Nicholas VII Hahót
Nicholas (VII) Hahót | |
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Ban of Slavonia | |
Reign | 1343–1346 1353–1356 |
Predecessor | Mikcs Ákos (1st term) Stephen Lackfi (2nd term) |
Successor | Nicholas Szécsi (1st term) Leustach Paksi (2nd term) |
Born | 1290s |
Died | 1359 |
Noble family | Hahót |
Issue | Stephen I Bánfi Francis Nicholas VIII John I Bánfi Nicholas I Bánfi Ladislaus I Bánfi |
Father | Stephen I |
Nicholas (VII) from the kindred Hahót (
Ancestry
Nicholas was born into the Hahold branch of the gens Hahót in the 1290s, as the only son of Stephen I, who was mentioned as ispán of Varaždin County in 1297,[1] and an unidentified daughter of Palatine Denis Péc. Stephen Hahót was a loyal supporter of Andrew III of Hungary, participating in several military campaigns against Austria and the rival Kőszegi family in Transdanubia and Slavonia.
According to the Illuminated Chronicle which was written in the 1350s, when Nicholas' political career reached its peak, the ancestor of the Hahót kindred was a certain German knight Hahold I (Nicholas' great-great-great grandfather) who was a descendant of the Counts of Weimar-Orlamünde and settled down in the Kingdom of Hungary in 1163 upon the invitation of Stephen III of Hungary to fight against usurper uncle Stephen IV of Hungary and his allies, the Csáks.[2]
Majority of the historians rejected this interpretation. Elemér Mályusz identified the two geographical names with Wartburg and Meissen in Thuringia (Margravate of Meissen), noting that none of them were part of the estates of the House of Weimar-Orlamünde, which ruled Meissen from 1046 to 1067.[3] Endre Tóth tried to reconstruct the origin of the kindred based on the spread of the name Hahold in German-speaking areas. Near Freising, the name was relatively frequently used since the 8th century, in addition, it appeared altogether with the name Arnold in the 13th century, which was also used for four generations in the Hahót kindred.[4] Hahold's theory of origin had a long tradition, as the Illuminated Chronicle only preserved the narrative of the so-called gesta of the age of King Stephen V of Hungary (r. 1270–72), compiled by magister Ákos.[3]
Nicholas' grandfather Hahold IV (fl. 1251–75) already styled himself "lord of Alsólendva" (today Lendava, Slovenia) in 1272, proving that he owned and possibly built the castle himself by then. As ispán of Varaždin County, Stephen represented the royal power in that territory against overwhelming Kőszegi forces in the last years of Andrew III. Following the extinction of the Árpád dynasty in 1301, royal power collapsed and a dozen lords, or "oligarchs", who had by that time achieved de facto independence of the monarch to strengthen their autonomy. One of these oligarchs of the last generation, John Kőszegi besieged and occupied Alsólendva around 1314 (formerly historians János Karácsonyi and Erik Fügedi incorrectly identified Ivan Kőszegi as belligerent and set 1292 for the date of the siege).[5] Whether Stephen was still alive during this act, it is unknown as he disappeared from the sources after 1297, but his son Nicholas was first mentioned by contemporary records only in 1317.[6]
Early career
As he participated in the unification war of
In 1324, Nicholas was made ispán of
Nicholas was among those appointed noble judges in May 1330, who has ruled over the kindred
Ban of Slavonia and Croatia
First term
Charles I died on 16 July 1342. His sixteen-year-old Louis I succeeded him, inheriting a centralized kingdom and a rich treasury from Charles. On 18 May 1343, Louis appointed Nicholas Hahót as Ban of Slavonia (his proper title was "Ban of the Whole of Slavonia"), replacing Mikcs Ákos who died in office. According to a royal charter, Nicholas started his journey from Visegrád to Slavonia on the next day.[13] During the appointment, Nicholas was also granted castrum Lenti, a former estate of the disgraced Kőszegis.[14] In the previous decades, Charles unsuccessfully attempted to reinstate royal authority in Croatia and Slavonia. Although the dominion of Mladen II Šubić collapsed in 1322, his strongest rival John Nelipić expanded his dominance over South Croatia.[15] Charles ordered Ban Nicholas Felsőlendvai and Stephen II Kotromanić to launch a joint offensive against Nelipić, but their expedition eventually failed. Years later Felsőlendvai's successor Mikcs Ákos invaded Croatia to subjugate the local lords who had seized the former castles of Mladen Subić without the king's approval, but John Nelipić routed the ban's troops in 1326. Consequently, royal power remained only nominal in Croatia during Charles's reign, while Slavonia was integrated into the royal crown.[15]
John Nelipić ruled almost whole Croatia beyond
Since August 1345, Nicholas Hahót styled himself Ban of Slavonia, Croatia and Dalmatia, merging the two positions and extending his influence to the Croatian territories as well to represent the royal authority.
