A grant of land

Translated letter:

 Fenenna by the grace of God queen of Hungary to all the faithful of Christ, present as well as future,  who will look at the present writing, eternal greetings (salvation) in the savior of all.  We wish to bring to the notice of all by the contents of these that master Theodore provost of Alba/Fejér our faithful vicechancellor of the court of our lord Andrew by the grace of God most illustrious king, coming into our presence asked that a certain land called Halásztelek on the Great Island be given to him.  Indeed about the facts of that land whether it can be conferred without prejudice and without opposition of the boundary sharers and neighbors, we have ordered by letters to our faithful in the chapter of Buda that they send a trustworthy man of theirs as witness before whom Perchyn official of count Bynd of the Great Island may fix and assign said land Halásztelek to master Theodore provost, if there were no opposition; that indeed the chapter would write back to us afterwards that our said man Perchyn walked the named land Halásztelek on the Great Island with the boundary sharers and neighbors present and established that there was no opposition at all to said master Theodore.  And so we having considered the loyalties and merits of services of that master Theodore our faithful provost which it would take too long to relate, giving special attention to those things that when we were in transdravian parts together with our lord king and that same master Th[eodore] provost on the order of that lord our king and of us preceded us in  his descent and after his return our dearest lord king was hindered through the violent detention of certain barons, that same master Th[eodore] provost defended all the goods and especially gold vases and silver regalia and precious garments of our lord king and us from the whirlwind and attack of those rushing and raging and brought them back to us and restored all of them completely.  For the rest when our lord king was plagued and held for a long time in that detention, that same provost Theodore so that he could snatch that lord our king from that detention, he left three nephews [nepotes] of his and also count Ladislaus his only uterine brother as hostage constrained by heavy iron chains in place of our lord king.  And though that master Theodore our faithful provost would deserve much more in some compensation of his services , we gave, donated, and granted the said land called Halásztelek in the Great Island with all its uses and appurtenances, namely with the island called Fuenzygueth in the vulgate, together with a piece of land called Zylteluk, with marshes, hayfields, meadows and fisheries called Kenderatthov, reed thicket, woods, open lands and ploughed lands to said master Th[eodore] provost and through him to his brother count Ladislaus and Nicholas son of count  Nicholas, his brother, and through them their heirs and successors of those heirs, to be possessed, held and had by perpetual right and irrevocably.  The boundaries of which land as we see contained more fully in the letters of the mentioned chapter of Buda are distinguished in this manner:  the first boundary begins from the north on a certain small mountain called Urhalma set there as a marker; from there it goes to an eastern county up to port Gumchud; it turns from that mount Urhalma, bearing west through a certain valley called Leswelg comes to the king’s vineyard and from that vineyard turns back westward directly through a great meadown beside Zyltelek remaining to the east of that Zyltelek; thence it descends into Sighet (Scyguetwr) to a place called Szakadat and there the boundaries of said land end.  So that the content of this grant of ours may obtain the force of perpetual stability and lest in the course of times it could be revoked 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 Benedict by the grace of God bishop of Veszprém, our faithful chancellor of our court in the 1293rd year of the lord, fourth Ides of January.

Original letter:

