Paul from the kindred Szécs (), also known as Paul of Komárom (; died 1306 or 1307), was a Hungarian nobleman and landowner who was lord of Komárom (present-day Komárno, Slovakia) from the 1280s. He came to prominence during the last regnal years of Andrew III of Hungary.
Family relationships
As a majority of contemporary sources style him simply as "Paul of Komárom", his kinship origin is uncertain and problematic. 19th-century historian and archivist Károly Ráth concatenated his career to the suppositional early political activity of Charles I of Hungary's influential baron Paul Nagymartoni, claiming that the two Pauls, ispáns of Győr County at the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century were, in fact, the same person. Decades later, historian Mór Wertner considered Paul belonged to the gens Koppán, as this clan owned the majority of the estates in Komárom County.
Historian Gyula Pauler was the first scholar who listed his person among the members of the gens Szécs, albeit his theory based on a false assumption (he incorrectly identified Zsitvafödémes as an ancient estate of the kindred, instead of Födémes in Komárom County). Nevertheless, György Györffy reached a similar conclusion, referring to a charter from October 1306, which called Paul as the "frater" of the late Mikó Szécs (son of Mikó, Sr.), who formerly served as Master of the horse. On this basis, numerous historians claim Paul was a brother of Mikó (and thus also a son of Mikó, Sr.), however in medieval Latin terminology, the phrase "frater" also meant simply a (distant) "relative". Krisztina Tóth argued Paul connected to the genus only from maternal side, as Mikó did not mention him in his last will in 1305. Paul first appeared in contemporary sources with a certain Nicholas of Komárom. Both Györffy and Tóth suggested that they were brothers and identified him with Nicholas, son of Paul who served as ispán of Győr County just before Paul Szécs.
Career
According to an undated royal charter by Ladislaus IV, possibly around 1286, the King authorized Lodomer, Archbishop of Esztergom to excommunicate Paul and Nicholas, if they would confiscate two-thirds part of the trade customs in Komárom which were entitled to the Bakonybél Abbey. That data confirmed they jointly owned Komárom Castle since the mid-1280s. Formerly the castle was possessed by Thomas Hont-Pázmány who was killed in the Battle on the Marchfeld in 1278. Following that Ladislaus IV entrusted Palatine Matthew II Csák to restore law and order in the whole kingdom. After fleeing Sopron, he made judgments in Komárom at the end of the year. Based on this, historian Gyula Kristó claimed the castle belonged to the Csák kindred's domain since that, however it appeared as a royal property both in 1283 and 1284. Krisztina Tóth argued, unlike the Csáks, the powerful Kőszegi family, who remained without rival in Transdanubia after the deaths of Matthew II and Peter I Csák, indeed occupied Komárom Castle. Accordingly, the Szécs brothers, among other local noble kindreds, were forced to take an oath of loyalty to the Kőszegi realm, and as their familiares, acted as "castellans" of Komárom Castle after that. In 1297, Lodomer still referred to Paul Szécs as "usurper" of some goods which lawfully ought to belong to the Bakonybél Abbey.