Royal treasurer (Kingdom of Hungary)

The royal treasurer, or simply treasurer, also royal purse-bearer, was an official in the Hungarian royal court, existed around from the 1320s to the 16th century. The position evolved from the royal dignity of Master of the treasury, which gradually adopted more and more judiciary functions over the centuries, thus the newly established royal treasurer put in charge of collecting and administering royal revenues in practice. History Origins The Master of the treasury (also translated as Lord High Treasurer, as its function was similar to its English equivalent) was initially responsible for collecting and administering royal revenues and prerogatives (regalia), especially when royal properties were considerably reduced under King Andrew II of Hungary (r. 1205–1235). For the upcoming decades, the Master of the treasury's sphere of authority had significantly enlarged by adopting important judiciary functions over financial matters and turned into the highest judges of the realm after the Palatine and the Judge royal. According to historian Győző Ember, the tasks were so hyperproliferative that the office-holder was no longer able to perform them alone. Thus a separate position was established during the reign of King Charles I of Hungary (r. 1308–1342), which dignity later became a permanent position with circumscribed legal powers. The first office-holder of the royal treasury is generally regarded by the relevant historiography to have been Paul Magyar, whom king Charles I called his royal treasurer for the first time in 1340. Magyar initially acted as the deputy of Thomas Szécsényi, the then Voivode of Transylvania, who also took the Master of the treasury's financial tasks as procurator (thus acting official) following the death of the influential and innovative Demetrius Nekcsei (died in 1338). According to this widely accepted theory, Szécsényi was unable to perform the two functions at the same time because of the spatial distances, thus a local deputy (Magyar) was appointed to assist him. In contrast, historian Pál Engel considered a certain Demetrius, son of Peter as the first royal treasurer, who held the dignity from 1359 to 1370, during the reign of King Louis I of Hungary (r. 1342–1382), and also served as Bishop of Transylvania after 1368, later Archbishop of Esztergom (1376–1387). According to Engel, the office of treasurer was emerged into permanent status by 1377, possibly on the initiative of Demetrius himself.