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Theodore Vejtehi (, ; died 1327), also Theodore Csanád, was an influential lord 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 ...
at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, who ruled the
Banate of Severin The Banate of Severin or Banate of Szörény (; ; ; , ; , ) was a Hungarian political, military and administrative unit with a special role in the initially anti- Bulgarian, latterly anti- Ottoman defensive system of the medieval Kingdom of Hu ...
() '' de facto'' independently of the central royal power.


Family

Theodore (II) was born into the ''gens'' Csanád as the son of Dominic, who was mentioned by a record in 1256. He had a brother Ernye. The kindred, according to the tradition, originated from chieftain
Csanád Csanád, also Chanadinus, or Cenad, was the first head ''(comes)'' of Csanád County in the Kingdom of Hungary in the first decades of the 11th century. Csanád defeated and killed Ajtony who had ruled over the region now known as Banat (in R ...
, a relative of
Stephen I of Hungary Stephen I, also known as King Saint Stephen ( ; ; ; 975 – 15 August 1038), was the last grand prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the first king of Hungary from 1000 or 1001 until his death in 1038. The year of his bi ...
and founder and first ''
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
Csanád County Csanád was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now part of Hungary, except for a small area which is part of Romania. The capital of the county was Makó. Geography C ...
which named after him. Theodore's direct ancestor was Bogyoszló. Theodore appeared in the contemporary sources first in 1285 in a false diploma, when he, alongside Ernye, participated in the county assembly at Csanád. He had three children: John, Nicholas and an unidentified daughter, who married royal notary Gál Omori.Engel: ''Genealógia'' (Genus Csanád 1., Bogyoszló branch) In 1256, the Vejtehi branch of the genus owned possessions and vineyards in Csanád, Temes, Syrmia Counties and in the Duchy of Macsó and
Požega County Požega County (; ) was a historic administrative subdivision (''Counties of Croatia, županija'') of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. Croatia-Slavonia was an autonomous kingdom within the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen (Transleithania ...
beyond the river
Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...
. Furthermore, they also had lands in
Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...
,
Moson Moson (German: Wieselburg, Slovak: Mošon) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary, situated mostly on the right (south) side of the Danube river. Its territory is now divided between Austria and Hungary, except a sma ...
and Vas Counties at the other end of the kingdom.


Lord of Severin

Theodore preceded
Basarab I of Wallachia Basarab I (), also known as Basarab the Founder (; – 1351/1352), was a ''voivode'' and later the first independent ruler of Wallachia who lived in the first half of the . Many details of his life are uncertain. According to two popular theo ...
as lord of Severin as Basarab was first mentioned by one of the royal charters of
Charles I of Hungary Charles I, also known as Charles Robert (; ; ; 128816 July 1342), was King of Hungary and Croatia in the union with Hungary, Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of Charles Martel of A ...
only on 26 July 1324. However, very little is known about Theodore's reign. During the period of feudal anarchy, when the kingdom was in a state of constant anarchy since the rule of Ladislaus IV, Theodore autonomously governed the territory of the Banate of Severin, between the
Lower Danube The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important r ...
and the
Southern Carpathians The Southern Carpathians (also known as the Transylvanian Alps; ; ) are a group of mountain ranges located in southern Romania. They cover the part of the Carpathian Mountains located between the Prahova River in the east and the Timiș and ...
by usurping
royal prerogative The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, Privilege (law), privilege, and immunity recognised in common law (and sometimes in Civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy) as belonging to the monarch, so ...
s in his dominion. Thus historian
Gyula Kristó Gyula Kristó (11 July 1939 – 24 January 2004) was a Hungarian historian and medievalist, and also a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Life Gyula Kristó was born in Orosháza Orosháza is a city situated in the westernmost ...
considered him one of the so-called "oligarchs" or "provincial lords". Before the death of
Andrew III of Hungary Andrew III the Venetian (, , ; – 14 January 1301) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia between 1290 and 1301. His father, Stephen the Posthumous, was the posthumous son of Andrew II of Hungary although Stephen's older half brother ...
and extinction of the
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 ...
, the last known person, who held the title Ban of Severin, was a certain Lawrence, son of
Voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...
Lawrence in 1291, after that, as
Pál Engel Pál Engel (27 February 1938 – 21 August 2001) was a Hungarian medievalist historian and archivist, and member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He served as General Director of the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences between 1996 ...
says, the dignity vanished by the end of the 13th century and only restored by Charles I with the appointment of Denis Szécsi from the ''gens'' Balog in 1335. However Szécsi was already appointed castellan of
Zsidóvár Criciova (; ; ) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of four villages: Cireșu, Cireșu Mic (depopulated), Criciova (commune seat) and Jdioara. History Criciova was first mentioned in 1444 as ''Krychyowa'', although it is much ...
and
Miháld Miháld is a village in Zala County, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east ...
(today Jidoara and Mehadia in
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 ...
) in 1322 which presumably was the antecedent position of the restored dignity. Thus there is no proof that Theodore had ever held the office of Ban of Severin, although some charters referred to him with the "ban" prefix. When Charles I signed an alliance with his cousin
Rudolph III of Austria Rudolf I ( – 3/4 July 1307), also known as Rudolf of Habsburg, was a member of the House of Habsburg, the King of Bohemia and titular King of Poland from 1306 until his death. He was also Duke of Austria (as Rudolf III) and Styria from 1298. ...
in
Pressburg Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
(today Bratislava,
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 ...
) on 24 August 1304, Theodore was among the barons and prelates, who did the same thing in a royal charter, this source confirms that the Vejtehi family had supported Charles during the struggle for the Hungarian throne. Theodore, as most of the provincial lords, only guaranteed Charles with his support just then, when the
Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France ** Du ...
prince finally took the upper hand over his rivals. The Vejtehi family, Theodore and his sons, governed their province from Miháld Castle (today in ruins near Mehadia) which presumably was built by themselves. There are no other known castles owned by Theodore, but
György Györffy György Györffy (26 September 1917 – 19 December 2000) was a Hungarian historian, and member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (). Biography Györffy was born in Szucság (Suceagu, today part of Baciu, Romania), Hungary the son of ethnog ...
argued that they also had to possess the nearby fortress of Severin. Theodore gradually built up foreign relations with the Despotate of Vidin, which supported him in the struggle against King Charles I, who was determined to unite the kingdom following his victory over the rival pretenders,
Wenceslaus Wenceslaus, Wenceslas, Wenzeslaus and Wenzslaus (and other similar names) are Latinized forms of the Slavic names#In Slovakia and Czech_Republic, Czech name Václav. The other language versions of the name are , , , , , , among others. It origina ...
and
Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...
. Following the
Battle of Rozgony The Battle of Rozgony or Battle of Rozhanovce was fought between King Charles Robert of Hungary and the family of Palatine Amade Aba on 15 June 1312, on the Rozgony (today Rozhanovce) field. ''Chronicon Pictum'' described it as the "most cruel ...
in 1312, Charles defeated the oligarchs one by one. The Vejtehis rebelled against the King in 1316 alongside the Borsa, Ákos and
Kán Kán is the name of a Hungarian noble family which gave bans (governors) to Croatia and Slavonia, voivodes to Transylvania, and palatines to Hungary in the 13th and 14th centuries. History The Kán family were members of the Hermány clan. They ...
kinreds in
Tiszántúl Tiszántúl or Transtisza (literal meaning: "beyond Tisza") is a geographical region of which lies between the Tisza river, Hungary and the Apuseni Mountains, Romania, bordered by the Maros (Mureș) river. Alongside Kiskunság, it is a part of G ...
and
Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
.


