[1][2] The earliest record of Nicholas — a charter of grant of Géza II of Hungary to the Óbuda Chapter — refers to him as the head of the royal chapel in 1148.

[3] For instance, he appears as the attestor (sigillator) of the last will and testament of lady Margaret in Pannonhalma (an important source of 12th-century Hungarian economic history) in 1152.

He was styled as count (ispán) of the royal chapel (Hungarian: kápolnaispán, Latin: comes capelle) between around 1156 and 1158, when Géza confirmed a land donation to the Garamszentbenedek Abbey (today Hronský Beňadik, Slovakia).

His successor John is mentioned in the bishop list of the Várad Chapter with the year 1180, which was corrected to 1181 by historians Vince Bunyitay and Gábor Thoroczkay.

[6] Nicholas first appears as archbishop in a royal document of 1181, when Béla returned fleeing serfs to the Cégény Abbey in accordance with the verdict of Farkas Gatal, Palatine of Hungary.

Nevertheless, Béla separated the issuance of royal charters from the court clergy with that step after the experience of his long lasting jurisdictional conflicts with the strong-willed Lucas.