Gregory (III) from the kindred Monoszló ( hu, Monoszló nembeli (III.) Gergely; c. 1240 – between 1291 and 1294) was a Hungarian lord, who served as the first known
Judge of the Cumans The judge of the Cumans ( hu, kunok bírája or ''kunbíró''; la, iudex Cumanorum) was a short-lived legal office, then an ''ex officio'' title in the Hungarian royal court, existed since the second half of the 13th century. In 1270, the Palatine ...
in 1269. Through his marriage, he was a relative of the royal
Árpád dynasty
The Árpád dynasty, consisted of the members of the royal House of Árpád (), also known as Árpáds ( hu, Árpádok, hr, Arpadovići). They were the ruling dynasty of the Principality of Hungary in the 9th and 10th centuries and of the Kingd ...
.
Family background
Gregory III was born into the
''gens'' Monoszló around 1240 as the son of
Gregory II, who functioned as ''
ispán
The ispánRady 2000, p. 19.''Stephen Werbőczy: The Customary Law of the Renowned Kingdom of Hungary in Three Parts (1517)'', p. 450. or countEngel 2001, p. 40.Curta 2006, p. 355. ( hu, ispán, la, comes or comes parochialis, and sk, župan)Kirs ...
'' of
Krassó County in 1255. His mother was an unidentified noblewoman from the
''gens'' Bő, possibly the daughter of Ders. His grandfather was
Thomas I Thomas I may refer to:
* Thomas I of Constantinople, Patriarch from 607 to 610
* Thomas I of Jerusalem, Patriarch until 821
* Thomas I of York (died in 1100)
* Thomas I, Count of Savoy (1178–1233)
* Thomas I d'Autremencourt (died ca. 1212), Lord ...
, the
Ban of Slavonia
Ban of Slavonia ( hr, Slavonski ban; hu, szlavón bán; la, Sclavoniæ banus) or the Ban of "Whole Slavonia" ( hr, ban cijele Slavonije; hu, egész Szlavónia bánja; la, totius Sclavoniæ banus) was the title of the governor of a territor ...
between 1228 and 1229. Gregory had two brothers,
Egidius II, who served as
Master of the treasury
The master of the treasury or treasurerSegeš 2002, p. 316.Rady 2000, p. 113. (german: Königlicher Ober-SchatzmeisterFallenbüchl 1988, p. 80. or , hu, tárnokmester,Zsoldos 2011, p. 61. la, magister tavarnicorum, or , sk, taverník hr, tave ...
several times, and
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
, who functioned as
Bishop of Transylvania
:''There is also a Romanian Orthodox Archbishop of Alba Iulia and a Greek Catholic Archdiocese of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia.''
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Alba Iulia ( hu, Gyulafehérvári Római Katolikus Érsekség) is a Latin Church Cath ...
from 1270 to 1307. Despite his direct royal kinship relations, Gregory's career was overshadowed by his elder brother, the more ambitious and capable Egidius. The three brothers supported each other in national politics and gradually distinguished themselves from the other branches of the Monoszló kindred. This intention also appeared in contemporary documents and charters, when their names were referred with the suffixes "''de genere Thome bani''" ("from Ban Thomas' kindred"), and later "''de Filek''", when the eldest one, Egidius was granted Fülek Castle (today Fiľakovo, Slovakia) by his lord,
Duke Stephen.
Gregory became a relative of the royal House of Árpád, when he married an unidentified sister of Duke Stephen's consort,
Elizabeth the Cuman
Elizabeth the Cuman (1244–1290) was the Queen consort of Stephen V of Hungary. She was regent of Hungary during the minority of her son from 1272 to 1277.
The Cumans were the western tribes of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation.
Her people follo ...
. Elizabeth, and Gregory's wife most possibly were the daughters of Seyhan, a Cuman chieftain. The marriage of Gregory and the Cuman lady presumably occurred in the mid-1260s, as, according to a 1274 royal charter issued by Elizabeth's son,
Ladislaus IV of Hungary
Ladislaus IV ( hu, IV. (Kun) László, hr, Ladislav IV. Kumanac, sk, Ladislav IV. Kumánsky; 5 August 1262 – 10 July 1290), also known as Ladislaus the Cuman, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1272 to 1290. His mother, Elizabeth, was ...
