Lampert from the kindred Hont-Pázmány ( hu, Hont-Pázmány nembeli Lampert; killed July 1132) was a Hungarian powerful lord at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries, who was related to the ruling
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 King ...
by his marriage. He was one of the richest aristocrats of the kingdom during that time. He founded a
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
abbey near
Bozók (present-day Bzovík,
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
).
Family and landholdings
King
Béla II of Hungary
Béla the Blind ( hu, Vak Béla; hr, Bela Slijepi; sk, Belo Slepý; 1109 – 13 February 1141) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1131 to 1141. He was blinded along with his rebellious father Álmos on the order of Álmos's brother, ...
confirmed the former donations to the newly established Bozók Abbey in 1135, which preserved many details about the family relationships of Lampert, the founder of the monastery. Accordingly, Lampert (II) was born into the influential and extensive ''gens'' (clan)
Hont-Pázmány
Hont-Pázmány (Hunt-Poznan) was the name of a ''gens'' ("clan") in the Kingdom of Hungary. The '' Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum''mentions that the ancestors of the family, the brothers Hont (Hunt) and Pázmány (Pazman), originally from the Duchy ...
in the 1050s or 1060s. Their ancestors, German knights Hont and Pázmány arrived in the late 10th century to 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 ...
and they actively participated in the defeat of the rebellious chieftain
Koppány
Koppány, also known as Cupan, was the Duke of Somogy in Hungary in the late 10th century. According to modern scholars' consensus view, he was a member of the royal Árpád dynasty. Koppány was the lord of the southern region of Transdanubia dur ...
. It is plausible that Hont, who settled down in
Upper Hungary
Upper Hungary is the usual English translation of ''Felvidék'' (literally: "Upland"), the Hungarian term for the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia. The region has also been ...
, was the great-grandfather of Lampert. According to the 1135 document, his namesake grandfather, Lampert (I) – Hont's son – lived during the reign of
Stephen I of Hungary
Stephen I, also known as King Saint Stephen ( hu, Szent István király ; la, Sanctus Stephanus; sk, Štefan I. or Štefan Veľký; 975 – 15 August 1038), was the last Grand Prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the ...
, and was granted the villages
Egyházasmarót (Hontianske Moravce) and Palatnya in
Hont County
Hont County was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Most of its territory is now part of Slovakia, while a smaller southern portion is part of Hungary.
Today, in Slovakia Hont is the informal designation of the corres ...
from King Stephen around 1030. Lampert (I) also had a brother Bény (I). The father of Lampert (II) is unidentified. Lampert had a brother Hippolytus (Ipoly). It is plausible that their father died early, as Lampert (and possibly Hippolytus) was adopted by a certain noble, the childless Krazeg.
![Hunt lovag](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Hunt_lovag.jpg)
Lampert inherited large-scale domains in Upper Hungary. By the end of his life, he possessed approximately 30 landholdings, becoming one of the richest aristocrats of the Kingdom of Hungary at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries. The majority of his lands laid north of the section of the river
Ipoly (Ipeľ) between the settlements
Visk (present-day Vyškovce nad Ipľom, Slovakia) and
Balassagyarmat along the line of ''
gyepű
In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a national "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diff ...
'', where the Hont-Pázmánys settled a century earlier. The royal charter of 1135 lists the estates Lampert had donated to the Bozók Abbey. The majority of his landholdings are located in present-day Slovakia, but he also owned several settlements that are now unidentifiable (these are marked with quotation marks and italics). The document also contains the circumstances of the acquisition of the listed landholdings; where this does not appear, it is a clearly inherited estate from the Hont-Pázmány wealth. Among others, Lampert inherited Bozók,
Csenke (Čenkovce),
Bény
Bény () is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.
Geography
The ''bief du Lignon'' forms the commune's southeastern border, then flows into the Solnan, which forms most of its northeastern border.
The Sevron flows northwest thr ...
(Bíňa),
Páld (Pavlová), Egyházasmarót, Palatnya, meadows and groves in
Kürt (Ohrady), three acres of land in "''Ocyva''", ten acres of land in Szebele, one acres of land in "''Dopub''" and arable lands in
Nyék (Vinica). Lampert and his family also owned each portions in
Kelenye (Kleňany).
According to the 1135 charter, Lampert acquired several landholdings in different ways. He bought Badin (present-day
Dolný Badín and
Horný Badín) from a certain Iremyr. He was granted the estate "''Kukezu''" (possibly it is identical with present-day
Kosihovce or
Kamenné Kosihy) from his stepfather Krazeg. Sometime before 1108,
Duke Álmos donated the village of
Nénye (Nenince) to Lampert, after its original owner, a certain Prodsa died without descendants. Lampert bought "''Zeorna''" along the stream Olvár (today in
Šahy
Šahy ( hu, Ipolyság, rarely german: Eipelschlag) is a town in southern Slovakia, The town has an ethnic Hungarian majority and its population is 7,238 people (2018), with an average age of 42.5.
