Lucas (I) Péc | |
Succession: | Master of the cupbearers |
Reign: | 1229–1230 |
Predecessor: | Julius Kán |
Successor: | Stephen Csák |
Issue: | George Mark I Lucas II |
Noble Family: | gens Péc |
Lucas (I) from the kindred Péc (Hungarian: Péc nembeli (I.) Lukács) was a Hungarian noble in the first third of the 13th century, who served as Master of the cupbearers from 1229 to 1230.
Lucas I is the earliest known member of the gens (clan) Péc, which had large-scale possessions in several counties of Transdanubia, in addition to other parts of the Kingdom of Hungary. They originated from Sokoró Hills (Győr County), their ancient clan estate laid in present-day Felpéc and Kajárpéc. Based on the clan's coat-of-arms, it is possible that Lucas was a knight from Western Europe, who arrived to Hungary during the early reign of Andrew II of Hungary. For his military service, he was granted lands in Győr County and the surrounding regions.
Lucas I had three sons: George served as ispán of Zala County from 1243 to 1244; Mark I, who was forefather of the Marcali, Berzencei and Szentgyörgyi noble families; and Lucas II (also known as Lucas the Great).[1]
There is a scholarly debate on the difficulty of the identification of Hungarian nobles with the given name "Lucas", who were active in the 1230s. 19th-century historian Mór Wertner considered all of them as a single person in his various academic works, albeit with various sturdiness. He claimed that all of relevant data refer to a certain Lucas, son of Hippolytus, who is mentioned by a charter in 1206. Wertner connected this individual to the Péc kindred. Subsequently, he slightly modified his viewpoint, and considered Lucas, who functioned as ispán of Hont County, was "probably different person". Historian Attila Zsoldos analyzed further the question: he separated Lucas, the ispán of the Bakony royal forest too, as its office-holders came from a lower social status in the era. Furthermore, as Zsoldos denoted, the ispán of Moson County was certainly different person from the ispán of Hont County, as they both appeared in the same royal charter in 1239. Attila Zsoldos then considered, there were four (less likely three) different office-bearer nobles with the given name Lucas in the first third of the 13th century: