Ladislaus' opponent '' The arrival of papal legate Philip deepened the turmoil in Hungary. Initially, with the legate's mediation, Ladislaus IV concluded a peace treaty with the
Kőszegis. Bishop Philip soon realized, however, that most Cumans were still pagans in Hungary. He extracted a ceremonious promise from the Cuman chieftains of giving up their pagan customs, and persuaded the young King Ladislaus to swear an oath to enforce the keeping of the Cuman chieftains' promise. An assembly held at
Tétény passed laws which, in accordance with the legate's demand, prescribed that the Cumans should leave their tents and live "in houses attached to the ground". Following that the papal legate convened a synod in
Buda on 14 September 1279, where Archbishop Lodomer, his closest ally Archbishop
John Hont-Pázmány and the other bishops attended. The Cumans did not obey the laws, however, and Ladislaus, himself a half-Cuman, failed to force them. In retaliation, Philip
excommunicated him and placed Hungary under
interdict in October. Ladislaus joined the Cumans and appealed to the
Holy See, but Pope Nicholas III refused to absolve him. Under such circumstances, Lodomer's primacy was overshadowed by the papal legate, who had no regard for local political conditions, forcing the Hungarian prelates to decide between the Hungarian monarch and the Roman Curia. Following Ladislaus' step, when the Cumans seized and imprisoned Philip of Fermo in early January 1280 on his demand, Lodomer and the bishops, who expressed "the liberty of the Church", turned against the royal power, and became his relentless opponents. Soon, Ladislaus was also captured. In less than two months, both the legate and the king were set free following mediation negotiations by Lodomer, and Ladislaus took a new oath to enforce the Cuman laws. When Bishop Philip of Fermo left Hungary in the autumn of 1281, Lodomer attempted to restore political consolidation, which existed for a short time in 1277–78, before the violent intervention of the Roman Curia. He offered the support of the Hungarian Church to Ladislaus and interceded to
Pope Martin IV in order to invalidate some of the radical measures and decisions of papal legate Philip. Lodomer also recognized the king's
right of patronage over Hungarian church properties and dignities. Lodomer's hope to retake the king to the Christian affiliation has become real, when a Cuman army invaded the southern parts of Hungary in autumn 1282, and Ladislaus vanquished the invaders's army in the
Battle of Lake Hód. According to Pope Martin's letters with optimistic tone throughout in 1282 and 1283, Lodomer "carefully, wisely and relentlessly contributed" in the reconciliation efforts between the monarch and the Holy See. For instance, Ladislaus and Lodomer jointly convened a general
congregatio near
Szeged in October 1282. However Lodomer's efforts failed by the end of 1283, when Ladislaus was unable to defeat the Kőszegi family. As historian Jenő Szűcs noted, the young king adopted an "anachronistic autocratic" system, omitting the royal council, nobility and church. Ladislaus abandoned his wife,
Isabella, and settled among the Cumans by the end of the year. The contemporary public mood is well characterized by that fact when the
Second Mongol invasion occurred during the winter of 1285–86, many of his subjects accused Ladislaus of inciting the Mongols to invade Hungary. In fact, Ladislaus employed Mongol prisoners of war, known as
nyögérs, when he subjugated a rebellion in the
Szepesség in September 1285. Lodomer persuaded Ladislaus to convene a general assembly in the early summer of 1286 in order to reconciliation between the king and the powerful Kőszegi family, who plundered villages and regions in
Transdanubia in recent years. There Ladislaus provided one-year grace period to the Kőszegis and their
familiares. In September 1286, the king managed a
self-coup, expelling members of the Kőszegi–
Borsa baronial group from the royal council. Neglecting the Kőszegis' rival, the
Aba clan, Ladislaus IV appointed his own loyal soldiers and lesser nobles to the high positions. As regards Lodomer, he finally finished the intent of reconciliation, when Ladislaus imprisoned his wife and granted all her revenues to his Cuman mistress, Aydua. At the command of
