South of the Balaton three royal counties reach down to the Drava, the frontier with Slavonia.
Somogy is governed from Somogyvár, where Ladislaus I's abbey of St Giles (1091) was settled by monks from Saint-Gilles in Provence; its northern edge is where Emeric's army routed Andrew's men in the valley of Rád in the summer of 1199. Tolna's castle and market stand on the Danube, with the royal abbeys of Szekszárd (1061) and Földvár on the river road; the monks of Földvár are at law with Bishop Kalán of Pécs, who seized their charters and imprisoned their abbot (campaign notes). Baranya's county castle, Baranyavár, stands north of the Drava in the Baranja, while the bishop's city of Pécs, with Kalán's cathedral, lies in the Mecsek hills.
The Kán and the Bár-Kalán kindreds come from Baranya; the Győr kindred are patrons of the abbey of Zselicszentjakab in Somogy (1061).
Who he is
- Name
- Not named for 1199-1200 in the sources checked
- Title
- Ispáns of Somogy, Tolna and Baranya
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
No ispán of these counties is named for 1199 or 1200 in the Zsoldos-based lists consulted.
Overlord
King Emeric
What it holds
- Somogyvár and Somogy county to the Drava
- Tolna castle and county on the Danube
- Baranyavár and Baranya county, with the Baranja to the Drava mouth
How it was acquired
Royal counties since the eleventh century.
Allies and rivals
Bishop Kalán of Pécs, a power in his own right; the abbeys of Szekszárd, Földvár, Pécsvárad and Somogyvár; across the Drava, Slavonia under the king's ban (cro).
How things stand that morning
Held for Emeric. Somogy was the battlefield of 1199; the routes from Slavonia across the Drava, which Andrew's men used, are in the king's hands.
Wealth
Danube trade and ferries at Tolna and Mohács, wine of the Mecsek and Szekszárd hills, cattle, the Drava crossings.
Military
Earthwork castles at Somogyvár, Tolna and Baranyavár; the bishop's castle at Pécs.
Threats
- Renewed war with Andrew coming up from Slavonia
Places of note
- Somogyvár: county castle and St Giles' abbey (1091): County seat; French Benedictines.
- Tolna: County castle and Danube market.
- Baranyavár: Baranya county castle north of the Drava.
- Szekszárd abbey (1061): Royal Benedictine abbey, Béla I's burial church (Church matter).
- Földvár abbey: Benedictine abbey at the Danube crossing, at law with Bishop Kalán (campaign notes).
- Zselicszentjakab abbey (1061): Founded by Otto of the Győr kindred; the kindred are its patrons.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Castles and abbeys well known; ispáns of 1199-1200 not named in the sources checked.
On the map: Drawn on later county bounds.
Primary sources for Hungary
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Chronicle of Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (about 1227 to 1241, at the Cistercian abbey of Trois-Fontaines in Champagne). The widest net of any Latin chronicle for 1200, compiled from dozens of sources, many now lost. Read online
- The Austrian and Salzburg annals (kept in the 12th and 13th centuries, with continuations to the late 13th century). A family of monastic annals from Austria, Styria and Salzburg, printed together. Read online
- The Hypatian Chronicle (the Kievan Chronicle compiled about 1200 at the Vydubichi monastery; the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle in the 13th century). The southern record. Read online
- History of the bishops of Salona and Split, by Thomas the Archdeacon, Thomas of Split (about 1266). Written two generations later by a Split churchman born about 1200. Read online
- History of the doges of Venice (about 1229, with a continuation). The earliest surviving Venetian narrative close to the events. Read online
- The Deeds of the Hungarians, by the Anonymous Notary of King Béla, Anonymus (P. magister) (about 1200 to 1210, the date disputed). Not a record of events but a picture of the kingdom's nobility and geography as a courtier of about 1200 wished to see it: the clans and their lands, the castles and counties, the Vlachs, Cumans and other peoples of the Carpathian basin, all projected back onto the conquest. Read online
- The Book of Census of the Roman Church, Cencius Camerarius (Cencio Savelli, later Pope Honorius III) (1192, with later additions). The papal rent roll: every church, monastery, town and kingdom that owed a census to Rome in 1192, diocese by diocese, with the sums, followed by lists of papal lands and castles, the ceremonial Ordo and copies of charters. Read online
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
4 more in the sources library for Poland, Hungary and the Adriatic.
Sources and studies
- Zsoldos's archontology as given in the Wikipedia office lists (palatines, judges royal, bans, voivodes)
- Győr (genus) (English Wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.