„super hiis inquiratis diligenter rei veritatem”

Hierarchy and Church Discipline: Remarks on the Medieval History of Papal Delegated Jurisdiction in Hungary

Abstract

The paper discusses a special aspect of the papal-Hungarian relations, namely the operation
of the delegated jurisdiction in the second half of the 13th century, from the Mongol
invasion of 1241–42 to the death of the last Árpádian king, Andrew III in 1301. The focus
of the study is on the cases, in which the judges-delegate appointed by the pontiffs had
to face questions of ecclesiastical hierarchy or church-discipline. It is to be determined,
when (and partially: why) members of the Hungarian Church turned to the Holy See to
make use of the delegation of papal judges. Furthermore, it is to be examined, what was the
effect of the authorizations, and if so, under which circumstances did the popes want to
intervene in Hungarian matters by using one of their universal tool to shape the regions of
Western Christianity, their delegated jurisdiction. The issue of the Bosnian bishopric, the
quarrel over the borders between the dioceses of Kalocsa and Pécs, or the allegations and
the procedure against Bishop Job of Pécs are all helping to fi nd answers to those questions.