A letter of reward

Translated letter:

Elizabeth by the grace of God queen of Hungary to all the faithful of Christ who will see the present writing greetings in the savior of all.  Loyalty and the merits of subjects attract and invite to increasing royal grace not undeservedly in a royal highness toward subjects, so that by this example the faithful may rise to the desire of seeking grace more strongly.  Therefore we wish to bring to the notice of the present and future by the contents of these, that our loyal count John son of Zsidó supplied to our lord king Stephen, our dearest father-in-law of renowned memory, and to lord Ladislaus illustrious king of Hungary, our beloved consort, and finally to us deeds of excellent loyalty, worthy offices and most loyal service in different expeditions, matters and affairs of the kingdom; particularly and especially in conflict, which that lord our king had against the treachery of the Cumans who persecuted him unduly, and under the castle of Bátorkö when we had it attacked, not fearing the throwing of missiles and stones, submitting himself to the accidents of fortune, receiving a lethal wound in the sight of us and all our barons, out of owed loyalty to the royal crown; in recompense for his services and loyalty and shedding of blood, he asked that a certain reginal land of ours called Ómerse in the county of Tolna be given him by us.  Truly since the truth of the quality and quantity of that land was not fully known to us, nor did we wish the claims of our donation to waver; we gave orders to our faithful in the chapter of Alba to supply notice of the fullness of that land more perfectly and abundantly.  Who wrote back in their letters [giving] the quality and quantity of the whole land in these words:

To their most excellent lady E[lizabeth] by the grace of God illustrious queen of Hungary, the chapter of the church of Alba …  [letter not cited]

We truly cannot express one by one this and other kinds of virtues of that count John  in the present, [but] desiring to accept his requests favorably, we have given, donated, and conferred on him said land called Ómerse with its all uses and appurtenances, to be possessed in perpetuity and irrevocably and through him to his heirs and successors of those heirs.  So that the content of this our donation or bestowal may obtain the strength of perpetual stability, not be able to be retraced in the course of time by anyone in an invalidation:  we have granted the present letters strengthened by the protection of our double seal.  Dated by the hand of Master Ladislaus, provost of Vaciens, loyal chancellor of our court in the thousand twohundred eighty eighth year of the Lord.

Original letter:

Elizabeth Dei gracia Regina Vngarie vniuersis Christi fidelibus presens scriptum inspecturis salutem in omnium saluatore.  Fidelitas et merita subiectorum ad ampliandam Regalem graciam in subditis Celsitudinem Regiam non inmerito attrahunt et iunuitant, ut hoc exemplo fideles ad inquirendo (igy) gracie cupiditatem multo forcius accendantur.  Proinde ad vniuersorum noticiam tam presencium quam futurorum harum serie volumus peruenire, quod cum Comes Johannes filius Sydo fidelis noster domino Stephano Regi socero nostro karissimo inclite recordacionis, et domino Ladizlao illustri Regi Vngarie consorti nostro predilecto ac nobis demum, eximie fidelitatis opera, meritoria obsequia et fidelissimos famulatus in diuersis expedicionibus, articulis et negocijs Regni; maxime et specialiter in conflictu, quem idem dominus noster Rex habebat contra perfidiam Cumanorum ipsum indebite persequencium, et sub castro Bacurku tunc, cum eundem expugnari fecissemus, ictus missilium et iactus lapidum non formidans, fortune casibus se submittendo, nobis et omnibus Baronibus nostris cernentibus wulnus letale in se recipiens, pro fidelitate Regie Corone debita laudabiliter impendisset;  in recompensacionem seruiciorum suorum et fidelitatum ac effusi cruoris, quandam terram nostram Reginalem Omersa vocatam in Comitatu Tolnensi existentem pecijt a nobis sibi dari.  Verum quia de qualitate et quantitate eiusdem terre nobis ueritas ad plenum non constabat, nec uellemus nostre donacionis titulos vacillare; ad pleniorum noticiam eiusdem terre perfeccius et uberius habendam fidelibus nostris Capitulo Albensi dedimus in mandantis.  Qui nobis tocius terre qualitatem et quantitatem in suis rescriptserunt litteris in hec uerba: 

Excellentisime domine sue E. Dei gracia illustri Regine Hungarie Albensis Ecclesie Capitulum stb. ((következik a székesfehérári káptalannak jelentése, mint alább 395. sz. a.).

Nos uero pro huiusmodi et alijs uirtutibus eiusdem Comitis Johannis, quas singillatim exprimere ad presens non ualemus, peticiones ipsius fauorabiliter admittere cupientes, dictam terram Omerse uocatam cum suis utilitatibus et pertinencijs vniuersis dedimus, donauimus et contulimus eidem, et per eum suis heredibus heredumque suorum successoribus perpetuo et irreuocabiliter possidendam.  Vt igitur huius nostre donacionis seu collacionis series robur optineat perpetue firmitatis, nec processu temporum per quempiam ualeat et debeat in irritum retractari:  presentes concessimus litteras duplici (igy) sigilli nostri munimine roboratas.  Datum per manus Magistri Ladizlai Prepositi Vaciensis Aule nostre fidelis Cancellarij anno Domini millesimo ducentesimo octuagesimo octauo.

Historical context:

The queen rewards the service of one of her men in various battles with a grant of land, Ómerse  in Tolna.  Zsoldos identifies the battle she particularly points to against the Cumans with the battle at Lake Hód in 1282 in which members of the queen’s entourage are known to have taken part, The Árpáds and Their Wives ,177.  She had rewarded another member of the Zsidó for similar service (see 16196 hitml).

Printed source:

Árpádkori új okmánytár:  Codex diplomaticus Arpadianus continuatus, vols. I-XII, G. Wenzel ed. (Pest-Budapest: 1860-74), 12.470-71, #390.

Date: