Origins The position most possibly evolved with the resettlement of the Cuman tribes following the
Mongol invasion of Hungary in 1242. In the introductory of the so-called
second Cuman law of 1279, King
Ladislaus IV ("the Cuman") referred to his grandfather King
Béla IV, who placed Cumans under the direct jurisdiction of the Palatine, accordingly.
Nora Berend, among others, questioned the authenticity of the document and called an "18th century forgery" which served the purpose of historical legitimacy to the restoration (
redemptio) of the autonomous Jassic-Cuman district by
Maria Theresa in 1745. In contrast, historians Attila Zsoldos and Tibor Szőcs considered the text is authentic and claimed the Palatine received that authority already during the Cumans' first entry into Hungary in 1239, in analogy to the status of the dignity of
Count of the Pechenegs. Szőcs argues
Denis Tomaj unusually held ispánates in Eastern Hungary beside his position of Palatine, which laid near to the Cuman tribes' lands, thus he could be the first office-holder who became judge of the Cumans. Contrary to Denis Tomaj, later Palatines after the
Battle of Mohi (11 April 1241), for instance
Ladislaus Kán,
Denis Türje,
Roland I Rátót and
Henry Kőszegi originated from
Transdanubian kindreds, causing the decline and marginalization of the dignity of judge of the Cumans, in addition to the emerging
civil war between Béla IV and his son
Duke Stephen. Following the war, the Cuman territories became part of Stephen's realm, who adopted the title of junior king and lord of the Cumans () in 1262. Duke Stephen also married
Elizabeth, daughter of Zeyhan, a Cuman chieftain. The first known person who held the dignity of judge of the Cumans was
Gregory Monoszló, who mentioned in this capacity twice in 1269. There is a scholarly debate, whether
Gregory II or his namesake son from the
Monoszló kindred served as judge during that time. Nevertheless, Gregory III was Elizabeth's brother-in-law through his marriage and was also a member of Stephen's ducal court in the 1260s. Following the death of Béla IV, Stephen V succeeded his father as King of Hungary. With the appointment of
Mojs II in August 1270 – also a relative of the King –, the Palatine assumed the title and became
ex officio judge of the Cumans to relieve pressure on the king's jurisdictional powers. When the dignity of Palatine was divided to two office-holders sometimes in the 1290s, only the "Transdanubian" Palatine (e.g.
Roland II Rátót) bore the title. Tibor Szőcs notes, the dignity of judge of the Cumans remained only a theoretical role, as the second Cuman law never entered the soil of implementation. For the next decades, there is no diploma or other contemporary source which refers to the palatines' procedures related to Cuman issues. Only Palatine
James Borsa mentioned a plundering of Cumans among his grievances during the period of feudal anarchy in 1306, but this remark connected to his own personal complaint (the Borsa estates laid near to the Cumans' lands and the kindred had a long-standing relationship with them) and not his dignity. Before the extinction of the Árpád dynasty (1301), the last Palatine who was also
ex officio judge of the Cumans, was
Amadeus Aba in August 1300. During the feudal anarchy and subsequent war of succession, when many
oligarchs were styled palatines, the position temporarily devalued until the 1320s. Under this, the title of judge of the Cumans detached from the palatinal institution, prominent loyal barons of
Charles I, for instance
Thomas Szécsényi and
Demetrius Nekcsei bore the title, in 1319 and 1328, respectively, but with limited jurisdiction.
Functions and development Since 1322, the office of judge of the Cumans was again assumed to the palatinal dignity, and all palatines bore this title, except
Leustach Jolsvai (1392–1397) and the early reign of
Derek Bebek (1397–1398). However Pál Engel noted other authorities also held the title at the same time beside the Palatine, because they exercised sovereignty over each
seats. In this simultaneous system, the Palatine was only a ceremonial and "honorary" judge of the Cumans, and the judges acted independently of the Palatine, according to Tibor Szőcs. The first known Palatine was
Nicholas Zsámboki, who took action on the matter of Cumans, in accordance with a diploma from 12 April 1343. The document preserved that the Cuman chieftain Buthemer's kindred came under the jurisdiction of Zsámboki from Thomas Szécsényi,
Voivode of Transylvania in order to
Louis I's provision. This also confirms that the Palatine's authority was due to an
ad hoc royal privilegium, and not a permanently fixed role. In 1371, Louis I granted this privilegium to his Cuman-origin royal fowler, Ladislaus and his Kuncheg kindred too. Since the 1370s, there are charters which confirmed the existence of the Palatine's judgment in legal matters of Hungarians and Cumans, or in clearly sole Cuman case. Throughout the 15th century, still, the Palatine's supervision over the Cumans was fluctuating. The Statute XI of 1485, a part of the so-called Palatinal Articles of 1485, fixed the Palatine was
ex officio judge of the Cumans, who "judges over whole Cumania and is also
ispán (count) and judge of the Cumans". For this role, the Palatine received 3,000 gold coins from the Cuman district, confirming the previously established customary law. Since the late 15th century, the title was frequently changed to "Judge of the Cumans and
Jassics" (). While the authority over the
Pechenegs gradually atrophied due to assimilation process, the title judge of the Cumans went to a different route. After the
Battle of Mohács (1526) and subsequent
Ottoman–Habsburg Wars, most of the area of Jassic-Cuman district was annexed by the Ottomans, while other parts were administratively attached to nearby border castles, such as
Eger,
Szolnok and Gyula. Most of the 16th century, the office of Palatine remained vacant, thus the preserved Cuman areas enjoyed greater autonomy under the authorition of the Pressburg, then Szepes Chamber. In 1608,
Matthias II restored the Hungarian medieval administrative system based on customary law. The Palatine again became judge of the Cumans, who appointed a captain-general to head of the Cuman district. The Statute XLIII of 1630 guaranteed the judicial powers of the captain-general in the name of the Palatine. Tibor Szőcs notes, the Palatine's theoretical jurisdiction over the Cumans, which laid down in the late 13th century, only materialized in the 17th century, as new element, but not renovation of the tradition. ==List of office-holders==