Pope Honorius IV, Lodomer intended to declare a crusade against the Hungarian king and his Cuman subjects, and Honorius also intended to send letters to the neighboring monarchs to support the archbishop in that effort. However, the pope's death in April 1287 prevented this goal. When Ladislaus left Buda to prepare a military campaign against the Kőszegi–Borsa league, Lodomer liberated Queen Isabella from her captivity at
Rabbits' Island in September 1287. After that the queen moved to
Esztergom and established her own court there under the protection of Lodomer and his troops. Then the archbishop summoned the prelates, the barons, and the noblemen to an assembly in Buda in November 1287 (called
universitas) and excommunicated Ladislaus. Lodomer here also entrusted Peter Monoszló to recover the arbitrarily confiscated queenly estates surrounding
Beszterce (present-day Bistrița, Romania) from the town's magistrate. Supported by the cardinals, Lodomer appealed to such a parliament to gain legitimacy for measures against Ladislaus IV. In response, the infuriated king stated that "beginning with the archbishop of Esztergom and his
suffragans, I shall exterminate the whole lot right up to Rome with the aid of Tartar swords", according to Lodomer's highly dubious report. The barons captured Ladislaus in the Szepesség in January 1288. Although his partisans soon liberated him, he, similarly to the "legendary
Proteus", as Lodomer described him in his letter, acquiesced in concluding an agreement with the archbishop in March 1288. The king granted a right to collect customs duties to the cathedral chapter of Esztergom. Lodomer absolved Ladislaus on condition that the king would live in accordance with Christian morals. The monarch promised not to seek contact with the Tatars (Mongols), not to appoint non-Christians to office, and to distance himself from the group of lords whom Lodomer called "disgraceful Catholics" (e.g.
Makján Aba and
Mojs Ákos). The king also promised to take back his wife, Isabella. However, Ladislaus broke his promise in the next month, when imprisoned opponent lords in Buda. He also abducted his sister,
Elizabeth, prioress of the
Dominican Monastery of the Blessed Virgin on Rabbits' Island, and gave her in marriage to a Czech aristocrat,
Záviš of Falkenstein. According to Archbishop Lodomer, Ladislaus even stated, "If I had 15 or more sisters in as many cloistered communities as you like, I would snatch them from there to marry them off licitly or illicitly; in order to procure through them a kin-group who will support me by all their power in the fulfillment of my will". (Cheresig, Romania) on 10 July 1290 On 8 May 1288, Lodomer described the above mentioned events in his letter to
Pope Nicholas IV. He listed the king's violations, scandals and his complaints regarding the chaotic situation in the kingdom. Beside the king, Lodomer deeply condemned the behavior of Elizabeth too, calling her "
antimonialis" instead of "
sancti", who encouraged his brother to commit the kidnapping and broke her own monastic vow. Additionally, he considered the too close relationship between Záviš's two wives to be scandalous (
Kunigunda and Elizabeth were cousins). Two of his 1288 documents were discovered by French historian
Charles-Victor Langlois. He sent the two letters to János Karácsonyi in 1908, who translated and first published in 1910. Two other letters were found in the collection of
Pietro della Vigna. All of them are primary sources for the political history of Hungary in the Age of Late Árpáds, in addition their literary value. Historian Kornél Szovák argued the individual style, the usage of terminology, and literary motifs prove that Lodomer personally wrote the letters. Szovák analyzed that Lodomer (or his chancellor) used his legal and theological knowledge as an argumentative weapon against Ladislaus. For instance, when quoted Ladislaus IV, who allegedly replied to Lodomer with the sentence "For me, I am the law and I do not tolerate that the laws of such priests constrain me", in response to criticisms, is a reference to the
Bible, which described the pagans' way of life with the same phrases, and
Pope Innocent III's
decretals, which determined "the liberty of the Church" from secular powers. According to the archbishop, Ladislaus copulated with his favorite concubine, Aydua, whom the archbishop described as a "poisonous
viper", in public. Lodomer cited antique works (the tale of Proteus, poems of
