Voivode of Transylvania

The origin of the office is unclear. or chieftains of the Hungarian tribes around 950, he seems to have adopted the term used by a Slavic interpreter. Romanian historians maintain that the title, homonymous with the one used in Wallachia and Moldavia, suggests a perpetuation of the local ruling tradition. The border position of Transylvania led to the formation of the voivodeship, since the monarchs could not maintain direct control over this remote region. Thus the voivodes were never autonomous, but remained provincial officials of the kings. The voivodes were heads of Fehér County from 1201, which may indicate that their position had its origin in the office of that county's ispán. Two royal charters issued in 1111 and 1113 mention one Mercurius "princeps Ultrasilvanus", but he may have been only an important landowner in Transylvania without holding any specific office. Leustach Rátót was the first individual whose title voivode was documented. He held the office in the late 12th century, but his voivodeship was mentioned by a royal charter in 1230. The earliest extant document mentioning a voivode named Legforus was issued in 1199. In addition to voivode, royal charters used the titles banus, dux and herzog for the same office in the next decades, showing that the terminology remained uncertain until the second half of the 13th century. == Functions ==

Jurisdiction The territories under the jurisdiction of the voivodes are known as Voivodeship or Voivodate of Transylvania. Voivodes were the chiefs of the ispáns of the Transylvanian counties. For instance, Torda County was first mentioned in a charter of 1227, but a royal castle at Torda (Turda) had already been documented in 1097, and three burials coin-dated to the reign of Stephen I of Hungary (1000 or 1001–1038) were unearthed in the same fortress. The ispáns of the Transylvanian counties of Doboka, Hunyad, Kolozs, Küküllő and Torda were not listed among the witnesses of royal charters from the beginning of the 13th century, hinting that their direct connection to the monarchs had by that time been interrupted. Only the heads of Szolnok County remained directly connected to the monarchs for a longer period, Similarly, the voivodes were simultaneously the ispáns of the nearby Arad County between 1321 and 1412. The kings exempted some communities from the jurisdiction of the voivodes. Likewise, a special royal official, the Count of the Székelys, administered the Székely community from around 1228. In the latter case, the two offices were united by custom in 1462: from then on each voivode was also appointed Count of the Székelys. Gyalu (Gilău), Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia), Harina (Herina), Tasnád (Tășnad) and Zilah (Zalău). King Charles I of Hungary granted immunity to the Saxon communities of Birthälm (Berethalom, Biertan), Kleinschelken (Kisselyk, Şeica Mică), and Mediasch (Medgyes, Mediaș) in 1315, but the same monarch annulled other communities' similar privileges in 1324. Altrodenau (Radna, Rodna) and Bistritz (Beszterce, Bistrița) received immunity in 1366. Honour of the voivodes The office of voivode was one of the most important royal honours in the kingdom. All income from lands attached to the Transylvanian royal castles was collected for the voivodes. During most of the 14th century, the voivodes held the castles at Bánffyhunyad (Huedin), Boroskrakkó (Cricău), Csicsóújfalu (Ciceu-Mihăieşti), Déva (Deva), Hátszeg (Hațeg), Kőhalom (Rupea), Küküllővár (Cetatea de Baltă), Léta (Lita), Nagy-Talmács (Tălmaciu), Torja (Turia) and Újvár (Gogan Varolea), together with their lands. Additionally, the voivodes enjoyed the revenues of royal estates in Transylvania. However, the monarchs started to grant their castles and estates to noblemen, to the bishops of Transylvania or to the Saxon community after 1387. The "guest settlers"privileged colonistsat Boroskrakkó, Magyarigen (Ighiu) In Alvinc (Vinţu de Jos) and Borberek (Vurpăr), Finally King Charles I exempted all Transylvanian noblemen and their serfs from this irksome duty in 1324. Later the title "vice-voivode", first documented in 1278, came into general use. In addition to vice-voivodes and ispáns of the Transylvanian counties, the voivodes appointed the castellans of the royal fortresses. They tended to choose from among the noblemen serving in their own retinue, which ensured that their followers received a fair share of their revenues. Accordingly, when a king dismissed a voivode, his men were also replaced with his successor's men. In this capacity, he was authorized to issue "credible" charters. Initially, the voivodes and their deputies held their courts at Marosszentimre (Sântimbru), but they heard disputes at their own abodes from the 14th century. This concession was confirmed in 1365 by King Louis I of Hungary. According to customary law, noblemen could not be sued outside the province until the 15th century. Nevertheless, legal actions between Transylvanians and the inhabitants of other parts of the kingdom remained outside the jurisdiction of the voivodes. General assemblies for the representatives of the Transylvanian counties were presided over by the voivode or the vice-voivode. The first such assembly was held on June 8, 1288. They became important legal institutions from 1322. Thereafter they were held on a regular basis, at least once a year at Keresztes (Cristiş) near Torda. With the authority of the monarch, the voivodes occasionally also invited the representatives of the Saxon and Székely communities to the counties' general meetings. Romanian cneazes were only once, in 1355, invited to the general assembly. The etymology of the title ("commander") suggests that voivodes had significant military duties. They were the supreme leader of the troops recruited in the counties under their jurisdiction. Furthermore, the voivodes had their own private retinue, formed primarily by armed noblemen. Military functions are attested, for instance, by Pousa, the voivode at the time of the Mongol invasion who fell in battle on March 31, 1241. Voivode Lawrence of the Aba clan fought in the royal army in a war against Austria in 1246. Voivode Nicholas Csáki failed to repel an Ottoman invasion of Transylvania in 1420. In contrast, John Hunyadi, voivode between 1441 and 1446, defeated a major Ottoman army at Gyulafehérvár in 1442. His successor Stephen Báthory likewise won a resounding victory at Breadfield (, ) on October 13, 1479. By contrast, John Zápolya (Szapolyai), the last voivode before the battle of Mohács on August 29, 1526, did not arrive to the battlefield in time, summoned too late. The battle ended with the Ottomans' annihilation of the royal army. King Louis II of Hungary was also killed on the battlefield. == Monarchs and their voivodes ==

