Matthew II Csák
Matthew (II) Csák | |
---|---|
Palatine of Hungary | |
Reign | 1278–1280 1282–1283 |
Predecessor | Peter Csák (1st term) Ivan Kőszegi (2nd term) |
Successor | Finta Aba (1st term) Denis Péc (2nd term) |
Native name | Csák (II) Máté |
Born | between 1235 and 1240 |
Died | 1283 or 1284 |
Noble family | gens Csák |
Spouse(s) | unknown |
Issue | none |
Father | Matthew I |
Mother | Margaret N |
Matthew (II) from the kindred Csák (Hungarian: Csák nembeli (II.) Máté; Slovak: Matúš Čák II; Romanian: Matei Csáki al II-lea; c. 1235 – 1283 or 1284) was a powerful Hungarian baron, landowner and military leader, who held several secular positions during the reign of kings Béla IV, Stephen V and Ladislaus IV. He was the first notable member of the Trencsén branch of the gens ("clan") Csák. His nephew and heir was the oligarch Matthew III Csák, who, based on his uncles' acquisitions, became the de facto ruler of his domain independently of the king and usurped royal prerogatives on his territories.
Family
He was born around 1235 as one of the four sons of Matthew I, founder and first member of the Trencsén branch, who served as master of the treasury (1242–1245), and Margaret from an unidentified noble family.[1] Matthew II's brothers were Mark I, ispán (comes) of Hont County in 1247, but there is no further information about him; Stephen I, master of the stewards from 1275 to 1276 and from 1276 to 1279; and Peter I, who held powerful positions, including palatine (1275–1276; 1277; 1278; 1281) and who, furthermore, was the father of the notorious Matthew III.[2] He had also a younger sister, who married to the Moravian noble Zdislav Sternberg, a loyal bannerman of the Csák clan.[3] Their son, Stephen Sternberg (or "the Bohemian") later inherited the Csák dominion because of the absence of a direct adult male descendant after the death of Matthew III in 1321.[4]
Matthew II married to an unknown noblewoman from an unidentified genus.
Career
His name was first mentioned by an authentic royal charter on 13 June 1270, when he served as voivode of Transylvania (1270–1272), which indicates Matthew II reached influence only after the death of king Béla IV, thus he was a loyal supporter of duke Stephen, who rebelled against his father's rule and took over the government of Transylvania in the 1260s. During the civil war between Béla IV and his son Stephen, Peter and Matthew Csák were entrusted with gathering a small contingent and marching into Northeast Hungary to rescue the younger king's family. Later, in January 1265, they returned from Upper Hungary to Transylvania, where they collected and reorganised the younger king's army and persuaded the Saxons to return to Stephen's allegiance. The battle took place along the wall of Feketehalom, where Stephen was surrounded, between the two armies at the end of January, while Duke Stephen led his remaining garrison out of the fort. The royalist troops were defeated soundly. According to a charter issued in 1273, Matthew II participated in the Battle of Isaszeg in March 1265, where Stephen gained a strategic victory over his father's army.[7] After that Béla IV was forced to accept the authority of Stephen in the eastern parts of the kingdom. On 23 March 1266, father and son confirmed the peace in the Convent of the Blessed Virgin on 'Rabbits' Island.[8] The Transylvanian voivodeship and the income of Szolnok County were Matthew's reward when Stephen V ascended the throne in 1270. He took part in a military campaign against Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1271.[9] Alongside his brother Peter Csák and Nicholas Baksa, Matthew led an army to the river Moson to prevent the invading Czechs from crossing, but the troops of Ottokar II routed their army at Mosonmagyaróvár on 15 May 1271. Nevertheless, Stephen V won a decisive battle over the Bohemians. Matthew and Peter were among those barons, who ratified the peace of Pressburg in July 1271.[10] Matthew held the voivodeship until the sudden death of Stephen V in August 1272, after that he was replaced by Nicholas Geregye, a former supporter of Béla IV.[11] Only a validly assumed non-authentic charter refers to Matthew II as voivode in April 1273.[12]
During the time when tensions emerged between Béla IV and his son, Stephen, two rival baronial groups developed, one of them was led by
Matthew II remained partisan of the king at all times, in accordance with the Csák tradition. In contrast, the
After his last voivodeship (1276), he held only local head functions in the next two years; he was ispán of
The activity of
Possessions
Despite his successful political and military career, Matthew II was not among the largest landowners in Hungary. He had estates in Komárom County, north of the Danube in Hetény (today: Chotín, Slovakia) and to the south near the village of Bille (today part of Esztergom). According to his testament in 1283, Prasic (today: Prašice, Slovakia), Nemcsic and Jác (today: Jacovce, Slovakia), in the north part of Nyitra County, also belonged to his domain, which he inherited probably from his brother, Stephen I, because these lands were located close to Hrussó Castle, centre of his brother's former estate. At first his wife inherited this property, however she also died shortly, after that Matthew III, son of the youngest brother Peter I acquired the lands. The Dominican monastery at the 'Rabbits' Island, where the Csák brothers' widow mother lived for a long time, had inherited Gyirok and Nándor (Komárom County).
