Conditional noble

A conditional noble or predialist (Hungarian: prédiális nemes, Latin: nobilis praedialis) was a landowner in the Kingdom of Hungary who was obliged to render specific services to his lord in return for his landholding, in contrast with a "true nobleman of the realm" who held his estates free of such services. Most conditional nobles lived in the border territories of the kingdom, including Slavonia and Transylvania, but some of their groups possessed lands in estates of Roman Catholic prelates. Certain groups of conditional nobility, including the "ecclesiastic nobles" and the "nobles of Turopolje" preserved their specific status until the 19th century.

Society in the early medieval Kingdom of Hungary was basically split into the two major groups: "freemen" (liberi) and "servants" (servi). Although legislation sharply distinguished these two categories (for instance, by prohibiting intermarriage), a wide group of "semi-free" people also existed. Furthermore, a man's legal status did not determine his economic position or occupation. Accordingly, it was not unusual for a freemen to serve in a lord's household without owning landed property nor for a servant to render military services to his lord in return for the lands he had received from him.

Distinctions between freemen and servants started to disappear in the 12th century, but in the early 13th century new borders were formed between those who rendered military services and those who only "did peasant work" (Pál Engel) . In the former group, "castle warriors" were those who served under the command of the ispán or head of a castle district in return for the lands they held in the royal estates attached to the castle, while "royal servants" were those who owed military service directly to the monarch. Royal servants enforced the confirmation of their liberties in 1222 when King Andrew II of Hungary issued his Golden Bull. One of the principal provisions of the document stipulated that royal servants were no longer obliged to accompany the king in a military campaign abroad "unless it be at his expense".

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