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 Halych 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.