The north-eastern counties of the plain.
Szabolcs is one of the oldest counties of the kingdom, centred on the great earthwork castle of Szabolcs on the Tisza, where King Ladislaus held the synod of 1092. Szatmár is centred on its castle on the Szamos, with the German guests of Németi beside it (settled, by tradition, in Queen Gisela's time) and the salt from the Transylvanian mines coming down the Szamos. Kraszna (on record from 1164) is a small county round its castle on the Kraszna river at the edge of the Meszes hills.
The Nyírség's sandy woods hold the kindreds' estates (Kaplon, Gutkeled, Balogsemjén) and the Muslim villages of the Böszörmény.
Who he is
- Name
- Not named in the sources reached for 1199-1200
- Title
- Ispáns (comites) of Szabolcs, Szatmár and Kraszna
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
No ispán named for 1199-1200 in the sources reached (see Pest, Solt, Csongrád, Békés).
Overlord
King Emeric.
What it holds
- Szabolcs county with Szabolcs castle (earthwork) on the Tisza.
- Szatmár county with Szatmár castle on the Szamos, the salt landing and the guest village of Németi; the royal forests of Kékes and Fentős (handed to Thomas Hont-Pázmány in 1203: later).
- Kraszna county with Kraszna castle.
How it was acquired
Royal counties since the eleventh or twelfth century.
How things stand that morning
Royal counties under ispáns serving Emeric as far as any evidence shows; no ispán named for the day.
Wealth
Each ispán takes his share of the county's royal revenues (tolls, court fines, the castle folk's dues); the rest goes to the king.
Military
Earthwork castles of Szabolcs and Szatmár, Kraszna castle; castle warriors. The Galician frontier beyond the Carpathians is hno's.
Places of note
- Szabolcs castle: Earthwork county seat; synod of 1092.
- Szatmár castle: County seat on the Szamos.
- Kraszna castle: County seat.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Counties and castles certain; their ispáns in 1199-1200 not named in the sources reached.
On the map: Later medieval 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
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.