Diaconescu, Marius (szerk.): Mediaevalia Transilvanica 1998 (2. évfolyam, 2. szám)
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On the Political History of Transylvania in 1440-1443 191 nevertheless continued to form an impressive mass scattered throughout the province5. Yet the power of the voivode was far from absolute in Transylvania: it comprised neither the Saxons nor the Szeklers. The latter were governed by a count of their own, whose office, based on a honor comparable to that of the voivode6, was equally important militarily. Nor was the voivode authorised to dispose freely of the financial revenues of his province: the various taxes paid by the inhabitants of Transylvania went directly to the royal treasury, whence the voivode received a regular salary, at least in the second half of the 15th century7. The administration of one of the most important royal revenues, that stemming from the monopoly of salt, was likewise outside the voivode's authority: in the period currently under investigation the chambers of salt, among them those of Transylvania, were in the hands of the famous Matkó Tallóci, one of Sigismund's favourite barons and the young Wladislaw's main supporter in Hungary8. The ruling voivode of Transylvania, Dezső Losonci, belonged to one of the richest families not only of Transylvania but also of the whole kingdom, though the family had already split into several branches by the middle of the 15th century. Dezső's father, Miklós, was count of the Szeklers between 1382 and 1385, while his uncle, the elder László, was himself voivode of Transylvania from 1376 to 1385 and then again for almost eight years from 1386 on9 10. The family's involvement in the revolt against king Sigismund in 1403 led to their disgrace, and no important governmental office was conferred upon any of them before the accession of king Albert. Queen Elisabeth was perfectly aware of the importance of the voivode's fidelity, and tried to strengthen it by different grants in the first months of 1440. She gave him the census due from the the city of Braşov as a subidy sometime before 11 March 1440'°. He also received four possessions belonging to the town of Bistriţa for the 11830 florins that the queen owed to him ratione salarii sui11. Moreover, Elisabeth tried to oblige the bishop of Transylvania and some of the 5 The castles belonging to the voivode's honor in 1440: Deva, Haţeg (Hátzeg), Cetatea de Baltă (Küküllővár), Lotrioara (Latorvár), Lita (Léta), Tălmaciu (Talmács), Tumu Roşu (Vöröstorony). Cf. Pál Engel, Magyarország világi archontológiája 1301-1457 (hereafter referred to as: Archontológia). I, Budapest, 1996, passim. 6 The comital honor consisted of the following castles in 1440: Gurghiu (Görgény), Hälchiu (Höltövény), Királykő, Bran (Törcsvár). Ibidem. I E. Mályusz, Az erdélyi magyar társadalom (see note 4), p. 8. 8 On the career of this family see Elemér Mályusz, A négy Tallóci fivér, in Történelmi Szemle, 1980, p. 543. 9 P. Engel, Archontológia (see note 5), II, p. 148. 10 The Hungarian National Archives, Budapest, DF (Diplomatics Photocopy) 246.901 (the original in Archives of the city of Braşov). The queen writes to voivode Dezső on 11 March 1440: “Quamvis alias nos dacium seu censum e medio civitatis nostre Brassoviensis maiestati nostre ... provenire debentem vobis in subsidium dandum esse deputavimus, upon the request of the burghers she decided to restore half of their tax to them pro sustentacione et conservacione eiusdem civitatis.”. II We only know it from Wladislaw's confirmation of 1441. Cf. Oklevéltár a Tomaj nemzetségbeli Losonczi Bánjfy család történetéhez (hereafter referred to as Bánffy), ed. by Elemér Varjú, I, Budapest, 1908, p. 643.
