younger king, Stephen V, Master Ákos
The younger king (Rex iunior)
A title used by prince Stephen, Béla IV's elder son, between 1262 and 1270. In the history of the Árpád dynasty it was a tradition to share the power among the members of the dynasty (father and son[s], brothers, nephews), and a later form of this tradition is the title of the younger king, which guaranteed the rights of the ruler for prince Stephen in his own territory (east from the river Danube). Accordingly, Stephen, the younger king minted money, he was in command of the royal estates in his region, he presented lands and privileges, and led an independent forign policy. So the institute of the younger king practically doubled the institutions of the state, though it did not question the theoretical unity of the country. The institution of the younger king ceased forever when Prince Stephen ascended the throne.
ZSA
Stephen V
He was born in 1239, as BélaIV's elder son. During the life of his father he governed Transylvania (1257-58), Styria (1259-60), then Transylvania again (1260-62) as a prince. With the title of the younger king he ruled the region east of the river Danube from 1262, and in 1264-65 he fought against his own father. He was still a child when he married Elisabeth, daughter of a Cuman dignitary. Later they had two sons (Ladislaus, Andrew) and five daughters (Katharine, Maria, unknown, Elisabeth, Anna). He died on 6 August, 1272, and was buried in the Dominican nunnery on today's Margaret Island.
ZSA
Master Ákos
It was well-known in the Hungarian chronicle research that in King Stephen V's (1270-1272) court there was a chronicler, who had written the history of the Hungarians according to the views of the big landowner families (they were the so-called "oligarchs") by using earlier chronicles as sources. György Györffy identified him with Master Ákos, who was born in the first half of the century and died in 1272. Master Ákos was a parish priest in Pest between 1235-1244. From 1244 he was the member of the royal chapel, between 1248-1251 he was a watch-canon at Székesfehérvár, and finally between 1254-1272 he was a prepost in Buda, and between 1248-1261 he also worked in the chancellery of the Queen. He supplemented the text of earlier chronicles with genealogical (family history) chapters taken from family traditions, the history of plundering campaigns and historical sagas connected to them. He also enlisted the estates and properties of the treasury of the Székesfehérvár Basilica and the Buda chapter. The text suggests that the author must have studied at a foreign university, and performed diplomatic duties in Italy and Germany. Besides the Hungarian chronicle his sources were the sources of the Tartar Invasion and Gottfried of Viterbo's (1125-1192) "Pantheon". Master Ákos's Latin chronicle did not survive in the original form, its text was inserted into a 14th century chronicle collection, and so became the basis of all later historical summaries.
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