The citizens of
According to a charter, Nicholas wounded in the clashes against Venice at Zadar.[25] Few days after the failure in July, Louis dismissed him as Ban of Slavonia and Croatia and replaced with Nicholas Szécsi, one of the most influential barons in the second half of the 14th century.[20][24] That fact could confirm the information of the Minorite friar in connection with the bribery. While historians Gyula Kristó, Pál Engel and Antal Pór accepted the friar's theory, B. Halász argued, Nicholas did not lost his political influence, as appeared as ad litem judge in several times at Buda throughout 1347, and also received land donations from Louis during that time. For Louis, the Kingdom of Naples became a more important scene than Dalmatia and Zadar, where Nicholas Hahót, who had decades of military experience, could have provided a much greater service to the king, B. Halász emphasized.[25]
Second term
The anonymous Minorite friar narrated in his work that Nicholas was among those barons who escorted Duke Andrew's posthumous son, the infant Charles Martel, who was transferred from Naples to Visegrád in February 1348. Louis recognised his nephew as the legitimate ruler of Naples and also laid claim to the regency of the kingdom during the minority of Charles Martel. The king appointed Nicholas as the tutor of little duke, but Charles Martel died only three months after his arrival on 10 May 1348.[19] Around August 1349, Nicholas was made ispán of Zala County for the second time. He held that position until December 1351.[27]
In 1351, Louis made his youngest brother
Taking advantage of the inner war within the Šubić clan, Louis determined to acquire the remaining Dalmatian cities. After the death of
Family
Ancestors of Nicholas VII Hahót[33][34] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nicholas Hahót had six sons and a daughter from his marriage to an unidentified noblewoman. His sons entered political service only in the 1360s, after their father's death. They started to call themselves Bánfi (or Bánffy) meaning the "son of a Ban" in reference to their influential and deeply respected father who had been the Ban of Dalmatia and Croatia and thus restored royal power over the country after seven decades. Two of Nicholas' sons, Stephen I and John I Bánfi themselves also served as Bans of Croatia jointly from 1381 to 1385, while the latter one was Ban of Macsó too between 1386 and 1387.[35] The powerful Bánfi family, which flourished until 1645, descended directly from John, as Stephen's branch became extinct after two generations.[33] Nicholas Hahót's other two sons, Francis and Nicholas VIII predeceased their father without issue, while Nicholas I Bánfi had three daughters, leaving no male heir. The sixth son Ladislaus' branch also died out after three generations, as his son Sigismund had at least six daughters but no son. Nicholas' only unidentified daughter married Henry Rohonci, a descendant of the Hahóts' archenemy, the Kőszegi family.[33]
References
- ^ Zsoldos 2011, p. 222.
- ^ Tóth 2003, p. 267.
- ^ a b Tóth 2003, p. 268.
- ^ Tóth 2003, p. 280.
- ^ a b Engel 1996, p. 266.
- ^ a b c Markó 2006, p. 451.
- ^ B. Halász 2010, p. 7.
- ^ Zsoldos 2005, p. 77.
- ^ Engel 1996, p. 234.
- ^ Kristó 1988, p. 74.
- ^ a b B. Halász 2010, p. 8.
- ^ Engel 1996, p. 57.
- ^ Engel 1996, p. 16.
- ^ Engel 1996, p. 357.
- ^ a b Fine 1994, p. 213.
- ^ a b c d Kristó 1988, p. 99.
- ^ Kristó 1988, p. 100.
- ^ a b Kristó 1988, p. 101.
- ^ a b c d e B. Halász 2010, p. 10.
- ^ a b Engel 1996, p. 22.
- ^ Zsoldos 2011, p. 48.
- ^ a b B. Halász 2010, p. 11.
- ^ Fine 1994, p. 339.
- ^ a b Markó 2006, p. 452.
- ^ a b c B. Halász 2010, p. 9.
- ^ Kristó 1988, p. 105.
- ^ Engel 1996, p. 235.
- ^ a b Engel 1996, p. 17.
- ^ Engel 1996, p. 380.
- ^ Fine 1994, p. 345.
- ^ Engel 1996, p. 55.
- ^ Engel 1996, p. 174.
- ^ a b c Engel: Genealógia (Genus Hahót 1.)
- ^ Engel: Genealógia (Genus Péc 1., Zala branch)
- ^ Markó 2006, p. 438.
Sources
- B. Halász, Éva (2010). "Hahót Miklós szlavón báni működése (1343–1356) [Nicholas Hahót as Ban of Slavonia (1343–1356)]". In G. Tóth, Péter; Szabó, Pál (eds.). Középkortörténti tanulmányok 6 (in Hungarian). ISBN 978-963-306-006-3.
- ISBN 963-8312-44-0.
- ISBN 0-472-08260-4.
- ISBN 963-326-905-9.
- 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.
- Tóth, Endre (2003). "Hoholt – Hahót: A jövevény nemzetségek eredetéhez [Hoholt – Hahót: On the Origin of the Foreign Kindreds]". Századok (in Hungarian). 137 (2). Magyar Történelmi Társulat: 265–296. ISSN 0039-8098.
- Zsoldos, Attila (2005). Az Árpádok és asszonyaik. A királynéi intézmény az Árpádok korában [The Árpáds and their Women: The Institution of Queenship in the Era of the Árpáds] (in Hungarian). MTA Történettudományi Intézete. ISBN 963 8312 98 X.
- 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.