Quick Facts
Biography
Thomas (III) from the kindred Baksa (Hungarian: Baksa nembeli (III.) Tamás; died 1287) was a Hungarian lord in the second half of the 13th century. He was a supporter of Stephen V of Hungary.
Career
Thomas was born into the gens (clan) Baksa, as the son of Simon I, the ispán of the royal forest of Patak in 1262. He had five brothers, including the illustrious military leader George, and a sister. Thomas had two sons from his unidentified wife, Ladislaus, who inherited his wealth and was ancestor of the Sztritei family, and Doncs.
The Baksa clan, which had originated from the valley between the rivers Bodrog and Tisza, possessed villages and landholdings in Northeast Hungary, mainly Zemplén County. According to contemporary sources, Thomas owned Tiszalúc and Tarcal. The Baksa clan (Simon and his sons) supported Duke Stephen in the conflict with his father, King Béla IV of Hungary, as their lands laid in the territory of the rex junior after the division of the kingdom in the early 1260s. When the civil war between Béla and Stephen broke out in 1264, the royal army forced Stephen to retreat to Feketehalom (now Codlea, Romania). Thomas and his brothers followed their lord and have found shelter in the fort. They were among those partisans, who relieved the castle, when Béla's army unsuccessfully besieged it. Following Stephen's ascension to the Hungarian throne, Thomas was styled as Count of the Coursers (Hungarian: agarászispán, Latin: comes liciscariourum) in 1271, which was considered a minor court position and he is the only known office-holder. For his loyal service, he was granted the estate of Kengyeltelek, near Bodrogszerdahely (present-day Streda nad Bodrogom in Slovakia) in that year.
After the death of Stephen V, he remained a supporter of the royal power during the rule of the child Ladislaus IV of Hungary, who donated the village of Radvány to Thomas in 1280. The Baksa brothers, including Thomas, fought in the battle of Lake Hód, near Hódmezővásárhely, against the Cumans in 1282. He bought a portion of Karcsa from the Hospitaller Order of Saint John in that year. Thomas and his brother, Baksa bought Eszeny (Esen') from the gens (clan) Becsegergely in 1283. He was granted Ásvány (today Tysaashvan in Ukraine) as a compensation by Andrew Bacskai in 1286. Thomas died in 1287.
Sources
- Csige, Mónika (2001). "Baksa nembeli László birtokai [The Possessions of Ladislaus from the Kindred Baksa]".In Weisz, Boglárka; Balogh, László; Szarka, József (eds.). Tanulmányok a középkorról (in Hungarian). University of Szeged. pp. 29–38. ISBN 963-482-536-2.
- Zsoldos, Attila (2007). Családi ügy: IV. Béla és István ifjabb király viszálya az 1260-as években [A family affair: The Conflict between Béla IV and Junior King Stephen in the 1260s] (in Hungarian). História, MTA Történettudományi Intézete. ISBN 978-963-9627-15-4.
- Zsoldos, Attila (2011). Magyarország világi archontológiája, 1000–1301 [Secular Archontology of Hungary, 1000–1301] (in Hungarian). História, MTA Történettudományi Intézete. ISBN 978-963-9627-38-3.