Matthew II established his centre at
References
- ^ a b c Markó 2006, p. 219.
- ^ Kristó 1986, p. 31.
- ^ Kristó 1986, p. 50.
- ^ Kristó 1986, p. 199.
- ^ a b Fügedi 1986, p. 159.
- ^ Engel 2001, p. 126.
- ^ Kristó 1986, p. 45.
- ^ Fügedi 1986, p. 150.
- ^ Kristó 1986, p. 34.
- ^ Rudolf 2023, pp. 266, 276.
- ^ a b c Engel 2001, p. 382.
- ^ Zsoldos 2011, p. 38.
- ^ Engel 2001, p. 108.
- ^ Fügedi 1986, p. 153.
- ^ a b c d Kristó 1986, p. 36.
- ^ Zsoldos 2011, p. 32.
- ^ Zsoldos 2011, p. 63.
- ^ a b c Kristó 1986, p. 37.
- ^ Rudolf 2023, pp. 288–290.
- ^ Rudolf 2023, p. 300.
- ^ Rudolf 2023, p. 327.
- ^ Rudolf 2023, pp. 365, 368–369.
- ^ a b c Zsoldos 2011, p. 329.
- ^ Kristó 1986, p. 38.
- ^ Engel 2001, p. 109.
- ^ Markó 2006, p. 215.
- ^ Rudolf 2023, pp. 392–393.
- ^ Kristó 1986, pp. 40–41.
Sources
- Engel, Pál (2001). The Realm of St Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895-1526. I.B. Tauris Publishers. ISBN 1-86064-061-3.
- (in Hungarian) Fügedi, Erik (1986). Ispánok, bárók, kiskirályok ("Ispáns, Barons, Oligarchs"). Nemzet és emlékezet, Magvető Könyvkiadó. Budapest. ISBN 963-14-0582-6
- (in Hungarian) Kristó, Gyula (1986). Csák Máté ("Matthew Csák"). Magyar História, Gondolat. Budapest. ISBN 963-281-736-2
- (in Hungarian) Markó, László (2006). A magyar állam főméltóságai Szent Istvántól napjainkig – Életrajzi Lexikon ("The High Officers of the Hungarian State from Saint Stephen to the Present Days – A Biographical Encyclopedia") (2nd edition); Helikon Kiadó Kft., Budapest; ISBN 963-547-085-1.
- Rudolf, Veronika (2023). Közép-Európa a hosszú 13. században [Central Europe in the Long 13th Century] (in Hungarian). Arpadiana XV., Research Centre for the Humanities. ISBN 978-963-416-406-7.
- (in Hungarian) Zsoldos, Attila (2011). Magyarország világi archontológiája, 1000–1301 ("Secular Archontology of Hungary, 1000–1301"). História, MTA Történettudományi Intézete. Budapest. ISBN 978-963-9627-38-3