Ernye Ákos
[1] He was born around 1225[1] into the Ernye branch of the gens (clan) Ákos as the son of Erdő I,[2] who resided in Pályi in Bihar County and was only mentioned in his own right in the Regestrum Varadinense in 1220.
[1] As Erdő's parentage is unknown, there is an inability to connect Ernye's family to the other branches of the prestigious and extended Ákos clan.
[3] Ernye had two brothers, Albert the Great, who served as master of the horse (1270–1272), then ban of Severin (1272),[4] and Erdő II, ispán (count) of Tolna (1272) and Trencsén Counties (1274).
[5] Ernye's only son from his unidentified wife was Stephen, palatine of Hungary (1301–1307), who became one of the most powerful oligarchs during the interregnum after the death of king Andrew III.
[7] As he came from a relatively poor branch of the Ákos clan, his only hope was military service in the royal court to rise in the social hierarchy.
[2] During the Mongol invasion of Europe, he participated in the Battle of Mohi as a heavily armored knight under the monarch's banner on 11 April 1241, where the Hungarian army suffered a decisive defeat and many noblemen and prelates were killed.
According to the Illuminated Chronicle, during the flight from the battlefield, Ernye saved the life of king Béla IV by handing over his full-strength horse.
Ernye then proceeded to fight against the pursuing Mongols to hold them back while Béla IV and his escort fled to Pressburg (Pozsony; today Bratislava, Slovakia).
After the withdrawal of the Mongols in 1242, Ernye became one of the steadiest and most reliable advocates of Béla IV during the subsequent rebuilding and structural reorganization of the Kingdom of Hungary.
He received large amounts of land in Heves and Borsod counties and Erdőkövesd was secured by the Ákos clan during that time.
Ernye fought in the royal army in a war against Austria in 1246 and participated in the Battle of the Leitha River, where Frederick the Quarrelsome was killed.
Ernye remained a loyal and dedicated partisan of Béla IV, despite the fact that majority of his possessions laid in the territory of Duke Stephen's realm.
[23] Because of the prolonged siege of Feketehalom, the Palatine Henry Kőszegi sent Ernye with an army of Cuman warriors to Tiszántúl, in order to hinder Duke Stephen's counter-offensive.
Another document says, his long-time rival Panyit Miskolc presented the fettered prisoner Ernye in the ducal court of Stephen following the clash.
[30] The sudden death of Stephen V and subsequent coronation of the 10-year-old Ladislaus IV in August 1272 allowed Ernye to become one of the most powerful barons in the country.
According to historian Jenő Szűcs, the elderly honored barons, who were made palatines and other chief officials, such Denis Péc, Ernye Ákos and Roland Rátót were considered stable points and "beauty spot" in the fast-changing governments during the first five regnal years of Ladislaus.
Ernye Ákos received the title of ban of Só and Ozora in 1273, replacing Henry I Kőszegi from the Héder clan.
[33] At the end of his life, Ernye Ákos served as judge royal for the second term and ispán of Szatmár County from September to 31 December 1274.
Instead of punishing his subject, Béla IV recovered Cserép to Bishop Lampert Hont-Pázmány and "compensated" Ernye with a royal estate, Ecseg.
Ernye also tried to extend his interests in Varaždin County, where embroiled a conflict with Dietrich II von Marburg, the Bishop of Gurk and his men at the borderland of Slavonia and Styria.
