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- Title
COMIȚII COMITATELOR TRANSILVĂNENE ÎN EVUL MEDIU.
- Authors
Kovács, András W.
- Abstract
In the seven Transylvanian counties, from the beginning of the 14th century, the leading royal official, the voivode of Transylvania appointed the comites from the circle of his familiares. The duration of their office was determined by the voivode, however the resignation of this latter did not always involve the replacement of the comites. In several cases the comes was familiaris of the vice-voivode. In the second half of the 15th and in the first part of the 16th century the comites of Hunedoara/Hunyad county were familiares of the owners of the castle of Hunedoara/Vajdahunyad, and castellans at the same time, but as such, they were bound to obey the voivode as well in matters concerning the defence of Transylvania. In the 14th century, vice-voivodes held the position of comes of Alba/Fehér county, however, they ceased to be comites of the mentioned county after the first third of the 15th century. Along the 14th century, comites were sometimes castellans of the royal castles belonging to the honor of the voivode on the territory of their own county or on a neighbouring one. By the second half of the 15th century, comites were rarely found in the position of castellans of Cetatea de Baltă/Kü kül lővár and Deva/Déva (the two castles pertaining to the voivode's honor at that time). The majority of the comites of the Transylvanian counties were local noblemen, however they were not necessarily appointed at the head of the county where the majority of their landed properties lay. Occasionally, the same familiaris was appointed comes of two counties at the same time. In such cases, the two counties were always neighbouring each other and according to our data, this practice involved the following pairs: Inner Solnoc/Szolnok and Dă bâca/Doboka, Dăbâca and Cluj/Kolozs, as well as Cluj and Turda/Torda. Around the mid - 15th century, the habit of appointing more than one (generally two, but sometimes more) comes at the head of the same county started, and this practice was kept on in the forthcomings as well. Comites were sometimes referred to as vicecomites, even in the case of one and the same person, due to the fact that the naming of this office was not fixed. Comites did not own castles and did not have any political role. Considering their wealth and properties, the most often employed families belonged to the lesser nobility (or as the literature often mentions them "county nobility"), who owned a few estates at most, but usually only several parts of estates in one, or seldom two counties. Most of the times, they appear in documents as advocates, elected judges, delegates of the king or voivode. For Transylvanian noblemen who chose to hold offices, the positions of comes and iudex nobilium were within reach, and for most of them these were the only ones that offered a career.
- Publication
Banatica, 2015, Vol 24, Issue 2, p109
- ISSN
1222-0612
- Publication type
Article