Joachim Gutkeled

[10] According to historians László Zolnay and Jenő Szűcs, the Gutkeled brothers left Béla's allegiance and joined the partisans of Duke Stephen in early 1264, not long before the outbreak of the civil war.

As a result, Joachim was granted the lordships of Hátszeg, Miháld and Jeszenő (present-day Hațeg, Mehadia in Romania and Jasenov in Slovakia, respectively), which all laid in the eastern parts of the Kingdom of Hungary, governed by Duke Stephen after the division of the realm in 1262.

[11][12] In contrast, historian Attila Zsoldos doubts his colleagues' theory, considering there is no clear evidence of that, as Joachim had no prominent – if any – role in the subsequent civil war due to his relatively young age, and may have received the large estates later, after Stephen's ascension to the Hungarian throne in 1270.

[13] In addition, a remark during an exchange of property between Roland Rátót and the Babonići in Slavonia (Deronicha, Boyna and Stoymerich) from August 1266 implies that Joachim indeed joined the partisans of Stephen, while his brother Nicholas remained loyal to Béla IV (that is why the latter did not gain a government role after 1270).

Joachim resided in the royal camp along the lowland river Dudvág (or Dudváh) in mid-June, then at Pressburg (present-day Bratislava in Slovakia) after Stephen's victory over his enemy.

[16][20] Joachim took advantage of his dignity of Ban of Slavonia and his local inherited estates from his father to establish a private territorial domain between the rivers Drava and Sava, in the southwestern part of the kingdom.

[26] During his tenure as ban, Joachim began to establish an oligarchic domain – a coherent area of his landholdings – in the territory of Križevci and Zagreb counties (northwestern and eastern parts, respectively) based on his father's acquisitions.

In addition to some his relatives from the Gutkeled clan (Hodos, Cosmas), lesser nobles from the region (Bachaler Olaszkai, the Básztélys, Juris de Busan) belonged to his court which he held in his palace in Zagreb.

[28] Stephen V and his large companion, including his heir, the 10-year-old Ladislaus and the barons of the royal council, routed to Croatia in the late spring of 1272 to meet his ally and the father-in-law of his son, Charles I of Sicily.

[15] Joachim's plot put an end to a political era in medieval Hungary,[30] which was still governed by "the instrument of truth and successful results" until the reign of Stephen V. The abduction of Ladislaus, an unprecedented case in Hungarian history prior to that, and the subsequent events marked the beginning of a new half a century period, called "feudal anarchy", which lasted until 1323, and characterized by the weakening of royal power, anarchic conditions in the governance and civil wars and feuds between various rivaling baronial groups, who struggled for supreme power.

One of them, Egidius Monoszló immediately laid siege in late August to the Dowager Queen's palace in Székesfehérvár to "rescue" Ladislaus from the rival baronial group's influence.

In November 1272, he brutally assassinated Béla of Macsó, who, as he was the only capable male adult member of the Árpád dynasty, was in the path of every aspirant baronial groups, who fought for supreme power.

[41] Immediately after the assassination, Joachim Gutkeled made an alliance with Henry Kőszegi and the Geregye brothers, forming one of the two main baronial groups, while the other one was dominated by the Csák and Monoszló clans.

[44] The latter position, as Pilis was a queenly estate, also confirms the strong relationship of trust between Elizabeth and Joachim,[45] in addition to the fact it laid in the medium regni, the centre part of the kingdom.

The second document, issued in late 1273, interprets that Ladislaus was forced to retreat to Koprivnica because of "his enemies' deceits", and states in a falsified manner that the 10-year-old child voluntarily sought refuge in the castle.

The third document, issued on 25 September 1274, i.e. days before the Battle of Föveny, Ladislaus donated privilege to Sebastian, ispán of Torna County, who "served faithfully [...] in the castle of Koprivnica, where we retreated before [the wrath of] our dearest father".

[46] Joachim participated in private initiative Hungarian incursions into Austria and Moravia in February 1273, along with Denis Péc, Matthew Csák, Ivan Kőszegi, and his distant relative Amadeus Gutkeled.

Alongside Denis Péc and Egidius Monoszló, who returned to Hungary from exile, Joachim Gutkeled defeated a Moravian army at the walls of Detrekő Castle (today ruins near Plavecké Podhradie, Slovakia) in October, which fort was unsuccessfully besieged by Ottokar's troops.

Abolishing the balance of power between the two rivaling groups, Henry Kőszegi and Joachim Gutkeled expelled several members of the royal council and established a homogeneous "party government" in late 1273, as Szűcs called in his monograph.

[48] Matthew Csák and his allies removed Voivode Nicholas Geregye from power in early June 1274,[51] but Henry Kőszegi and the Gutkeled brothers were able to retain their positions, although their homogeneous government was terminated.

Fearing the rival group's gradual advancement in the previous weeks, Joachim Gutkeled and Henry Kőszegi captured Ladislaus IV and his mother near Buda at the end of June 1274.

Although the illustrious military general Peter Csák liberated the king and his mother in a short time, the two powerful lords, Henry Kőszegi and Joachim Gutkeled captured Ladislaus' younger brother, Andrew, and took him to Slavonia, the centre of their political basis.

He did not recognize Rudolf as king, thus the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg decided to deprive Ottokar from his Crown estates, the duchies of Austria, Styria and Carinthia in November 1274.

In his reply, Rudolf expressed his support and satisfaction with Joachim's loyalty, who claimed for himself the territories (Judenburg and its surroundings) that his mother-in-law Gertrude once owned before her expulsion from the duchy.

[61] When Rudolf declared war against Ottokar in June 1276 and his army marched into Austria in the autumn, the Kőszegi–Gutkeled baronial group dominated the Hungarian governance and decided to support the King of Germany.

In order to suppress the revolt, the Ban gathered a royal army and marched into southern Slavonia, also involving four members of his wide kinship, including Hodos and Briccius, the forefather of the Báthory family.

However, the royal troops suffered a disastrous defeat, Joachim Gutkeled was killed in a battle in April 1277, while Hodos lost his left arm and Briccius his finger of his right hand, and both of them were captured by the Styrian knights.

As historian Jenő Szűcs noted, "The paradox of history is that [Joachim], this boldly ambitious leader of the new political era, the first magnate to openly declare war to the royal power, [...] has at least formally fallen under the protection of the state".

[62] The evolving pro-Habsburg political orientation, the 1277 provincial rebellions (Szepesség, Transylvania and Slavonia) and Joachim Gutkeled's death marked the end of the first phase (1272–1277) of the reign of Ladislaus IV.

[63] Pursuing Joachim's foreign policy orientation, Ladislaus' troops played a decisive role in Rudolf's victory in the Battle on the Marchfeld on 26 August 1278, where Ottokar II was killed, which led to the rise of the House of Habsburg, a long-term effect to the history of Central Europe.