John I Garai
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Garai | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Veszprém | |
 Seal of John Garai, 1346 | |
| Installed | 1346 |
| Term ended | 1357 |
| Predecessor | Galhard de Carceribus (designate) |
| Successor | Ladislaus Zsámboki |
| Personal details | |
| Died | late 1357 or early 1358 |
| Buried | St. Michael's Cathedral, Veszprém |
| Nationality | Hungarian |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Parents | Paul I Garai Kós Nekcsei |
John I Garai (Hungarian: Garai (I.) János; died late 1357 or early 1358) was a Hungarian prelate in the 14th century, who served as Bishop of Veszprém from 1346 until his death.
John was born in the early 14th century into the Bánfi branch of the powerful Garai family, as the son of Paul I Garai, a renowned military leader during the reign of Charles I of Hungary, and Kós Nekcsei, daughter of treasurer Demetrius Nekcsei. He had two brothers – ispáns Stephen I and Paul III – and two sisters, Helena, who married John Alsáni, Ban of Macsó, and an unidentified one, wife of Egyed Bakócai.[1] Paul I actively participated in the unification war against the oligarchs, thus received large-scale land donations from the king, and elevated into the upper nobility.[2]
Contradicting earlier historiographical reviews, his biographer Tünde Árvai demonstrated that Garai is not identical with that John, who was provost of Szepes (today Spišská Kapitula in Spišské Podhradie, Slovakia) from 1322 until c. 1348.[3] Garai was first mentioned by contemporary records in February 1344, when his friend Nicholas Vásári requested Pope Clement VI to grant the right to hear of confession to his "innermost friend" John Garai, who then served as minor provost of the collegiate chapter of John the Baptist Church in Pécs. The papal document also notes that Garai had a degree of canon law by then. It is plausible that he attended an Italian universitas, most possibly the University of Bologna, similarly to his nephew Bálint Alsáni.[4] Simultaneously his minor provostship, he was also a canon of the cathedral chapter of Esztergom. He held both dignities until 1353.[5]