page_title: Ivan Kőszegi
section_title: During the Interregnum
hierarchical_section_title: Ivan Kőszegi / Powerful baron / During the Interregnum
caption_attribution_description: Castle of Esztergom, Hungary
context_page_description: Ivan Kőszegi was an influential lord in the Kingdom of Hungary at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. Earlier historiographical works also refer to him Ivan Németújvári. He was Palatine in 1281, between 1287 and 1288, and from 1302 until 1307, Ban of Slavonia in 1275, from 1284 until 1285 and in 1290, and Master of the treasury in 1276 and 1291.
  Originating from the powerful Kőszegi family, his career was characterized by series of rebellions and violations of the law against the royal power. As one of the so-called oligarchs, he established a province in Western Transdanubia, which laid in the borderlands of Hungary with Austria, and ruled Győr, Sopron, Moson, Vas and Zala counties de facto independently of the monarchs by the 1280s. Beside his rebellions in Hungary, he waged wars with the Duchy of Austria too. Because of his plundering and looting raids against the Styrian provinces, he was dubbed as "greedy wolf" by the Austrian chronicles. During the era of feudal anarchy, he usually played a role of "kingmaker". For instance, he invited Andrew the Venetian to the throne against the reigning Ladislaus IV of Hungary three times.
context_section_description: Andrew III died on 14 April 1301. With his death, the Árpád dynasty became extinct. Ivan Kőszegi was a central figure of the subsequent period of interregnum, which lasted for seven years and various claimants – Charles of Anjou, Wenceslaus of Bohemia, and Otto of Bavaria – fought for the Hungarian throne. Taking advantage of the emerging chaotic situation, Ivan cooperated with his former rival and enemy, Hermann von Landenberg and seized the Pannonhalma Abbey and its surrounding lands. His family unlawfully possessed the abbey until their downfall in 1317. In the following months, Ivan also captured the royal castle of Óvár.
  In the early 14th century, Hungary had disintegrated into about a dozen independent provinces, each ruled by a powerful lord, or oligarch. Among them, Matthew Csák dominated the northwestern parts of Hungary (which now form the western territories of present-day Slovakia), Amadeus Aba controlled the northeastern lands, Ivan and Henry Kőszegi ruled Transdanubia and the northern parts of Slavonia, James Borsa dominated Tiszántúl, and Ladislaus Kán governed Transylvania. Ivan Kőszegi was referred to as Palatine since February 1302. In the upcoming years, seven barons held the dignity simultaneously. Majority of the historians, including Gyula Kristó and Jenő Szűcs, considered, these barons, for instance, Matthew Csák, Amadeus Aba, Ivan Kőszegi and Stephen Ákos were arbitrarily styled themselves palatines, usurping the position, which marked its devaluation. However, in accordance with Attila Zsoldos' theory (as presented above), the claimants to the Hungarian throne inherited Andrew's last decision, and they were forced to accept the status quo. As Zsoldos emphasized the oligarchs recognized each other's titles, in addition to the monarchs, cathedral chapters and other institutions. Accordingly, Ivan Kőszegi was considered a "perpetual" Palatine, alongside other powerful lords. He performed his judicial role in his territorial province (Sopron, Vas and Zala counties), in addition to Veszprém County, where acted as an judge in June 1303 in a lawsuit between the chapter of Veszprém and some local nobles over the ownership of Csopak. Beside his dignity of Palatine, Ivan was also styled as ispán of Moson and Sopron counties in 1303.
  Immediately after Andrew's death, Charles of Anjou hurried to Esztergom where he was crowned king irregularly. Being Pope Boniface VIII's candidate for the Hungarian throne, Charles had always been unpopular, because the Hungarian lords feared that they would "lose their freedom by accepting a king appointed by the Church", as the Illuminated Chronicle narrates. Despite his nominal pro-Angevin standpoint in the 1290s, Ivan Kőszegi was among those lords, who supported Wenceslaus II of Bohemia. According to the narration of the Steirische Reimchronik, after Wenceslaus II met the Hungarian delegation in Hodonín in the summer of 1301, the Bohemian king sent his envoy to Kőszegi and invited him to a personal meeting. The chronicle says Kőszegi departed Hungary from his castle of Kapuvár to Bohemia. There, instead of himself, Wenceslaus II offered his eleven-year-old namesake son, who was not only Béla IV's great-great-grandson, but also the bride of the late Andrew III's daughter, Elizabeth, for the throne of Hungary. Ivan Kőszegi got a night-time thinking time. Returning to his accommodation, he found 1000 silver coins, many gold and silver treasures and scarlet broadcloth there. On the following day, Kőszegi accepted the king's offer, also referring to the generosity of the late Ottokar II, Wenceslaus' father, who had create him knight of Teutonic Order during his exile decades earlier. However, Kőszegi's main motivation behind his support was to defend his province against the House of Habsburg; Wenceslaus' opponent Charles of Anjou was the nephew of Duke Albert, who intended to enter alliance with his maternal relatives.
  Ivan and Henry were among those Hungarian lords, who moved to Brno in order to welcome the young Wenceslaus, who arrived to Hungary with his father's army. Whil
caption: Esztergom Castle, captured by Ivan Kőszegi twice
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