Upper nobility (Kingdom of Hungary) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The upper nobility was the highest stratum

Social stratification

In sociology the social stratification is a concept of class, involving the "classification of persons into groups based on shared socio-economic conditions ... a relational set of inequalities with economic, social, political and ideological dimensions."...

of the temporal

Temporal

Temporal can refer to:* of or relating to time** Temporality in philosophy** Temporal database, a database recording aspects of time varying values** The Temporal power of the Popes of the Roman Catholic Church...

society

Society

A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...

in the Kingdom of Hungary

Kingdom of Hungary

The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...

until the 20th century. In the course of the 11-15th centuries, only people who held specific high offices in the royal administration

Public administration

Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....

or in the Royal Household

Royal Household

A Royal Household in ancient and medieval monarchies formed the basis for the general government of the country as well as providing for the needs of the sovereign and his relations....

s were distinguished by law within the nobility

Nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary

The origin of the nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary can be traced to the Magyar conquest of Pannonia in the 9th century, and it developed over the course of the Middle Ages...

, but from the 16th century, families whose ancestors had been authorized by the monarch

Monarch

A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

s to use a distinctive noble title (e.g., baron

Baron

Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...

, count

Count

A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...

) formed a hereditary social class

Social class

Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...

.

Its first members descended from the leaders of the Magyar tribes

Magyar tribes

The Magyar tribes were the fundamental political units whose framework the Hungarians lived within, until these clans from Asia, more accurately from the region of Ural Mountains, invaded the Carpathian Basin and established the Principality of Hungary.The locality in which the Hungarians, the...

and clans and from the western knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

s who immigrated to the Kingdom of Hungary in the course of the 10-12th centuries. They were the "men distinguished by birth and dignity" (maiores natu et dignitate) mentioned frequently in the charters of the first kings

King of Hungary

The King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.The style of title "Apostolic King" was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary, so after this date the kings are referred to as "Apostolic King of...

. From the 1210s, the dignitaries of the central administration and the Royal Households were referred to as "barons of the realm" (barones regni) in official documents but their legal status was exclusively linked to the office they held and their offsprings could not inherit it.

In 1193, King Béla III

Béla III of Hungary

Béla III was King of Hungary and Croatia . He was educated in the court of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I who was planning to ensure his succession in the Byzantine Empire till the birth of his own son...

granted Modruš county

Modruš-Rijeka

The Modruš-Rijeka County was a historic administrative subdivision of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. Croatia-Slavonia was an autonomous kingdom within the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen , the Hungarian part of the dual Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its territory is presently in western Croatia...

in Croatia to Bartolomej, the ancestor of the Frankopans (Frangepán) family; thenceforward, he and his descendants used the hereditary title count but no specific privileges were connected to it. Quite to the contrary, the theory of the "one and same liberty" (una eademque libertas) of the nobles

Nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary

The origin of the nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary can be traced to the Magyar conquest of Pannonia in the 9th century, and it developed over the course of the Middle Ages...

strengthened and finally, it became enacted

Promulgation

Promulgation is the act of formally proclaiming or declaring a new statutory or administrative law after its enactment. In some jurisdictions this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect....

in 1351. From 1397, the descendants of the "barons of the realm" were referred to as "barons' sons" (filii baronum) or magnate

Magnate

Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...

s (magnates) in official documents and from the 1430s, they received the honorific

Honorific

An honorific is a word or expression with connotations conveying esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term is used not quite correctly to refer to an honorary title...

magnificus, an expression that had earlier been used only when addressing the "barons of the realm".

Besides the Counts Frankopan, the members of foreign ruling houses

Dynasty

A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...

and the nobles of foreign origin who held offices in the royal administration or owned estates in the Kingdom of Hungary (e.g., Duke Ladislaus of Opole, Prince Fyodor Koriatovych

Fyodor Koriatovych

Fyodor Koriatovych was a Ruthenian prince of Lithuanian origins, son of Karijotas, Duke of Navahrudak, and grandson of Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania. Fedir inherited Navahrudak Castle from his father and after his other brothers died ca. 1389, became ruler of all Podolia as a result of the...

, the Despot Stefan Lazarević

Stefan Lazarevic

Stefan Lazarević known also as Stevan the Tall was a Serbian Despot, ruler of the Serbian Despotate between 1389 and 1427. He was the son and heir to Prince Lazar, who died at the Battle of Kosovo against the Turks in 1389, and Princess Milica from the subordinate branch of the Nemanjić dynasty...

and Count Hermann II of Celje

Hermann II of Celje

Hermann II was a Count of Celje and Ban of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia. Hermann was the son of Hermann I, Count of Cilli and his wife Katherine of Bosnia.Hermann II married Countess Anna of Schaunberg in c...

) were the first individuals who used noble titles, but in theory, their legal status was still equal to that of the poorest members of the lesser nobility. Similarly, the status of the brothers Szentgyörgyi

Szentgyörgyi

The Szentgyörgyi, also Szentgyörgyi és Bazini, was a noble family of the Kingdom of Hungary in the 13-16th centuries. The ancestor of the family, Thomas descended from the gens Hont-Pázmány and he was the head of Nyitra County around 1208. The family was named after its two castles, Szentgyörgy ...

did not change when they were rewarded with the hereditary title count of the Roman Empire in 1459 by Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick the Peaceful KG was Duke of Austria as Frederick V from 1424, the successor of Albert II as German King as Frederick IV from 1440, and Holy Roman Emperor as Frederick III from 1452...

who had been claiming the throne for himself against King Matthias I

Matthias Corvinus of Hungary

Matthias Corvinus , also called the Just in folk tales, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458, at the age of 14 until his death...

