page_title: Ernye Ákos
section_title: Courtly knight
hierarchical_section_title: Ernye Ákos / Career / Courtly knight
caption_attribution_description: Magyar: IV. Béla király menekülése az őt üldöző tatár hadak elől (1241) - Escape of King Bela IV of Hungary from the Tartars (1241) English: Béla IV flees from Mohi
context_page_description: Ernye from the kindred Ákos was a Hungarian baron and landowner. He is best known for saving the life of king Béla IV after the disastrous Battle of Mohi in 1241. He participated in various military campaigns in the following decades. He elevated into the group of most powerful barons by the second half of the reign of Béla IV. He retained his influence even after Béla's death.
context_section_description: It is presumable that Ernye spent his childhood in the royal court, as a member of the group of so-called "royal youth" (Hungarian: királyi ifjak, Latin: iuvenis noster), who supported the monarchs and took a leading role in royal military campaigns. Ernye belonged to the confidants of Duke Béla, who had long opposed his father's politics. When Béla IV ascended the Hungarian throne in 1235, he rose to prominence and was a loyal supporter of the king's efforts. As he came from a relatively poor branch of the Ákos clan, his only hope was military service in the royal court to rise in the social hierarchy. As a result, he did not emphasize his origin in the contemporary documents, and also adopted his own coat-of-arms, which apparently had more prestige than his inherited insignia. Ernye consciously separated himself from the clan and emphasized his titles and dignities, which were acquired by his own power.
  Ernye was first mentioned by contemporary records and charters in 1241. During the Mongol invasion of Europe, he participated in the Battle of Mohi as a heavily armored knight under the monarch's banner on 11 April 1241, where the Hungarian army suffered a decisive defeat and many noblemen and prelates were killed. According to the Illuminated Chronicle, during the flight from the battlefield, Ernye saved the life of king Béla IV by handing over his full-strength horse. Ernye then proceeded to fight against the pursuing Mongols to hold them back while Béla IV and his escort fled to Pressburg (Pozsony; today Bratislava, Slovakia). Although he was seriously injured while defending the king's retreat, he managed to recover and followed his king into exile at Klis Fortress, where he spied for his lord at the enemy's camp.
  After the withdrawal of the Mongols in 1242, Ernye became one of the steadiest and most reliable advocates of Béla IV during the subsequent rebuilding and structural reorganization of the Kingdom of Hungary. He received large amounts of land in Heves and Borsod counties and Erdőkövesd was secured by the Ákos clan during that time. Ernye obtained permission to build and strengthen the Dédes Castle, which became the center of his estates. Despite this, there is no record of him receiving any official positions immediately following the Mongol attack.
  Ernye fought in the royal army in a war against Austria in 1246 and participated in the Battle of the Leitha River, where Frederick the Quarrelsome was killed. In the battle, Ernye killed a "famous Austrian knight" with his spear, and presented his severed head to the Hungarian king. He also took part in a campaign against Austria in 1250, when Béla made a plundering raid into Austria and Styria in the summer of 1250, in retaliation of a former Austrian incursion into Hungary. He participated in the sieges of Waltersdorf and Kirchschlag. Subsequently Ernye dueled with Austrian knight Wernhard Preussel, the captain of Lower Austria and lord of Himberg. Ernye pushed him off the horse with his lance, instantly killing him. Thereafter the Hungarian troops besieged and seized the castle.
caption: Béla IV and his soldiers flee from the Battle of Mohi (1241), depicted in the Illuminated Chronicle
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