Hont-Pázmány

Genus (gens) Hont-Pázmány
Country Duchy of Swabia
Kingdom of Hungary
Founded c. 983
Founder Hont and Pázmány (brothers)
Cadet branches House of Bozóky
House of Bényi
House of Csalomjai
House of Födémási
House of Forgách
House of Szegi
House of Garadnai-Pogány
House of Szentgyörgyi
House of Czibak
House of Ujhelyi
House of Pázmány
House of Besztercei

Hont-Pázmány (Hunt-Poznan) was the name of a gens ("clan") in the Kingdom of Hungary. The Gesta Hungarorum ("Deeds of the Hungarians") mentions that the ancestors of the family, the brothers Hont (Hunt)[1] and Pázmány (Pazman),[1] originally from the Duchy of Swabia in the Holy Roman Empire, arrived in the late 10th century to the court of Grand Prince Géza of the Magyars:

"The next arrivals were Hunt and Pazman, two half-brothers, courageous knights of Swabian origin. These two and their retainers had been journeying through Hungary with the intention of passing over the sea when they were detained by Duke Géza, and finally they girded King Stephen with the sword of knighthood at the river Hron, after the German custom."[1]

The clan Hontpaznan was mentioned for the first time in 1226 in a charter. Several prominent families of the kingdom (e.g., Szentgyörgyi and Forgách) descended from the gens.

The branches of the clan

By the 13th century, the clan divided into 12 branches:

Notable members of the clan

The first notable members of the clan were the brothers Hont and Pázmány who assisted Géza's son, the future King Stephen I of Hungary against his relative, the pagan Koppány who claimed for Géza's inheritance. The deed of foundation of the Pannonhalma Archabbey (issued in 1001) referred to both brothers as the king's military leaders (duces).[2] The brothers were granted possessions on the north-western parts of the kingdom (primarily in present-day Slovakia). Hont County was named after one of them.

Lampert from the kindred Hont-Pázmány (?–1132) founded the Abbey of Bozók. His first wife was the sister of King Ladislaus I of Hungary. He held about 30 possessions and thus he was one of the wealthiest landowners of the kingdom. In 1124, he took part in the campaign of King Stephen II of Hungary against Dalmatia. Lampert was murdered by the followers of King Béla II the Blind, because he was suspected of supporting Boris Kalamanos's claim to the throne.

Around 1201, Martin from the kindred Hont-Pázmány (?–1236/1245) held the office of count (comes) at the court of the future King Andrew II of Hungary, and served as the Ban of Croatia and Dalmatia. In 1202 and between 1212-1213, Martin was the Ban of Slavonia and he was styled Ban also in 1224 and 1234. In 1214, he held the office of judge royal (országbíró). He founded the Abbey of Ipolyság (today Šahy in Slovakia).

Achilles from the kindred Hont-Pázmány (b. 1210–1252) was bishop of Pécs between 1251 and 1252.

Lampert from the kindred Hont-Pázmány (of the branch of Csalomja) was bishop of Eger from 1247 to 1275.

Alternate theory on their origin

Hont
Hont – a Swabian knight, according to medieval chronicles, a "Slovak nobleman", according to Slovak historians – depicted in the Chronicon Pictum

Some modern authors suggest that the clan Hont-Poznany was formed by intermarriages of two separate families, the Hunts and the Poznans ("Pázmánys", "Posnans") when the latter's male line died out in the mid-12th century. They claim that the ancestors both of the two families were already nobles at the time of Great Moravia and preserved their possessions after the incorporation of their territories into the arising Hungarian state.[3][4] The theory suggests that they kept their Christian faith during the 10th century and its followers claim that the foundation deed of the Benedictine monastery of Bzovík proves that hereditary estates from the time before the arrival of the Magyars prevailed in the Hunts' property. The Pázmánys oversaw the Benedictine monastery below Zobor hill near Nitra and became its secular patrons. According to the theory, the seat of the Hunt family was the Hont castle and they ruled in the Central Ipeľ region in today's southern Slovakia, while the Pázmánys ruled in the region of today's north western Slovakia in the 10th century. Both families acknowledged the sovereignty of Michael of the House of Árpád and thus they became nobles at the his court in Nitra. After Michael's death, the new ruler, Vajk (Stephen I) and the local nobility, spearheaded by the Pázmány and Hunt houses, developed very close personal ties and while fighting the Koppány rebellion in 997, Stephen took shelter with Pázmány and Hunt ("Poznano" and "Cuntio"); they in turn added their troops to the retinue of Stephen's Bavarian wife Giselle. The united forces then defeated Koppány, making Stephen the sole ruler of the emerging Hungarian state. In the 11th and 12th century the Hunts owned estates mainly in the county of Hont and along the Ipeľ river. By the 11th and 12th centuries the Pázmáns' estates were mainly in the valley of the Nitra river. According to the alternate theory, the Pázmáns' male line died out in the mid-12th century; allied by marriage to the Hunts, the line became "Hont-Pázmány".

The oldest genealogic data about the Poznans are preserved in the Zobor charters (1111-1113). The charters contain names at least of fourth nobles from the Poznan family - Una, Bacha (Bača) and two sons of Bukven - Deda (Dedo) and Caca (Kačä). The high number of Slavic names in the Hunt-Poznan family is obvious until the 14th century (Stojslav, Vlk, Držislav, etc). The character of their hereditary property also indicates pre-Hungarian origin[lower-alpha 1][5] Naturally, those who belonged to the royal court or obtained property in Hungarian ethnic territories self-identified with the majority population in the area.

Notes

  1. ↑ The property of Honts and Poznans was at the beginning clearly separated and both clans also used a completely different system of significant names. This contradicts theory that they were brothers. The domain of the Poznans was in the south-western Slovakia with highest density of properties in Ponitrie. The original hereditary property of the Hunts was nearly exclusively located in Hont, Malohont and Nógrád. The charter of the Abbey of Bzovice (1135) contains valuable information about Hunts's early property, because it strictly differentiates between property dedicated by the first Hungarian kings, property bought later and those "inherited from ancestors". (Lukačka, 2010) The fact that later Hunt-Poznans held numerous property also in the other parts in the kingdom is already taken into account.

Sources

References

  1. 1 2 3 Simon of Kéza; edited and translated by László Veszprémy and Frank Schaer (1999). The Deeds of the Hungarians. Central European University Press. p. 163. ISBN 963-9116-31-9. Post hæc venit Hunt et Pazman, duo fratres carnales, milites coridati orti de Svevia. Hi enim passagium per Hungariam cum suis militibus facientes ultra mare ire intendebant. Qui detenti per ducem Geicham, tandem sanctum regem Stephanum in flumine Goron Teutonico more gladio militari accinxerunt.
  2. ↑ Kristó, Gyula (editor) (1999). Az államalapítás korának írott forrásai (The written sources of the age of the foundation of the state). Szeged: Szegedi Középkortörténeti Könyvtár. pp. 37–41. ISBN 963-482-393-9.
  3. ↑ Lukačka, Ján (2002). Formovanie vyššej šľachty na západnom Slovensku. Bratislava: Minor.
  4. ↑ Lukačka, Ján. "K otázke etnického pôvodu veľmožského rodu Hont-Poznanovcov" (PDF). Forum historiae. Forum historiae, SAV. Retrieved 2010.
  5. ↑ Lukačka 2010.
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