Bács is the seat of the county of Bács and, with Kalocsa, of the archbishopric (the 'Kalocsa-Bács' see).
It is a fortified place on the Mostonga, linked by it to the Danube; the castle is first mentioned in the twelfth century, and kings came here to hold councils and assemblies. In 1200 its ispán is the palatine himself, and the archbishop's chapter sits here. It is a castle and church town, not a chartered town.
Who holds it
- Name
- Mika of the Ják kindred, palatine and ispán (1199-1200); Archbishop Saul Győr
- Title
- Ispán of Bács; the archbishop of Kalocsa-Bács (Church map record)
- Since
- 1199
- Confidence
- high
English Wikipedia (Mika Ják, Bač Fortress); campaign notes.
Lord in 1200
The castle and county are the king's, under the palatine Mika as ispán (Palatine Mika); the archbishop of Kalocsa, Saul (Emeric's pillar), holds his cathedral and chapter here as the second seat of the archbishopric of Kalocsa-Bács.
How things stand that morning
Royal county seat under the palatine Mika; the archbishop's second see.
Charter
None: no town law in Hungary's plain in 1200.
Council
None: the place is governed by its lord's officers.
Communities
Not recorded.
Fairs and markets
Not recorded for 1200.
Militia
None of its own; the castle warriors of the county.
Walls and castle
The county castle (first mentioned in the twelfth century; the surviving stone fortress is later).
Trade and crafts
The Danube trade through the Mostonga; the royal and archiepiscopal households.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Castle and see firm; the town's layout in 1200 not described.
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.