Horace,
Ovid and
Livy's
Ab Urbe Condita Libri), in addition to such recent Christian texts, like
Bernard of Clairvaux's
De consideratione, regarding the
theory of "two swords". Consequently, Lodomer's accounts about the events in the 1280s are quite questionable. The two archbishops, Lodomer and John Hont-Pázmány compromised with the most powerful oligarchs, who divided the royal positions among them, while Ladislaus spent the last years of his life wandering from place to place, having lost all of his influence and support. To counterbalance the royal court's recent ideological basis, the
Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum and to emphasize the role of the Christian king, Lodomer commissioned an unidentified
Augustinian friar to write the rhythmic story of
Stephen I of Hungary, the founder of the Christian kingdom. According to literary historian László Mezey, the poem deliberately contrasts Stephen, a Christian monarch with
Attila, a pagan ruler, highlighting that the Hungarians were saved from the yoke of the tyrant Attila by Saint Stephen. Lodomer participated in the assembly of Föveny in June 1289, which ended without results. Following that the archbishop urged Pope Nicholas IV to proclaim a crusade against Ladislaus and the Cumans. Lodomer turned away from the king for good, when Ladislaus authorized Duke
Albert of Austria to launch a military campaign against the Kőszegis' territories throughout 1289, which violated Hungary's sovereignty since the Austrians invaded and conquered vast territories along the western border. With the consent of Lodomer, the Kőszegis offered the crown to the king's distant relative
Andrew the Venetian, who arrived to Hungary in early 1290. Lodomer later backed down from the plan, perhaps realizing that the claimant to the throne did not have a broad base of supporters, so he did not want to involve Hungary in an unnecessary civil war. Thereafter, the arriving Andrew was captured by
Arnold Hahót and surrendered him to Duke Albert. In response, Ladislaus prepared a war to Transdanubia, however he, who had always been partial towards his Cuman subjects, was assassinated by three Cumans at the castle of
Körösszeg (now Cheresig in Romania) on 10 July 1290. It is plausible that Lodomer was not involved in organizing the murder.
Andrew's ally Following the assassination, Lodomer subsequently dispatched two
Williamite monks to Vienna to inform Andrew of the king's death. With the monks' assistance, Andrew left his prison in disguise and hastened to Hungary. Upon his arrival, Archbishop Lodomer crowned Andrew III king in
Székesfehérvár on 23 July 1290. The lords and prelates swore loyalty to Andrew only after he issued a charter promising the restoration of internal peace and respect for the privileges of the nobility and the clergymen. The document was formulated by Lodomer himself. Andrew convened a national assembly to
Óbuda in the first days of September 1290, where he promised to preserve the rights and privileges of the nobility. Although, the Kőszegis and Lodomer jointly invited Andrew III to the Hungarian throne, their motivation was different: the oligarchs wanted a new controllable and weak-handed ruler to lead the kingdom instead of the unpredictable Ladislaus, while Lodomer and his suffragans were aimed to strengthen the royal power to put an end to the political anarchy. Lodomer and John Hont-Pázmány welcomed the arriving
Queen Fenenna in
Upper Hungary; she became the first wife of Andrew III before the end of 1290. depicted in the
Chronica Hungarorum Under Lodomer, the prelates became the strongest supporters of Andrew's reign, which decade was described as the "era of the early estates of the realm in Hungary" by historian József Gerics. Andrew and Lodomer were looking for an alliance with the lower nobility against the most powerful oligarchs to prevent the disintegration of the unified state. They also kept it in mind that they wished to keep the power aspirations of the Holy See and the
