Diaconescu, Marius (szerk.): Mediaevalia Transilvanica 1998 (2. évfolyam, 2. szám)
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192 Tamás Pálosfalvi more important provincial nobility12. These measures clearly show that the queen was determined to secure a strong foothold in Transylvania on the eve of the war, and regarded the voivode as one of her main partisans within the tiny group of powerful aristocrats upon whose support she could reasonably count. When, in the last days of March 1440, two of the Hungarians envoys, Matkó Tallóci and Imre Marcali arrived to the queen, than staying at Komárom, with the news of Wladislaw's election, Elisabeth, probably upon the advice of Ulrich of Cilli, decided to arrest the two barons and confiscate their properties and probably their honors two13. This act of unjustified harshness seriously damaged the queen's position and seems to have alienated many of the barons who had not thrown in their lot with any of the contending parties yet14. Moreover, it seems to have had important consequences in Transylvania and the neighbouring countries as well. We have already seen that the chambers of salt had been in the hands of Matkó Tallóci since the last years of Sigismund's reign15. In view of the cmcial economic importance of salt it is by no means surprising that the queen tried to get possession of them and prevent their being exploited by her enemies in Wladislaw's favour. On 9 April 1440 the bishop of Oradea, a kinsman of Tallóci himself, asked László Jakes of Kusaly to occupy his bishopric, castles and the 12 On 14 February 1440 she mortgages three possessions belonging to the town of Bistriţa in the county of Dăbâca to her fidelis, Gergely Bethleni for the 2000 florins for which the emperor Sigismund and king Albert remained in debt to him. A Zichy és Vásonkeői gróf Zichy-család idősb ágának okmánytára (hereafter referred to as Zichy), ed. by Ernő Kämmerer, Budapest, 1899. p. 4. It is interesting that Bethleni was at this time vice-castellan of Buda, and as such a familiaris of palatine Hédervári, one of the main supporters of Wladislaw's candidature, cf. Engel, Archontológia (see note 5), p. 288. On 19 April Elisabeth grants three possessions in the county of Alba to the bishop of Transsylvania, György Lépes, and his kinsmen for their faithful services, see DF 277.487. On the same day she confers the royal rights that pertain to the two possessions of Bucerdea Grânoasă (Buzásbocsárd) and Heria (Hári) in the county of Alba and to the possession of Uglieş (Ölyves) in that of Cluj upon her chancellor, Peter Kecseti, as well as upon Dénes Famasi, castellan of Cetatea de Baltă (Küküllövár), a stronghold belonging to the voivode's honor, see DF 277.488. In May Famasi received further estates in the counties of Cluj and Dăbâca, this time together with the voivode himself. Bánffy (see note 11), p. 635. 13 On 4 April 1440 István Rozgonyi, count of Pressburg, complains to the burghers of Pressburg that they failed to inform him "quod domina nostra regina barones illos, qui juxta sue serenitatis mandatum et bonam voluntatem...in eleccione regis Polonie ... erga suam serenitatem in legacionibus sunt reversi, omnino jussit spoliari, demumque fecit detineri, quos et detentos pro presenti gravissimis suis tenet in vinculis..." DF 239.755. Cf. Johannes Dlugoss, Historia Polonica, liber XII, cited by Stephanus Katona, Historia critica regum Hungarie, voi. XIII, Pest, 1790, p. 47: "Exauditis igitur prefatis ... ambasiatoribus, eos statim cum omnibus rebus et familia captivat" (sc. regina). 14 At least this is what can be inferred from the aforementioned letter of István Rozgonyi: "Licet tamen ipsa regina cuius maligni fecerit id consilio, certe ipsius sue serenitati signanterque filio suo, et domino nostro, magnum intulit oprobrium...". DF 239.755. 15 On 16 March 1440 he titles himself "universarum camararum salium regalium comes". The Hungarian National Archives, DI. (Diplomatics Archives) 55.199.
