John (; died November 1223) was a prelate in the Kingdom of Hungary in the 12th and 13th centuries. He was Bishop of Csanád (now Cenad in Romania) between 1198 and 1201, Archbishop of Kalocsa from 1202 to 1205 and Archbishop of Esztergom between 1205 and 1223. He crowned Ladislaus III of Hungary, Andrew II of Hungary and Coloman of Galicia as king. Andrew II appointed him to govern the kingdom during his crusade between 1217 and 1218.
Early career His origin is uncertain; some 19th-century historiographical works consider John was the brother of Queen Gertrude of Merania, King Andrew's consort. This supposition is based on Adam Franz Kollár's 1762 work, the Historiae diplomaticae juris patronatus apostolicorum Hungariae regum libri tres. However Pope Innocent III clearly stated that John was of Hungarian origin ("[...] quae de regno Hungariae originem duceret [...]"), when transferred him from Kalocsa to Esztergom in his papal bull of 6 October 1205, as Nándor Knauz's Monumenta ecclesiae Strigoniensis published the letter.
John first appeared in contemporary records in 1198, when a royal document — a charter of grant of Emeric of Hungary to the Szentgotthárd Abbey — referred to him as Bishop-elect of Csanád. Thus it is presumable that he was elected to the dignity not long before (his immediate predecessor Crispin, however, was last mentioned in 1193). Later in 1198, still he was styled as bishop-elect, when Emeric donated the village of Mihályi to his loyal partisan Ugrin Csák, Bishop of Győr. By the end of the year, his election was confirmed by the newly elected Pope Innocent, who had cordial and cooperative relationship with John. They corresponded with each other in numerous canonical and administrative affairs, which affected the daily operation of the Diocese of Csanád. For instance, John reported that several clergymen and deacons violated the law of clerical celibacy in his bishopric. On 30 January 1199, the pope commissioned Boleslaus, Bishop of Vác, John and an unidentified abbot of Zirc Abbey to investigate a legal dispute between Kalán Bár-Kalán, Bishop of Pécs and the Földvár Abbey after its abbot turned to the Roman Curia, whereafter Kalán questioned the abbey's autonomy, acquired its alleged founding charters by force and imprisoned the abbot. In the same year, John was a member of that papal committee, which investigated the charges against Elvin, Bishop of Várad, who was accused of simony and act of offense by the local chapter. This dissension was a chapter of a wider conflict between the partisans of Emeric and his rebellious brother Duke Andrew.
John was mentioned as bishop in 1199 too, when Emeric transferred the right of patronage of Dénesmonostora (lit. "Denis' monastery") within the gens Becsegergely. The family monastery located at the border of the dioceses of Csanád and Várad. When Emeric prepared a crusade under the pressure of Innocent in the spring of 1201, the pope sent a letter to Duke Andrew, Saul Győr, Archbishop of Kalocsa and John to "put aside the hostility and keep the peace of the realm" (i.e. govern the kingdom under the king's absence). Innocent's instruction reflects John's growing political influence during the last regnal years of Emeric.
Archbishop of Kalocsa The elderly Saul Győr of Kalocsa died either in 1201 or 1202. He was succeeded by John, who was considered the king's loyal supporter by then. In the same time, Emeric invaded Serbia and helped Stephen Nemanjić's brother Vukan seize the throne, while Emeric himself adopted the title of King of Serbia. This act has increased the ecclesiastical significance of the Archdiocese of Kalocsa, which located along the southern border of the Hungarian kingdom. Pope Innocent had urged the king to take measures to liquidate the Bosnian Church (often called Bogomils or Patarenes), whom the Catholic Church considered to be heretics. To avert the Hungarian attack, Ban Kulin of Bosnia held a public assembly on 8 April 1203 and affirmed his loyalty to Rome in the presence of papal legate John de Casamaris, while the faithful abjured their mistakes and committed to following the Roman Catholic doctrine. Following that King Emeric and Archbishop John held talks with Ban Kulin's unidentified son, the "heretic" envoys (priests Ljubin and Dragota) and the papal representative at Csepel Island. On 30 April, the envoys and Kulin's son confirmed their oath of allegiance before John and Kalán Bár-Kalán.
