Matthew III Csák

Matthew (III) Csák
Palatine of Hungary
Reign	1296–1297 1302–1310
Predecessor	Nicholas I Kőszegi (1st term) Stephen Ákos (2nd term)
Successor	Amade Aba & Nicholas I Kőszegi (1st term) James Borsa (2nd term)
Issue Matthew IV a daughter
Noble family	gens Csák
Father	Peter I
Mother	unknown
Born	between 1260 and 1265
Died	18 March 1321

Máté Csák or Matthew III Csák (between 1260–65 – 18 March 1321;Hungarian: Csák (III) Máté, Slovak: Matúš Čák III), also Máté Csák of Trencsén (Hungarian: trencséni Csák (III) Máté, Slovak: Matúš Čák III Trenčiansky) was a Hungarianoligarch who ruled de facto independently the north-western counties of Medieval Hungary (today roughly the western half of present-day Slovakia and parts of Northern Hungary). He held the offices of master of the horse (főlovászmester) (1293–1296), palatine (nádor) (1296–1297, 1302–1310) and master of the treasury (tárnokmester) (1310–1311). He could maintain his rule over his territories even after his defeat at the Battle of Rozgony against King Charles I of Hungary. In the 19th century, he was often described as a symbol of the struggle for independence in both the Hungarian and Slovak literatures.

He was a son of the Palatine Peter I Csák, a member of the Hungariangenus ("clan") Csák. Around 1283, Matthew and his brother, Csák, who later served as bearer of the sword (kardhordó) in 1293, inherited their father's possessions, Komárom (Slovak: Komárno) and Szenic (Slovak: Senica). At about that time, they also inherited their uncles' (Matthew II and Stephen I Csák) possessions around Nagytapolcsány (Slovak: Veľké Topoľčany, now Topoľčany), Hrussó (Slovak: Hrušovo) and Tata. Their father had started to expand his influence over the territories that surrounded his possessions.