Benedict from the kindred Rád (; died June/December 1309) was a Hungarian prelate at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, who served as Bishop of Veszprém from 1289 until his death. He was a confidant of Andrew III of Hungary, serving chancellor of the queenly court. During the era of Interregnum, he supported the claim of Wenceslaus then Otto against Charles I. He crowned Otto with the Holy Crown in 1305.
Family background Benedict was born into the gens (clan) Rád, which – descending from the late-10th-century Bavarian knight Vecellin – was once among the most powerful and wealthiest families, but by the early 13th century had become impoverished and insignificant. His parentage is uncertain. He was born into that branch, which possessed lands in Veszprém and Bodrog counties. He had multiple siblings. Although the late Philip, the lord of Kővár (Kamengrad) from the clan's Požega County branch is referred to as his "frater" in 1291, but, due to chronological reasons, this likely indicates a more distant relationship (perhaps that of a cousin or nephew). Benedict's cousin was Stephen, son of Protasius, who exchanged his lands Vámos and a vineyard in Paloznak, Zala County for Asszonyfalva and five fishponds in Bodrog County with the Diocese of Veszprém in March 1307.
Bishop of Veszprém Under the last Árpáds Benedict entered ecclesiastical service, but his early career is unknown. Historian György Bónis considered that he is identical with that Benedict, who attended the University of Padua in 1285 and 1286, obtaining the title of decretorum doctor. In this capacity, he also taught at the university. However, it is more possible that this data attributes to his contemporary Benedict, the Bishop of Várad.
He was elected bishop sometime after the murder of his predecessor Peter Kőszegi, between May and November 1289. However, a charter of the cathedral chapter of Veszprém from August 1288 also refers to him as bishop. Beside that, Benedict also served as chancellor of the queenly court under Isabella of Sicily, the consort of King Ladislaus IV from 1289 to 1290. In 1289, Benedict was among the four prelates, along with Lodomer, John Hont-Pázmány and Andrew of Győr, who sent a letter to Ladislaus IV to change his way of life and behavior because the people will turn against him, according to the contemporary Steirische Reimchronik ("Styrian Rhyming Chronicle"). Thereafter, Benedict was among those prelates led by Archbishop Lodomer, who supported the claim of Duke Andrew against the monarch. When the pretender arrived to Hungary in early 1290, he was greeted him by Benedict Rád and the powerful baron Ivan Kőszegi in Zadar. However, they abandoned the plan to provide an escort to the duke into the middle of the realm. After Ladislaus IV was assassinated and Andrew III ascended the Hungarian throne in July 1290, he married Fenenna of Kuyavia, who arrived to the kingdom in the autumn. Benedict initially maintained his position in her court too, but, for unknown reasons, Bishop Andrew of Eger replaced him sometime later (he is mentioned in this capacity by some charters of Fenenna in 1291). Later, however, Benedict recovered the office around September 1291. Benedict held the dignity in the court of Agnes of Austria, the second wife of Andrew III, too, until the death of the king and extinction of the Árpád dynasty in January 1301.
Since the 1290s, Benedict steadfastly endeavored to defend the right of ownership over the diocese's estates. In May 1290, he protested against that decision when Queen Isabella donated the lands of Szentvidkála and Csicsónivegy to her courtier Mikó Szécs, because both estates belonged to the Diocese of Veszprém. As a result, the queen donated Lovas and Vámos in Veszprém County to Mikó, instead. In the very first days of January 1291, Benedict complained to Andrew III that brothers Apor and Lucas from the gens Péc had besieged and captured the castle of Tátika (lay near Zalaszántó) from the bishopric. Despite his protest, the diocese was never able to regain the fort, but King Charles I compensated them in 1341. In the same charter, he also complained to King Andrew III that Csák, son of Bágyon (Bagun) from the gens Csák seized the fort of Crkvenik (Kővár or Kamengrad) in Slavonia from him and his brothers. In May 1291, Benedict confirmed the regula of the Pauline friars given by his predecessor Paul Balog. He handed over two additional churches in Pilisszentkereszt and Kékes to them. Benedict and his episcopal banderium participated in the military campaign against the Duchy of Austria in the summer of 1291, when Andrew III invaded the borderland, forcing Duke Albert to withdraw his garrisons from the towns and fortresses that he had captured years before. It is plausible that he was present, when the Hungarian and Austrian delegations concluded a truce at Pressburg in late August 1291. The Steirische Reimchronik incorrectly refers to his predecessor, the late Peter Kőszegi as participant of the negotiations. In August 1291, Benedict complained before the cathedral chapter of Esztergom that Ivan Kőszegi unlawfully seized the estate Egerszeg from the bishopric. By early 1292, he also frequently complained that city judge Nicholas had occupied the episcopal palace in Székesfehérvár sometime after the death of his brother, Bishop Peter Kőszegi. This unlawful situation persisted even in 1299.
