page_title: John III, Bishop of Nyitra
section_title: First years
hierarchical_section_title: John III, Bishop of Nyitra / Bishop of Nyitra / First years
caption_attribution_description: English: Nitra Castle, Slovakia, general view. Slovenčina: Nitriansky hrad, celkový pohľad.
context_page_description: John was a Hungarian prelate in the first half of the 14th century, who served as Bishop of Nyitra at least from 1302 until his death. He belonged to the earliest partisans of Charles I of Hungary and his dynasty. During his reign, which roughly coincided with the era of feudal anarchy, the diocese of Nyitra was constantly harassed and plundered by the troops of the powerful and greedy oligarch Matthew Csák.
context_section_description: John was first mentioned as bishop on 24 January 1302 by a document of papal legate Niccolò Boccasini, but it is plausible he already served in this capacity from the previous year, as the legate referred to him simply "episcopus", without the phrases postulatus or electus. John's recent predecessor, Paska last appeared in contemporary records in August 1297. Historian Tamás Kádár considers the election of John was confirmed by Boccasini on behalf of Pope Boniface VIII sometime after October 1301. The document narrates that John stayed in the vicinity of the papal legate's residence at Pressburg (present-day Bratislava, Slovakia). Hungarian prelates John of Nyitra, Paul Balog of Pécs and Anthony of Csanád advised the papal legate on legal issues concerning customary law, when declared the choice of the provost of Szepes chapter (today Spišská Kapitula in Spišské Podhradie) is the right of the members of the collegiate chapter and not of the Hungarian king. John participated at the synod of the Hungarian prelates convoked by Boccasini in the spring of 1302.
  For his loyal service and sacrifice, the grateful monarch, Charles donated Nyitra County to him and his successors on hereditary right in mid-1302, and consequently, in principle, John became the first hereditary or perpetual count of Nyitra. John and his small-size auxiliary troops from Nyitra County took part in the fruitless siege of Buda in September 1302 by Charles. Wenceslaus' partisans successfully relieved the city. John was present, when Charles met his cousin, Rudolph III of Austria, in Pressburg on 24 August 1304. The monarchs concluded an alliance against the Kingdom of Bohemia, and John was among the barons and prelates of the realm, who countersigned and swore to the document. John participated in the provincial synod at Udvard, Komárom County (present-day Dvory nad Žitavou, Slovakia) convoked by Archbishop Thomas in May 1307. There, the prelates renewed the excommunication of the burghers of Buda, who had supported the local heresy and placed the town under interdict. In addition, Archbishop Thomas and his suffragans called all the subjects of the realm to obey the king's commandments, otherwise they were ready to place the whole kingdom under interdict. John, alongside other prelates and nobles, attended the meeting at the Pauline Monastery of Kékes on 10 November 1308, when the arriving papal legate Gentile Portino da Montefiore managed to persuade Matthew Csák to accept King Charles' rule. John also participated in the subsequent Diet, where Charles was unanimously proclaimed king on 27 November 1308. Thereafter, the papal legate convoked the synod of the Hungarian prelates, including John, who declared the monarch inviolable in December 1308. John attended the second and third coronations of Charles in June 1309 and August 1310, respectively.
  His godson, Abraham the Red donated his two lands, both named Keresnyen in Bars County (today Veľké Kršteňany and Malé Kršteňany in Slovakia) to the Diocese of Nyitra in May 1310. John requested the cathedral chapter of Esztergom (place of authentication) in January 1312 to transcribe the donation letter of Béla IV of Hungary from 1267, who attached the tithe of Bánya (today Banka, Slovakia) to his diocese. Upon his request, the chapter also transcribed the privilege letters of Pope Lucius III and Archbishop Lodomer (1285) in June 1313, which assigned the tithe of villages Preznec, Bossány and Kerencs (today Práznovce, Bošany and Krnča in Slovakia, respectively) and a quarter of income of the churches of Tapolcsány and Koros (present-day Topoľčianky and Krušovce in Slovakia, respectively) to the bishopric of Nyitra. John's ally and superior, Archbishop Thomas also confirmed the former donations simultaneously. In addition, the archbishop and Charles himself confirmed the aforementioned 1302 donation of Nyitra County to the diocese in August 1313.
caption: Nitra Castle and its St. Emmeram's Cathedral, Nitra (today in Slovakia)
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