Holy Roman Empire outside. The 34 articles of the Diet of Óbuda reflect all these efforts. Their goal was to strengthen royal power, not to ensure the freedoms of the estates. The most important stipulation was the restoration of church property rights after two decades of confiscations and turmoil, in addition to the demolition of illegally built forts and castles. According to József Gerics, Lodomer and his suffragans acted royal advisers beside Andrew, excluding the barons of the realm, who, however, continued to participate in the decisions of the royal court as subsequent royal charters prove it. Lodomer, who was considered the advocate of the Roman Curia's interventions during the reign of Ladislaus IV in the 1280s, confronted with the Holy See after Andrew's coronation. Lodomer and his colleagues became the strongest pillars of the royal power, to protect the national sovereignty of the kingdom even against the pope's aspirations. On 31 January 1291, Pope Nicholas IV sent a letter to Lodomer, in which he expressed disappointment that the archbishop abandoned his previous "good habit" of continuous correspondence to inform the Holy See about the domestic conditions in Hungary. The pope noted "you've become almost a different person, who, to be addicted to a preventable indolence, did not inform the Holy See neither about the king's death, nor the situation of the country, nor the huge turmoil and nor the pretenders to the throne". In 1291, Andrew III invaded Austria, forcing Albert to withdraw his garrisons from the towns and fortresses that he had captured years before. Lodomer participated in the campaign, leading his episcopal army. Following that Lodomer and John Hont-Pázmány, together with a Williamite monk, negotiated with Albert's envoys
Bernhard of Prambach,
Bishop of Passau and Leopold,
Bishop of Seckau about the conditions for peace. The
Peace of Hainburg, which concluded the war, was signed on 26 August, and three days later Andrew and Albert of Austria confirmed it at their meeting in
Köpcsény (now Kopčany in Slovakia). In accordance with Lodomer's goal, the peace treaty prescribed the destruction of the fortresses that Albert of Austria had seized from the Kőszegis earlier. Lodomer and the three other prelates used the terminology of the Roman and canon laws in the
arenga of the document. The text describes the model of the perfect Christian ruler in Lodomer's eyes: "[...] for the powerful monarchs of the countries, who are not restricted by law, the greatest glory is [...] if they voluntarily obey the laws, and they embrace the right-inspiring, blessed compulsion in accordance with the voice of the
Holy Writ". The Peace of Hainburg resulted that the Kőszegis rose up in open rebellion against Andrew in spring 1292, acknowledging
Charles Martel, as King of Hungary, whose claim was also supported by the Holy See. In response, Lodomer excommunicated
Ivan Kőszegi, expressing his opposition to the Roman Curia and its protege, the
Angevins. Thirteen years earlier, he still subjected himself to Philip of Fermo and the pope's interests despite his better conviction, which caused the failure of the consolidation attempt. The royal troops subdued the rebellion by July, but the Kőszegis captured and imprisoned Andrew during his journey to Slavonia in August. Andrew was liberated within four months, after his supporters sent their relatives as hostages to the Kőszegis. Despite Lodomer's theoretical activity, Hungary was in a state of constant anarchy during Andrew's reign. The Kőszegis, the Csáks, the Borsas and other powerful families autonomously governed their domains, rising up nearly every year in open rebellion against Andrew in the second half of the 1290s. Andrew III again declared war against the Kőszegi brothers in August 1296, and Archbishop Lodomer excommunicated them. The archbishop personally participated in the military campaign with his
banderium, but Andrew and his occasional ally, Albert could not subdue them. In his last months, Lodomer resided in Monoszló, then Budafelhévíz (today a borough in the
2nd district of Budapest). He held a synod on 14 December 1297. He sent his last letter on 28 December. According to Pauline historian Gergely Gyöngyösi's
Vitae fratrum Eremitarum Ordinis Sancti Pauli Primi Eremitae (1496), Lodomer died on 2 January 1298. John Hont-Pázmány became the leading figure of the royal council. The subsequent 1298 laws, which circumscribed the feudal institutions, reflected Lodomer's political will, but the delicate balance was broken between Andrew III and the prelates after his death, despite Archbishop John's efforts. With the election of the pro-Angevin
Gregory Bicskei as Lodomer's successor, the consistency between the clergy also eliminated.
