Macarius ( hu, Makár; died 25 January 1147/1150) was a prelate in 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 ...
in the first half of the 12th century. He was successively
provost of
Titel
Titel ( sr-Cyrl, Тител, hu, Titel) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town of Titel has a population of 5,247, while the population of the municipality of Titel is 15, ...
around 1127,
bishop of Pécs between around 1136 and around 1139, and finally
archbishop of Esztergom until around 1147.
Life
Macarius is first mentioned in a fragmentary charter he issued as royal notary in the reign of King
Stephen II of Hungary. The charter is dated to the period between 1125 and 1128, and refers to him as the head or provost of the
collegiate chapter at Titel (now in
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
).
Macarius is first mentioned as bishop (but without any reference to his see) at the beginning of 1137. This year he participated at the assembly where
Ladislaus, a younger son of 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, ...
was proclaimed
Duke of Bosnia
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
. In the list of the participants, Macarius is only preceded by the archbishop of Esztergom. His see at Pécs is revealed in a charter issued for the
Dömös Chapter
The Dömös Chapter was a collegiate chapter, established around 1107, in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was dedicated to Saint Margaret of Antioch.
Establishment
Duke Álmosthe younger brother of Coloman the Learned, King of Hungaryestablished ...
by King Béla II on September 3, 1138. Another charter, which donated villages to the monastery of
Csatár
Csatár is a village in Zala County, Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, ...
, erected by
Martin Gutkeled, ''
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
Zala County
Zala ( hu, Zala megye, ; ; ) is an administrative county ( comitatus or ''megye'') in south-western Hungary. It is named after the Zala River. It shares borders with Croatia ( Koprivnica–Križevci and Međimurje Counties) and Slovenia ( Lend ...
, also refers to Macarius as bishop, but without mentioning his see. The charter is dated to the period between 1138 and 1141, the last years of Béla II.
Macarius seems to have been transferred to the see of Esztergom in some years, because three charters issued between 1142 and 1146 refer to one "Archbishop Macarius". As Jesuit scholar
István Katona considered at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, it is presumable that Macarius is identical with that certain Archbishop "Muchia", who appears without giving the specific archdiocese in a document in May 1142, when the privileges of
Split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, entertai ...
were confirmed by the royal court in the name of the minor King
Géza II of Hungary
Géza II ( hu, II. Géza; hr, Gejza II; sk, Gejza II; 113031 May 1162) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1141 to 1162. He was the oldest son of Béla the Blind and his wife, Helena of Serbia. When his father died, Géza was still a child a ...
. However historian Tamás Körmendi emphasizes the paleographic difficulties between the two name forms, while the authenticity of the charter itself is also doubtful. Nándor Knauz, Imre Szentpétery, László Koszta, Attila Zsoldos and – after philological and canon law considerations – Tamás Körmendi accepted Katona's claim, while József Udvardy identified "Muchia" as a previously unknown
Archbishop of Kalocsa
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...
.
He is still referred to as archbishop by two charters in 1146. Macarius appeared as a witness both times on the occasion of the
last testaments of lady
Színes or Scines (the first preserved such document made by a woman in Hungary) and ''hospes'' Fulco, who served different prelates for decades as a secular clergyman. Macarius' name also appears in an undated royal charter, when Géza II returned the privilege of the imposition of duty near
Győr
Győr ( , ; german: Raab, links=no; names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia region, and – halfway between Budapest and Vienna – situated on one of ...
to the
Pannonhalma Abbey
The Benedictine Pannonhalma Archabbey or Territorial Abbey of Pannonhalma (lat. ''Archiabbatia'' or ''Abbatia Territorialis Sancti Martini in Monte Pannoniae'') is a medieval building in Pannonhalma
Pannonhalma (german: Martinsberg; sk, Rábsk ...
. According to the obituary of the
Göttweig Abbey
Göttweig Abbey (german: Stift Göttweig) is a Benedictine monastery near Krems in Lower Austria. It was founded in 1083 by Altmann, Bishop of Passau.
History
Göttweig Abbey was founded as a monastery of canons regular by Blessed Altmann (c ...
, Macarius died on 25 January, without mentioning the proper year. As Fulco's last testament (where the archbishop was involved) took place after 16 February 1146, Macarius passed away sometimes from 25 January 1147 at the earliest to the same day in 1150 at the latest, as
Kökényes already functioned as archbishop in that year.
References
Sources
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12th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Hungary
Archbishops of Esztergom
Bishops of Pécs
12th-century Hungarian people