Paul Nagymartoni (also Mertensdorfi, , or Paul von Forchtenstein, ; died June 1351) was an influential Hungarian nobleman and jurist in the first half of the 14th century, who served as Judge royal from 1328 to 1349.
He was a loyal partisan of Charles I, who strengthened royal power after decades of civil wars and feudal anarchy. Under Nagymartoni, the prestige of his position was restored. He established a professional staff and bureau on a permanent basis, initiating structural and judicial reforms. After 21 years in office, he was dismissed by Louis I.
Family
He was born into the Nagymartoni (also known as Bajóti, and later Fraknói) family of Aragonese origin, as the son of Simon II, who functioned as ispán of Bars County between 1277 and 1278. Paul's grandfather Simon I and his siblings arrived to Hungary as members of the escort of Queen Constance of Aragon, who married King Emeric of Hungary in 1198. The family owned Bajót and subsequently Nagymarton (today in Burgenland, Austria, by its present–day name Mattersburg). Paul had a brother, Lawrence, who participated in Charles' various campaigns and married Margaret Haschendorfer, a daughter of Austrian noble Wulfing I Haschendorfer, whose other daughter Elizabeth was the wife of Kónya Szécsényi. Paul's sister Clara married Alexander Köcski, also a renowned soldier. Thus Nagymartoni had kinship relationship with both of his predecessor Köcski and successor Thomas Szécsényi in the dignity of Judge royal.
Nagymartoni married twice; his first wife was Elizabeth von Pottendorf (fl. 1325). After her death, Nagymartoni married Elizabeth Puchaim with royal permission in 1343. Her father was Austrian noble Henry Puchaim, whose other daughter Agnes was the wife of powerful lord Stephen Lackfi. Paul had a daughter Anne, who married her relative Albert Puchaim.
Early life
Nagymartoni was first mentioned by contemporary records in 1307, when bought Péli (today a borough of Bajót) together with his cousin John. His tutor was Giffredus de Giffredis, formerly a scholar at the University of Bologna (he was approximately 60 years old in 1345). Nagymartoni's lands laid in Sopron County, which were constantly threatened by two neighboring powerful oligarchic powers, Matthew Csák and the Kőszegi family. Along with several Transdanubian noble families, Paul and Lawrence were also forced to join the Kőszegis' familia. For a long time, the brothers did not commit themselves to support Charles I in the civil war because of their delicate situation. When the king launched a campaign against the Kőszegis in Transdanubia and Slavonia in the first half of 1316, the Nagymartonis took an oath of allegiance to Charles. Therefore their possessions were pillaged and burned by the Kőszegi mercenaries, while their former lord Andrew Kőszegi besieged and seized the castle of Kabold (present-day Kobersdorf, Austria). When Andrew Kőszegi attacked the towns of Sopron and Győr, which refused to acknowledge his supremacy, in the winter of 1317, the burghers successfully repelled the offense with the assistance of the troops of his former familiares, Paul and Lawrence Nagymartoni. Following that, Paul defeated the army of Austrian duke Frederick the Fair, who also attacked from the western borderlands. However, around the same time, Peter Csák pillaged and destroyed their castle of Bajót in Esztergom County, which was never rebuilt. After the successful royal campaign against the Kőszegi family in 1317, when, among others, they lost Győr County, Nagymartoni was appointed to its ispán, restoring the position after two decades. He appeared in that capacity in a document issued on 10 July 1318, when took over the castle of Győr, which was confiscated from the diocese by the monarch due to its strategic importance against Matthew Csák.