Gregory Bicskei

Archbishop Lodomer, who was Andrew's staunch ally in his struggles against the provincial lords, died on 2 January 1298.[7] Bicskei was elected as his successor sometime between 18 January and 12 February.[6] During that time, he was considered a loyal partisan of Andrew III, along with the other prelates of the church in Hungary.[8] He escorted King Andrew and Queen Agnes alongside other dignitaries to Austria on 12 February, where Andrew's only child Elizabeth of Töss was betrothed to Wenceslaus, the son and heir apparent of King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia.[6] Bicskei was last styled as vice-chancellor on 24 February.[5]

His relationship with the monarch and the other prelates had deteriorated permanently in the next six months. He refused to attend that assembly of the prelates, noblemen, Saxons, Székelys, and Cumans, which was summoned by Andrew in Pest in the summer of 1298.[6] Historians agree that Bicskei wanted to reach the papal confirmation of his election as soon as possible, as a result he turned against Andrew and his courtiers, and became a strong advocate of the claim of Charles of Anjou to the Hungarian throne, who enjoyed Pope Boniface's support.[3] With this step, Bicskei intended to disrupt the unity of the Hungarian prelates, who were the strongest pillars of Andrew's reign, but the suffragan bishops remained faithful to the monarch, with the leadership of John Hont-Pázmány, Archbishop of Kalocsa.[9] One of the (23rd) articles of the 1298 diet established a four-member lesser council within the royal council, consisting of two nobles and prelates.[10] Their veto power prevented Bicskei from sabotaging the operation of the royal council, which resulted his total isolation in the state government, despite his nominal leading position in the royal council.[3] Although Bicskei unsuccessfully attempt to shift the prelates from supporting Andrew, but the king' confidence in the Hungarian clergy was shaken due to his activity, as a result he shortly entered into a formal alliance with five influential barons, who stated that they were willing to support him against the Pope and the bishops.[11]

Charles I's arrival to Hungary, depicted in the Illuminated Chronicle

Pope Boniface refused to confirm Bicskei's election on 28 January 1299, but appointed him apostolic administrator of the archdiocese of Esztergom and the provostry of Székesfehérvár. The pope indicated with that if Gregory will represent faithfully the Holy See's interests in Hungary, will receive the final confirmation later.[12] Thereafter Bicskei arbitrarily styled himself "the legate of the Holy See" in his documents. Obtaining the pope's empowerment, he absolved the members of the Kőszegi family from the excommunication on 19 March 1299, which was proclaimed by Lodomer years earlier.[13] Bicskei also forbade the prelates to participate at a new diet which was held around May 1299. In the same time, he convened a synod to Veszprém with his self-declared authority of legate, and obliged the bishops to participate at the event, with the threat of excommunication. However, the prelates ignored the archbishop's order.[12] On 6 July 1299, Emeric, Bishop of Várad was commissioned to send a letter to Pope Boniface to interpret the complaints of Andrew III, Archbishop John and the "entire prelacy and nobility" regarding the behavior of Bicskei and asked Boniface to place them under papal patronage against Bicskei. In the same time Andrew III sent two envoys, Paul, provost of Esztergom, and Henry Balog, a royal councillor of the inner council, to the court of Esztergom to reconcile with the rebellious archbishop,[14] but, by then, Bicskei resided in Transdanubia under the protection of the Kőszegis. Later he moved to Szentkereszt Castle beyond the Drava river between Koprivnica and Križevci, owned by the oligarch Ivan Kőszegi.[15]

Andrew III deprived Bicskei from the perpetual ispánate of Esztergom County shortly before 29 January 1300, when the castellans of the confiscated Esztergom Castle, brothers Jaroslav and Barleus Divék were granted the title of ispán.[16] In the same time, Andrew also sent his envoy, an Italian merchant Petrus de Bonzano from Tarvisio to represent his efforts in Rome. Andrew III wanted to achieve that the pope appoint his confidant Anthony, Bishop of Csanád as Archbishop of Esztergom, instead of Bicskei.[17] Meanwhile, a group of powerful lords—including the Šubići, Kőszegis and Csáks—urged Charles II of Naples to send his grandson, Charles of Anjou, who came to the Kingdom of Hungary upon the invitation of an influential Croatian lord, Paul Šubić, in August 1300. He landed at Split in Dalmatia. Bicskei was among those dignitaries, who welcomed the young pretender. They jointly continued to travel to Zagreb.[18] Pope Boniface refused to appoint Anthony, but still did not confirm the election of Bicskei.[19] The Kőszegis and Matthew Csák, were shortly reconciled with Andrew, preventing Charles' success. Andrew, who had been in poor health for a while, was planning to capture his opponent, but he died in Buda Castle on 14 January 1301.[20]

