Győr (Geur or Jeur) was the name of a gens (Latin for "clan"; nemzetség in Hungarian) in the Kingdom of Hungary. The ancestor of the kindred was a German knight, who arrived to Hungary in the first half of the 11th century. His descendants settled down in Transdanubia. The last scion of the family died in the 17th century.
Theories of origin
Medieval chronicles unanimously considered the Győr (also Geur or Jeur) kindred originated from Germany, who came to the Kingdom of Hungary in the first half of the 11th century. The fourteenth-century chronicle composition (Illuminated Chronicle) does not refer to the clan, when describes the circumstances of the foundation of the Zselicszentjakab Abbey by family member Otto in 1061. Majority of the historians – for instance, György Györffy, Gyula Kristó and Erik Fügedi accepted the theory of German origin. Györffy wrote the clan arrived to the kingdom at the beginning of the reign of Stephen I, the first king of Hungary. He considered the ancestor of the kindred was German knight Győr, who participated in the defeat of Koppány alongside other foreign warriors, and settled down in Western Hungary after receiving royal land donations. Consequently, the county and the diocese were named after him. Historian Erik Fügedi claimed the kindred came to the Kingdom of Hungary during the reign of Andrew I (r. 1046–1060) and also accepted the individual Győr as the founder of the clan. Gyula Kristó accepted the narration of the Illuminated Chronicle, which says Poth (also Pot or Pat) arrived to Hungary during Solomon's rule (1063–1074), but he does not connect him to the Győr kindred; he argues its first member was Otto. There were also attempts to identify Poth or Otto with the legendary Bavarian hero Poto the Brave.
Other historians refused to accept the kindred's claimed German ancestry; late 19th-century genealogist János Karácsonyi did not consider Otto as a member of the clan. Instead, he argued, the first known member of the Óvár branch Stephen I (see below) was also the progenitor of the entire kinship. Karácsonyi also emphasized the members of the kindred bore forenames of Hungarian or Biblical origin (e.g. Csépán, Ders, Pousa, Saul or Pat). Elemér Mályusz considered the Győr clan's native ancestry too. However numerous maternal members of the Győr kindred became related with ancient Hungarian kindreds (for instance, Geregye, Csák, Monoszló and Bár-Kalán) through marriages in the 13th century, which influenced the naming habits within the kindred from the paternal side.
It is plausible that Otto was the son of Győr. He founded the Zselicszentjakab Abbey in 1061, a Benedictine monastery at Kaposszentjakab in Somogy County. The deed of the foundation of the monastery is the first extant charter issued by a nobleman in Hungary. According to the document, Otto excluded his kinship from inheritance of the monastery and entrusted the decision to the king. The terms "cognatus" and "nepos" reflects to distant relatives, but other line mentions a certain Alexius, who might be the (adopted) son of Otto. The document was interpolated by numerous occasions in the following centuries; a note from 1257 claimed that Otto was the son of Győr, which perhaps reflected the interests of the Győr kindred, who were patrons of the Zselicszentjakab Abbey by then. Nevertheless, the narration of the deed confirms that Otto's father (Győr?) had multiple siblings and/or children. Historian Norbert C. Tóth tried to bring the 1061 charter in line with the traditions preserved by the medieval chronicles: he argued Győr was the brother of Pat (or Pot), ancestor of the more illustrious Győr-Moson (or Óvár) branch, while Otto was a member of the so-called Somogy branch (Szenterzsébet, Szentadorján, Szerdahely and Csécsény sub-branches), which initially remained insignificant in the 13th century, but later the Szerdahely branch reached its peak. Tóth considers Pat had also at least two sons based on the location and separation of estates in Transdanubia. The family tree of the early members, according to Tóth's argument:
N Győr Otto, ispán of Somogy County (1061) and Palatine of Hungary (1066) Alexius (possibly adopted) → Somogy branch Pat (or Pot) → Győr-Moson branch N N
The Illuminated Chronicle refers to an episode from the early 1140s, describing Béla II's alcoholism. As the work narrates, "In his drunkenness he delivered Poch and Saul, who were in religious orders, into the hands of their enemies, and they were killed without cause".The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle (ch. 162.117), p. 137. Norbert C. Tóth identifies the two victims, Saul and Pat as members of the Győr kindred. He also claims Saul is identical with that namesake abbot of the Dömös monastery, who served in this capacity, when the collegiate chapter was granted privileges and donations by Béla II in 1138.
Győr-Moson branch Óvár(–Kéménd) sub-branch Sometimes in the middle of the 12th century, ispáns Alexander – it is possible, he is identical with that noble, who was mentioned by the last testament of lady Színes in 1146 – and Seraphin owned the land of Lébény, which then became a royal property. According to Norbert C. Tóth, Béla III confiscated the estate, because they supported his younger brother, the pretender royal prince Géza in the early 1170s. It is plausible that Stephen I, the first known member of the Óvár branch was a nephew of either Alexander or Seraphin. Stephen had five sons from his unidentified marriage: Maurus I, Saul, Csépán I, Pat I and Alexander (II). The Óvár branch reached its peak during their generation at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries. For his loyalty, chancellor and prelate Saul regained the land of Lébény from Emeric. Sometimes after 1199, the brothers founded a Benedictine monastery there. They also built a Romanesque church, dedicated to Apostle James the Greater. King Andrew II confirmed their donation in 1208 (Saul, Maurus and Alexander were deceased by then, but Maurus' son Stephen II was already adult).
