Maurice I Pok
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Maurice (I) Pok | |
|---|---|
| Master of the stewards | |
| Reign | 1233–1235 |
| Predecessor | File Szeretvai |
| Successor | Michael Bána |
| Died | after 1235 |
| Noble family | gens Pok |
| Issue | Maurice II John Ded |
Maurice (I) from the kindred Pok (Hungarian: Pok nembeli (I.) Móric; died after 1235) was a Hungarian noble in the first half of the 13th century, who had ascended to the upper elite from a lower social status as the faithful confidant of Andrew II of Hungary. He was the forefather of the prestigious Meggyesi family.
Maurice is the earliest known member of the gens (clan) Pok and was born into the social status of royal servants.[1] Maurice was first mentioned by contemporary records in 1219.[2] He served as vice-palatine in the period between 1220 and 1221, under the first tenure of Palatine Nicholas Szák, a high-impact reformer of the royal dignity. He succeeded a certain Petus in this position.[3] Maurice's name was recorded by the Regestrum Varadinense in various occasions in this capacity, when he functioned as a pristaldus (commissioner or "bailiff") for his superior in various lawsuits and legal acts. This suggest that the palatine and his deputies administered justice during the same period but in faraway territories: while Palatine Nicholas Szák heard cases in the lands east of the river Tisza, his deputies, including Maurice, worked in Transdanubia in 1220. Maurice was styled as in various forms ("vicepalatinus", "palatini comitis viceiudex", "vicecomes palatini comitis" and "vicarius palatini comitis"), which indicates that they are in fact still immature titles of a recently formed position in the royal court.[4]
He was succeeded by a certain Martin in 1221,[3] but it is also conceivable that several persons – File Szeretvai, Petus, Maurice and Martin – held the position in parallel during these years.[4] Thereafter, Maurice registered new owners to their acquired lands in Sopron County, when he was pristaldus for King Andrew II himself there in 1220 and 1223 (when inducted Simon of Aragon to the possession of Röjtökör).[5]