, Elizabeth had previously donated the queenly estate of
Pány (today Paňovce, Slovakia) to her sister, which area then belonged to her husband, Stephen's realm, who, adopting the title of Junior King, forced his father, King
Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group of influential noblemen in his father ...
to cede all the lands of the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
to the east of the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
to him. Later, in 1274, Ladislaus IV confiscated his aunt's estate in exchange for Kárán,
Somogy County
Somogy ( hu, Somogy megye, ; hr, Šomođska županija; sl, Šomodska županija, german: Komitat Schomodei) is an administrative county (comitatus or ''megye'') in present Hungary, and also in the former Kingdom of Hungary.
Somogy County lies ...
, which laid near to the Monoszlós' lands. Historian János Karácsonyi claimed, Elizabeth and her unidentified sister were the siblings of Bulgarian Despot
Jacob Svetoslav
Jacob Svetoslav ( bg, Яков Светослав, ''Yakov Svetoslav'') (ca. 1210s/1220s–1275 or 1276/1277) was a prominent 13th-century Bulgarian noble ('' bolyarin''). Bestowed the title of despot, Jacob Svetoslav was the ruler of a widely au ...
, who rebelled against his father-in-law, Stephen's rule, and after the victorious Hungarian campaign in 1266, Egidius Monoszló, who captured
Tirnovo
Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province.
Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...
, took the Despot's sister to marry with his younger brother, Gregory as pledge of the peace.
Career
Belonging to his kinship, Gregory was unflinchingly loyal to Duke Stephen, who launched a
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
against his father, Béla IV in 1264. However there is no source whether he actively participated battles or held any specific offices in Stephen's royal court. In 1269, Gregory was mentioned twice as Judge of the Cumans, becoming the first known person who held that dignity. Earlier archontological and historical works identified the office-holder with his father, Gregory II. However historian Attila Zsoldos argued the last mention of Gregory II is from 1256, and there is no record of him about his role in the 1260s civil war or any political relation with Duke Stephen. Contrary to him, as Zsoldos noted, Gregory III belonged to the court of his sister-in-law's husband, Duke Stephen, and had a Cuman wife. In the two documents, Gregory, as Judge of the Cumans – after the conclusion of the war – appeared before the elderly Béla IV in the royal court to negotiate over
Slavonia
Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...
n estate matters with his cousins, Thomas III and Stephen II, and a distant relative,
Nicholas
Nicholas is a male given name and a surname.
The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglicanism, Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the n ...
.
After Béla's death, Stephen V succeeded his father without difficulties and was crowned on or after 17 May 1270.
Mojs, the newly-appointed
Palatine of Hungary
The Palatine of Hungary ( hu, nádor or , german: Landespalatin, la, palatinus regni Hungariae) was the highest-ranking office in the Kingdom of Hungary from the beginning of the 11th century to 1848. Initially, Palatines were represe ...
adopted the title Judge of the Cumans, merging the two dignities. In the same time, Gregory was made Master of the treasury for his sister-in-law, Queen Elizabeth (while his brother, Egidius held the same office in the royal court of Stephen V). Beside that, Gregory also became ''ispán'' of
Vas County. In this capacity, Gregory had important role in the emerging armed conflict between Stephen V and
Ottokar II of Bohemia
Ottokar II ( cs, Přemysl Otakar II.; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his deat ...
. After Stephen's coronation, the closest advisors of the late Béla, for instance
Henry Kőszegi and
Nicholas Geregye
Nicholas from the kindred Geregye ( hu, Geregye nembeli Miklós; died after 1279) was a Hungarian baron and landowner, member of the ''gens'' Geregye, who held several positions.
Family
He was the son of judge royal Paul (d. before 1271) and an ...
, following the new monarch's sister,
Anna of Macsó, fled Hungary and handed over
Kőszeg
Kőszeg (german: Güns, ; Slovak: ''Kysak'', sl, Kiseg, hr, Kiseg) is a town in Vas County, Hungary. The town is famous for its historical character.
History
The origins of the only free royal town in the historical garrison county of Vas ...
,
Borostyánkő (today Bernstein, Austria) and their other castles in Vas County, along the western borders to Ottokar II. Then Stephen V launched a plundering raid into
Styria
Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...
around December 1270. Gregory was one of the commanders of the royal army against the Bohemian king. In the next year, Nicholas Geregye returned Hungary and swore loyalty to Stephen after the
Peace of Pressburg, which signed on 2 July 1271. Though Ottokar renounced its claims on territories conquered in Hungary, the
Kőszegis, strengthening with Bohemian and Styrian defenders, refused to give back their castles along the western border. As a result, Gregory led a royal army to successfully besiege and capture Henry Kőszegi's four castles in August 1271.