King Matthias I also rewarded his partisans with hereditary titles when he appointed them to hereditary heads of counties (hæreditarius supremus comes) and authorized them to use red sealing wax

Sealing wax

Sealing wax is a wax material of a seal which, after melting, quickly hardens forming a bond that is difficult to separate without noticeable tampering. Wax is used to verify something such as a document is unopened, to verify the sender's identity, for example with a signet ring, and as decoration...

(similarly to the counts of the Roman Empire). In 1487, a new expression appeared in a deed of armistice

Armistice

An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...

signed by King Matthias: the document mentioned 19 noble families as "natural barons in Hungary" (barones naturales in Hungaria) in contrast to the "barons of the realm" whose position was still linked to the high offices they happened to be holding. During the reign of King Vladislaus II

Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary

Vladislaus II, also known as Ladislaus Jagiellon ; was King of Bohemia from 1471 and King of Hungary from 1490 until his death in 1516...

, the special legal position of certain noble families was enacted and the act referred to their members as "barons" even if they were not holding any high offices at that time.

Although in the 16th century, the Tripartitum (a law book collecting the body of common laws that had arisen from customary practise) declared again that all the nobles enjoyed the same liberties independently of their offices, birth or wealth, but in practise, even it acknowledged that some differences had been existing within the nobility. Nevertheless, the Tripartitum still distinguished between the "true barons" (veri barones) who held the highest offices and the "barons only by name" (barones solo nomine) who did not hold any high offices but used noble titles. From 1526, the Habsburg

Habsburg

The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...

kings rewarded their partisans with hereditary titles such as baron and count and the members of the families wearing such titles were invited to attend in person at the Diets

Diet (assembly)

In politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is mainly used historically for the Imperial Diet, the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire, and for the legislative bodies of certain countries.-Etymology:...

. This costumary practise was confirmed by legislation

Legislation

Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...

in 1608, when the Diet passed an act

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

prescribing that the monarch

Monarch

s were to send a personal invitation to the members of the upper nobility (i.e., to the "true barons" and to the nobles authorized by the kings to use hereditary titles) when convoking the Diet; thenceforward, the prelate

Prelate

A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...

s and the members of the upper nobility formed the Diets' Upper House

Upper house

An upper house, often called a senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house; a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral.- Possible specific characteristics :...

The Habsburg monarchs endeavoured to establish an "international" aristocracy within their empire

Habsburg Monarchy

The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...

and they granted several estates in the Kingdom of Hungary to their followers descending from their other realms and provinces; the Estates, however, managed to reserve the right that the kings could not grant offices and estates to foreigners without their authorization. From 1688, the members of the upper nobility were entitled by law to create an entail

Fee tail

At common law, fee tail or entail is an estate of inheritance in real property which cannot be sold, devised by will, or otherwise alienated by the owner, but which passes by operation of law to the owner's heirs upon his death...

(fideicommissum) which ensured that their estates were inherited without division in contrast to the common law that prescribed that a noble's inheritance was to be divided equally among his heirs.

The "cardinal liberties" of the nobility were abolished by the "April laws

April laws

The April laws, also called March laws, were a collection of laws legislated by Lajos Kossuth with the aim of modernizing Kingdom of Hungary into a nation state. The imperative program included Hungarian control of its popular national guard, national budget and Hungarian foreign policy, as well as...

" in 1848, but the members of the upper nobility could reserve their hereditary membership in the Upper House of the Parliament. In 1885, aristocrats who did not meet all the financial criteria set up by legislation, lost their seat in the legislative body. The Upper House was dissolved in 1918 and it was reorganized only in 1926, but thenceforward, the members of the upper nobility were only entitled to elect some representatives to the Upper House.

In 1945, the land reform

Land reform

[Image:Jakarta farmers protest23.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Farmers protesting for Land Reform in Indonesia]Land reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution,...

liquidated the financial basis of the special status of the upper nobility. And finally, following the declaration of the Republic of Hungary, the Parliament passed an act that prohibited the use of noble titles in 1946.

The tribal aristocracy (9th–11th centuries)

In the 9th century, the tribal federation of the nomadic Magyars (Hetumoger) was composed of seven (and later, after the Kabar

Kabar

The Khavars or erroneously Kabars were Khazarians, therefore Turkic people who joined to the Magyars in the 8th century.- History :...

s had joined to it, of eight) tribes

Magyar tribes

. The tribes were divided into 35-50 clan

Clan

A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...

s . The Magyar clans must have been organized based on the real or fictitious kinship

Kinship

Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....

of their members; each of them had its own name (that may have been changing from time to time) and the clans possessed separate territories within the lands occupied by the tribe they were linked to. In the 9th-10th centuries, the kende
Kende
The kende was one of the kings of the dual-monarchy of the early Magyars, along with the gyula or war-chief. The function of the kende is believed to have been a religious one. At the time of the Magyar migration to Pannonia, the Kende was named Kurszán...

, the gyula and the horka
Horka
Horka may refer to:* Horka or harka, a political or military title used by Magyar tribes during the 9th century* Horka, the name of several locations in the Czech Republic...

were the leaders of the Magyar tribal federation, while the tribes were headed by their own princes and each clan must have also had its own head.

The Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos

Constantine VII

Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, "the Purple-born" was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 913 to 959...

recorded that
Around 896, the Magyars invaded the Carpathian Basin and by 902, they occupied its whole territory. The Magyars made several raids to the territories of present-day Italy

Italy in the Middle Ages

This is the history of Italy during the Middle Ages.- Transition from Late Antiquity :Italy was invaded by the Visigoths in the 5th century, and Rome was sacked by Alaric in 410. The last Western Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustus, was deposed in 476 by an Eastern Germanic general, Odoacer...

, Germany, France and Spain

Hispania

Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....

and also to the lands of the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

. The regular raids contributed to the differentiation of the tribal society because the leaders of the military actions were entitled to reserve a higher share of the booty for themselves. The military actions also contributed to the formation of the retinues of the heads of the tribes and the clans. The Magyars were obliged to stop their regular military actions westwards following their defeat at the Battle of Augsburg

Battle of Lechfeld

The Battle of Lechfeld , often seen as the defining event for holding off the incursions of the Hungarians into Western Europe, was a decisive victory by Otto I the Great, King of the Germans, over the Hungarian leaders, the harka Bulcsú and the chieftains Lél and Súr...

on the Lech River in 955; and in 970, the raids against the Byzantine Empire also finished.

When the period of the military raids closed, the organization of the future Kingdom of Hungary commenced during the reign of Grand Prince

Grand Prince of the Magyars

Grand Prince was the title used by contemporary sources to name the leader of the federation of the Hungarian tribes in the tenth century.-The title:...

Géza

Géza of Hungary

Géza , Grand Prince of the Hungarians .Géza was the son of Taksony of Hungary, Grand Prince of the Hungarians and his Pecheneg or Bulgar wife. Géza's marriage with Sarolt, the daughter of Gyula of Transylvania, was arranged by his father.After his father's death , Géza followed him as Grand Prince...

(before 972-997) who united the western parts of the Carpathian Basin under his rule. The establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary is connected to King Saint Stephen (1000/1001-1038); he defeated the (semi-)independent Magyar tribal leaders who endeavoured to resist his rule and thus he managed to expand his authority over the whole territory of the Carpathian Basin by the 1030s. King Stephen I organized several "counties

Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary)

A county is the name of a type of administrative units in the Kingdom of Hungary and in Hungary from the 10th century until the present day....

" that became the basic units of the royal administration. Some scholars claim that King Stephen I organized the "counties" on the basis of the territories possessed by the clans, but other authors pointed out that the relationship between the "counties" and the Magyar clans cannot be proven.

King Saint Stephen's acts ensured the private ownership of landed property; therefore, several families of the tribal aristocracy (i.e., the families of the heads of the tribes and clans) acquired the ownership of parts of the lands their clans had previously possessed. Consequently, several families of the future upper nobility descended from the tribal leaders who had surrendered to King Stephen I (e.g., the Aba

Aba (family)

Aba is the name of a Genus Aba in the Kingdom of Hungary. Their ancestors may have been among the tribal leaders of the Kabars...

and Csák

Csák (family)

Csák was the name of a gens in the Kingdom of Hungary. The Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum records that the ancestor of the family was Szabolcs, son of chieftain Előd, the leader of one of the seven Magyar tribes. The family was probably connected to the Árpád dynasty...

families), and even the descendants of some rebellious tribal leaders (e.g., the kindred of Ajtony

Ahtum

Ahtum, also Achtum or Ajtony , was a local ruler in the region of Banat in the first decades of the 11th century. King Saint Stephen I of Hungary sent Csanád - one of Ahtum’s former retainers - to fight against him...

) could reserve a part of their ancestor's estates.

Although King Stephen I made a concerted effort to strengthen the position of Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

in his kingdom and he adopted severe measures against the followers of pagan customs, but several Magyar tribal leaders (including the king's nephew Levente

Levente

Levente , eldest son of Vazul, a ruler in Hungary's Árpád dynasty and the last member of this family never to become a Christian....

, who died as a pagan around 1046) did not give up their former lifestyle.
On the other hand, the Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

missionaries' efforts were not in vain, and several members of the tribal aristocracy (e.g., Csanád, one of Ajtony's former military leaders) became an ardent advocate of the Christianity; and finally, all of them who could reserve their estates integrated into the upper stratum of the Christian society following the period of the internal wars in the 1040s.

The immigrant knights (10-13th centuries)

The first knights from the western countries (mainly from the provinces of the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

) arrived to Hungary during the reign of Grand Prince Géza in the 990s and he granted several estates to them on his domains. In 997, the future King Saint Stephen could gain a victory over Koppány

Koppány

Koppány was a Hungarian nobleman of the tenth century. Brother of the ruling prince of Hungary, Géza of the Árpád dynasty, Koppány ruled as Prince of Somogy in the region south of Lake Balaton...

(his relative who claimed the throne for himself after the death of Grand Prince Géza) with the assistance of the foreign knights serving in his German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

wife's retinues. The arrival of the immigrant knights continued until the end of the 13th century; several of them (e.g., the brothers Hont and Pázmány

Hont-Pázmány

Hont-Pázmány was the name of a gens in the Kingdom of Hungary. The Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum mentions that the ancestors of the family arrived, in the late 9th century, to the court of Grand Prince Géza of the Magyars from the Duchy of Swabia .The clan Hontpaznan was...