Decline

According to a royal charter from 1317, Charles' loyal general Paul Szécsi led a campaign in autumn 1316 to besiege Miháld which defended by John Vejtehi, son of Theodore. By that time Theodore was already in custody and taken tied up before the castle and dragged along the walls at the heels of a horse to persuade John to surrender the fort. In spite of all these, Szécsi was unable to take Miháld, however defeated the army of '' despot'' Michael Shishman in the nearby battlefield. Szécsi sent several Hungarian and Bulgarian prisoners of war to the royal court of Charles. According to Pál Engel, who dated the first siege to 1314, Charles I personally led a next royal campaign against the Vejtehis following his victories in Transylvania at the end of 1321 or early 1322. The castle was besieged and successfully occupied by the King and general Martin, son of Bogár, a former ''familiaris'' of oligarch Matthew Csák. John Vejtehi was pardoned and allowed to settle down his estate in Temes County, while Denis Szécsi, Paul's brother was installed castellan. In the following months Szécsi expanded his influence along the Lower Danube by taking Görény Castle from the
Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...
. Because of the elusive chronology of the events,
Gyula Kristó Gyula Kristó (11 July 1939 – 24 January 2004) was a Hungarian historian and medievalist, and also a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Life Gyula Kristó was born in Orosháza Orosháza is a city situated in the westernmost ...
had a different theory about the campaign against the Vejtehi dominion in his 2003 essay. As Kristó says the significance of Miháld has appreciated when Charles transferred his residence from
Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...
to Temesvár (today
Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...
, Romania) in early 1315 and the struggle followed that. He also did not accept Charles' personal presence. According to Kristó the second campaign took place in 1321. Theodore survived his downfall. In 1322 Theodore (now mentioned as ''magister'') and his two sons donated the estates of Szentlászló and Szentmargit (today parts of
Makó Makó (, , Makowe, or , ) is a town in Csongrád County, in southeastern Hungary, from the Romanian border. It lies on the Maros River. Makó is home to 21,913 people and it has an area of , of which is arable land. Makó is the fourth-larges ...
,
Csongrád County Csongrád (; , archaically also ''Црноград/Crnograd,'' ) is a town in Csongrád County in southern Hungary. History At the time of the Hungarian Conquest (the end of 9th century) the Maros Valley was under Bulgarian control. The fortre ...
) to his son-in-law, Gál Omori. All three of them returned to the loyalty to King Charles. Theodore died in 1327. Some of his sons' lands were confiscated in 1332. As Györffy claims, his brother-in-law Ivan the Russian fled to Bulgaria following the dissolution of the Vejtehi realm, where he served as general and diplomat in the tsar's court (Michael Shishman was elected Tsar in 1323). Opposite him, historian István Vásáry points to the lack of clear evidence and the large time span between the Hungarian noble and the Bulgarian general named Ivan the Russian.


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vejtehi, Theodore 1327 deaths Csanád (genus) Oligarchs of the Kingdom of Hungary History of Banat Bans of Severin 13th-century Hungarian people 14th-century Hungarian people Hungarian torture victims