Mercurius (; died after 1206) was a Moravian lord in the early 13th century, who settled down in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. As a confidant of King

Andrew II of Hungary Andrew II (, , , ; 117721 September 1235), also known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia between 1205 and 1235. He ruled the Principality of Halych from 1188 until 1189/1190, and again between 1208/1209 and ...

, he served as

Ban of Slavonia Ban of Slavonia (; ; ) sometimes also Ban of "Whole Slavonia" (; ; ), was the title of the governor of a territory part of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary and Croatia in union with Hungary, Kingdom of Croatia. From 1102, the title Ban (title), ...

from 1205 to 1206. He became related to the royal

Árpád dynasty The Árpád dynasty consisted of the members of the royal House of Árpád (), also known as Árpáds (, ). They were the ruling dynasty of the Principality of Hungary in the 9th and 10th centuries and of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 130 ...

through his marriage.

Origin

Early 19th-century historiographical works incorrectly propounded that Mercurius belonged to the powerful Hungarian clan

Gutkeled The coat-of-arms of the Hungarian Gutkeled clan Gutkeled (spelling variants: Gut-Keled, Guthkeled, Guth-Keled) was the name of a ''gens'' (Latin for "clan"; ''nemzetség'' in Hungarian) in the Kingdom of Hungary, to which a number of Hungarian nob ...

. Since then, it was proved that he was grandfather of that Mérk (Myrk or Mercurius), Wenceslaus and James of the Csákányi family, about whom the 13th century chronicler

Simon of Kéza Simon of Kéza () was the most famous Hungarian chronicler of the 13th century. He was a priest in the royal court of king Ladislaus IV of Hungary. In 1270–1271, bearing the title "master" (''magister''), Simon was part of a diplomatic mission ...

mentions that they descended "from the dukes of Moravia and have ties of kinship with King

Béla IV Béla may refer to: * Béla (crater), an elongated lunar crater * Béla (given name), a common Hungarian male given name See also * Bela (disambiguation) * Belá (disambiguation) * Bělá (disambiguation) Bělá may refer to: Places in the Cze ...

". According to historian Tibor Neumann, it is possible he is identical with one of the lords called Marquartus, whose name appear in contemporary charters from the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

. However, he was certainly not member of the

Přemyslid dynasty The Přemyslid dynasty or House of Přemysl (, , ) was a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia (9th century–1306), as well as in parts of Poland (including Silesia ...

, despite Simon's account.

Career in Hungary

The circumstances of his arrival to Hungary is unknown. Perhaps it occurred in 1198, when King

Ottokar I of Bohemia Ottokar I (; 1155 – 1230) was Duke of Bohemia periodically beginning in 1192, then acquired the title of King of Bohemia, first in 1198 from Philip of Swabia, later in 1203 from Otto IV of Brunswick and in 1212 (as hereditary) from ...

married to

Constance of Hungary Constance of Hungary (in Hungarian, ''Konstancia''; in Czech, ''Konstancie''; c. 1180 – 6 December 1240) was the second Queen consort of Ottokar I of Bohemia. Family Constance was a daughter of Béla III of Hungary and his first wife Agnes of ...

, the sister of

Emeric, King of Hungary Emeric, also known as Henry or Imre (, , ; 117430 November 1204), was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia between 1196 and 1204. In 1184, his father, Béla III of Hungary, ordered that he be crowned king, and appointed him as ruler of K ...

and Duke Andrew. A letter of judgment from 1413 mentions that Mercurius was granted the estates Kolon and Kovácsi in

Nyitra County Nyitra County (; ; ; ) was an administrative county ( comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory lay in what is now western Slovakia. Geography Nyitra County shared borders with the Austrian land Moravia and Trencsén County, Turó ...

(present-day Kolíňany in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

) from King Andrew II around 1205. The monarch also married off his "blood relative" ("''consanguinea''") Margaret to the Moravian lord. It is possible this Margaret is identical with the daughter of

Géza II Géza () is a Hungarian given name and may refer to any of the following: As regnal or forename * Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians * Géza I of Hungary, King of Hungary * Géza II of Hungary, King of Hungary * Géza, son of Géza II of Hungar ...

, who had been widowed twice before as the wife of Isaac Doukas then Andrew, Ban of Slavonia. If this is the place, Mercurius' wife died before 1208. Their marriage produced a son Janur (or Gyánúr), ancestor of the Koloni and Rovi noble families, which flourished until the first half of the 15th century. Mercurius was installed as Ban of Slavonia in 1205, serving in this capacity until 1206. Beside that, he also administered

Somogy County Somogy (, ; ; , ) is an administrative county (Counties of Hungary, comitatus or ''vármegye'') in present Hungary, and also in the former Kingdom of Hungary. Somogy County lies in south-western Hungary, on the border with Croatia's Koprivnica- ...

. Thereafter, he functioned as ''

ispán The ispánRady 2000, p. 19.''Stephen Werbőczy: The Customary Law of the Renowned Kingdom of Hungary in Three Parts (1517)'', p. 450. or countEngel 2001, p. 40.Curta 2006, p. 355. (, , and ),Kirschbaum 2007, p. 315. deriving from title of župan, ...

'' of

Pozsony County Pozsony county was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now mostly part of Slovakia, while a small area belongs to Hungary. In 1969, the three villages that remained in H ...

for a brief time in 1206. At some point in his life (prior to 1213), he sold the land Hagymás in

Bihar County Bihar was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary and a county of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom and Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711), Principality of Transylvania (since the 16th c ...

(today Hășmaș,

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

) to

Boleslaus, Bishop of Vác Boleslaus (, ; died 1212 or 1213) was a prelate in the Kingdom of Hungary at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries. He was Bishop of Vác between 1193 and 1212. He supported Duke Andrew II of Hungary, Andrew during the Brothers' Quarrel (Hungary ...

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercurius of Slavonia 12th-century people from Bohemia 13th-century Hungarian people Bans of Slavonia Czech expatriates in Hungary