Stephen, son of Tekesh ( hu, Tekes fia István; died after 1280) was a Hungarian distinguished nobleman, who served as

voivode of Transylvania The Voivode of Transylvania (german: Vojwode von Siebenbürgen;Fallenbüchl 1988, p. 77. hu, erdélyi vajda;Zsoldos 2011, p. 36. la, voivoda Transsylvaniae; ro, voievodul Transilvaniei) was the highest-ranking official in Transylvania wit ...

in 1280, during the reign of

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 ...

.Engel 2001, p. 382.Zsoldos 2011, p. 39. His father was Tekesh, son of Nicholas, who served 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 ...

(''comes'') of

Sáros County Sáros (- Hungarian, Slovak: ''Šariš'', Latin: ''comitatus Sarossiensis'', German: ''Scharosch'') was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in northeastern Slovakia. Today, Šariš is only an info ...

for several times. Stephen had two brothers, John and Ladislaus. He had five sons and a daughter from unidentified wife. His name is mentioned by contemporary records since 1267. He supported junior king

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

at first, however later became a partisan of

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 ...

, as a result he lost his political influence when Stephen V ascended the throne in 1270.Markó 2006, p. 410. Following the coronation of Ladislaus IV, Stephen was appointed ispán of

Bereg County Bereg ( rue, Береґ; ) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now mostly in western Ukraine and a smaller part in northeastern Hungary. The capital of the county was Beregszász ("Berehove" in Ukra ...

in 1273.Zsoldos 2011, p. 136. He also became head of the Patak ispánate, a royal estate (1273–1282)Zsoldos 2011, p. 179. and master of the chariots ( hu, szekérnagy; la, maior plaustrorum), holding the latter office until 1275.Zsoldos 2011, p. 255. He served as ispán of

Torna County Torna ( Slovak: ''Turňa'', Latin and Hungarian: ''Torna'', german: link=no, Tornau) is the name of a historic administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. It was located in present-day southeastern Slovakia and northern Hungary ...

in 1277. The Szádvár Castle, centre of the county was donated by Ladislaus IV to the sons of Tekesh and later confirmed by

Andrew III of Hungary Andrew III the Venetian ( hu, III. Velencei András, hr, Andrija III. Mlečanin, sk, Ondrej III.; 1265 – 14 January 1301) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1290 and 1301. His father, Stephen the Posthumous, was the posthumous son of ...

. During that time Stephen held the title of "

perpetual count A perpetual count ( hu, örökös főispán, la, supremus et perpetuus comes)Nemes 1989, p. 81. was a head or an ''ispán'' of a county in the Kingdom of Hungary (“Lord Lieutenant”) whose office was either hereditary or attached to the dignity ...

".Zsoldos 2011, p. 213. Stephen served as ban of Kucsó in 1279.Zsoldos 2011, p. 52. He functioned as voivode of Transylvania for a short time in 1280. Perhaps he was a strong supporter of

Finta Aba Finta from the kindred Aba ( hu, Aba nembeli Finta; died 1287) was a Hungarian lord in the Kingdom of Hungary, who served as Palatine of Hungary from 1280 to 1281. He is best known for capturing King Ladislaus IV of Hungary in early 1280. Family ...

. Stephen built up a dominant power along with his brothers in North-East Hungary (Torna and Sáros Counties).

References

Sources

* Engel, Pál (2001). ''The Realm of St Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895-1526''. I.B. Tauris Publishers. . * Markó, László (2006). ''A magyar állam főméltóságai Szent Istvántól napjainkig – Életrajzi Lexikon'' ("The High Officers of the Hungarian State from Saint Stephen to the Present Days – A Biographical Encyclopedia") (2nd edition); Helikon Kiadó Kft., Budapest; . * Zsoldos, Attila (2011). ''Magyarország világi archontológiája, 1000–1301'' ("Secular Archontology of Hungary, 1000–1301"). História, MTA Történettudományi Intézete. Budapest. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen, son of Tekesh Voivodes of Transylvania 13th-century Hungarian people