Thomas Szécsényi

Thomas (I) Szécsényi (Hungarian: Szécsényi (I.) Tamás; died 1354) was a Hungarian powerful baron and soldier, who rose to prominence during King Charles I's war against the oligarchs. He belonged to the so-called "new aristocracy", who supported the king's efforts to restore royal power in the first decades of the 14th century. He was the first member of the influential Szécsényi family.

Thomas (I) Szécsényi
Judge royal
Reign	1349–1354
Predecessor	Paul Nagymartoni
Successor	Nicholas Drugeth
Born	c. 1285
Died	1354
Noble family	House of Szécsényi
Spouse(s)	1, N Visontai 2, Anne, Duchess of Auschwitz
Issue (1) Kónya (1) Michael (1) Stephen (2) Caspar (2) Ladislaus I (2) Anne
Father	Farkas Kacsics

Career

The son of Farkas from the gens Kacsics, he joined King Charles I against the powerful Matthew III Csák in 1301; therefore, his relatives who followed Csák occupied his inherited possessions in Nógrád County. He fought at the Battle of Rozgony (15 June 1312) when the king's armies defeated the allied troops of Matthew Csák and Amadeus Aba's sons.

Shortly afterwards, the king granted Thomas the possession of Hollókő that had been confiscated from his relatives. In 1316, he occupied the Visegrád Castle from Máté Csák. He became the head (ispán) of Arad, Bács and Syrmia counties (1318) and the Judge of the Cumans (1319). In 1320, he was appointed to the Master of the Queen's Treasury (királynéi tárnokmester). Around that time, he married one of Queen Elisabeth's relatives, Anne of Oświęcim as his second wife. Following Matthew Csák's death (1321), the king granted him several castles and possessions in Heves, Gömör and Nógrád counties; thus, he received Ajnácskő (today Hajnáčka in Slovakia), Baglyaskő, Bene, Somoskő (today Šomoška in Slovakia) and Sztrahora Castles. In the same year, he became the Voivode of Transylvania. He suppressed the rebellion of the Transylvanian Saxons (1324) and the king granted him Salgó Castle (today Sibiel in Romania). In 1342, he was appointed to the office of Master of the treasury (tárnokmester) and in 1349, he became Judge royal (országbíró).

References

Sources

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• Engel, Pál (1996). Magyarország világi archontológiája, 1301–1457, I. [Secular Archontology of Hungary, 1301–1457, Volume I] (in Hungarian). História, MTA Történettudományi Intézete. ISBN 963-8312-44-0.
• Kristó, Gyula (2003). "I. Károly király harcai a tartományurak ellen (1310–1323) [The Struggles of Charles I Against the Oligarchs (1310–1323)]". Századok (in Hungarian). Magyar Történelmi Társulat. 137 (2): 297–347. ISSN 0039-8098.
• Markó, László (2006). A magyar állam főméltóságai Szent Istvántól napjainkig: Életrajzi Lexikon [Great Officers of State in Hungary from King Saint Stephen to Our Days: A Biographical Encyclopedia] (in Hungarian). Helikon Kiadó. ISBN 963-208-970-7.
• Piti, Ferenc (2003). "Szécsényi Tamás [Thomas Szécsényi]". In Szentpéteri, József (ed.). Szürke eminenciások a magyar történelemben (in Hungarian). Kossuth Kiadó. pp. 24–25. ISBN 963-09-4499-5.
• Varga, Tibor Róbert (2001). "Adatok Szécsényi Tamás vajdai széken kívüli igazságszolgáltató tevékenységére [Datas to the Judicial Activity of Voivode Thomas Szécsényi]". In Weisz, Boglárka; Balogh, László; Szarka, József (eds.). Tanulmányok a középkorról (in Hungarian). University of Szeged. pp. 139–149. ISBN 963-482-536-2.
• Wertner, Mór (1893). "Szécsényi Tamás [Thomas Szécsényi]". Erdélyi Múzeum (in Hungarian). 10: 119–134. ISSN 1453-0961.
• Zsoldos, Attila (2013). "Üres honor [Empty Honour]". In Kádár, Zsófia; Lakatos, Bálint; Zarnóczki, Áron (eds.). Archivariorum historicorumque magistra. Történeti tanulmányok Bak Borbála tanárnő 70. születésnapjára (in Hungarian). Magyar Levéltárosok Egyesülete. pp. 455–477. ISBN 978-963-87475-3-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Zsoldos, Attila (2016). "Erdélyi háborúk a 14. század elején [Transylvanian Wars at the Beginning of the 14th Century]". In Pósán, László; Veszprémy, László (eds.). Elfeledett háborúk. Középkori csaták és várostromok (6–16. század) (in Hungarian). Zrínyi Kiadó. p. 198–231. ISBN 978-963-3276-96-9.
• Zsoldos, Attila (2017). A Druget-tartomány története 1315–1342 [The History of the Druget Province 1315–1342] (in Hungarian). MTA Bölcsészettudományi Kutatóközpont Történettudományi Intézete. ISBN 978-963-4160-63-2.