The
Ban of Slavonia
Ban of Slavonia ( hr, Slavonski ban; hu, szlavón bán; la, Sclavoniæ banus) or the Ban of "Whole Slavonia" ( hr, ban cijele Slavonije; hu, egész Szlavónia bánja; la, totius Sclavoniæ banus) was the title of the governor of a territor ...
,
Joachim Gutkeled
Joachim from the kindred Gutkeled ( hu, Gutkeled nembeli Joachim, hr, Joakim Pektar; died in April 1277) was a Hungarian influential lord in the second half of the 13th century. As a key figure of the struggles for power between the powerful bar ...
, turned against Stephen V and kidnapped his ten-year old son and heir, Ladislaus in the summer of 1272. Stephen besieged Joachim's fortress in
Koprivnica
Koprivnica () is a city in Northern Croatia, located 70 kilometers northeast of Zagreb. It is the capital and the largest city of the Koprivnica-Križevci county. In 2011, the city's administrative area of 90.94 km2 had a total popu ...
, but could not free his son. The king soon fell ill and died on 6 August 1272, thus the Monoszló brothers lost their patron. Joachim Gutkeled departed for
Székesfehérvár
Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fejér ...
as soon as he was informed of Stephen V's death, because he wanted to arrange Ladislaus' coronation. Gregory's sister-in-law, Dowager Queen Elizabeth joined him, infuriating Stephen V's partisans who accused her of having conspired against her husband. Gregory's brother, Egidius immediately laid siege in late August to Elizabeth's estate in Székesfehérvár to "rescue" Ladislaus from the rival baronial group's influence. However the military action ended in failure. Egidius and Gregory "fear of the Queen's revenge", fled to
Pressburg
Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...
(today Bratislava, Slovakia). They captured the
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
and its surrounding areas and handed over to Ottokar II who provided shelter to them. Their Hungarian lands were confiscated following that by Queen Elizabeth in the name of his son. The Monoszló brothers were granted the Austrian castles of
Laa,
Stockerau
Stockerau () is a town in the district of Korneuburg (district), Korneuburg in Lower Austria, Austria. Stockerau has 15,921 inhabitants, which makes it the largest town in the Weinviertel.https://statistik.at/wcm/idc/idcplg?IdcService=GET_PDF_FILE ...
,
Korneuburg
Korneuburg () is a town in Austria. It is located in the state Lower Austria and is the administrative center of the district of Korneuburg. Korneuburg is situated on the left bank of the Danube, opposite the city of Klosterneuburg, and is 12&nbs ...
and
Kreuzenstein by Ottokar, who also commissioned them to administrate Pressburg and the adjacent forts.
Following the Bohemian invasion of Hungary in April 1273, Egidius and Gregory fled
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
for Hungary and swore loyalty to Ladislaus IV, thus received forgiveness from Elizabeth and the Monoszlós' confiscated lands were regained (Gregory was granted Kárán then). He was re-appointed ''ispán'' of Vas County, and simultaneously also served as head of
Požega County
Požega County ( hr, Požeška županija; hu, Pozsega vármegye) was a historic administrative subdivision (''županija'') of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. Croatia-Slavonia was an autonomous kingdom within the Lands of the Crown of Sain ...
until 1273. In this capacity, he fought against Ottokar's troops at
Győr
Győr ( , ; german: Raab, links=no; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia ...
. However the rival baronial group, dominated by the Kőszegi and the
Gutkeled The coat-of-arms of the Hungarian Gutkeled clan
Gutkeled (spelling variants: Gut-Keled, Guthkeled, Guth-Keled) was the name of a ''gens'' (Latin for "clan"; ''nemzetség'' in Hungarian) in the Kingdom of Hungary, to which a number of Hungarian nob ...
clans, regained its influence and, among others, Gregory was dismissed from his office. Both Egidius and Gregory lost all political influence for uncertain reasons after 1275, as they had never hold any dignities after that, despite the fact that their allies, the
Csák group was able to return to govern the realm even at the end of the year. They jointly owned
Álmosd
Álmosd is a village in Hajdú-Bihar county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary.
History The Jewish community
Jews began to settle in the village in 1770.
In 1830, the Jewish community established a synagogue and a cemeter ...
in
Bihar County
Bihar was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary and a county of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom and Principality of Transylvania (since the 16th century, when it was under the rule of the Princes of Transylvania). Most of ...
in 1291. Gregory died childless by 1294.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Monoszlo, Gregory 03
13th-century Hungarian people
1290s deaths
Gregory 03
Year of birth uncertain