Amadeus Aba

Amadeus Aba or Amade Aba (Hungarian: Aba Amadé; ? – 5 September 1311) was a Hungarian oligarch in the Kingdom of Hungary who ruled de facto independently the northern and north-eastern counties of the kingdom (today parts of Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine). He held the office of Palatine (nádor) several times (1288–1289, 1290–1291, 1291–1293, 1295–1296, 1297–1298, 1299–1300, 1302–1310), and he was also judge royal (országbíró) twice (1283–1285, 1289). He was assassinated at the south gate in the city of Kassa by Saxon burghers.

Family and early career

He was born as the son of David I, a member of the genus (clan) Aba, who was mentioned as "ispán" (comes) in contemporary sources and ancestor of the Berthóty family. Amadeus had three siblings, Palatine Finta, who had rebelled against the King in 1281, Judge royal Peter, who was a close ally of Amadeus and a daughter who married Simon from the Kacsics genus. Amadeus had at least six sons and a daughter from his unidentified wife, who had survived him following his assassination. The eldest son was John, who served as Master of the horse according to his own charter. His other two sons, Nicholas III and David II was killed in the Battle of Rozgony. Amadeus' only daughter Catherine married Blessed Maurice Csák in 1301, who later became a Dominican friar. Catherine also joined to nuns at Margaret Island. This act angered Amadeus, who impriosned Maurice in Buda for a short time, but later released him.