Matthias Rátót

Matthias Rátót
Matthias Rátót
Kingdom of Hungary
Nationality	Hungarian
Denomination	Catholic

Matthias from the kindred Rátót (

Archbishop of Esztergom from 1239 until his death in the Battle of Mohi (Sajó River). He was the first Archbishop of Esztergom who was referred to as Primate of Hungary

.

Biography

Matthias was born into the gens (clan) Rátót, which originated from Apulia and settled down in Hungary in late 11th century, according to Simon of Kéza's Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum.^[1] However his parents are unidentified, thus there is inability to connect his person to the any branches of the clan. Historian János Karácsonyi claimed that Matthias was the younger son of Rathold Rátót, ancestor of the Gyulafi branch. Consequently it is possible that Dominic I Rátót, Master of the treasury, who was killed in Mohi too, was Matthias' elder brother.^[2]

According to the narration of

Carmen Miserabile, Matthias grew up in the royal court of Andrew II together with heir Béla, therefore possibly he was born in the early 1200s (historian Nándor Knauz considered 1206 as the year of birth).^[1]^[3] Since his early years, Matthias belonged to Duke Béla's confidants, who strongly opposed his father "useless and superfluous perpetual grants" which caused the derogation of the royal power in the realm. When Béla was made Duke of Slavonia in 1220, Matthias became a member of his ducal court. Since 1224, he served as provost of Zagreb and chancellor for Duke Béla simultaneously. He held both offices at least until 1233, even after Béla was transferred from Slavonia to Transylvania in 1226 to govern the province as duke.^[4] In both capacities, he had an influence on the issuance of diplomas, which is confirmed by the philological similarity of the arengas of documents issued by the two institutions, the bishopric of Zagreb and Béla's ducal court.^[5]

When Béla IV ascended the Hungarian throne in 1235, Matthias was promoted to the court office of chancellor in the royal court, while maintained his clerical position of provost of Zagreb.

excommunicate a certain knight Wernher from Pest, based on a papal judgment in August of last year, thus Matthias was a consecrated and confirmed bishop by then.^[7] In August 1238, Pope Gregory IX instructed Bishop Matthias to support Béla's policy against the domestic opponents.^[1]

Matthias Rátót succeeded to the archbishopric of Esztergom upon the death of Archbishop

Premonstratensian monastery of Gyulafirátót, the ancient seat of his kindred (today a borough in Veszprém).^[11]

During the First Mongol invasion of Hungary, Matthias and his deputy, archdeacon Albert gathered their army in Esztergom and joined Duke Coloman's troops, marching together to Pest.^[12] In the Battle of Mohi on 11 April 1241, Matthias personally led his troops, when fell with commander Archbishop Ugrin Csák and majority of the bishops (for instance, Reynold of Transylvania and Jacob of Nyitra were among them) as they were leading troops against Batu Khan.^[13] According to magister Roger, his body was never found.^[12]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Varga 2003, p. 104.
^ Karácsonyi 1905, p. 86.
^ Galla 1970, p. 111.
^ Zsoldos 2011, p. 118.
^ Juhász 2019, pp. 302–303.
^ Zsoldos 2011, p. 108.
^ ^a ^b Galla 1970, p. 112.
^ Zsoldos 2011, p. 96.
^ Berend 2006, p. 155.
^ Zsoldos 2011, p. 81.
^ ^a ^b Markó 2006, p. 324.
^ ^a ^b Varga 2003, p. 105.
^ Richard Gabriel, Subotai the Valiant (Westport, CT: Prager, 2004), 122-124; David Morgan, The Mongols (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986), 138-139; Michael C. Paul, "Secular Power and the Archbishops of Novgorod before the Muscovite Conquest," Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History 8, No. 2 (2007): 240.

Sources

Berend, Nora (2006). At the Gate of Christendom: Jews, Muslims and "Pagans" in Medieval Hungary, c. 1000-c.1300. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 978-0-521-02720-5
.

Galla, Ferenc (1970). "A váci egyházmegye püspökei [The Bishops of the Diocese of Vác]". In Bánk, József (ed.). Váci egyházmegyei almanach Szent István millénium évében (in Hungarian). Roman Catholic Diocese of Vác. pp. 103–201.
Juhász, Csaba (2019). "Zágrábi arengák és narratiók a 13. század első feléből [Harangue and Narrations from the Diocese of Zagreb in the first half of the 13th century]". Magyar Könyvszemle (in Hungarian). 135 (3): 279–306.
ISSN 0025-0171
.

Karácsonyi, János (1905). "A sajómezei csatában elesett esztergomi érsek nemzetsége [The Kindred of that Archbishop of Esztergom who was Killed in the Battle of Sajó River]". Turul (in Hungarian). 23 (2): 86.

Markó, László (2006). A magyar állam főméltóságai Szent Istvántól napjainkig: Életrajzi Lexikon [Great Officers of State in Hungary from King Saint Stephen to Our Days: A Biographical Encyclopedia] (in Hungarian). Helikon Kiadó.
ISBN 963-208-970-7
.

Varga, Lajos (2003). "Rátót nembeli Mátyás [Matthias from the kindred Rátót]". In Beke, Margit (ed.). Esztergomi érsekek 1001–2003 [Archbishops of Esztergom 1001–2003] (in Hungarian). Szent István Társulat. pp. 104–106.
ISBN 963-361-472-4
.

Zsoldos, Attila (2011). Magyarország világi archontológiája, 1000–1301 [Secular Archontology of Hungary, 1000–1301] (in Hungarian). História, MTA Történettudományi Intézete.
ISBN 978-963-9627-38-3
.

External links

Mátyás at Magyar Katolikus Lexikon (Hungarian Catholic Encyclopedia) (Hungarian)

Political offices
Matthias Genus Rátót Born: 1200s Died: 11 April 1241
Preceded by Ugrin Csák	Chancellor 1235–1236	Succeeded by Stephen Báncsa
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Briccius	Bishop of Vác 1238–1240	Succeeded by Stephen Báncsa
Preceded by Robert	Archbishop of Esztergom 1239–1241	Succeeded by Stephen Báncsa

[FOOTNOTEVarga2003104-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Varga 2003, p. 104.

[FOOTNOTEKarácsonyi190586-2] Karácsonyi 1905, p. 86.

[FOOTNOTEGalla1970111-3] Galla 1970, p. 111.

[FOOTNOTEZsoldos2011118-4] Zsoldos 2011, p. 118.

[FOOTNOTEJuhász2019302–303-5] Juhász 2019, pp. 302–303.

[FOOTNOTEZsoldos2011108-6] Zsoldos 2011, p. 108.

[FOOTNOTEGalla1970112-7] Galla 1970, p. 112.

[FOOTNOTEZsoldos201196-8] Zsoldos 2011, p. 96.

[FOOTNOTEBerend2006155-9] Berend 2006, p. 155.

[FOOTNOTEZsoldos201181-10] Zsoldos 2011, p. 81.

[FOOTNOTEMarkó2006324-11] Markó 2006, p. 324.

[FOOTNOTEVarga2003105-12] Varga 2003, p. 105.

[13] Richard Gabriel, Subotai the Valiant (Westport, CT: Prager, 2004), 122-124; David Morgan, The Mongols (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986), 138-139; Michael C. Paul, "Secular Power and the Archbishops of Novgorod before the Muscovite Conquest," Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History 8, No. 2 (2007): 240.

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