After learning the news, Charles hurried to Hungary with his small army, accompanied by Gregory Bicskei, Ugrin Csák and other nobles.[21] They arrived to Székesfehérvár, the traditional crowning place of Hungary. However, according to abbot Ganfridus's letter to James II of Aragon, the burghers of the town closed the city gate and did not allow the army. Thereafter Bicskei placed Székesfehérvár under interdict at the end of February or early March. As the other pretenders, Wenceslaus and Otto were allowed to enter the town, historian Attila Zsoldos considered the magistrate of Fehérvár refused entry because of the doubtful legitimacy of Bicskei's status, whose position of archbishop-elect have not been universally recognized in Hungary by then. After that Charles moved to Esztergom, where Bicskei crowned him with a provisional crown before 13 May, following a possible short skirmish, as Bicskei did not own the castle and its town since January 1300. However, most Hungarians considered Charles's coronation unlawful because customary law required that it should have been performed with the Holy Crown of Hungary in Székesfehérvár.[22]

Pope Boniface VIII in a miniature

Among the prelates, only Bicskei, Michael Bő and John of Nyitra supported Charles' claim, while the majority of the Hungarian lords and prelates decided to offer the crown to the young Wenceslaus and sent a delegation to his father to Bohemia. Although Wenceslaus was crowned with the Holy Crown in Székesfehérvár, the legitimacy of his coronation was also questionable because John Hont-Pázmány put the crown on Wenceslaus's head, although customary law authorized the Archbishop of Esztergom to perform the ceremony. The Illuminated Chronicle claimed Wenceslaus was crowned by John, because the archiepiscopal see of Esztergom "was vacant". Some historians, including Gyula Kristó and Elemér Mályusz claimed, that chapter of the chronicle was written by a pro-Přemyslid Minorite friar, while philologist János Horváth argued the unconfirmed election of Bicskei was considered "invalid" in the eyes of his contemporaries.[23] When Ivan Kőszegi, who became the strongest partisan of Wenceslaus, invaded and occupied Esztergom in August 1301, Bicskei sequestered to the territory of the Diocese of Eger. There he visited the castle of Boldogkő and successfully convinced the powerful oligarch Amadeus Aba to support Charles in the emerging conflict, while he also dealt with the possession cases of the provostry of Szepes (today Spišská Kapitula, Slovakia), which was vacated not long ago.[24]

After Wenceslaus' coronation, Charles withdrew to Ugrin Csák's domains in the southern regions of the kingdom. Pope Boniface sent his legate, Niccolò Boccasini, to Hungary. In October 1301, he summoned and convinced the majority of the Hungarian prelates to accept Charles's reign. The bishops, however, still did not recognize the legitimacy of Bicskei, as a result, Boccasini sent a letter to Pope Boniface, in which proposed that a consensual person fill the dignity. In response, Boniface warned his legate that he exceeded his powers, and preserved the personal selection of the archbishop for himself. The pope insisted on Bicskei, but he intended to maintain the status quo and did not confirm his 1298 election.[25] Bicskei stayed in the royal camp, when Charles laid siege to Buda, the capital of the kingdom, in September 1302, but Ivan Kőszegi relieved the siege.[26] When Bicskei issued a royal charter in Óbuda on 10 September, he was styled as "vice-chancellor".[25]

Pope Boniface, who regarded Hungary as a fief of the Holy See declared Charles the lawful king of Hungary on 31 May 1303.[25] The papal bull was annunciated by Michael Bő and Stephen, the new Archbishop of Kalocsa,[27] as Bicskei was even refused by the pro-Charles prelates in Hungary. Pope Boniface finally wanted to settle the question and summoned him into Rome.[28] He arrived unfortunate moment to Anagni, the summer residence of the popes. On 7 September 1303, an army led by King Philip of France's minister Guillaume de Nogaret and Sciarra Colonna attacked Boniface at his palace. The pope was slapped in the face and captured, while Bicskei was killed in the skirmish along with many clergymen, locals and courtiers.[27]