Századok – 2009

TANULMÁNYOK - Koszta László: A nyitrai püspökség létrejötte. (Nyitra egyháztörténete a 9-13. században) II/257

original function anyway. As a part of this process he also suppressed the ducal chapel which supported Álmos, and transformed the collegiate chapter of Nyitra. The reorganisation of the Saint Emmeram chinch was supported by the ecclesiastical superior, the archbishop of Esztergom. By the late 11th century the settlement of the county of Trencsén became more intensive, and at the same time the reorganisation and expansion of the neighbouring bishoprics of Olomouc and Wroclaw made it necessary for the Hungarian church to assert its influence in this area far from Esztergom. Unlike his predecessors, king Kálmán was prevented by the Gregorian rules from founding upon his own initiative a new bishopric. For his part, archbishop Lőrinc was unwilling to resign the counties of Nyitra and Trencsén with their growing population and the revenues thereof. The separation of these areas from Esztergom and their organisation into a separate diocese was thus impossible. In this situation a possible model to follow was offered by the bishopric of Gurk on the marches of the archdiocese of Salzburg, which in the second half of the 11th century was transformed from a nunnery into a bishopric. The new bishopric was given no territory of its own, but was closely subjected to Salzburg as an Eigenbistum. During its transformation the ducal collegiate chapter received no new lands from king Kálmán, who rather aimed at restoring lands previously donated to it. Thus the revenues of the provost of the collegiate chapter were transferred to the bishop of Nyitra appointed around 1107/1108, and the office of provost in the chapter accordingly ceased to exist. Until the end of the 12th century the bishopric of Nyitra had no territory of its own, was not allowed to collect the tithe by its own right, and its property rights were likewise limited. The bishops of Nyitra played a role besides the archbishop of Esztergom similar to that of the later assistant bishops, and were not regarded as equal in rank to the other Hungarian bishops. This fact explains while the bishops of Nyitra were not enumerated by the wittness lists of 12th-century royal charters. This situation changed in the late 12th century, during the reign of Béla III. The bishopric received its first royal grant in 1183, and as a further sign of change pope Lucius III acknowledged its right to collect the tithe at the same time. The so-called list of revenues attributed to Béla III is the first source which refers to the bishopric of Nyitra as equal to the other dioceses. As part of the ecclesiastical reform at the end of the 12th century the bishopric, which functioned contrary of the canonical prescriptions, was transformed. The archbishop of Esztergom transferred to it the northern part of the county of Nyitra and the whole of Trencsén. The archdiocese was compensated with the freshly populated area of the Szepesség. As a consequence of the territorial reorganisation the archdeacomy of Nyitra was divided between Esztergom and Nyitra. Both parts preserved thenprevious name, so from the end of the 12th century two archdeaconries bore the name of Nyitra. Their exact distinction was hindered by the fact that the cathedral chapter of Esztergom retained its right to collect the tithe on the territory subjected to Nyitra. The economic foundations for the independent existence of the diocese were laid down by the bishops through land acquisitions. This process of emancipation culminated under bishop Jakab in the 1220s. The new role of the bishopric is reflected by the very career of bishop Jakab, who carried out an important royal mission, and was even considered as a candidate for the vacant see of Esztergom.