Stibor of Stiboricz

Stibor of Stiboricz of Ostoja (also written in English as Scibor or Czibor; , , , ; c. 1348 – February 1414) was an aristocrat of Polish origin in the Kingdom of Hungary. He was a close friend of King Sigismund of Hungary who appointed him to several offices during his reign. He was Voivode of Transylvania (present day Romania) from 1395 to 1401 and 1409 to 1414. Stibor styled himself "Lord of the whole Vág", referring to his properties along the 409-km-long river (in present-day Slovakia) where 15 of his 31 castles were situated.

Early career

King's advisor

Stibor was granted the ius indigenatus (the right to hold offices) and became head of the Counties Pozsony (1389), Trencsén and Nyitra (1392). In 1390 he received castles and properties in Vigvar, Torbag and Modor and in 1392 Stibor was granted the possession of land and castles of Csejte, Holics, Berencs, Detrekő, Éleskő, Jókő, Zavar and Korlátkő respectively, in the Kingdom of Hungary. A few years later he expanded his small empire with castles and properties in Dioś, Szomolya, Szent Vid, Suran, Maniga, Baganya, Zuk, Kreesztes, Rarkov, Bary, Koszonic, Rakovitz, Tatkolch, Ratkolch, Ilkaman, and Dévény in Nyitra and Presburg counties. Altogether Stibor of Stiboricz was in possession of 31 castles and over 400 towns and villages which at the time was half of western Slovakia of today.

Again, in 1403, there was uprising against Sigismund led by Archbishop John Kanizsai of Esztergom that offered the Hungarian crown to King Ladislaus of Naples. Stibor recruited then mercenaries, invaded the north-western parts of the Kingdom and defeated the rebels' troops. Again, with the support of Nicholas II Garai and his army that defeated rebels' troops in other part of the Kingdom. The parties made an agreement under which the rebels accepted the King's rule and they were granted a royal pardon on 29 October 1403. Shortly afterwards, the King appointed Stibor to the head of Nyitra county and entrusted him to govern the possessions of the Archdiocese of Esztergom and the Diocese of Eger (1405). Stibor himself entrusted those possessions to close family and members of the Clan of Ostoja.

It is remarkable that many of those who were assigned to negotiate between Poland and the Teutonic Knights with Sigismund as a part in negotiations, were members of the Clan of Ostoja, creating a picture of family meetings. It is also possible that Zawisza Czarny also was a relative to the Clan and the fact that he spent much time visiting many castles of the Clan during many years also show a close connection between this famous Black Knight (named so because of wearing black armor) and the Ostoja. Another interesting fact is that King Jogaila was also a member of the Order of the Dragon, the most powerful association of Kings, Dukes, and mighty Knights in Europe at that time. It was a secret society and there was never any member list done at the time. However, all members of this Order formed one political body against the enemy of Christianity (read Ottoman Empire). No member of the Order represented the Teutonic Knights. Secret meetings and agreements between Hungary and Poland and so between the Sigismund and Jogaila, using their most trusted couriers, question wherever there was ever any serious dispute between both ruling Kings. Declaring war against Poland in 1410 was more of a show in order to gain economic advantage from Teutonic Knights, than a real war. The facts remain, Teutonic Knights paid a considerable amount to Sigismund for declaring and attacking Poland from south. The outcome was small piece of land burned down to show the Teutonic Knights some action. The penalty paid by the Teutonic side after losing the Battle of Grunwald was much bigger and was transferred as a loan to Sigismund. All together, the diplomatic game showed on paper that Poland and Hungary were enemies, but in reality they were close friends.

In the end, it was the Clan of Ostoja that was the leading force in breaking down the Teutonic side, they did it not only by using the fine art of the sword but also with outstanding diplomatic skills.

Last years

In 1409, Sigismund signed a treaty with Teutonic Knights which was seen as direct action against Poland and in 1410, Scibor was in charge of the negotiations between Poland and Teutonic Knights on the behalf of Sigismund where Polish side was asked to not attack the Teutonic side. On behalf of Sigismund, Stibor sold Neumark to the Teutonic Knights for a remarkably large sum. This reinforced Sigismund's finances and made it more difficult for the Teutonic Knights to hire mercenaries to fight on their side against the Poles-Lithuanians in Grunwald-Tannenberg.

The Battle of Grunwald took place, with almost all of the Ostojas leaving Hungary to join Polish forces. However, Stibor and his brother Andrzej (Andrew) together with their sons, remained loyal to the Emperor. Instead, Stibor led small the Hungarian army to attack Poland from the South. Because of the diplomatic work of Stibor of Stiboricz, Sigismund abandoned hostile actions against Poland and turned to support the wealthy and mighty Teutonic Knights by signing never executed agreements in to order to gain financial benefit to protect his own Empire for the Ottoman threat.

Stibor's own army included 1,000 well equipped Knights compared to King Sigismund's army of 3,000 Knights, he also was in command of entire army in Transylvania and, as he was one of the richest Lords of the Hungarian empire he could also afford to hire mercenaries if needed.

At the end of 1411, Stibor, his brothers and other members of the Clan of Ostoja were in charge of leading troops to fight against the Republic of Venetia in Friuli. In 1412, Stibor was meeting with Zawisza Czarny (The Black Knight) in his Castle of Lubló (today Stará Ľubovňa), preparing the negotiation between Sigismund and Polish King Vladislav Jogaila, which ended with the Treaty of Lubowla.