A bestowal of land

Translated letter:

E[lizabeth] by the grace of God junior queen of Hungary to all the faithful of Christ who will look at the present writing, greetings in the true savior.  We wish to bring to the notice of all present and future by the contents of these, that since the noble man master Cosmas, son of count/ispán Cosmas, of the Gutkeled kin offered various and many services and actions to the lord Stephen junior king of Hungary, our dearest consort, to us and to the whole kingdom, mostly and particularly many services of deserving fidelity committing himself to the various chances of fortune, that master Cosmas showed to our lord king Stephen in Feketewholun when through the savagery of his relatives he had fled as an exile beyond the boundaries of his kingdom; we, recalling the agreeable services of this king in our reginal memory, donated, gave, and conferred by perpetual right to be possessed and held irrevocably with all its uses and appurtenances on that master Cosmas and through him on his heirs and the successors of those heirs, a certain reginal land or village of ours called Ragáld, in the county/ispánate of Zotmar, next to Eer(Eger?), which is said to have been the land of the jobbágy of Zotmar castrum, who died without an heir, and through lady queen M[aria], our mother-in-law settlers in her name were gathered in that same land and village, which by right of succession devolved to me, in recompense of the services of that master Cosmas.  So that the content of this donation and grant of ours may have the force of perpetual stability and cannot in the course of time be revoked or withdrawn by anyone as invalid, we have granted the present letters strengthened by the protection of our double seal.  Dated by the hand of the venerable father Philip, by the grace of God bishop of Vác, our faithful, chancellor of our court.  In the 1265th year of the lord.

Original letter:

E. Dei gratia, iunior regina Hungarie, Omnibus Christi fidelibus, presens scriptum inspecturis, salutem in vero Salutari.  Ad Vniuersorum notitiam tam presentium, quam futurorum, harum serie volumus peruenire, quod cum vir nobilis Magister Cozmas, filius Comitis Cozme, de genere Guthkeled, diuersa seruitia et multa fidelitatis opera Domino St. iuniori regi Hungarie, charissimo consorti nostro, nobis, totique Regno impendisset, maxime, et specialiter plurima fidelitatis meritorii obsequia diuersis fortune casibus se committendo, idem Magister Cozmas in Feketewholun eidem Domino nostro St. regi, cum per seuiciam Parentum suorum tamquam exul extra terminos regni sui fuerat effugatus, exhibuerat; Nos ipsius huiusmodi gratuita seruitia in memoriam nostram reginalem reuocantes, quamdam terram seu villam nostram reginalem Ragald vocatam, in Comitatu de Zotmar existentem, sitam iuxta Eer(?), quae quidem terra Iobagionis castri de Zothmar, sine herede decedentis fuisse dicitur, et per Dominam M. reginam, socrum nostram nomine suo hospitis congregati ad eamdem ipsam terram seu villa, iure successorio ad manum nostram devolutam, in recompensationem seruitiorum ipsius Magisitri Cosme, cum omnibus vtilitatibus suis, et pertinenciis vniuersis eidem Magistro Cozme, et per eum suis heredibus, heredumque suorum successoribus donauimus, dedimus et contulimus iure perpetuo irreuocabiliter possidendam et habendam.  Vt igitur huius nostre donacionis et collacionis series robur obtineat perpetue firmitatis, nec processu temporum per quempiam possit in irritum reuocari, seu retractari, presentes eidem concessimus litteras, dupplicis sigilli nostri munimine roboratas.  Datum per manus Venerabilis Patris Philippi, Dei gratia Episcopi Vaciensis, aule nostre Cancellarii, fidelis nostri.  Anno Domini MCCLX quinto.

Historical context:

The queen grants the land of Ragáld in Szatmár county to the noble Cosmas who has served her husband and herself, noting that it is land which once belonged to a jobbágy, a royal retainer, that queen Mary took possession of when he died without heirs.  Zsoldos, The Árpáds and Their Wives, 40 notes that it was therefore not originally part of a reginal estate.  Wrinkles in the paper of the edition obscure some of the letters (Eer/Eger?).  A castrum is an administrative unit with a castle at the center.

Printed source:

Codex Diplomaticus Hungariae ecclesiasticus ac civilis, ed. G. Fejér (Budae, Regiae Vniversitatis Vngariae, 1829—44),  6.1.391-92.

Date: