Tiba from the kindred Tomaj ( hu, Tomaj nembeli Tiba; died after 1209) was a Hungarian noble at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, who assassinated

Palatine A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

Csépán Győr Csépán (I) from the kindred Győr ( hu, Győr nembeli (I.) Csépán; died 1209) was a Hungarian influential lord at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, who served as Palatine of Hungary from 1206 until his murder. Career His forename was t ...

in 1209.

Life

Tiba was born into the ''gens'' (clan) Tomaj of

Pecheneg The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პაჭ ...

origin, but his kinship relations to the other members of the large kindred is uncertain. He owned Lesencetomaj in

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 ...

just before the murder. A document from 1216 narrates that Tiba murdered incumbent palatine Csépán Győr in 1209. The victim's brother

Pat Győr Pat (I) from the kindred Győr ( hu, Győr nembeli (I.) Pat; died after 1221) was a Hungarian influential lord at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, who served as Palatine of Hungary from 1209 until 1212. Family Pat (also Pot or Poth) was b ...

, who succeeded him in the dignity, summoned the suspected perpetrator "before the king's presence", but, instead, Tiba fled 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 ...

. After his conduct, the court considered the allegations justified, and Tiba was convicted and sentenced to death ''in absentia'' by Andrew II and his fellow appointed judges. Pat was granted the confiscated lands of Tiba, including Lesencetomaj as a compensation shortly thereafter. Pat sold the estate to

Atyusz III Atyusz Atyusz III from the kindred Atyusz (also Oguz; hu, Atyusz nembeli (III.) Atyusz; died after 1233) was a Hungarian influential baron, the most outstanding member of his family, who served as Judge royal from 1215 to 1217, during the reign of Andr ...

, who himself sold it to Tiba's relative Peter in 1216. The motivation of the murder is unclear; historian Erik Fügedi considered it as the "first documented political assassination" in Hungary.

Bálint Hóman Bálint Hóman (29 December 1885 – 2 June 1951) was a Hungarian scholar and politician who served as Minister of Religion and Education twice: between 1932–1938 and between 1939–1942. He died in prison in 1951 for his support of the fasc ...

assumed a connection between Tiba's crime and a failed conspiracy against Andrew in the same year, when a group of discontented Hungarian lords offered the crown to Andrew's cousins, the sons of Andrew's uncle, Géza. Accordingly, Tiba would have been a participant of that conspiracy, and had to flee from the realm after the failure of the coup. Historian Pál Szabó analyzed the verdict's narrative and political circumstances (only a single private law document mentions the felony), and considered Csépán was killed by Tiba for personal reasons.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomaj, Tiba 12th-century Hungarian people 13th-century Hungarian people Tiba Hungarian assassins Hungarian exiles People sentenced to death in absentia