A Szapolyaiak erdélyi ága - a Mikeszászai Horvát család

Abstract

The unknown and mysterious origins of the later royal family, the Szapolyais led the author of this paper to gather every piece of information relating to the different branches of the Szapolyais. A member of them, Paul Horvát (i. e. Croatian) of Szapolya (former Pozsega County, Hungary, present day Zapolje, Croatia) settled down in Transylvania in the 1470s. In the beginning of the paper the author sets out that the Horvát families of Vingárt (Vingard, Romania) and Ádámos (Adamus, Romania), on the contrary to the former opinion of scholar literature, were not relatives of Paul. This Paul Horvát of Szapolya - later of Szeben (Sibiu, Romania) and of Mikeszásza (Micásasa, Romania) - at first appeared in the Transylvanian sources in 1473 as a castellan of Nicholas Csupor voevode of Transsilvania in Gernyeszeg (Gome^ti, Romania). He married the widow of a rich merchant of Szeben, whereupon he became the richest burgher of the important Saxon town. Between 1479 and 1487 he was the castellan in Bálványos (Unguras, Romania) in the service of John Filipec bishop of Várad and chancellor. In the 1470s and 1480s, as a rich creditor, he acquired several pieces of land in Fehér, Küküllő and Doboka Counties. The paper demonstrates the details of the two most important acquisitions, the Mikeszásza estate (Küküllő County), where Paul built a fortified house, too, and Szentmargita (Belső-Szolnok County, Sánmárghita, Romania). The author shortly demonstrates the history of the family after the death of Paul (1496/97). His adopted son, Paul Remser or Horvát, as a rich burgher of Szeben, became mayor of the Saxon town in 1506-1507. One of his own six sons, Michael was appointed as count {ispán) of Küküllő County in 1513, then in 1515 he was the royal judge of the Saxon Seat of Újegyház (Nocrich, Romania). In the lack of sources, the author has not managed to make clear the family's precise kinship with the royal branch, although a far connection seems to be likely. It is not impossible that John of Szapolya, voevode of Transylvania (1510-1526), later King John I of Hungary (1526-1540) was aware of his far connection with the Horváts of Mikeszásza. It is also a question, whether this knowledge played a role in his decision to appoint Michael Horvát as his count of Küküllő County. The paper includes the family tree of the Horváts.