The heart of the king's own power lies in the Danube bend.
Esztergom is his chief seat, with the palace on the castle hill that Béla III rebuilt with French masons, the royal mint and the archbishop's cathedral beside it. South of it the wooded Pilis hills are a royal forest held apart as a forest county under the king's own officer, with the old county castle of Visegrád, the royal provostry and manor at Dömös, and the Cistercian abbey of Pilis that Béla III founded in 1184. At its southern end Óbuda is a royal residence with its provostry of St Peter, facing the trading settlement of Pest across the river.
Further south Székesfehérvár, the coronation and burial town, is the seat of Fejér county (see the town record). These are royal estates worked by royal servants (udvarnokok), not county lands of castle folk.
Who he is
- Name
- Emeric (Imre)
- Title
- King of Hungary
- Since
- 23 April 1196
- Born
- 1174
- Family
- Árpád dynasty; see the realm record Hungary
- Confidence
- high
Royal seats and foundations from the town histories and the Wikipedia lives; the forest county of Pilis from general reference.
What it holds
- Esztergom: castle, palace, mint and the town below (royal seat)
- The Pilis royal forest with Visegrád's castle, Dömös and Pilis abbey (founded 1184)
- Óbuda: royal residence and the provostry of St Peter
- Székesfehérvár: the coronation church and the royal treasury and archive (town record)
- The Bakony royal forest in Veszprém county, with Zirc abbey (Béla III, 1182): bounds not pinned
- Csepel island across the Danube, a royal estate (hpl's side; bounds not drawn here)
How it was acquired
Royal demesne since the eleventh century.
Allies and rivals
The archbishop of Esztergom shares the castle hill; the provosts of Óbuda and Fehérvár are royal chaplains and often royal officers.
How things stand that morning
In the king's hand. Emeric keeps his court mainly at Esztergom.
Wealth
The mint, the Danube tolls and port of Esztergom, the market dues of Esztergom, Óbuda and Pest, the royal estates and forests.
Military
Esztergom's stone castle and palace; the earthwork castle of Visegrád; the royal household.
Threats
- None pressing in the Danube bend that winter
Places of note
- Esztergom castle and palace: Royal seat; Béla III's palace.
- Visegrád: the old county castle: Earthwork castle of the eleventh century over the Danube (the stone castle is later).
- Dömös: royal provostry and manor: Royal collegiate church and manor in the Danube bend.
- Pilis abbey (Cistercian, 1184): Béla III's foundation in the royal forest (Church matter).
- Óbuda: royal residence: Royal residence and provostry of St Peter.
- Zirc abbey (Cistercian, 1182): Béla III's foundation in the Bakony royal forest (Church matter).
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The royal character of Esztergom, Óbuda, Visegrád, Dömös and the Pilis forest is well known; the exact bounds of the Pilis forest county in 1200 are not.
On the map: The county of Esztergom and the Pilis forest are drawn on their later outlines; the king's estates were scattered further than drawn.
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.