His ecclesiastical lordship Lodomer held at least four provincial synods (1286, 1292, 1294 and 1297) during his 19-year episcopate. He permitted the burghers of
Szepes Castle (today Spiš in Slovakia) in 1280 to secede from the affiliation of the St. Ladislaus parish and build a church for themselves, maintaining the suzerainty of the Archdiocese of Esztergom. Alongside Andrew III and other prelates, he was present at the consecration of the
Franciscans' Virgin Mary Church in
Pressburg (present-day Bratislava, Slovakia) on 26 March 1297, celebrated by vicar James. Pope Clement IV subordinated the Augustine monastery of
Titel to Esztergom in 1294. Lodomer donated the Saint Vitus Basilica of Esztergom to the Williamite friars to defend themselves during the second Mongol invasion. Lodomer approved the regulation of the
Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit around 1297. ,
Ukraine) During Lodomer's episcopate, Ladislaus IV donated the land of Örmény (a former borough of Esztergom) to the Order of Saint Augustine in 1281, where they established a monastery and conducted theological and artistic studies. The land donation was confirmed by Andrew III in his letter of coronation oath. In 1283, Ladislaus permitted that those nobles who died without legitimate heirs, could leave their fortune to the
Esztergom Basilica. Additionally, the king granted the privilege of the exemption from mining income to the archdiocese and its chapter. The king placed the
castle warriors of Pat under the jurisdiction of Lodomer in 1284. In 1288, Ladislaus obliged the traders, who arrived from
Regensburg and Vienna, to pay custom to the chapter of Esztergom, when passing through the city. However there were several reports, that the traders avoided Esztergom and took their goods directly into Buda. As a result, Lodomer excommunicated some merchants in the next year. He had also conflicts with those butchers, who relocated their slaughterhouses from Esztergom in order to avoid paying the duty. After 1282, Ladislaus IV donated several lands to the Archdiocese of Esztergom: Óny in
Pozsony County (1283), Szakállas (present-day a borough of
Kameničná, Slovakia) in 1285, while Queen Isabella donated Billeg in Komárom County (today a borough of
Naszály) in 1284. After their confrontation in the next year, Ladislaus IV did not donate any more property to the archdiocese and Lodomer. Beside the monarch, secular nobles also donated lands to the archdiocese under Lodomer. For instance, Bartholomew Szemere bequeathed his estate
Guta with two fishponds (in Komárom County, today Kolárovo, Slovakia) in 1281. Royal donations reappeared after 1290, when Andrew III ascended the Hungarian throne. Andrew III donated the village Nándor in Esztergom County but without the local
conditional nobles (to avoid conflict) upon Lodomer's request in 1291. After his coronation, Andrew III donated several landholdings to his ally Lodomer, including the town of
Rozsnyóbánya (present-day Rožňava in Slovakia) with its revenues of silver mine (
urbura) in 1291, on the grounds that Bernold von Tellesbrunn caused damage of 20,000 marks to the archdiocese during the 1291 Austrian–Hungarian war. He was also granted the village of
Mocsa in Komárom County by Queen Fenenna in the same year, for the celebration of her coronation. There is no record that Lodomer ever bought a landholding during his episcopate, unlike his predecessors, but exchanged estates ten times, according to the contemporary records. Historian Péter Kis considers Lodomer's unusually more active role in the secular domestic politics caused significant additional expenditure to the archbishopric. In addition, due to the conditions of feudal anarchy in the second half of the 13th century, the income sources of the archdiocese dwindled. During Lodomer's appointment, the city of
Esztergom has not paid
tithes to the chapter for two years. The archdiocese was also suffered from acts of domination. In the 1280s, a neighboring lord, Thomas Hont-Pázmány (son of Abraham, from
the clan's Szentgyörgyi branch) constantly plundered the estates of the archbishopric, unlawfully confiscating its revenues and tithes. According to an estimation, he caused a damage of altogether 3000 marks with his raids. With the intercession of the powerful oligarch
Matthew III Csák, Lodomer had to settle for 300 marks of silver compensation. Sometime before 1287, Thomas and his brother Abraham also handed over the estate Gyorok in Nyitra County (today a borough of
Nové Zámky, Slovakia) to the archdiocese as part of the compensation. Since the former archbishop Philip Türje was robbed at his coronation, Ladislaus IV compensated the loss of the archdiocese at that time, donating the estate Szakállas in 1285. As a compensation for previous damages, Lodomer acquired the castle of
Visk (today Vyshkovo,
Ukraine) from the sons of
