Nicholas Kőszegi (bishop)

Nicholas Kőszegi (; 1282 – April/July 1336) was a Hungarian prelate in the 14th century, who served as Bishop of Győr from 1308 until his death. He was an illegitimate son of the powerful lord Ivan Kőszegi. His ambivalent relationship with the rebellious Kőszegi family overshadowed most of his governance as bishop. His ecclesiastical career rose to its peak due to the pressure and influence of his kinship, but later he pledged alliance to Charles I of Hungary, despite the king's distrust.

Early life

Nicholas was an illegitimate descendant of the Kőszegi family, according to a letter of Pope Clement V. His parentage is uncertain; initially, 19th-century historian Antal Pór considered he was the son of Ivan Kőszegi, then modified his standpoint and claimed his father was Gregory, Ivan's son. Genealogist Pál Engel placed his name on the family tree as the son of Ivan's brother, another powerful oligarch Henry Kőszegi, but without explanation and reference.Engel: ''Genealógia'' (Genus Héder 4. Kőszegi nd Rohoncibranch) The diocese's almanac claimed Nicholas was the natural son of the eldest brother Nicholas I. Excluding Gregory due to estimate age, Nicholas' biographer Ádám Vajk argued his diocese laid in the territory of Ivan Kőszegi, who ruled Western Transdanubia at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. Accordingly, Nicholas was a half-brother of Gregory and John the Wolf, ancestor of the Bernstein family.

Kőszegi was born in 1282. Sometime after 1299, he became provost of the collegiate chapter of St. Adalbert church in Győr. According to Ágnes Maléth, he was canon of the cathedral chapter of Győr at least from 1303 to 1309. He was styled as ''magister'', when held the office of vice-chancellor in 1307 in the court of Otto of Bavaria, one of the pretenders to the Hungarian throne after the extinction of the Árpád dynasty. The career advancement of Kőszegi was due to his family influence and wealth in the region, who ''de facto'' ruled their province independently of the royal power by then, and intended to acquire the church lands to extend their dominion in Győr and Sopron counties.

Bishop of Győr

In the shadow of his family

Kőszegi was unanimously elected Bishop of Győr by the local cathedral chapter between May and October 1308, following the death of his predecessor Theodore Tengerdi. Despite the opinion of some scholars and former almanacs, his election took place without any direct pressure from the Kőszegis. Contemporaries, including papal legate, Gentile Portino da Montefiore did not question the legitimacy of his election in the upcoming years, albeit it could be a sign of political flexibility. Historian György Rácz argued Nicholas' election was "one of the chapters of the power gaming" between Charles and the Kőszegis. Nicholas spent the following months in the escort of the papal legate, who arrived to Buda by 2 November 1308. Kőszegi attended the Diet on 27 November 1308, when Charles was unanimously proclaimed king. He also participated in the second coronation of Charles on 15 June 1309, also representing his family. His papal nomination promoted only after the treaty between Charles I of Hungary and Henry Kőszegi on 4 June 1309 (Ivan Kőszegi died by then), when members of the family, including Bishop Nicholas, took an oath of allegiance to the king. One of Henry's conditions for the king's acceptance was the retention of bishopric of Győr for the family through his natural nephew, Nicholas. As a result, Charles and Gentile sent Nicholas Finta, the chancellor and representative of Nicholas Kőszegi to the papal court in early 1310, in order to request his confirmation. Thereafter, Pope Clement V confirmed his election on 28 July 1310, describing Kőszegi as ''solutus'' and ''soluta'', i.e. natural son of free and unmarried men, a 28-year-old clergyman. The pope also determined his ''servitium commune'' in 800 golden florins. Sometime between March and July 1311, Kőszegi was consecrated as bishop by Thomas, Archbishop of Esztergom, upon the order of Pope Clement.

In January 1312, Bishop Kőszegi was among those family members, who entered into alliance with the House of Habsburg in Fürstenfeld () on 23 January 1312. Nicholas Kőszegi spent much of his time in the Hungarian royal court in the upcoming years. Around October 1313, he was granted the title perpetual count of Győr County by Charles I. He was considered a partisan of the royal power, and his diocese became an important bridgehead against the province of the powerful oligarch Matthew Csák. He was one of the prelates who complained the oligarch's attacks against Church properties to the papal court in November 1313.tel According to historian Ádám Vajk, Bishop Kőszegi functioned as the family's representative and spokesperson in the royal court. However, Charles intended to crush the oligarchic provinces and, among others, launched a campaign against the Kőszegis in Transdanubia and Slavonia in the first half of 1316. Local noblemen joined the royal troops, which contributed to the quick collapse of the Kőszegis' rule in southern parts of their domains. Throughout 1317, Andrew Kőszegi lost Győr, Moson and Sopron counties with their castles. Bishop Nicholas stayed away from the conflict; he was present at the siege of Komárom in November 1317, when Charles I successfully seized the fortress from Matthew Csák. After Charles neglected to reclaim Church property that Matthew Csák had seized by force, the prelates of the realm, including Kőszegi, made an alliance in Kalocsa in March 1318 against all who would jeopardize their interests. Upon their demand, Charles held a Diet in summer, but refused to confirm the Golden Bull of 1222.

Nicholas Kőszegi did not attend the prelates' meeting at Apostag in July 1318, and the subsequent aforementioned diet. He issued his charters in Szombathely from April to July. By that time, Charles confiscated the castle of Győr and its revenues from the diocese and handed over to Paul Nagymartoni, who was appointed ''ispán'' of Győr County. It is presumable that Charles took into account the fort's strategic importance against Matthew Csák and its bishop's disloyal and rebellious kinship, when made the decision. György Rácz considered Charles I wanted to discipline the entire episcopal elite because of their "disobedience". Kőszegi protested against the step at the papal court, without success, despite that Pope John XXII even appointed ''conservator''s, bishops Lawrence of Vác and Henry of Veszprém, and Matthias, Provost of Győr in order to defend Nicholas' interests in November 1318. When Andrew Kőszegi rebelled against Charles for the second time in the first half of 1319, royal troops seized the Kőszegis' six fortresses within month, effectively destroying their oligarchic dominion. Nicholas Kőszegi did not join his nephew's failed attempt, and remained a partisan of Charles, and interrupted every relationship with his family and their aspirations. He attended the diet at Székesfehérvár in November 1320. He regained the castle of Győr by then. He spent months in the capital Temesvár (present-day Timișoara, Romania) in the following years; for instance, he assisted the consecration of Csanád Telegdi there in January 1323.

Due to intrigues, it was revealed that his father Ivan Kőszegi was married, when he was born. Consequently, Kőszegi requested Pope John XXII to exempt him from this requirement in the first half of 1325. The pope granted this exemption on 30 July. In the next year, there were reports of looting and seizures of his diocese's certain lands and estates, as well as the neighboring Diocese of Passau

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