Saul Győr

Saul was born into the Óvár branch of the gens (clan) Győr of German origin, as one of the five sons of Stephen I.

[1] His brothers were Maurus, Ban of Primorje, who was the ancestor of the Gyulai, Geszti and Kéméndi noble families; Alexander, who participated in King Emeric's Wars in the Balkans; Csépán, a powerful baron and Palatine of Hungary and Pat, who also held that position.

[2] In his youth, Saul belonged to the court clergy and was a member of the royal chapel during the reign of Béla III of Hungary.

Saul bore the title "protonotarius", which emphasised the establishment of a separate Royal Chancery during Béla's reign.

Thus "chancellor" Saul had more limited powers than his predecessor Kalán, and his appointment was a short-lived attempt to restore the pre-1181 institutional situation by the court clergy.

[8][9] Historian Norbert C. Tóth questions that Saul ever held both offices,[10] while András Kubinyi argued the charter's corroboratio is authentic.

[12] The archdiocese suffered serious damage and material loss because of the continuous wars and clashes between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Byzantine Empire in the second half of the 12th century.

[13] To ensure its prestige and financially establish smooth operation, he transferred the tithe and ship taxes of numerous surrounding villages (for instance, Somos, Okor, Kamarás and Megyer) to the local chapter.

[13] In the same letter, the pope authorised Saul to expel the monks of Abraham of the Valley of Hebron from the Kő monastery because of their undisciplined and immoral behaviour, and to return it to the Benedictine Order.

He was succeeded by his elder son Emeric, whose whole reign was characterised by his struggles against his rebellious younger brother, Duke Andrew.

[1][15] In May 1198, Pope Innocent authorised archbishops Job of Esztergom and Saul of Kalocsa to excommunicate Andrew and his partisans and put their places of residence under interdict if they continue the rebellion against the royal power.

King Emeric strongly opposed Saul's decision, but the archbishop wished to keep the secular sphere out of church affairs.

However, Emeric prevented the visitation of Saul to the royal court (the king claimed he had ordered this for the safety of the archbishop, whose lives would have been endangered by the adherents of the pro-Andrew prelates).

In addition to the intact skeleton, a gilded silver-headed crosier, a silver chalice, paten, golden rings, crosses, pallium with three jewelled gold pins, and textile remnants were found.

However Jesuit art historian Joseph Braun analysed the chalice and the textiles based on the pictures sent, but he did not deal with the other objects.