) were invited by the monarchs who offered them estates in their kingdom; others arrived in the retinues of the queens of foreign origin; while some of them was obliged to leave their country and seek shelter in the kingdom. Most of the immigrant knights were horse-mounted men-at-arms thus the maintenance of their equipment required considerable financial resources that was ensured by grant of estates.

The formation of the Royal Council

The kings' (and their queens') retinues and the Royal Households became the centres where the merger of the tribal aristocracy and the immigrant knights occurred (mainly by inter-marriages) in the course of the 11-12th centuries. The decree

Decree

A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...

s of King Stephen I contain clear references to the "men distinguished by birth and dignity" who can be identified with the immigrant knights and the members of the tribal aristocracy who held the highest offices at his court and in the royal administration. They formed, together with the prelate

Prelate

s, the Royal Council which became the highest forum of political decision-making in the kingdom.

Nevertheless, the monarchs remained the biggest landowners in the country until the end of the 12th century and the scattered lands owned even by the wealthiest members of the kings' retinues did not form contiguous geographical units in the kingdom. Based on their financial recources, the monarchs could reserve their overwhelming authority within their kingdom in the course of the 11-12th centuries: during the reign of King Géza II (1141–1162), the Bishop Otto of Freising

Otto of Freising

Otto von Freising was a German bishop and chronicler.-Life:He was the fifth son of Leopold III, margrave of Austria, by his wife Agnes, daughter of the emperor Henry IV...

recorded that all the Hungarians

The heads of counties

Among the members of the monarchs' retinues, the heads of the counties enjoyed a distinguished position: they managed the royal revenues of the "counties" and they were entitled to one third of the revenues; moreover, they led their own retinues attached to their office. They enjoyed several privileges; e.g., in their cases, the judgement was to be passed by the monarchs in person.

The "ispáns" became the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in the country, but their appointment and dismissal depended exclusively upon the kings' favour and therefore, they could not form a hereditary aristocracy. Their financial conditions ensured that they could set up monasteries

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

and grant possessions to them. These "private monasteries" not only served for burial place to the founder's family but their founder often reserved the "right of patronage

Ius patronatus

Jus patronatus, also spelt ius patronatus, imitating classical Latin orthography, is the term in Roman Catholic canon law for the "right of patronage"....

" for himself and for his descendants.

The high-officers of the realm and of the Royal Households

The first references to an organized entourage around the monarchs were recorded during the reign of King Andrew I (1046–1060), but the development of the Royal Household must have commenced earlier. The existence of a separate Household of the Queens was documented for the first time in the 1190s.

The gradual development of the Royal Households contributed to the establishment of a hierarchical

Hierarchy

A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...

structure within the nobility, because their high-officers held the highest positions within the kingdom. In practice, they not only fulfilled their duties within the Royal Households but also became heads of "counties", probably because no specific revenues were attached to their offices in the Royal Households.

The decrees of King Ladislaus I (1077–1095) referred to them as "notabilities" or "nobles" . From 1216, the royal charters began to use the expression "barons of the realm" when referring to the dignitaries which prove that they wanted to distinguish themselves from other nobles (e.g., from the heads of counties). They, however, could not form a hereditary aristocracy

Aristocracy

Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...

, because their title was still linked to the offices they held and the monarchs had the power to dismiss them and to promote others at any time.

Some of the high-officers commenced to fulfil judiciary

Judiciary

The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...

functions and thus they got rid of their administrative duties within the Royal Households. These high-judges and the governors of certain provinces (e.g., Transylvania

Transylvania

Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...

, Croatia, Slavonia

Slavonia

Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...

) formed together the high-officers of the realm who enjoyed a distinguished position within the nobility:

the Palatine administered the Royal Household in the 11-12th centuries, but later, the Palatines held the highest judiciary position within the kingdom;
the Judge of the Realm appeared in the documents around 1130, probably as the Palatine's deputy but later, the Judges of the Realm had their own sphere of jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...

;
the office of the Voivode of Transylvania developed from the office of the heads of Fehér county
Alsó-Fehér
Alsó-Fehér is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in western Romania . The capital of the county was Nagyenyed .-Geography:...

and its denomination was changing before the 13th century, but thenceforward, the voivodes governed Transylvania and they appointed the heads of the "counties" in the province;
the Ban of Slavonia
Ban of Slavonia
The Ban of Slavonia was the governor of Slavonia, later appointed by the kings of Hungary in the 12th-15th centuries. According to the public law of the Kingdom of Hungary, the Bans were counted among the "barons of the realm" and thus they enjoyed several privileges connected to their office...

was the governor of Slavonia from the 12th century;
the Ban of Dalmatia and Croatia governed the two kingdoms occupied by the kings of Hungary at the beginning of the 12th century;
the Ban of Macsó
Banovina of Macva
The Banovina of Mačva was a province of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, which was located in the present-day Mačva region of Serbia.- History :The region of Mačva came under Hungarian administration after the death of Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus in...

administered the territories of the Macsó
Macva
Mačva is a geographical region in Serbia, mostly situated in the northwest of Central Serbia. It is located in a fertile plain between the Sava and Drina rivers. The chief town of this region is Šabac. The modern Mačva District of Serbia is named after the region, although the region of Mačva...

(today Mačva in Serbia) region from the 1270s;
the Ban of Szörény governed the territories attached to the Kingdom of Hungary around the Castle of Szörény
Drobeta-Turnu Severin
Drobeta-Turnu Severin is a city in Mehedinţi County, Oltenia, Romania, on the left bank of the Danube, below the Iron Gates.The city administers three villages: Dudaşu Schelei, Gura Văii, and Schela Cladovei...

