Horváth Richárd: Itineraria regis Matthiae Corvini et reginae Beatricis de Aragonia, 1458-[1476]-1490 - Subsidia ad historiam medii aevi Hungariae inquirendam 2. (Budapest, 2011)
9. Summary
ITINERARIA REGUM ET REGINARIUM REGNI HUNGÁRIÁÉ separated himself from the court and his judicial authority developed into an independent judicial forum. From the 12th century the role of the judge royal (index curiae regiae) increased, and by the middle of the 13th century he had entirely assumed the judicial functions involved in the personal jurisdiction of the king (presentia regia). Thereafter, the personal judicial activity of the ruler decreased constantly, and, in case it did operate in practice, the charters expressely referred to this fact. This process ended by the emergence of yet another tribunal, the the so-called special presence of the king (specialis presentia regia). Yet by the end of the Angevin period (late 14th century) this judicial forum had also become independent from the king's person, and thereafter functioned under the direction of the arch-chancellor (supremus cancellarius). Since Sigismund of Luxemburg maintained his right to judge in person at least occasionally, by the end of his reign a new judicial forum had emerged, on the model of the ancient royal presence, called personal royal presence (personalis presentia regia). This tribunal was later headed by the so-called "személynök" (personalis), whose name derived from that of the institution itself. Thus, in the time of king Ladislas V ([1445] 1452-1457) three royal tribunals were active, sometimes simultaneously. It was basically this judicial system that the young Matthias inherited at the time of his accession in 1458. In the course of his reign, and especially after his coronation in 1464, Matthias effected some minor changes, but these bear no importance from the present point of view. What does matter, however, is that among all the kings of Hungary it was Matthias who used the greatest number of seals: exactly fifteen during the thirty three years of his reign. Moreover, sometimes he used four or five simultaneously (they are listed in the table below), a fact which presents serious difficulties in the preparation of an itinerary. Number Name Latin (Czech) name Period of use 1. golden seal auree bulle nostre 12 April 1464 16 February 1465 2. double seal pendentis et autentici dupplicis sigilli nostri 31 March 1464 1 September 1489 3. judicial seal sigillum nostrum, quo in indiciis utimur Second half of March 1459 1 April 1490 4. first secret seal secretum sigillum nostrum, quo ut rex Hungarie utimur 4 March 1458 2 March 1464 5. second secret seal secretum sigillum nostrum 7 April 1464 17 December 1489 6. first smaller seal minori sigillo nostro 26 March 1468 3 September 1470 7. second smaller seal minori sigillo nostro secreto 6 February 1471 28 July 1471 8. third smaller seal minori sigillo nostro 4 June 1472 11 October 1473 170