Geography
It is located at the eastern reaches o ...
) from a certain noble Porodom. As part of the
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...
via his first marriage (see below), Lampert was granted the estates
Ipolypásztó,
Bori and two vineyards in
Szigetfő (present-day Pastovce, Bory and Rácalmás, respectively) by King
Ladislaus I of Hungary
Ladislaus I ( hu, László, hr, Ladislav, sk, Ladislav, pl, Władysław; 1040 – 29 July 1095), also known as Saint Ladislas, was King of Hungary from 1077 and King of Croatia from 1091. He was the second son of King Béla I of Hungary and ...
in the 1080s. Lampert bought "''Voücta''" (Visztoka?) from a certain Dragony. He acquired
Megyer along the river
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 , p ...
from a certain David. He also bought "''Chemer''" from a certain Gregory.
Marriages
![Béla I (Chronica Hungarorum)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/B%C3%A9la_I_%28Chronica_Hungarorum%29.jpg)
The aforementioned royal charter of 1135 narrates that Lampert Hont-Pázmány married to an unidentified daughter of the late
Béla I of Hungary
Béla I the Boxer or the Wisent ( hu, I. Bajnok or Bölény Béla, sk, Belo I.; – 11 September 1063) was King of Hungary from 1060 until his death. He descended from a younger branch of the Árpád dynasty. Béla's baptismal name was A ...
upon the courtesy of the princess' brother Ladislaus I. The document refers to the lady as Ladislaus' "''soror''" ("sister"), without her name. The wedding took place most plausibly in the 1080s, and this unidentified princess was probably the youngest child of Béla I, who could have been born a year or two before her father's death (1063) and reached adulthood by the time of her brother's reign (1077–1095). Lampert was granted respectable dowry from his brother-in-law, King Ladislaus: the villages Ipolypásztó (with its royal manor) and Bori in Upper Hungary and two vineyards in Szigetfő (present-day a borough of Rácalmás) in Central Hungary. With this marriage, Lampert became one of the few aristocrats, who was related to the ruling
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 King ...
, which reflected his wealth, loyalty and high social prestige. Historian Péter Báling also considered that Lampert presumably supported the aspirations of Béla's sons,
Géza I Géza is a Hungarian given name and may refer to any of the following:
* Benjamin Géza Affleck
* Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians
* Géza I of Hungary, King of Hungary
* Géza II of Hungary, King of Hungary
* Géza, son of Géza II of Hung ...
then Ladislaus I against their cousin
Solomon for the acquisition of the Hungarian throne, and this assistance enabled him to marry into the royal family. Plausibly, the marriage remained childless and the unidentified princess died by that time, when Lampert founded the monastery of Bozók.
Béla II's same charter also mentions a certain Sophia as Lampert's wife in another text place. Accordingly, Lampert, his wife Sophia and their son Nicholas had established the abbey with their donations. Former historiography incorrectly considered this Sophia is identical with Béla I's
namesake daughter, who was the spouse of
Ulric I, Margrave of Carniola, then
Magnus, Duke of Saxony. However, historian Mór Wertner proved that Lampert's first wife from the Árpád dynasty and the aforementioned Sophia are different persons. The 1135 diploma does not refer to Sophia as a royal relative and does not mention any referrals (the lack of inclusion of word "''prefata''"), which would result in identification between the two ladies and implies that Sophia from an unidentified noble family was the second wife of the powerful lord (on the other hand, it is also rare for a monarch to have two children of the same name if the elder has lived into adulthood). Lampert had three sons: Bény (II) – who predeceased him –, Nicholas and Sixtus (or Syx). Béla II nor does refer to them as his relatives when he mentions them, consequently all of them were born from their father's second marriage. However, the lack of mention of kinship may also be due to Lampert and his family supporting
Boris' claim to the throne against Béla II (see below), so it may be that some or all of them were descendants of Béla I. Majority of scholars accepted Wertner's interpretation. In contrast, genealogist
Szabolcs de Vajay claimed that Sophia is identical with the unidentified princess, and, in fact, she was the daughter of Géza I (then only a prince) and his first wife
Sophia of Looz (Loon). The orphan princess was guarded by his uncle Ladislaus I, according to Vajay. This theory also modified Lampert's age, extending his birth by at least ten years. Vajay argued Lampert's landholdings belonged to the territory of Prince Géza's
ducal realm in
Nitra
Nitra (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of about 78,353, it is the fifth l ...
(Nyitra).
