Upper Nobility (Kingdom of Hungary) - The Legal Separation of The Hereditary Aristocracy

The Legal Separation of The Hereditary Aristocracy

John Hunyadi's son, Matthias I (1458–1490) was proclaimed to king by the Estates, but he had to wage war against Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor who claimed the throne for himself. Several magnates supported the emperor's claim and proclaimed him to king against King Matthias; the emperor rewarded the brothers Sigismund and John of Szentgyörgy and Bazin with the hereditary noble title "count of the Holy Roman Empire" in 1459 and thus they became entitled to use red sealing wax. Although the Counts Szentgyörgyi commenced to use their title in their deeds, but in the Kingdom of Hungary, public law did not distinguish them from other nobles.

King Matthias I also rewarded his partisans with hereditary titles and appointed them hereditary heads of counties: John Vitovec became the hereditary head of Zagorje county in 1463; Emeric Szapolyai received the honor of Szepes county in 1465; in 1467, Nicholas Csupor de Monoszló and John Ernuszt were appointed to hereditary head of Verőce county and Turóc county respectively; in the 1480s, Nicholas Bánffy de Alsólendva and Peter and Matthias Geréb received such hereditary titles. The hereditary heads of counties were entitled, similarly to the "counts of the Holy Roman Empire", to use red sealing was. Moreover, during his reign, all the members of the wealthier families descending from the "barons of the realm" received the honorific magnificus which was a next step towards their separation from other nobles.

In 1487, a new expression appeared in a deed of armistice signed by King Matthias: 18 families were referred to as "natural barons of Hungary" (Hungarian: Magyarország természetes bárói, Latin: barones natureles in Hungaria) in contrast to the "barons of the realm" who were still the holders of the highest offices in the public administration and the Royal Households. One of the 19 families (the Újlaki family) was styled "duke" in the deed, while other four families were styled "count" - the latter group included the Szentgyörgyi family which suggests that King Matthias accepted the title his opponent had granted to them.

During the reign of King Vladislaus II (1490–1516), the Diet unambiguosly expressed that certain noble families were in a distinguished position and mentioned them as barons irrespectively of the office they held. The Diet prescribed that the barons were to arm soldiers pursuant to the number of the landed villeins who lived on their domains which prove that by that time, public law had acknowledged their special legal status and their privilege to use distinctive titles.