[1] The ancestors of the kindred, Swabian knights Hont and Pázmány arrived to the Principality of Hungary in the late 10th century, according to the chronicle of John's contemporary Simon of Kéza.

[2] John's father was Andrew, who erected castles near Turóc and Gímes (present-day Kláštor pod Znievom and Jelenec in Slovakia, respectively) following the First Mongol invasion of Hungary.

He was a faithful confidant of Béla IV, then Stephen V.[2] Andrew served as count of the tárnoks (financial officials) from 1249 to 1256, and ispán of Bánya (Árkibánya) ispánate on several occasions, which laid in the territory of Nyitra County.

[9] He was granted the villages Újlak and Özdöge (present-day Veľké Zálužie and Mojzesovo in Slovakia, respectively) for his faithful service by Ladislaus IV in October 1273.

He sold some portions from his land in Ilmér (later Ürmény, present-day Mojmírovce, Slovakia), belonging to Szolgagyőr (Galgóc) ispánate, and entrusted his bailiff, a certain comes Egidius to define and draw new boundaries.

[13] Thereafter, when Ladislaus IV confirmed his political alliance with Rudolf I of Germany against Ottokar II of Bohemia in July 1277, John was a member of that Hungarian diplomatic mission, which was sent to Vienna.

[16][15] John was first referred to as archbishop-elect on 14 November, when transcribed and confirmed the privileges of the hospes (foreigner) gold miners of Rimaszombat (today Rimavská Sobota, Slovakia), who belonged under the suzerainty of the Archdiocese of Kalocsa despite the great distance.

An assembly held at Tétény passed laws which, in accordance with the legate's demand, prescribed that the Cumans should leave their tents and live "in houses attached to the ground".

[21] Following Ladislaus' step, when the Cumans seized and imprisoned Philip of Fermo in early January 1280, the prelates, who expressed "the liberty of the Church", turned against the royal power, and became his relentless opponents.

This resulted a series of rebellions by the Cumans, who also pillaged and plundered the territory of the Archbishopric of Kalocsa, especially the area of Baja, whose inhabitants fled to the church of the Hájszentlőrinc Chapter.

[17] Since 1279, Lodomer and John Hont-Pázmány worked closely together in order to restore strong royal power, which was utterly weakened during the reign of Ladislaus IV.

[23] When Pope Nicholas IV proclaimed a crusade against Ladislaus and the Cumans at the turn of 1288 and 1289, John began to gather an army against his pagan subjects in the territory of the Archdiocese of Kalocsa.

Around the same time, Duke Albert I of Austria launched a massive royal campaign against the Kőszegi family along the western border of Hungary, capturing dozens of castles.

[19] With the consent of Lodomer (and plausibly John), the Kőszegis offered the crown to the king's distant relative Andrew the Venetian, who arrived to Hungary in early 1290.

[26] In the following years, several royal land donations were strengthened by the seals of the two archbishops, for instance in the case of George Baksa in August 1291 (for his role in the war against Austria) and Radoslav Babonić in July 1293 (for the successful liberation of Ugrin Csák).

From 1291 to 1293, altogether twelve royal charters emphasize the active advisory role of Lodomer and John, which imply significant influence over the monarch in political and economic affairs.

[27] In order to establish the new monarch's political alliance with foreign realms, Lodomer and John Hont-Pázmány welcomed the arriving Queen Fenenna in Upper Hungary; she became the first wife of Andrew III before the end of 1290.

[30] The Peace of Hainburg, which concluded the war, was signed on 26 August 1291, and three days later Andrew and Albert of Austria confirmed it at their meeting in Köpcsény (now Kopčany in Slovakia).

[34] On 31 January 1291, Pope Nicholas IV sent a letter to John, in which he expressed disappointment that the archbishop failed to continue the correspondence to inform the Holy See about the domestic conditions in Hungary, including the situation of the heretics and the pagans in the Archdiocese of Kalocsa.

[28] The Peace of Hainburg resulted that Kőszegis rose up in open rebellion against Andrew in spring 1292, acknowledging Charles Martel of Anjou, as King of Hungary, whose claim was also supported by the Holy See.

This personally affected John, because the Hont-Pázmány clan's landholdings laid in the region (Nyitra, Bars and Esztergom counties), in the neighborhood of the aggressively expanding lord's territory.

[37] In early February 1298, John escorted Andrew to Vienna, who visited Albert of Austria and promised to support him against Adolf of Nassau, King of Germany.

Historians agree that Bicskei wanted to reach the papal confirmation of his election as soon as possible, as a result he turned against Andrew and his courtiers, and became a strong advocate of the claim of Charles of Anjou to the Hungarian throne, who also enjoyed Pope Boniface VIII's support.

[39] With this step, Bicskei intended to disrupt the unity of the Hungarian prelates, but the suffragan bishops remained faithful to the monarch, with the leadership of John Hont-Pázmány.

[44] One of the noble councilors was Thomas Hont-Pázmány, Archbishop John's brother, despite his magnate of origin, which reflects the influence of their clan over the royal court.

John and the prelates had a virtually exclusive right to elect the four council members; both Thomas Hont-Pázmány and Henry Balog were considered supporters of the Hungarian clergy.

[48] After the rebellious Babonić family swore loyalty to Andrew in the summer of 1299, the monarch received them into his grace on 1 August upon the advice of Albertino Morosini, John Hont-Pázmány and the prelates of the realm.

Following a failed royal campaign led by Demetrius Balassa against the Csák territory, the oligarch's troops invaded the central parts of Upper Hungary.

His legate Niccolo Boccasini, who came to Hungary in September, started negotiations with the Hungarian prelates to convince them to abandon Wenceslaus and support Charles of Anjou's case.

Through his envoy, the pope summoned John to the Roman Curia on 17 October 1301, because of his "reckless transgression and foolish act", which referred to his dominant role in the coronation.