A nádor bíráskodása a királyi udvarban

In the 11th century initially the king of Hungary exercised the judicial power in his royal court, either personally or by appointed judges. The king's first delegate was the palatine (palatinus), who, as the handler of the royal seal, adjudicated on behalf of the king. At first, the palatine was authorized to judge only in the royal court. From the era of Saint Ladislaus, the royal court had a real judicial organization, where instead of the king, the palatine did the adjudication, so he was able to deal with cases of the nobles as well, by the right of delegation. After a while, his judicial power got wider: Saint Ladislaus’s III/3. and king Kálmán’s I/37. edicts say, that “when the palatine left the court, he could not take the royal seal with him and from then on, he could only judge in his own right, exclusively in the cases of nobles from the royal court, except when the nobles willingly brought their cases to him and accepted the palatine as their arbitrator. From the 13th century the palatine was delegated apart from the royal court as well, and finally from the 14th century he practiced the essence of his judicial power from the countryside. In 1342 there was a shift: the palatine’s adjudication in the countryside came to its end, and from then on, he dealt with cases only in the forums of the royal court. The palatine’s position was fulfilled by the articles of 1485, so called “The Palatine Articles”: Mathias I appointed the palatine as the supreme judge of the country and gave him additional, important authorizations to power-exercising