(today Drobeta-Turnu Severin in Romania) in the 1220s;
the Master of the Treasury took over the financial functions of the Judge of the Realm in the 12th century but later, the tárnokmesters' own sphere of jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...

also developed.

The list of the high-officers of the Royal Households was developing gradually from the 11th century, and their functions also changed from time to time, but by the end of the 13th century, their hierarchy become consolidated:

the Marshal was the head of the royal stablemen from the 11th century and later, he led the royal armies;
the Master of the Cup-bearers served wine at the kings' table and he administered the activities of the royal wine-growers;
the Master of the Stewards served dishes at the monarch's table.
the Master of huissiers
Huissier de justice
Huissier de justice is the French term, hence used in France, Luxembourg, Quebec, Suisse romande, and the French Community of Belgium, named gerechtsdeurwaarder in Dutch for the Flemish Community and the Netherlands, for a specific legal officer that also occurs in Greece, Italy and the three other...

' onMouseout='HidePop("77567")' href="/topics/Latin">Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

: magister janitorum)

The emerging power of the feudal barons (13th century)

King Béla III

Béla III of Hungary

(1172–1196) was the first monarch who alienated a whole county when he granted the ownership of all the royal estates in Modruš county to Bartolomej

Frankopan

The Frankopans are a Croatian noble family. Also called Frankapan, Frangepán in Hungarian, and Frangipani in Italian.The Frankopan family is the leading princely Croatian aristocratic family which dates back to the 12th Century and even earlier to Roman times...

, who became the ancestor of the Frankopan

Frankopan

family. In his grant, the king stipulated that the Counts Frankopan would be obliged to arm some horse-mounted knights for the monarchs.

King Andrew II

Andrew II of Hungary

Andrew II the Jerosolimitan was King of Hungary and Croatia . He was the younger son of King Béla III of Hungary, who invested him with the government of the Principality of Halych...

(1205–1235) radically changed the internal policy his predecessors had been following and he started to grant enormous domains to his partisans. He not only alienated castles and whole counties (i.e., the royal estates attached to them), but he also made "perpetual grants" that passed not only from fathers to sons (or in the lack of sons, to brothers or their sons) but all the male members of owner's family could inherited them. From the 1220s, several individuals commenced to refer to their clan in the official documents by using the expression de genere ("from the kindred of") following their name which suggests that the relevance even of distant kinship started to increase.

The king's new policy endangered the liberties of the royal servant

Royal servant (Kingdom of Hungary)

A royal servant was a freeman in the Kingdom of Hungary in the 13th century who owned possession and was subordinate only to the king. The expression was documented for the first time in a charter issued in 1217...

s owning landed property in the counties that the king had granted to his partisans. Therefore, in 1222, the royal servants led by former "barons of the realm" who had been dismissed by King Andrew II enforced the king to issue the Golden Bull

Golden Bull of 1222

The Golden Bull of 1222 was a golden bull, or edict, issued by King Andrew II of Hungary. The law established the rights of the Hungarian nobility, including the right to disobey the King when he acted contrary to law . The nobles and the church were freed from all taxes and could not be forced to...

in order to ensure their liberties. In the Golden Bull, the king also promised that he and his successors would not grant offices to foreigners without the consent of the Royal Council. The first precedent when the nobles decided on a foreigner's reception into the nobility of the kingdom was set during reign the reign of King Andrew III (1290–1301), when in 1298, the assembly of the nobility authorized the king to grant an office in the royal administration to his uncle, the Venetian

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

Albertino Morosini.

The last provision of the Golden Bull authorized the prelates and the "nobles" to resist any royal measures that could endanger their liberties confirmed by his decree.

Following the Mongol invasion of the kingdom in 1241-42, King Béla IV endeavoured the landowners to build strongholds in their domains and therefore, he often granted lands to his partisans and obliged them to have a fortress built there. As a consequence, at least 75% of the 162 fortresses built in the kingdom from 1242 until 1300 was erected on private estates. The maintenance of the fortresses required significant financial resources and therefore, the scattered character of landed property went under a radical change because the strongholds became the centres of bigger units of estates that consisted of the villages attached to them. The possession of one or more strongholds strengthened the position of the upper nobility, because the castle-owners could resist the monarchs for a longer period and they could also expand their influence over the owners of smaller estates around their castles. Based on their fortresses and retinues, the wealthier members of the landed nobility endeavoured to strengthen their own position and they often rebelled against the monarchs. They began to employ the members of the lesser nobility in their households and thus the latter (mentioned as familiaris in the deeds) became subordinate to them. A familiaris (servant) had to swear fidelity to his dominus (lord) and he fell under his lord's jurisdiction with regard to any cases connected to their special relationship. On the other hand, a familiaris reserved the ownership of his former estates and in this regard, he still fell under the jurisdiction of the royal courts of justice.

From the 1290s, the most powerful barons commenced to govern their domains de facto independently of the monarchs and they usurped the royal prerogative

Royal Prerogative

The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the sovereign alone. It is the means by which some of the executive powers of government, possessed by and...

s on the enormous territories possessed by them or by their familiaris. Following the death of King Andrew III, the largest part of the kingdom became subject to the de facto rule of oligarchs like Máté Csák, Amade Aba

Amade Aba

Amade Aba, sometimes Amadeus Aba was a Hungarian oligarch in the Kingdom of Hungary who ruled de facto independently the northern and north-eastern counties of the kingdom...

and Ladislaus Kán who took advantage of the struggles among the claimants to the throne and expanded their supremacy to several counties. King Charles I Robert

Charles I of Hungary

Charles I , also known as Charles Robert , was the first King of Hungary and Croatia of the House of Anjou. He was also descended from the old Hungarian Árpád dynasty. His claim to the throne of Hungary was contested by several pretenders...