In the same time, John participated in the intention of prepare the church union between the Serbian Church (then still subordinated to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople) and the Roman Catholic Church. After Emeric's successful military campaign, Pope Innocent assigned the territory of Serbia as a suffragan diocese to the Archbishopric of Kalocsa. On 22 March 1203, the pope appointed John as the papal representative of the issue and sent to the court of the Hungarian vassal Vukan, Grand Prince of Serbia. John was mandated to negotiate in Ras and convert Vukan, the Serbian courtiers, noblemen and clergy, releasing them from obedience to the Patriarch. Pope Innocent simultaneously sent a letter to Vukan, where he declared that the arriving John negotiates on his behalf and represents the interests of the Roman Curia. In this assignment, John has not achieved substantial success; the pope expressed his disappointment that did not hear of any positive developments in his letter to Emeric in the next year. On 25 February 1204, Innocent entrusted his Bulgarian legate Cardinal Leo Brancaleone to extend his operation over Serbia too. In 1205, John sought to merge the "heretic" diocese in the "land of the sons of knez Belo" to the Roman Catholic Church, which laid south of the archbishopric (possibly in Serbia at the border). Theologian József Udvardy considered that this "Belo" is identical with the late Ban Beloš. On 3 May, Innocent approved the intention. Nevertheless, the papal policy remained inefficient, and later the autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church emerged by 1219, under the influence of Stefan the First-Crowned and his brother Saint Sava, its first archbishop.
During the short episcopate of John, the tension between the sees Esztergom and Kalocsa over the diverging views in the question of primacy jurisdiction reached its peak. It appears that John tried to take advantage of the situation that Emeric's relationship with Job, Archbishop of Esztergom has deteriorated drastically, most likely because he remained neutral in the power struggle between the king and his younger brother, and stayed away from the secular affairs. Meanwhile, John was considered a loyal partisan of Emeric. Some scholars argue Job pronouncedly turned against the monarch and joined Duke Andrew's court, as Emeric referred to Job as his "enemy" in his letter to Pope Innocent around 1202, when offered the royal provostries and abbeys under the supervision of Esztergom to Rome directly. Under these conditions, the rivalry between Esztergom and Kalocsa became part of a wider secular power struggle in Hungary. An episode of this conflict was recorded, when Job's episcopal blessing in a royal church, which laid in the territory of the Archdiocese of Esztergom, was interrupted by John "with noiseness", who marched into the cathedral with his entourage and blessed the people himself. On another occasion, John entrusted his two suffragan bishops to consecrate churches which belonged to Esztergom. John unduly wore pallium and used archiepiscopal cross during Masses. Under the pretext of Bogomilism along the southern boundary, Job requested Pope Innocent to receive a mandate of apostolic legate regarding the territory of the whole kingdom (i.e. also the Archdiocese of Kalocsa), when personally visited the Roman Curia in Palestrina (or Praeneste). Upon receiving Emeric's letter, Innocent refused this, but issued three bulls on 5 May 1203, which confirmed the privileges of the Archdiocese of Esztergom, including the right of coronation, delivering sacraments to the monarch and the royal family, the superintendence over the royal provostries and churches, ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the royal officials and the collection and reallocation of the tithe from the royal treasury. Beside that Innocent appointed a court (with the participation of Boleslaus, Bishop of Vác, for instance) to investigate John's "indecent behavior" during the conflict. The judgment of the body is unknown.
Archbishop Job died on 1 February 1204. Emeric, who intended to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, did not want to leave his country in uncertainty. Having fallen seriously ill, Emeric wanted to ensure the succession of his four-year-old son, Ladislaus. However Job's successor, archbishop-elect Ugrin Csák died before the coronation. As a result, the event was performed by John of Kalocsa on 26 August 1204. The dying king set his brother free and made him regent for the period of Ladislaus's minority. On 30 November 1204, King Emeric died, and Ladislaus III succeeded him. Pope Innocent sent a letter to Duke Andrew, warning him to respect the child king's interests. In April 1205, the pope sent a letter to John, who became de facto head of the Church in Hungary, and other prelates to support Ladislaus and his mother Queen Constance of Aragon. John was also commissioned to excommunicate the minor Ladislaus' enemies. Considering her son's position to be insecure, Constance fled to Austria, taking Ladislaus with her. The young king suddenly died there on 7 May 1205. Following that John crowned Andrew king in Székesfehérvár on 29 May 1205.
Archbishop of Esztergom Controversial election After the death of Ugrin Csák, the Cathedral Chapter of Esztergom requested (postulatio) Pope Innocent to appoint John as their new archbishop in the summer of 1204. The dying Emeric also supported their choice. In accordance with the canon law (jus canonicum), the canons' procedure was necessary as John was already consecrated as bishop. In this case, the pope had the right to transfer the prelate from a diocese to another one. The dispute over the fill the position of Archbishop of Esztergom became a precedential event in the legal history of the Church, as the case and the following papal decretal ("Bone Memorie") appears among the glosses in English canonist Lawrence Somercotes' Tractatus.