Nicholas I Kőszegi
His younger brothers were Ivan, Henry II – who were also elevated into high dignities during the age of the late Árpáds – and Peter, the Bishop of Veszprém from 1275 till his murder in 1289.
The elder one was Nicholas II (also "the Rooster"), who inherited his domains and became ancestor of the Rohonci family (then Ludbregi), which flourished until the middle of the 15th century, but was declared disgraced by King Sigismund in 1403.
[2] Nicholas Kőszegi first appeared in contemporary records in March 1265, when he participated in the Battle of Isaszeg alongside his father Henry and brother Ivan.
[3] The Kőszegis were being held as prisoners and after the Battle of Isaszeg, Béla IV was forced to accept the authority of Stephen in the eastern parts of the kingdom.
[4] When Stephen V ascended the Hungarian throne in May 1270, following his father's death, several barons, including Henry and his sons handed over their castles along the western borders to Ottokar II.
The arriving Henry Kőszegi brutally murdered Ladislaus' cousin, Béla of Macsó, the only adult male member of the Árpád dynasty.
When Henry extended his dominance in the royal council, Nicholas served as ispán of Szana County in Lower Slavonia, from 1273 to 1274, where his father acted as ban.
Henry Kőszegi was killed, but his sons Nicholas and Ivan managed to flee the battlefield, withdrawing their troops to the borderlands between Hungary and Austria.
Thereafter Peter Csák and the young Ladislaus IV gathered an army against the Kőszegis' domain in the autumn of 1274; their troops marched into Western Hungary, pillaging the brothers' landholdings.
[10][11] Despite their violent actions against the monarch, the Kőszegis regained their influence and retook the power by the spring of 1275, when Nicholas became Palatine, the most prestigious position, while his younger brother Ivan was made Ban of Slavonia.
Prior to that, the rivaling baronial groups delegated elderly honored barons to the office, for instance, Denis Péc or Roland Rátót.
[13] As Palatine, Nicholas confirmed the previous royal donation and ceded the twentieth tithe of Sopron County to the Cistercian monastery at Borsmonostor (today Klostermarienberg, a borough of Mannersdorf an der Rabnitz in Austria).
[17] In the upcoming decades, Nicholas Kőszegi extended his influence in Southwest Transdanubia, acquiring large-scale landholdings and villages, although in a more moderate way in comparison to his younger brothers, Ivan and Henry, who were among the most powerful oligarchs in the kingdom by the end of the 13th century.
Nicholas also acquired some estates in Upper Slavonia and the castle of Rohonc in Vas County (present-day Rechnitz in Austria), where his namesake son resided permanently and his descendants took their surname after this fort, which beforehand belonged to Csépán Ják, who died without heirs.
[21] In this capacity, he and his brothers – Ivan and Peter – concluded peace with their local enemies, the Babonići and Frankopans in October 1280 at Ozalj Castle along the river Kupa.
Having Ladislaus failed, Nicholas, Henry and Bishop Peter stormed into Southern Transdanubia and jointly invaded and besieged the episcopal town of Pécs in March 1284.
[23] In order to eliminate the powerful barons' influence over the royal council, Ladislaus managed a self-coup in September 1286, expelling members of the Kőszegi–Borsa baronial group from the government body.
Simultaneously, on the northern front of the war, Nicholas Kőszegi and Apor Péc besieged and captured Pressburg Castle, devastating the surrounding region.
[21] Ivan's continuous looting raids in Austria and Styria resulted a large-scale war ("Güssing Feud"; German: Güssinger Fehde) with Duke Albert throughout in 1289.
[4] He was made Palatine of Hungary around February 1291,[29] replacing Amadeus Aba, who was sent to Poland to lead auxiliary troops to assist Władysław the Short in his unification war.
After a few months of tension, the Kőszegi brothers rose up in open rebellion against Andrew in spring 1292, acknowledging the late Ladislaus' nephew, Charles Martel of Anjou, as King of Hungary.
While Ivan plundered the royal estates in Transdanubia, Nicholas stormed and captured the castles of Pressburg and Detrekő (present-day near Plavecké Podhradie in Slovakia) with his army.
He also started to besiege the fort of Szenic in Nyitra County (present-day Senica, Slovakia), but Andrew III sent a relief army and successfully forced Nicholas' troops to retreat.
Nicholas involved in resolving the crisis and was among those loyal barons and nobles who sent their relatives or familiares as hostages to Ivan in order to liberate Andrew III.
[37] According to historian Tamás Kádár, in contrast, Nicholas never held the position of palatine after 1296, and used the title arbitrarily or was styled in token of respect in his province in Transdanubia.
After Matthew Csák's rebellion in late August 1297, Andrew III restored the dual system and Nicholas Kőszegi and Amadeus Aba were appointed co-palatines of the kingdom.