(1308–1342) had to spend the first decades of his reign in waging wars against the most powerful oligarchs and he could strengthen his position within the kingdom only by the 1320s.

The age of chivalry (14th century)

The estates King Charles I Robert acquired by force from the rebellious oligarchs made him possible to introduce a new system in the royal administration: when he appointed his followers to an office, he also granted them the possession of one or more royal castles and the royal domains attached to them, but he reserved the ownership of the castle and its belongings for himself and thus his dignitaries could only enjoy the revenues of their possessions while they held the office. During his reign, the 20 dignitaries who held the highest offices in the royal administration or in the Royal Household obtained the honorific

Style (manner of address)

A style of office, or honorific, is a legal, official, or recognized title. A style, by tradition or law, precedes a reference to a person who holds a post or political office, and is sometimes used to refer to the office itself. An honorific can also be awarded to an individual in a personal...

magnificus vir that distinguished them from other nobles.

During his reign, members of new families attained the status of "barons of the realm"; some of the ancestors of the new families (e.g., that of the Drugeth

Drugeth

The Drugeth was a noble family of the Kingdom of Hungary in the 14-17th centuries whose possessions were situated on the north-eastern parts of the kingdom. The ancestors of the family left Apulia for Hungary during the reign of King Charles I...

s) arrived from abroad and some of them were members of the lesser nobility (e.g., the ancestor of the Újlaki family), but the majority of the new families (e.g., the Garai, Szécsényi

Szécsényi

The Szécsényi was a noble family of the Kingdom of Hungary in the 14-15th centuries. The ancestor of the family, Thomas descended from the gens Kacsics. He was one of the most powerful barons of King Charles I of Hungary and he hold several dignities during his reign. The family was named after...

and Szécsi families) descended from clans whose members had already held high-offices in the 13th century.

The king introduced a new royal prerogative in 1332 when he entitled Margaret de genere Nádasd to inherit her father's possessions in contradiction to the costums of the kingdom prescribing that daughters can inherit only one-fourth of their father's estates and the other parts of the estates should pass to his agnates. Thenceforward, the monarchs could strengthen the financial conditions of their followers by using the prerogative of "putting her into a son's place" and thus entitling their wives to inherit their fathers' possessions. King Charles I Robert also set himself against the costums of the kingdom, when he granted landed property to his followers but he stipulated that the property could only be inherited by their descendants and thus he excluded their agnates from the inheritance.

King Charles I Robert endeavoured the implementation of the ideas of chivalry

Chivalry

Chivalry is a term related to the medieval institution of knighthood which has an aristocratic military origin of individual training and service to others. Chivalry was also the term used to refer to a group of mounted men-at-arms as well as to martial valour...

; in 1318, he established the Order of Saint George

Order of Saint George (Kingdom of Hungary)

The Order of Saint George was the first secular chivalric order in the world established by King Charles I of Hungary in 1326.The Order was awarded to only 50 knights, and the admission of a new member required the unanimous vote of the former members. New members had to swear fidelity to the...

whose membership was limited to 50 knights. He also set up the body of "knights-at-the-court" who acted as his personal delegates on an ad hoc basis. Thenceforward, most of the "barons of the realm" were appointed among the knights-at-the court. Before being knighted, children of the upper nobility could serve as page

Page

-Position or occupation:* Page , a traditionally young male servant* Page * Page of Honour, a ceremonial position in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom* A participant in any of the following programs:...

s in the Royal Households, and when they grow up they became "juveniles-at-the court" . King Charles I Robert was the first king of Hungary who granted crests

Crest (heraldry)

A crest is a component of an heraldic display, so called because it stands on top of a helmet, as the crest of a jay stands on the bird's head....

to his followers; the Hungarian word for coat-of-arms (címer) derives from the French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

expression for the crest (cimier).

In 1351, King Louis I (1342–1382) issued a new decree that modified the Golden Bull and introduced the entail

Entail

Entail may refer to:* Fee tail, a term of art in common law describing a limited form of succession....

system when regulating the inheritance of the nobles' estates; according to the new system, the nobles' real property could not be devised by will, but it passed by operation of law to the owner's heirs upon his death. During his reign, the members of the Bebek, Cudar and Lackfi families attained the status of "baron of the realm".

The rule of the barons' leagues

Following the death of King Louis I, his daughter Queen Mary I

Mary of Hungary

Mary of Anjou was queen regnant of Hungary from 1382 until her death in 1395.-Childhood:...

(1382–1385, 1386–1395) acceded to the throne, but the majority of the nobles opposed her rule. In 1385, the young queen had to abdicate in favor of her distant cousin, King Charles II

Charles III of Naples

Charles the Short or Charles of Durazzo was King of Naples and titular King of Jerusalem from 1382 to 1386 as Charles III, and King of Hungary from 1385 to 1386 as Charles II. In 1382 Charles created the order of Argonauts of Saint Nicholas...

(1385–1386), but her partisans murdered the new king soon and thus she could ascend the throne again. However, the followers of her murdered opponent's son, King Ladislaus of Naples rose up in open rebellion and captured her; thus the realm stayed without a monarch.

