page_title: Matthew III Csák
section_title: Kings' rival
hierarchical_section_title: Matthew III Csák / Kings' rival
caption_attribution_description: English: Domains of Hungarian oligarchs (1301-1310)
context_page_description: Máté Csák or Matthew III Csák, also Máté Csák of Trencsén, was a Hungarian oligarch who ruled de facto independently the north-western counties of Medieval Hungary. He held the offices of master of the horse, palatine and master of the treasury. He could maintain his rule over his territories even after his defeat at the Battle of Rozgony against King Charles I of Hungary. In the 19th century, he was often described as a symbol of the struggle for independence in both the Hungarian and Slovak literatures.
context_section_description: Matthew continued to style himself Palatine even after 1297. He managed to overcome Andrew of Gimes and his family and thus expanded his influence along the Zsitva River (Žitava River).
  In 1298, King Andrew III allied himself with King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia; the alliance was probably directed against Matthew whose possessions lay between the two monarchs' territories. In the next year, King Andrew sent his troops against him, but he could resist the attack; only Pozsony County was reoccupied by the king's partisans.
  Before 1300, Matthew entered into negotiations with the representatives of King Charles II of Naples and reassured him that he would assist the claim of his grandson, Charles for the throne against King Andrew III. However, in the summer of 1300, Matthew visited Andrew's court, but the king, the last male member of the Árpád dynasty, died on 14 January 1301, and following his death a rivalry broke out among the several claimants for the throne. At that time, Matthew's brother, Csák died childless and therefore Matthew inherited his possessions.
  Following the death of King Andrew III, he became the Neapolitan prince's follower, but shortly afterwards, he joined the party that offered the crown to Wenceslaus, the son of King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia. He was present at the coronation of the young Bohemian prince (27 August 1301) who granted him Trencsén and Nyitra counties; therefore he became the lawful holder of all the royal castles and possessions in the two counties. In the following years, Matthew Csák occupied the possessions of the Balassa family in the two counties and he also took several castles in Nógrád and Hont counties.
  King Wenceslaus could not strengthen his rule against his opponent and he had to leave the kingdom (August 1304). By that time Matthew Csák had already left King Wenceslaus' party, and shortly afterwards he made an alliance with Duke Rudolph III of Austria against the king of Bohemia. Although he did not join to King Charles' partisans, but his troops took part in the campaign King Charles and Duke Rudolph lead against the Kingdom of Bohemia (September–October 1304). The internal struggles, however, did not end, because on 6 December 1305 a new claimant, Otto III, Duke of Bavaria was crowned King of Hungary. Matthew Csák did not accept King Otto's rule, and his troops struggled together with King Charles' armies who occupied some castles on the northern part of the kingdom.
  On 10 October 1307, an assembly confirmed King Charles' rule, but Matthew Csák and some other oligarchs (Ladislaus Kán, Ivan and Henry II Kőszegi) absented themselves from the assembly. In 1308, Pope Clement V sent a legate to the kingdom in order to strengthen King Charles' position. The legate, Cardinal Gentile Portino da Montefiore managed to persuade Matthew to accept King Charles' rule at their meeting in the Pauline Monastery of Kékes (10 November 1308). Although Matthew himself was not present at the following assembly (27 November) in Pest where King Charles' reign was again confirmed, he sent his envoy to attend at the meeting. Shortly afterwards, King Charles appointed Matthew Palatine of the kingdom. However, at the new coronation of King Charles (15 June 1309), he was only represented by one of his followers. In the next year, King Charles appointed him to the office of master of the treasury, which then was the first high-ranking political position during the first regnal years of Charles as the position of palatine was "devaluated".
  Matthew Csák did not want to accept the king's rule; therefore, he did not attend King Charles' third coronation, when he was crowned with the Holy Crown of Hungary (27 August). Moreover, Matthew Csák still continued to expand the borders of his domains and occupied several castles in the northern part of the kingdom. On 25 June 1311, he led his troops towards Buda and pillaged the surrounding territories and on this account the Cardinal Gentile excommunicated him on 6 July 1311. However, he did not accept the punishment and persuaded some priests to continue their s
caption: Domain of Matthew Csák
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