Timothy (Latin: Timotheus, Hungarian: Timót, Croatian: Timotej; died 4 April 1287) was a prelate in the 13th century, who served as Bishop of Zagreb from 1263 until his death.
[5] Marko Jerković argues Timothy was an ideal choice for Pope Urban in order to extend papal authority in an ecclesiastical area under the pronounced influence of the incumbent royal house.
Pope Urban temporarily installed the Franciscan friar Walter, a native of England, as administrator (vicar) of the diocese, while embarking on a diplomatic mission to accept the person of Timothy with the canons.
The cathedral chapter of Zagreb accepted Timothy as their bishop and there was no more opposition to his episcopal administration by April 1268; for the purpose of strengthening labor on church estates, he bought four serfs for 25 pence denars.
[11] Most of the years of his episcopal governance coincided with the era of feudal anarchy, when many groupings of barons fought against each other for supreme power during the nominal rule of the underage Ladislaus IV, who ascended the Hungarian–Croatian throne after the sudden death of his father Stephen V in 1272.
[14] By formalizing the status quo at the end of the first phase of feudal anarchy, Timothy and his diocese were granted the castle of Garić and Gerzence (Garešnica) ispánate by Ladislaus IV in March 1277.
[13][15] According to Nekić, Timothy established a great contiguous land of possessions and estates belonging to the Diocese of Zagreb, which thus became one of the biggest landowners in Slavonia.
[16] The monarch also confirmed the liberties and privileges of the diocese in his charters issued throughout in February and March, which those were donated by his predecessors Andrew II, Béla IV and Stephen V. The bishopric was also granted the estate Blaguša near Zagreb, where later Timothy built a wooden fort.
[15][17] Nekić considers these donations were already the king's own decisions, ignoring the advice of the barons, who soon was declared to be of age at the initiative of the prelates, including Timothy, by the national diet in May 1277.
[17][18] A year later, in November 1278, Timothy was at the first place among those delegated local barons and prelates (including e.g. Palatine Matthew Csák), who mediated the reconciliation between the Gutkeleds and the Babonići in Zagreb.
[16] Timothy strived to establish a personal network of local lesser nobles in Slavonia, mutually defending their interests against the aspirations of oligarchic domains in the province (Kőszegis, Babonići and slightly Gutkeleds).
[16] After 1279, the arrival of papal legate Philip III, Bishop of Fermo and the subsequent putting the issue of Cumans at the center permanently deteriorated the harmonious relationship between the prelates and the young Ladislaus IV.
[20] Meanwhile, Timothy requested the confirmation of the former royal donation of Garešnica and Garić from papal legate Philip and Lodomer, the Archbishop of Esztergom in October 1280, who de facto administered the Kingdom of Hungary in those times.
According to Timothy's letter to Archbishop Lodomer, the Kőszegis and their henchmen completely devastated and pillaged the episcopal estate of Vaška and the surrounding lands.
[21] According to Antun Nekić, the location suggests that the dowager queen Elizabeth the Cuman and Timothy had a common interest in curbing the unscrupulously and aggressively advancing Kőszegi family.
[22] Following legate Philip's departure from Hungary in the autumn of 1281, the Kőszegis rose to power and Timothy could not enforce church chastisement and also failed to recover the confiscated episcopal estates.
[22] After 1282, Queen Elizabeth, who was made Duchess of Macsó and Bosnia, usurped the lost bishopric's landholdings (Garić and Garešnica) with the consent of his son Ladislaus IV.