In the summer of 1272, Joachim kidnapped
Ladislaus, the son of and heir to Stephen V, which was an unprecedented case in Hungarian history during that time and marked the beginning of half a century of turbulent period, called "feudal anarchy". After an unsuccessful siege of
Koprivnica (Kapronca), where Joachim guarded the child, the monarch died suddenly. Under the minority of Ladislaus IV, Joachim became one of the most powerful lords of the realm allying with the
Kőszegis and the
Geregyes against the
Csák-dominated faction. Nicholas only gained a government role when his brother and his circle expelled several members of the royal council and established a homogeneous "party government" in late 1273. Nicholas was appointed Judge royal and
župan of Gacka (Gecske) in the
Kingdom of Croatia in December 1273, holding the positions until September 1274 and mid-1275, respectively. Following the
Battle of Föveny in late September 1274, the Csák baronial group took supreme power and Nicholas was among those lords who were deprived from positions in the royal court. He retained only the headship in Gacka. Despite their violent actions against the monarch, the Kőszegis and the Gutkeleds regained their influence and retook the power by the spring of 1275. Nicholas was installed as Ban of Slavonia around early April 1275; he jointly held the dignity with
Ivan Kőszegi. Shortly after, the two barons divided the jurisdiction among themselves. Accordingly, Ivan Kőszegi was responsible for the territory between the river
Drava and the
Kapela Mountains (i.e.
Slavonia), while Nicholas Gutkeled administered the region of the
Adriatic Coast (i.e. Croatia and
Dalmatia) The separate dignity of Ban of Croatia emerged from this after April 1275. Nicholas Gutkeled was styled as "
banus maritimus" (April), then "
banus totius Croatie et Dalmatie" (June, July, September) and also "
banus Croacie" (July) at once time. Nicholas Gutkeled was last styled as Ban of Croatia in September 1275. In one of his judgments, Nicholas returned the estates taken by his father to the city of
Trogir (Trau). Upon the "special order" of King Ladislaus, he intended to terminate the hostile relationship between the cities Trogir and
Split (Spalato) over the hinterland around Split, but, with a small armed escort, he could not prevent the outbreak of war and the armies of Split and
Šibenik (Sebenico) began to besiege Trogir. According to his own report to the king, in order to prevent bloodshed, Nicholas eventually sided with the besiegers, persuading the city to accept humiliating terms. It is plausible that Nicholas's role as ban was highly nominal. The Croatian magnate families began to exercise power independently of the king, taking advantage of the weakness of the central government in Hungary. Following Nicholas' departure,
Paul Šubić took the title of ban and he and
his family governed all Croatia and the Dalmatian coastal cities for decades
de facto independently, practically separating Croatia from the
Lands of the Hungarian Crown. Hungarian suzerainty over Croatia was only restored in 1345, exactly seventy years after Nicholas Gutkeled's term. Joachim was killed in battle in April 1277, when he attempted to eliminate the rebellion that the Babonić family had started in Slavonia. The Babonići plundered many of the Gutkeled possessions in the region. With Joachim's death, the power aspirations of the Gutkeled clan had declined. His brothers, Nicholas and Stephen were not ambitious enough to keep end establish a territorial domain in Slavonia. Joachim's brothers had to compensate their relative
Hodos – who lost his left arm and was captured during the skirmish against the Babonići – by donating their palace in
Zagreb (from where Joachim administered his province) to him. The Kőszegis and the Babonići divided the spheres of interest in Slavonia between each other, splitting the Gutkeled's province on the border of Transdanubia and Slavonia in their agreement at
Dubica on 20 April 1278. The Kőszegis promised that they would not help the Gutkeleds regain their lands, which laid mostly in the newly acquired Babonić territory even if they had "royal authorization" to do so. Since the Kőszegi family rebelled against the king (they supported the claim of pretender
Andrew the Venetian), Ladislaus IV sought to isolate them politically. As a result, the monarch ceremonially reconciled with Stephen (II) Gutkeled in June 1278, confirming and returning his landholdings and appointing him Judge royal. Beside that, Nicholas also became Ban of Slavonia at the same time, holding the dignity until the summer of 1279. In this capacity, he granted privileges to the
castle warriors of Zagreb in May 1278, which was later confirmed by Ladislaus IV too. Clashes continued in the Slavonian border land between the Gutkeleds and the Babonići even after Joachim's death. Through the peace mediation of
Palatine Matthew Csák,
Timothy, Bishop of Zagreb and local clergymen, the Gutkeled brothers – Nicholas, Stephen and Paul – reconciled with the Babonići in Zagreb on 6 November 1278. In accordance with the agreement, the Gutkeleds gave up their claim to the castles
Steničnjak (Sztenicsnyák) and Krčin (Jhezera) in
Zagreb County. In exchange, the Babonići returned the lordship of Zlath (present-day
Slavsko Polje) to Nicholas and his brothers. In order to guarantee the preservation of peace, Nicholas offered his two sons, Ladislaus and John, as hostages, sending them to the court of the Babonić family. ==Later life==