At that moment, the prelates and the "barons of the realm" set up a council; they have a seal prepared with the inscription "Seal of the People of the Kingdom of Hungary" and issued decrees sealed by it in the name of the "prelates, barons, notabilities and all nobles of the realm". The members of the council entered into a contract with Queen Mary's fiancé and elected him king; in the contract, King Sigismund

Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor

Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...

(1387–1437) accepted that his
The contract also recorded that the king and his counsillors would form a league and according to their contract, the king could not dismiss his counsillors without the consent of the other members of the Royal Council. The contract suggests that the members of the Royal Council endeavored to strengthen the hereditary character of their position. The first league was led by the Palatine Stephen II Lackfi and the Archbishop John Kanizsai, but the latter could drive the former out of the power in 1397. However, King Sigismund favorized his counsillors of foreign origin (e.g., his favourite was the Polish Stibor of Stiboricz

Stibor of Stiboricz

Stibor of Stiboricz of Ostoja coat of arms was an aristocrat of Polish origin in the Kingdom of Hungary. He was a close friend of King Sigismund of Hungary who appointed him to several offices during his reign. For instance, between 1395 and 1401, then from 1409 to 1414 he was the voivode of...

) which resulted in his imprisonment, in 1401, by the discontent members of the Royal Council led by the Archbishop John Kanizsai, but he managed to conclude a new agreement with some members of the Royal Council who set him free.

The public law

Public law

Public law is a theory of law governing the relationship between individuals and the state. Under this theory, constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law are sub-divisions of public law...

of the kingdom also started to differentiate the descendants of the "barons of the realm", even if they did not held any higher offices, from other nobles: the Act of 1397 referred to them as the "barons' sons" while later documents called them "magnate
Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...

s" . From the 1430s, the "magnates" received the honorific magnificus, an expression that had earlier been used only when addressing the "barons of the realm".

During his reign, King Sigismund granted several royal castles and the royal domains attached to them to the members of the barons' leagues; by 1407, the number of royal castles decreased from 111 to 66. The king, however, wanted to strengthen his position and for this purpose, in 1408, he founded the Order of the Dragon

Order of the Dragon

The Order of the Dragon was a monarchical chivalric order for selected nobility,founded in 1408 by Sigismund, King of Hungary and later Holy Roman Emperor The Order of the Dragon (Latin Societas Draconistrarum) was a monarchical chivalric order for selected nobility,founded in 1408 by Sigismund,...

, a chivalric order whose 22 members (e.g., the Palatine Nicholas II Garai, count Hermann II of Celje

Hermann II of Celje

and the Despot Stefan Lazarević

Stefan Lazarevic

) swore fidelity to the king, his queen and their future children.

Some signs of the increasing self-consciousness of the "magnates" appeared in the 1420s. Some of them commenced to use names that referred to the high office their ancestors had held; e.g., the members of the Losonci family started to call themselves Bánfi meaning the "son of a Ban

Ban (title)

Ban was a title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century.-Etymology:The word ban has entered the English language probably as a borrowing from South Slavic ban, meaning "lord, master; ruler". The Slavic word is probably borrowed from...

" in reference to their forefather who had been the Ban of Dalmatia and Croatia. Other magnates clearly referred to their descent from former "barons of the realm" in their deeds or used noble titles (such as "count" or "duke") abroad following the example of the western nobility although the public law of the kingdom did not accept their claim to distinctive titles.

When King Sigismund's son-in-law, Albert I

Albert II of Germany

Albert the Magnanimous KG was King of Hungary from 1438 until his death. He was also King of Bohemia, elected King of Germany as Albert II, duke of Luxembourg and, as Albert V, archduke of Austria from 1404.-Biography:Albert was born in Vienna as the son of Albert IV, Duke of Austria, and Johanna...

(1437–1439) was proclaimed king, he had to take a solemn oath that he would exercise his prerogative powers

Royal Prerogative

only with the consent of the Royal Council. Following King Albert's death, a civil war broke out between the followers of his posthumous son, King Ladislaus V (1440–1457) and the partisans of his opponent, King Vladislaus I (1440–1444). Between 1440 and 1458, the Diet

Diet (assembly)

was convoked in each year (with the exception of 1443 and 1449) and it was involved in the legislative process of law-making: the bills were passed by the Diet before receiving the Royal Assent

Royal Assent

The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...

. When the monarch (or the regent

Regent

A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

) convoked the Diet, he sent a personal invitation to the prelates, "barons of the realm" and "magnates" and they attended in person at the assembly, while other nobles were usually represented by their deputies. Consequently, the Diets were dominated by the "magnates" not only because of their personal presence, but also because of the tendency that the counties elected their partisans as their own delegates.

In 1445, the Diet elected seven Captains General

Captain General

Captain general is a high military rank and a gubernatorial title.-History:This term Captain General started to appear in the 14th century, with the meaning of commander in chief of an army in the field, probably the first usage of the term General in military settings...

in order to govern the kingdom during the absence of King Vladislaus I (who actually had fallen in the Battle of Varna

Battle of Varna

The Battle of Varna took place on November 10, 1444 near Varna in eastern Bulgaria. In this battle the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Murad II defeated the Polish and Hungarian armies under Władysław III of Poland and János Hunyadi...