Fenenna Dei gratia regina Hungarie omnibus Christi fidelibus tam presentibus, quam futuris presentem paginam inspecturis salutem in omnium salvatore. Ad universorum tam presentium, quam futurorum notitiam harum serie volumus pervenire, quod magister Theodorus prepositus Albensis aule domini nostri Andree Dei gratia illustrissimi regis vicecancellarius fidelis noster ad nostram accedens presentiam quandam terram Halaztelek vocatam in Magna Insula existentem petivit sibi dari. Verum quia de facto ipsius terre, utrum sine contradictione et absque preiudicio commetaneorum et vicinorum conferri possit nec ne, nobis veritas non constabat, fidelibus nostris capitulo Budensi nostris dederamus litteris in mandatis, ut hominem ipsorum mitterent pro testimonio fidedignum, coram quo Perchyn officialis Bynd comitis de Magna Insula predictam terram Halaztelek ipsi magistro Theodoro preposito statueret et assignaret, si non fieret contradictum, quod quidem capitulum postmodum nobis rescripsit, quod predictus Perchyn homo noster coram eorum testimonio memoratam terram Halaztelek in Magna Insula existentem presentibus commetaneis et vicinis reambulasset et statuisset dicto magistro Theodoro nullo penitus contradictore existente. Nos itaque consideratis fidelitatibus et servitiorum meritis ipsius magistri Theodori prepositi fidelis nostri, que longum esset suo modo enarrare, ea siquidem specialiter attendentes, quod cum in partibus transdrawanis una cum domino nostro rege fuissemus, et idem magister Th. [= Theodorus] prepositus ex precepto eiusdem domini nostri regis et nostro cum suo descensu precessisset, et post ipsius recessum per violentam detentionem quorundam baronum karissimus dominus noster rex fuisset impeditus, idem magister Th. [= Theodorus] prepositus ab omni irruentium turbine et furentium acie omnia bona et specialiter vasa aurea et argentea regalia ac pretiosissima indumenta domini nostri regis et nostra defensavit et nobis reportavit ac restituit integraliter universas. Ceterum cum in ipsa detentione idem dominus noster rex diutius vexatus fuisset et detentus, idem Theodorus prepositus, ut ipsum dominum nostrum regem ab eadem detentione eriperet posset, tres nepotes suos et insuper comitem Ladizlaum unicum fratrem suum uterinum pro obside reliquit gravibus catenis ferreis constrictam loco domini nostri regis. Et licet idem magister Theodorus prepositus fidelis noster pro tot et tantis servitiis suis superius expressis et aliis quamplurimis longe mereretur ampliora, in aliqualem tamen recompensationem servitiorum suorum predictam terram Halaztelek nominatam in Magna Insula existentem cum omnibus suis utilitatibus et pertinentiis universis, videlicet cum insula, que vulgariter Fuenzygueth nominatur, simulcum particula terre Zylteluk appellate, paludibus, fenetis, pratis et piscinis Kenderatthov vocatis, arundineto, silvis, terris campestribus et novalibus prefato magistro Th. [= Theodoro] preposito et per eum comiti Ladizlao fratri suo et Nicolao filio comitis Nicolay fratris sui et per eos ipsorum heredibus heredumque suorum successoribus dedimus, donavimus et contulimus iure perpetuo et irrevocabiliter possidendam, tenendam et habendam. Cuius quidem terre mete, prout in litteris memorati capituli Budensis plenius vidimus contineri, hoc ordine distinguntur: prima siquidem meta incipit a parte aquilonali super quodam monticulo Vrhalma dicto ibidem pro meta prefixo, de hinc tendit ad plagam orientalem usque in portum Gumchud ab eodem etiam monticulo Vrhalma scilicet vergit ad partes occiduas tendens per quandam vallem Leswelg vocatam venit ad vineam regis et de eadem vinea reflectitur ad occidentem directe per magnum pratum iuxta Zyltelek ipso Zyltelek versus orientem remanente, deinde descendit in Scyguetwr ad locum, qui Zakadat nuncupatur et ibi mete predicte terre terminantur. Ut igitur huius nostre collationis series robur optineat perpetue firmitatis et ne processu temporum per quempiam possit in irritum revocari, presentes concessimus litteras dupplicis sigilli nostri munimine roboratas. Datum per manus venerabilis patris Benedicti Dei gratia episcopi Wesprimiensis, aule nostre cancellarii fidelis nostri anno Domini Mo CCo nonagesimo tertio, quarto Ydus Januarii.

Historical context:

The queen grants land, its boundaries defined in detail, to Theodore, vice-chancellor of her husband’s court, for his devoted service when the king was imprisoned by enemies hostile to his claim to the throne.  The services included giving up relatives as hostage.  The Great Island is today Csepel, part of Budapest.

Printed source:

Az Árpád-házi hercegek, hercegnök és a királnék okleveleinek kritikai jegyzéke, Regesta ducum, ducissarum stirpis Arpadiana, ed. A. Zsoldos (Budapestini, 2008),  167-68, #269.

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