Hungarian Heritage Review, 1987 (16. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1987-08-01 / 8. szám
Italin Anjous (Angevins), with a family domain in 1331, thus elevating him into the status of nobility. His descendants in succession became prominent civil servants, military leaders and prelates of the Roman Catholic church. In 1479, Hungary's great Renaissance king, Matthias I (Hunyadi, named also Corvinus) rewarded the family with a beautiful coat-of-arms, a copy of which, explaining its details, is published with this article. The same document informs us also how subsequent generations of this Kovats family served a long succession of Hungary’s monarchs, the legitimate kings of the various ruling houses including the Habsburgs, as long as they have solemnly promised to uphold the constitution of the country and to defend the nation’s freedom and independence. And, when they failed to do so, members of this Kovats family joined the many thousands of Hungarian patriots, and supported the efforts of the elected princes of Transylvania (up to and including Francis Rákóczi II in the early 18th century) when the rulers of that small but independent-minded remnant of the powerful medieval = Hungarian-Americana^^^= Kingdom of Hungary felt compelled to fight the Habsburg kings of Hungary in order to force them again and again to sign “peace treaties” with Transylvania and to promise anew to honor their solemn oaths taken as constitutional kings of the Hungarians. In the place of a lengthy narration of the Kovats family history, the next part of this article is a sketch of the ancestral lineage of Colonel Kovats which contains only the direct ancestors of the Colonel and some other persons whose memories could have influenced the Colonel's own character development. GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF THE ANCESTRY OF COLONEL COMMANDANT MICHAEL KOVATS DE FABRICY (1724-1779) Joannes Besenew (Besenyő) Elevated into nobility by King Charles Robert I (Anjou) in A.D. 1331. “Faber Ferrarius Dictus KOVACH Regis”. Deputy Master of Royal Cavalry. Joannes Besenew II Son of above. “Dictus Cívis de Suburbio Castri Budensis” (1373). Captain of the Hungarian fortress of Feherko, Koros County. (Now Bjelastena, Yugoslavia). Founded the Paulist Monastery of Sztrezsa (Streza) in Koros County, Szlavónia (now Pavlin Klostar, Yugoslavia) in 1373. Grants donation to the Paulist Monastery at Budaszentlorinc, near Budapest. Gregorius (Gergely), son of above The first one whose sons were named Kowach (below): Stephanus (István) Kowach, 15th century. Citizen of Buda. “Comes Camerae Cibiniensis”. Supervisor of the Royal Gold Mines and Mints at Cibinium, in Hungarian Szeben, Transylvania, and in other cities under Hungary’s Governor (Viceroy) John Hunyadi and his son, King Mathias I (Corvinus). I--------------------------Stephanus (István) Kowach “de Miskolc”, 15th - 16th century. “Magister Rotarum Peditum Regis” (Commandant of the Troops of the Royal Infantry), a general’s rank. Receives document of royal donation and a family coat-of-arms from King Mathias I, in 1488. Awards donation to the Paulist Order in his will (1501). Builds chapel at Miskolc. Sons by first wife nee Anna Soos de Sovar: AUGUST 1987 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 17 Pater Martinus (Marton) Kowach, Paulist priest, builder of a fine chapel at the Paulist Monastery at Budaszentlorinc. Nicolaus (Miklós), Presbyter of Miskolc.
