Nicholas II Garai

Sigismund made Nicholas ban (or governor) of Macsó (now Mačva in Serbia).[7] The bans had traditionally also administered the nearby Bács, Baranya, Bodrog, Szerém and Valkó Counties.[8] He and Stephen Losonci, Ban of Szörény, joined their forces and routed Horváti near Cserög (now Čerević in Serbia), thus restoring the king's authority in the region.[9] In 1387, Nicholas was also made ispán (or head) of Verőce County.[7][10] He persuaded his father-in-law, Lazar of Serbia, to swear fealty to Sigismund in 1389, according to a royal charter issued almost two decades later.[11]

Situated near the southern frontiers, his estates were subjected to Ottoman raids, thus Nicholas wanted to seize new estates in the central territories of the Kingdom of Hungary.[12] At his initiative, Sigismund seized Pápa and the fortress of Somló in Transdanubia from Nicholas Zámbó in exchange for royal estates in 1389.[13] Nicholas soon persuaded the king to grant both domains to him and his brother, John, for their castle at Ivánkaszentgyörgy (Ivankovo, Croatia).[12][14] Since Nicholas could not secure the defence of the southern frontier, the king dismissed him, appointing Losonci to administer Macsó in 1390.[10] Before long, he regained the favor of the king who again made him ban of Macsó in 1393.[10] Sigismund transferred Nicholas from Macsó to Croatia and Dalmatia in 1394.[10][15] In May, a royal charter referred to him as the former ban of Macsó.[16]

Nicholas was first styled as the ban of Croatia and Dalmatia in a royal diploma issued in December.[17] Historian Stanko Andrić proposes that the king promoted Nicholas to the new office most probably after the successful royal campaign against Bosnia in July.[17] Before the end of the year, Nicholas routed Vuk Vukčić whom Ladislaus of Naples had appointed to represent him as his ban in the two realms.[17] After his victory, the burghers of Split elected him the count of the town.[18]

Nicholas left Croatia and Dalmatia to join the king's invasion of Wallachia[18] in July 1395.[19] He and Peter Perényi commanded the rearguard during the withdrawal of the royal troops from Wallachia.[10] He spent several months in his estates before returning to Croatia.[18] He and John Szepesi, Bishop of Zagreb, jointly presided the sabor (or general assembly) in July 1396.[18]

Nicholas accompanied Sigismund to a large-scale military campaign against the Ottoman Empire in 1396.[10] The crusade ended with the Ottomans' great victory in the Battle of Nicopolis on 25 September,[19] but Nicholas was one of the few who could flee from the battlefield.[18] The king's defeat outraged Stephen II Lackfi, one of the noblemen whom Sigismund had appointed to rule the country during his absence.[20] He and his nephew approached Ladislaus of Naples, who had not abdicated his claim to Hungary.[21][22]

Nicholas came back from the crusade in the king's retinue.[21] They landed at Split in Dalmatia on 21 December 1396.[21] Before the end of the year, the burghers of Split elected Nicholas their count.[23] The king and Nicholas put an end to the movements of the supporters of Ladislaus of Naples in the Dalmatian towns before hurrying to Križevci.[21] The two Lackfis were summoned to the town where they were captured and murdered on 27 February 1397.[21][18] Historian László Markó says, Nicholas and Hermann of Celje enticed them to come to Slavonia to facilitate their murder.[10] Another historian, Elemér Mályusz, emphasizes that the exact circumstances of the purge are unknown, but he proposes that John Kanizsai, Archbishop of Esztergom, was most probably its initiator.[12] After the "Bloody Sabor of Križevci" Sigismund made Nicholas Ban of Slavonia.[24][25]

Sigismund granted Osor and Cres in Dalmatia to Nicholas and his brother in May.[26] The two estates had been possessed by John Szerecsen and his sons, who failed to pay the taxes due to the bans.[26] Sigismund held a Diet (or legislative assembly) at Temesvár (now Timișoara in Romania) to adopt measures to secure the defense of the southern frontier of the kingdom.[27] At the Diet, the king granted "the banship of Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia together with its appurtenances and income" to Nicholas and John Garai till the end of their lives on 2 November.[18][28]

Sigismund made him Palatine of Hungary in September 1402.[10]