James Cseszneki. He obtained the estate Nevelen in
Nógrád County in a similar manner from the
Hont-Pázmány kindred, as a compensation for the pillaging of
Vadkert. He also acquired portion in Úrkuta in
Esztergom County in 1292 from
Apor Péc, who also caused damage to the archbishop's holdings. The
Rátóts pillaged 11 villages of the archdiocese in the early 1290s. As a result, Andrew III confiscated their estate Kemence in
Hont County and donated it to Lodomer in 1293. The Hont-Pázmánys (sons of Casimir) looted 15 archiepiscopal estates around the same time. Therefore, vice-judge royal Martin persuaded them to hand over the estates
Bény and
Kéménd (today Bíňa and Kamenín in Slovakia, respectively) in 1295. However, Ugrin Hont-Pázmány was only willing to give up the latter estate. The acquisition and sale of landholdings were consciously organized: Lodomer expanded his influence over the territories in Esztergom, Komárom and
Nyitra (Nitra) counties that surrounded his seat in Esztergom in order to defend the archbishopric's interests against the neighboring powerful lords during the era of anarchy. Lodomer sought to create a coherent lordship through property exchanges. In 1280, he exchanged portion in
Hetény (today Chotín in
Slovakia) for Födémes and Szőlős in
Komárom County with his confidant
Mikó Szécs. In the same year, he was involved in a transaction with Andrew Hatvani too, exchanging the estate Levancstelki in Nógrád County for portions in
Hatvan (today Palotás). Lodomer also acquired
Farnad in Esztergom County (today Farná, Slovakia) for two portions (Lócsa and Porosztolnok) in the lordship of Saskő (today Šášovský hrad in Slovakia) in
Bars County and 70 marks with the same method from Thomas and
Orbász Báncsa in 1283. Before his death,
Matthew II Csák bequeathed the estate Béla in Komárom County to the archbishopric, but
John, son of Paul, former
ban of Macsó seized the village, causing a damage of 100 marks to Lodomer. As a compensation, John and his brothers handed over portions in Födémes in Nyitra County to the archbishopric. In 1284, Lodomer returned the estates to them in exchange for Béla. Lodomer also exchanged the acquired Gyorok for Bogdány in Komárom County and 200 marks with the Hont-Pázmány clan in 1287. Lodomer exchanged portions in Örmény for Újváros (boroughs within Esztergom) with his own cathedral chapter in 1289. According to the document, the archbishop wanted to establish a mill and gardens there. In 1294, Lodomer was granted a portion in the village of
Búcs in Esztergom County (today Búč, Slovakia) from the Tengerdi family in exchange for his fortified manor in the northern part of
Margaret Island. In 1295,
Benedict Rád, the
bishop of Veszprém renounced the tithes due to him in the villages Háros, Födémes, Csút and
Kocsola in favor of the provost of Csút (in present-day
Budafok). In exchange, Benedict was granted Csát in
Tolna County along with 17 possessions in
Somogy County by Lodomer, who, tus, received Nyárhíd with its toll in Nyitra County (today a borough of Nové Zámky). Lodomer expanded this estate, when acquired another portion from Ernye Hont-Pázmány, who, in exchange, obtained
Surány in Nyitra County (today Šurany, Slovakia) in 1297. In that year, the archbishop also exchanged
Prácsa in Pozsony County (today Vajnory, a borough of
Bratislava, Slovakia) for
Tardoskedd with its fair in Nyitra County (today Tvrdošovce, Slovakia). Still in the end of 1297, Lodomer exchanged his estates
Püspöki and
Velkenye (today Vlkyňa, Slovakia) in
Gömör County for Szakácsi and Udal in Bars County with
Dominic Rátót, in order to establish a coherent lordship in that county too. Adapting to the new situation, Lodomer was the first archbishop, who established an ecclesiastical
familia, through which he could exercise his military and political influence. There are some data about the
Nobles of the Church, the personnel of his court in Esztergom; his first identified bailiff was Pasca of Cseke (mentioned in 1280), who soon was replaced by Maurice Vázsony, Lodomer's relative around 1284. A certain Andrew Ajka was referred to as the archiepiscopal court's palatine in 1291, while Michael of Mencshely was styled as "master of the bakers" (). A third member, Stephen, son of Fulkus was a
castle warrior in Komárom Castle, who joined Lodomer's court "with his estates and privileges" in 1284 in order to protect his wealth against the oligarchs. He was granted the "
conditional noble" status. The lands of his servants and soldiers laid in Bars and Hont counties along the estates of the archdiocese to perform their defense function against the eastward attacks from the powerful Transdanubian oligarchs, primarily Matthew III Csák and the Kőszegi brothers, while the
familial lands with looser structure in Komárom and
Pozsony counties existed with the aim to support potential westward royal campaigns against the provincial lords. == References ==