George Baksa
George was born around 1250[1] into the widely extended gens (clan) Baksa, as one of the younger sons of Simon I, the ispán of the royal forest of Patak in 1262.
[2] He had five brothers, Baksa, Thomas III, Simon II, Denis and Derek, the ancestors of the Szerdahelyi, Sztritei, Csapi, Bocskai and Szécsi de Gálszécs noble families, respectively.
[4] The Baksa clan, which had originated from the valley between the rivers Bodrog and Tisza, possessed villages and landholdings in Northeast Hungary, mainly Zemplén County.
[3] The Baksa clan (Simon and his sons) supported Duke Stephen in the conflict with his father, King Béla IV of Hungary, as their lands laid in the territory of the rex junior after the division of the kingdom in the early 1260s.
George Baksa emerged as a faithful and skilled military general of the king in that transition period, when Ladislaus IV made partial successes to strengthen the royal power.
The king intended to eliminate the Geregyes' power in Bihar County and the surrounding region, who aspired to establish an oligarchic province independently of the monarch.
After the suppression of the revolt of Finta Aba, Ladislaus convened an assembly at the foot of the castle of Patak in July 1282 (today ruins near Sátoraljaújhely), where George Baksa and his brothers attended.
The Hungarian auxiliary troops, consisted of Transylvanian and Cuman contingents, were led by George Baksa after a failed negotiation attempt between Ladislaus IV and Darman near the Hungarian–Serbian border.
[12] While Nogai stormed into Transylvania, Talabuga led his troops via Transcarpathia and directly threatened and plundered, among others, George Baksa's newly acquired lands and villages in Sáros and Zemplén counties, which laid along the border with the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia.
According to Ladislaus' royal charter issued in 1288, George gathered his army and the auxiliary troops of his kinsfolk, companions and friends, and struggled with the invading Mongols repeatedly, "effectively and praiseworthy, as a testimony to the defense and loyalty of Our Crown".
For his effective aid and efforts, George Baksa was granted the possession of Wielogłowy, near Sandecz, by High Duke Leszek II after the campaign.
For his loyalty and military service, King Andrew III transcribed and confirmed his predecessor's former land donations to George Baksa in February and August 1291.
According to two documents issued by later family members in 1314 and 1317, a certain "Bohemian potentate" Wytk, who resided in Sáros Castle (present-day Šariš in Slovakia), invaded George Baksa's seat Sóvár and seized its salt well.
His nephew, Sinka led a military unit and successfully recovered the estate, while captured Wytk and burned the Bohemian lord's nearby fort.
For a number of reasons, however, historian Attila Zsoldos argued the events occurred still during the reign of Andrew III and put the date to sometime before July 1294.
In that year, Andrew confiscated Tamási in Szepes County (today Spišské Tomášovce in Slovakia) from George Baksa and his brothers because of their "disloyalty", as they "ravaged the realm" and "captured and wounded" Wytk, the royal castellan of Sáros.
Zsoldos identified the castellan with Wytk Ludány, who came from a kindred of Bohemian origin, as Simon of Kéza's Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum preserved.
The historian suggested that Wytk unlawfully tried to extend his influence over Sóvár by abusing the power of his position, but George Baksa and his nephew Sinka successfully repulsed the attack.
[21] George elevated into the positions of ispán of Szabolcs County and castellan of the royal fort of Patak (today ruins near Sátoraljaújhely) by April 1300.
Due to their influence and wealth, the Baksa kinship was able to preserve their autonomy from the local oligarch Amadeus Aba, who had established a powerful dominion in Northeast Hungary independently of the Hungarian monarch during the era of so-called feudal anarchy.
[3] Two royal charters, both dated to 8 January 1285, which preserved the first land donations to George Baksa, proved to be non-authentic after the philological research of historians Iván Borsa and György Györffy.
In August 1314, George's son John confirmed his father's donation to Sinka, but he has earmarked the annual income of the salt in a lower amount (30 marks).
It contains only Sóvár and Sópatak with its accessories and the forest stretching to the river Tapoly (Topľa), "with their old borders, which were settled already during the reign of Béla IV".