Csépán and Pat, alongside other pro-Emeric lords, were able to retain his political influence after the coronation of Andrew II in 1205, because the new royal needed their assistance. When Andrew II introduced a new policy for royal grants, which he called "new institutions", one of its main beneficiaries was the Győr kindred. For instance, Pat was granted the village of Hof (Chof) in Moson County by the king in 1208, for his "fidelity" and "tireless strength of probity". Csépán was also granted two royal lands in Moson County: Szombathely and its customs duties and Balogd by Andrew II in 1209, not long before his assassination. Csépán also owned some lands along the river Sava in Požega County, which he donated to the Knights Templar. The soldier Alexander was granted the estates of Bán (present-day Bánovce nad Bebravou, Slovakia) and Sásony (present-day Winden am See, Austria) for his military successes, but he soon donated both lands to the Lébény Abbey. After 1209, Pat I remained the last living son of Stephen I. He received the confiscated lands of his brother Csépán's murderer Tiba Tomaj in Zala County as a compensation, but sold them shortly thereafter. For his participation in the military campaign against Halych, Pat was granted the marsh of Kopács (present-day Kopačevo, Croatia) and its surrounding three fishponds in Baranya County. The king also donated royal lands in Győr and Moson counties to his palatine. After 1215, he never held court positions. Historian Attila Zsoldos considers, he was a leading figure of a group of influential noblemen who was plotting to dethrone Andrew and crown his eldest son, the eight-year-old Béla, but they failed to dethrone him and could only force Andrew to consent to Béla's coronation in 1214. Since members of the kindred's next generation never gained such influence as their fathers, therefore Zsoldos argues that Pat, the last living son of Stephen I, has finally become disgraced for his participation in the 1214 coup attempt. When Béla IV ascended the throne in 1235, he dismissed many of his father's closest advisors. Consequently, the Győr kindred also lost their remaining influence in the royal court by then.
Stephen II and his cousin Pat II sold the village of Csúny (present-day Čunovo, Slovakia) to Demetrius Csák, the father-in-law of their cousins Csépán II in 1232. In the same time they donated a half portion of Körtvélyes (today Pama, Austria) to the Lébény monastery and its abbot Leonard. Still in 1232, Palatine Denis obliged a local noble Peter, son of Maurice to pay damages of 43 silver denari to Pat II, because he previously plundered and devastated his inherited lands of Hof (Chof) and Menyhárt in Moson County. Béla IV confirmed the donations of the late Pat I to the Vértesszentkereszt Abbey. After the Mongol invasion, Béla IV donated the lands and patronage of the Zselicszentjakab Abbey to ispán Apor from the gens Apor. However members of the Győr kindred (representing its all branches) filed a lawsuit against the decision; the king ultimately changed his decision. Around the same time in 1242, Palatine Ladislaus Kán mediated between Apor and members of the Győr kindred, magister Saul (Gesztence), Ders (Szerdahely) and Conrad (Óvár), when Apor sworn that he will reclaim the right of patronage. In 1247, Maurus II donated the land of Saulpapfölde (Baranya County) to his wife's family. Maurus II and his son Conrad II died by 1252, leaving his (younger) brother Conrad I as the only surviving member of the branch.
Conrad, a contemporary of chronicler Simon of Kéza, who referred to him by name in his work, initially belonged to the courtiers of Béla IV; he appeared as Master of the stewards in the court of queen consort Maria Laskarina in 1253. He also served as Master of the cupbearers sometimes between 1254 and 1260. C. Tóth considers Conrad Győr built his castle in Óvár (today Mosonmagyaróvár, ) in the 1250s, when Béla abandoned the ancient royal prerogative to build and own castles and allowed the barons and the prelates to erect stone fortresses after the Mongol invasion. Nevertheless, Conrad definitely built his seat by the end of Béla's reign. In 1263, Béla IV claimed Conrad defected to Ottokar II of Bohemia, who issued a safe conduct to Conrad's lands at the border in order to avoid plunder and destruction during the war between the two kingdoms. Conrad fled Béla's realm and joined the court of Duke Stephen. After that Béla confiscated Conrad's landholdings in Moson and Pozsony counties, in addition to the Óvár Castle and the patronage of the Lébény monastery. When the king and his son concluded a treaty in November 1262, Conrad received amnesty from the king, who also returned the confiscated lands to him in early 1263. Following Ottokar's invasion to Northwest Hungary in April 1271, Stephen V relocated the capital of Moson County to Conrad's seat Óvár Castle.