In October 1291 and February 1292, the bishop granted the social status of nobles of the Church to the diocese's several faithful serfs in Köveskál. Benedict attended the provincial synod of Esztergom in May 1292. For his faithful service and the aforementioned participation in the Austrian–Hungarian War, Benedict was granted the ducal land Fajsz by King Andrew III in April 1294. The bishop already held the land due to Queen Isabella's former donation in his favour. Upon Benedict's request in July 1294, Andrew III confirmed the privilege he had granted in May 1278 – while he was still a claimant to the Hungarian throne – which exempted the people of the Diocese of Veszprém (in the counties of Somogy, Veszprém, and Zala) from the jurisdiction of the local ispáns. In March 1295, Benedict renounced the tithes due to him in the villages Háros, Födémes, Csút and Kocsola in favor of the provost of Csút (in present-day Budafok). In exchange, Benedict was granted Csát in Tolna County along with 18 possessions with their accessories in Somogy County by Lodomer. Around 1295, Benedict sent Stephen, the archdeacon of Segesd to Tihany Abbey to transcribe an existent copy of the lost foundation letter of the Diocese of Veszprém. Benedict crowned Queen Agnes in February 1296. In the early months of 1296, Benedict and the cathedral chapter were involved in a successful lawsuit against Conrad Győr and his son James over the estates Patvására (now an uninhabited forest between Litér and Papkeszi) and Nosztraj (south of Várpalota). Andrew III confirmed these acquisitions for Benedict in June 1296. Benedict confirmed the privileges and exemptions of the nuns of Veszprém Valley in March 1297.
Under Benedict, the lawsuit against the Stephanites concerning the tithes, estates and revenues of the Church of Virgin Mary in Buda had continued; he lodged his appeal to the Roman Curia in 1295. He claimed that the Stephanites desecrated and destroyed the church of St. Andrew in Szentkirály, also stealing its property and income. Pope Boniface VIII instructed the abbot of Zirc to investigate the complaint and to apply excommunication if the allegations are proven. In 1297, Benedict appointed provost Andronicus and Joseph, the archdeacon of Szentendre to provide legal representation for the diocese against the Stephanites in the lawsuit before the Holy See. The litigation continued in the subsequent decades. Benedict became embroiled in a lawsuit with the collegiate chapter of Buda regarding the tithes in the Hungarian capital, which had been leased to the local burghers. Benedict was also involved in conflict with the Cistercian monastery of Bélakút concerning the collection of tithes in Kelenföld and Sasad (present-day boroughs of Budapest). They reached an agreement with the mediation of Archbishop Lodomer in November 1291. Nevertheless, this conflict also continued in the following years; for instance, in July 1297, the abbot of Bélakút accused Benedict's officials to forcibly stole 25 barrels of wine from the wine tithe in Kelenföld due to the monastery. The pope delegated Benedict to judge over the lawsuit between the monastery on Rabbits' Island and the city council of Buda. Boniface entrusted Benedict to investigate the city council's "aggressive anti-clerical steps" in May 1298.
Benedict belonged to the entourage of the royal couple Andrew III and Agnes, who, in February 1298, visited Albert of Austria in Vienna and promised to support him against Adolf of Nassau, King of Germany. He was present at the betrothal of Wenceslaus, son of Wenceslaus II of Bohemia, and Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew III. Alongside the other prelates of the realm, Benedict attended that national diet in July 1298, where Albertino Morosini, King Andrew's maternal uncle, was accorded the status of a Hungarian nobleman. There, Archbishop John Hont-Pázmány and the suffragans, including Benedict, adopted constitutional reforms aimed at strengthening royal power against the private interests of the barons. Benedict also participated in the national diet convoked to Buda in July 1299. There, the prelates sent a letter to Pope Boniface to interpret the complaints of Andrew III, Archbishop John and the "entire prelacy and nobility" regarding the behavior of the pro-Angevin Gregory Bicskei and asked Boniface to place them under papal patronage against the archbishop-elect. Benedict visited Rome on the occasion of the jubilee year in 1300, alongside Bishop Anthony of Csanád, Dominic, the provost of Vác and Paul, the lector of Székesfehérvár. There, he petitioned for the diocese's interests concerning the lost-lasting conflict with Bélakút Abbey over the tithes in Kelenföld and Sasad. In the same year, Benedict allowed the superiors of the Franciscans to preach and hear confessions, to grant the privilege of indulgences to their parishioners and churches in the territory of the Diocese of Veszprém. Upon his request, Queen Agnes returned the tithes of Csepel Island to the diocese in August 1300.
During the interregnum Andrew III died suddenly on 14 January 1301, which resulted the extinction of the Árpád dynasty. Benedict, as her chancellor, remained a member of the entourage of Queen Agnes in the following days. After her departure from Hungary, The queen's court was dissolved, since neither Wenceslaus nor Otto had a wife during their stay in Hungary. Despite that, Benedict styled himself chancellor of the queen's court until his death. Queen Maria of Bytom, the wife of their rival Charles I, formed her own chancellery by 1309 at the latest; Paul, the provost of Szepes (who, otherwise, functioned as vice-chancellor of the queenly court from 1299 to 1301, under Benedict) was styled as her chancellor in March 1309, when Benedict was still alive.