ Engel 1988, p. 96.
- ^ a b Kádár 2017, p. 12.
- ^ Kristó 2003, p. 309.
- ^ a b c Kádár 2017, p. 16.
- ^ a b c Kádár 2017, p. 13.
- ^ a b c Kádár 2017, p. 14.
- ^ Kristó 2003, p. 307.
- ^ Kádár 2017, p. 15.
- ^ Engel 1988, p. 95.
- ^ Kristó 2003, p. 332.
- ^ Engel 1988, p. 119.
- ^ Engel 1988, p. 120.
- ^ Engel 1988, pp. 120, 123.
- ^ Engel 1988, p. 128.
- ^ Engel 1996, p. 378.
- ^ a b Kádár 2017, p. 17.
- ^ Engel 1996, p. 159.
- ^ a b Kádár 2017, p. 19.
- ^ Maléth 2020, p. 299.
- ^ Kádár 2017, p. 18.
Sources
- ISSN 0039-8098.
- ISBN 963-8312-44-0.
- Kádár, Tamás (2017). "(III.) János nyitrai püspök (1302–1328) életútja [The Profession of John (III) Bishop of Nyitra (1302–1328)]". Magyar Egyháztörténeti Vázlatok (in Hungarian). 29 (1–2): 5–21. ISSN 0865-5227.
- Kristó, Gyula (2003). "I. Károly király harcai a tartományurak ellen (1310–1323) [The Struggles of Charles I Against the Oligarchs (1310–1323)]". Századok (in Hungarian). 137 (2). Magyar Történelmi Társulat: 297–347. ISSN 0039-8098.
- Maléth, Ágnes (2020). A Magyar Királyság és a Szentszék kapcsolata I. Károly korában (1301–1342) [The Relationship of the Hungarian Kingdom and the Holy See in the time of Charles I (1301–1342)] (in Hungarian). Pécsi Tudományegyetem BTK TTI Középkori és Koraújkori Történeti Tanszék. ISBN 978-963-429-500-6.
- Rácz, György (2020). "Az egyházi elit változásai [Changes in the Church Elite]". In Csukovits, Enikő (ed.). Az Anjou-kor hatalmi elitje (in Hungarian). MTA Bölcsészettudományi Kutatóközpont. pp. 133–162. ISBN 978-963-416-212-4.