Hungary. Thomas returned to the political sphere in the early 1290s, when Andrew III of Hungary ascended the throne. Under his reign, the Hungarian prelates – including John Hont-Pázmány as royal chancellor – became the strongest pillars of the royal power against the semi-independent oligarchic domains, which threatened the national sovereignty. Both Thomas and John were considered staunch partisans of Andrew III, whose whole reign were characterized by constant rebellions against his rule from apart of the Kőszegis and others. Thomas functioned as Judge royal from February 1291 to February 1293. He was replaced by Apor Péc. Following that, Thomas was made Master of the horse. He held the dignity for a short time until around October 1293, when he was succeeded by the emerging powerful baron Matthew III Csák (son of the late Peter I Csák, Thomas' former ally). Thomas served as ispán of Bars and Nyitra counties at least since January 1295, presumably replacing Gregory Péc. He held both offices throughout the reign of Andrew III. These functions became prominent, when Matthew Csák, who possessed and ruled contiguous lands in the north-western counties, turned against Andrew at the end of 1297. This personally affected Thomas and his family, because their branch's landholdings laid in the region (Nyitra, Bars and Esztergom counties), in the neighborhood of the aggressively expanding lord's territory. The Hont-Pázmány brothers Andrew, Ivánka and Nicholas picked fight against the rebellious baron. The royal campaign recaptured Pozsony County, but Matthew Csák managed to preserve his authority over the other counties. Gímes Castle under the command of Thomas became an important royal stronghold against the oligarchic provinces in Upper Hungary. As ispán of Nyitra ans Bars, King Andrew III commissioned him to isolate Matthew Csák's realm from the southeast and to protect Pozsony and Zólyom counties from his expansionist raids. Around the same time, other pro-Andrew lords, who owned significant estates in the region, for instance Demetrius Balassa, Stephen Ákos, Dominic Rátót and Paul Szécs were given a similar task, isolating the dominions of Matthew Csák and the Kőszegi family from royal territories and each other too. In early 1298, John Hont-Pázmány became head of the royal council and de facto the most powerful prelate of the kingdom, after Gregory Bicskei supported the claim of the pretender Charles of Anjou. John and his fellow bishops initiated the convocation of the 1298 national diet, which excluded the participation of