Activity
Only few sources have survived, which contain information about his political and social activity. By the end of the 11th century, Lampert belonged to the retinue of
Coloman, King of Hungary
Coloman the Learned, also the Book-Lover or the Bookish ( hu, Könyves Kálmán; hr, Koloman; sk, Koloman Učený; 10703February 1116) was King of Hungary from 1095 and King of Croatia from 1097 until his death. Because Coloman and his younge ...
, whose whole reign was overshadowed by series of sharp confrontation with his younger brother Álmos (however, as mentioned above, the prince once donated land to Lampert, when he still ruled the ''ducatus'' before 1108). Lampert and his son Nicholas were also members of the royal court of Coloman's son,
Stephen II of Hungary. They belonged to the companion of the king in July 1124, who visited
Dalmatia to confirm his father's former grants and privileges to the coastal cities. This data confirms that Lampert and his son had also participated in the royal campaign against the province, taking advantage of the temporary absence of the
Venetian fleet from the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
. According to Ferenc Makk, Lampert was an important member of that "pro-Coloman" baronial group, which began to slowly disintegrate by the end of the reign of Stephen II.
Béla II's charter from 1135 narrates that Lampert, Sophia and Nicholas erected a Benedictine monastery in their estate Bozók during the reign of Stephen II and the episcopal tenure of
Felician, Archbishop of Esztergom
Felician ( hu, Felicián; died after 1139) was a Hungarian prelate in the first half of the 12th century, who served as Archbishop of Esztergom from around 1125 until his presumably death in 1139 or later.
Career
There is no information about hi ...
. Consequently, the foundation of the abbey occurred sometime between 1124 and 1131, but most likely in the period from 1127 to 1131. They donated approximately 20 landholdings to the newly founded monastery. Sixtus – who was not involved in the foundation – retained his ownership over his portion in Kelenye. The document also narrates that Lampert's another son, Bény was deceased by the time of the foundation of the abbey. They offered some serfs to the Benedictine friars for his spiritual salvation. The royal manor at Ipolypásztó was registered by
Judge royal
The judge royal, also justiciar,Rady 2000, p. 49. chief justiceSegeš 2002, p. 202. or Lord Chief JusticeFallenbüchl 1988, p. 145. (german: Oberster Landesrichter,Fallenbüchl 1988, p. 72. hu, országbíró,Zsoldos 2011, p. 26. sk, krajinsk ...
Julius to the accessories of the Bozók Abbey. By 1181, the administration of the abbey was taken over by the
Premonstratensians
The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...
.
The childless Stephen II died in March 1131. The late Álmos'
blinded son Béla II ascended the throne after his predecessor's nephew,
Saul
Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered t ...
whom Stephen II had nominated as his heir had died following a possible civil war. At "an assembly of the realm near
Arad" in early to mid-1131,
Queen Helena ordered the slaughter of all noblemen who were accused of having suggested the blinding of her husband to King Coloman. Lampert tacitly accepted the person of the new ruler, but his political influence greatly diminished. In the next year, Coloman's alleged son Boris tried to dethrone Béla II with the support of
Bolesław III of Poland. After Boris arrived in Poland, a number of Hungarian noblemen joined him. Others sent messengers to Boris to express their support, whether Lampert was among them is unknown. Accompanied by Polish and Rus' reinforcements, Boris broke into Hungary in mid-1132. Before launching a counter-attack against Boris, Béla convoked a council on the river Sajó in July 1132. Lampert and his kinship were also present during the meeting. The ''
Illuminated Chronicle
The ''Chronicon Pictum'' (Latin for "illustrated chronicle", English: ''Illuminated Chronicle'' or ''Vienna Illuminated Chronicle'', hu, Képes Krónika, sk, Obrázková kronika, german: Illustrierte Chronik, also referred to as '' Chronica Hun ...
'' relates that the King asked "the great men of Hungary" who were present if they knew whether Boris "was a bastard or the son of King Coloman". The King's partisans attacked and slaughtered all those who proved to be "disloyal and contrary minded". Lampert was brutally murdered by his own brother Hippolytus, who beat him to death with a chair, while his son Nicholas was captured and beheaded. In the subsequent decisive battle, which was fought on the river Sajó on 22 July 1132, the Hungarian and
Austrian troops defeated Boris and his allies. According to historian Ferenc Makk, this event resulted the final disintegration of the "pro-Coloman" group, Hippolytus turned against his kinship and swore loyalty to Béla II. Three years later, Béla II enlisted the late Lampert's donations to the monastery at Bozók. Makk considered the Benedictine friars initiated the royal confirmation of the donations, thus making themselves independent of the person of the founder who died as a "disloyal". This coincided with the political objective of the king who sought to consolidate his power.
References
Sources
Primary sources
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Secondary studies
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hont-Pazmany, Lampert lord
1132 deaths
11th-century Hungarian people
12th-century Hungarian people
Lampert 01
Assassinated Hungarian people
Founders of Christian monasteries
Deaths by beating in Europe