Nobility and royalty of the Kingdom of Hungary
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This article deals with some titles of the nobility and royalty in the Kingdom of Hungary.
Two historical periods can be distinguished: the period before the 16th century, followed by the period after it.
Pre-Habsburg period (till 1526)
Before Hungary became part of the Habsburg Empire (in the 1500s), the titles (except for the titles of king, queen and royal prince) were not really important; it was one's office and role in the administration that counted. The most powerful nobles of the country were:
- the palatine,
- the supreme judge,
- the royal treasurer,
- the heads of provinces, the vajda or bán of Transylvania and the prince (during the era of the Árpáds, of the royal house), later the báns (Croatian territorry was subdivided into lesser parts, called bánságs of Croatia), (cf. Banat)
- the ones who held important positions in the royal court.
There was also a class of noblemen that arose from the royal servants called the servientes regis, (királyi szerviensek).
Habsburg period (after 1526)
The usage of such titles as duke or count, although of earlier origin, became widespread only in the Habsburg era.
According to István Werbőczy (a Hungarian jurist and palatine of the 16th century – mostly known for his work Tripartitum, a summary of customary laws) – the rights of noblemen were these:
- they could not be arrested without legal procedure,
- they owed obedience only to the king,
- they were free of taxes and customs,
- they could be compelled to perform military service only in defense of the country.
Noblemen were usually wealthy landowners. There were two kinds of estates: either they were donated by the king (usually together with the title) or they were acquired (bought). While acquired estates could be bought and sold freely, donated estates were inalienable and were always inherited by the eldest son (or sometimes, with the king's permission, the eldest daughter, see above). If the family became extinct, the estate reverted to the king.
Sometimes a nobleman gave noble title and estate to one of his loyal men. Officially this would have required the permission of the king, but often the king's permission was not sought.
All hereditary titles were abolished in 1945.
Some titles
- Duke (Latin: dux, Hungarian:herceg, Slovak: vojvoda, German: Herzog): The Hungarian word is derived from the German one. Initially, all dukes were from the royal family, so that the title can be (like in some other countries) also translated as royal prince, hereditary prince, crown prince. It was not until the XX. century that the rank of duke was given to noblemen. Although Habsburg kings of Hungary donated princely title to Hungarian noblemen as Holy Roman Emperors. The female form of the Hungarian word is hercegnő if she is a duchess/princess by birth, and hercegné if the wife of a prince/duke.
- Count and baron (Latin: comes/baro, Hungarian: gróf / báró, Slovak gróf / barón, German: Graf/ Baron ): These titles were mainly used in the Habsburg era, although the title of baron was granted by King Ladislaus II (1490–1516) for the first time. The first known gróf (lat. perpetuus comes) was John Hunyadi.
Notable noble families
- Hunyadi
- Zápolya
- Báthory
- Esterházy
- Batthyány
- Szőnyi
- Rákóczi
- Nádasdy
- Pálffy
- Széchenyi
- Thököly
- Csáky
- Perényi
- Lackfi (in Croatian: Lacković)
- Garay (in Croatian: Gorjanski)
- Zrinski (in Hungarian: Zrínyi)
- Frankopan (in Hungarian: Frangepán)
Royalty
- (Ruling) Prince (Latin: princeps or dux, Hungarian: fejedelem, Slovak: knieža, German: Fürst ): Fejedelem was the title of the ruler of the Hungarian principality before the first king, Stephen I was crowned in 1000. In later centuries a fejedelem was the ruler of Transylvania. Francis II Rákóczi was also elected prince sovereign (fejedelem) of Hungary during the war of independence (1703-1711)
- King (Latin: rex, Hungarian: király, Slovak: kráľ , German: König): The Magyar word király is derived from the Slavic word kral or kralj, which in turn is derived from the German name KarlCharlemagne. A reigning queen was called királynő, a queen consort was called királyné in Hungarian. The title junior king (lat. rex iunior) designated the crowned son of the monach who held territorial power and ruled by the grace of God and his father.
- Emperor (Latin: imperator, Hungarian: császár, Slovak: cisár , German: Kaiser): After the Kingdom of Hungary became part of the Habsburg empire in 1526, the country was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor who also ruled Austria, although the Kingdom of Hungary itself was not part of the Holy Roman Empire.
External links
- [Hungarian aristocracy]
- For an example of Hungarian minor nobility, see The Records of the Tötösy de Zepetnek Family [link]
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