The centre of the family landholdings located in Csesztve (today part of Ocna Mureș town in Romania), where Leonard was born too.
[4] By the early 16th century, Leonard and his brothers possessed extensive landholdings throughout in Transylvania, mainly in Kolozs, Doboka, Torda, Fehér and Küküllő counties, in addition to the Székely seat of Marosszék.
[6] Leonard was granted the estates of Ózd (Ozd) and Táté (Totoi) by King Vladislaus II of Hungary in a lawsuit of 1492 against Ladislaus Geréb, the Bishop of Transylvania.
The Diocese of Transylvania also sent a complaint to Vladislaus II in 1500; accordingly, Leonard and his brothers refused to pay tithe in their landholdings regarding the year 1499.
[7] In this capacity, he functioned as a substitute of Voivode Peter Szentgyörgyi, who also held the dignity of Judge royal since 1500, thus he was staying in Transylvania infrequently following that.
[11] Barlabássy exercised the performance of his administrative and judicial duties from here, therefore contemporary sources began to call him "Barlabassy de Hederfaya", while his brothers, John and Michael and their descendants were continued to refer with the prefix "Chezthwe" (Csesztve).
According to Barlabássy's letter, Dózsa and his soldiers robbed and murdered some local Saxon traders near Hermannstadt (present-day Sibiu, Romania).
[12] After John Zápolya was appointed voivode, Barlabássy became a member of his inner advisory council, alongside, for instance, Stephen Werbőczy, Michael Szobi and Nicholas Bethlen.
Alongside his co-vice-voivode Nicholas Túróci and other lords, Barlabássy invited the Saxon communities to attend a general diet summoned to Hermannstadt in 1513.
[14] Amid brutal retaliations, which followed Dózsa's revolt, Barlabássy sent an unusual letter to the council of Beszterce on 11 February 1515, in which he instructed any former insurgents should be granted amnesty and put them back into the service of their former lords.
He also financially supported a Humanist scholar circle in Gyulafehérvár, which centered around its bishop Ladislaus Geréb and the clergymen (including his nephew John IV).
His coat-of-arms, which depicts a bison head with a dragon biting its own tail and the insignia of Sun and Moon, can be found in the cathedral of Gyulafehérvár and the church of Székelydálya (Daia).
[17] Art historian Jolán Balogh emphasized the country-house of Héderfája is the earliest surviving Renaissance-style building in the province of Transylvania, excluding the reconstructions of some royal castles.
A stone lintel at Héderfája preserved the date of the construction of the country-house (1508) and Barlabássy's coat-of-arms and its subscription, which depicts Italian calligraphic style.
After the death of his first wife at an unknown time, Barlabássy married Magdalene Geréb de Vingárt, who came from a prominent Transylvanian noble family of Saxon origin.
[22] His large wealth and extensive possessions were distributed among his sons and grandsons in the following decades,[21] according to his division of property diploma issued on 2 February 1521, which was presented to John Zápolya.