). In 1446, the assembly of the Estates proclaimed John Hunyadi

John Hunyadi

John Hunyadi John Hunyadi (Hungarian: Hunyadi János , Medieval Latin: Ioannes Corvinus or Ioannes de Hunyad, Romanian: Iancu (Ioan) de Hunedoara, Croatian: Janko Hunjadi, Serbian: Сибињанин Јанко / Sibinjanin Janko, Slovak: Ján Huňady) John Hunyadi (Hungarian: Hunyadi János , Medieval Latin: ...

to Regent and he was to govern the realm in cooperation with the Estates until 1453 when King Ladislaus V returned to the kingdom.

John Hunyadi was the first temporal "magnate" who received a hereditary title from a king of Hungary: in 1453, King Ladislaus V appointed him the hereditary head of Beszterce county

Beszterce-Naszód

Beszterce-Naszód was the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in northern Romania...

(now Bistriţa in Romania) and thus he became a count in the sense similar to the title's usage in the western countries. Although, some of the immigrant "magnates" had already used honorary titles before and they were often mentioned even in official documents with a reference to their title, but their title was granted by foreign monarchs and the public law in the Kingdom of Hungary did not recognize any special privileges connected to it.

The legal separation of the hereditary aristocracy

John Hunyadi's son, Matthias I

Matthias Corvinus of Hungary

Matthias Corvinus , also called the Just in folk tales, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458, at the age of 14 until his death...

(1458–1490) was proclaimed to king by the Estates, but he had to wage war against Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick the Peaceful KG was Duke of Austria as Frederick V from 1424, the successor of Albert II as German King as Frederick IV from 1440, and Holy Roman Emperor as Frederick III from 1452...

who claimed the throne for himself. Several magnates supported the emperor's claim and proclaimed him to king against King Matthias; the emperor rewarded the brothers Sigismund and John of Szentgyörgy and Bazin

Szentgyörgyi

with the hereditary noble title "count of the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

" in 1459 and thus they became entitled to use red sealing wax

Sealing wax

. Although the Counts Szentgyörgyi commenced to use their title in their deeds, but in the Kingdom of Hungary, public law did not distinguish them from other nobles.

King Matthias I also rewarded his partisans with hereditary titles and appointed them hereditary heads of counties: John Vitovec became the hereditary head of Zagorje county in 1463; Emeric Szapolyai received the honor of Szepes county in 1465; in 1467, Nicholas Csupor de Monoszló and John Ernuszt were appointed to hereditary head of Verőce county

Virovitica (former county)

Virovitica County was a historic administrative subdivision of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. Croatia-Slavonia was an autonomous kingdom within the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen , the Hungarian part of the dual Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its territory is presently in eastern Croatia. The...

and Turóc county respectively; in the 1480s, Nicholas Bánffy de Alsólendva and Peter and Matthias Geréb received such hereditary titles. The hereditary heads of counties were entitled, similarly to the "counts of the Holy Roman Empire", to use red sealing was. Moreover, during his reign, all the members of the wealthier families descending from the "barons of the realm" received the honorific magnificus which was a next step towards their separation from other nobles.

In 1487, a new expression appeared in a deed of armistice

Armistice

signed by King Matthias: 18 families were referred to as "natural barons of Hungary" in contrast to the "barons of the realm" who were still the holders of the highest offices in the public administration and the Royal Households. One of the 19 families (the Újlaki family) was styled "duke" in the deed, while other four families were styled "count" - the latter group included the Szentgyörgyi family which suggests that King Matthias accepted the title his opponent had granted to them.

During the reign of King Vladislaus II

Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary

Vladislaus II, also known as Ladislaus Jagiellon ; was King of Bohemia from 1471 and King of Hungary from 1490 until his death in 1516...

(1490–1516), the Diet unambiguosly expressed that certain noble families were in a distinguished position and mentioned them as barons irrespectively of the office they held. The Diet prescribed that the barons were to arm soldiers pursuant to the number of the landed villeins who lived on their domains which prove that by that time, public law had acknowledged their special legal status and their privilege to use distinctive titles.

Sources

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Engel, Pál - Kristó, Gyula - Kubinyi, András: Magyarország története - 1301-1526 (The History of Hungary - 1301-1526); Osiris Kiadó, 1998, Budapest; ISBN 963 379 171 5.
Engel, Pál: Magyarország világi archontológiája (1301–1457) (The Temporal Archontology of Hungary (1301–1457)); História - MTA Történettudományi Intézete, 1996, Budapest; ISBN 963 8312 43 2.
Fügedi, Erik: Ispánok, bárók, kiskirályok (Counts, Barons and Petty Kings); Magvető Könyvkiadó, 1986, Budapest; ISBN 963 14 0582 6.
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Kristó, Gyula: Magyarország története - 895-1301 (The History of Hungary - 895-1301); Osiris Kiadó, 1998, Budapest; ISBN 963 379 442 0.
Kristó, Gyula - Makk, Ferenc: Az Árpád-ház uralkodói (Rulers of the Árpád dynasty); I.P.C. KÖNYVEK Kft., 1996; ISBN 963 7930 973.
László, Gyula: The Magyars - Their Life and Civilisation; Corvina, 1996; ISBN 963 13 4226 3.
Markó, László: 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); Magyar Könyvklub, 2000, Budapest; ISBN 963 547 085 1.
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Tóth, Sándor László: Levediától a Kárpát-medencéig ("From Levedia to the Carpathian Basin"); Szegedi Középkorász Műhely, 1998, Szeged; ISBN 963 482 175 8.

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