Appointment and dismissal The voivodes had power concentrated in their hands, impelling the monarchs to replace them frequently: Monarchs usually refrained from appointing as voivode noblemen who owned Transylvanian estates. Michael of the Kacsics clan was the first voivode to receive a land grant in the province, around 1210. However, these originally uninhabited lands along the upper courses of the river Mureș (Maros) were confiscated in 1228. The era beginning with 1288 was characterized by longer periods in office. Roland Borsa survived 10 years, while his successor, Ladislaus Kán, lasted 20 years. Royal power was only restored in the reign of Charles I (1308–1342) who one by one defeated the rebellious noblemen throughout his kingdom. In Transylvania, he was assisted by Thomas Szécsényi, the voivode between 1321 and 1342. Historian Ioan-Aurel Pop characterizes the following period as including "voidvodal dynasties": Likewise, Nicholas Csáki (1415 to 1426) was succeeded by his son Ladislaus. Cooperation and conflicts The Mongols comprehensively plundered the eastern territories of the Kingdom of Hungary, including Transylvania, during both their invasion in 1241 and their withdrawal the following year. The consolidation of the province was the main task of Lawrence of the Aba clan, who the office for 10 years from 1242. One of his successors, appointed by King Béla IV, Ernye of the Ákos clan, was dismissed in 1260 by the king's son, Stephen who had just taken over Transylvania with the title of duke. The first years of the reign of the minor Ladislaus IV were characterized by armed conflicts between parties of the leading noble families. Although Roland Borsa, voivode in 1282 and between 1284 and 1294, was initially among the nobles assisting the king in consolidating royal power, Borsa's successor Ladislaus Kán went even further by usurping royal prerogative during his voivodeship between 1294 and 1315. He arbitrarily assumed the titles of count of Bistritz, Hermannstadt and the Székelys to expand his authority over Saxon and Székely communities exempted from voivodal authority. He set up a tax-collecting body, seemingly covering the entire province. He captured Otto of Bavaria, a claimant to the Hungarian throne and seized the Holy Crown of Hungary from him in the first half of 1307. He handed the royal diadem to King Charles I in 1310, but continued to rule Transylvania de facto independently until his death in 1315. His son of the same name declared himself voivode, a title even used by the monarch when referring to him in a charter of August 12, 1315. Dózsa Debreceni, the voivode King Charles I appointed in 1318, defeated some rebellious minor lords, but royal authority in Transylvania was only restored by Thomas Szécsényi in the 1320s. The next rebellion against royal power in Transylvania broke out in 1467. Irritated by a new tax that King Matthias Corvinus had just introduced, representatives of the Three Nations concluded an alliance against the monarch and declared the three incumbent voivodes (the brothers Counts John and Sigismund Szentgyörgyi and Berthold Ellerbach) their leaders. The king put down the revolt in a week, but did not sentence the three voivodes, because their active role in the revolt was never proven. == End of the office ==

The barons did not find a compromise candidate to succeed King Louis II who perished in the battle of Mohács in 1526. First the voivode, John Szapolyai was proclaimed king by a group of nobles, but the opposing party also elected its own king, Ferdinand I, a scion of the Habsburg family, by the end of the year. , last voivode appointed by a king of Hungary (1553–1559) King John I accepted Ottoman suzerainty in 1529, George Martinuzzi, bishop of Várad, soon started to reorganize the government in the name of the dowager queen and her son. The Ottomans assisted the bishop by capturing his opponent, Stephen Majláth, although the sultan had earlier confirmed the latter's position as voivode. An assembly of the Three Nations elected George Martinuzzi as governor on behalf of the infant king in 1542. The office of voivode was vacant Thereafter, Transylvania was again under the rule of voivodes appointed by the monarch, ending with István Dobó. His successor Stephen Báthory (who was elected ruler by the assembly of the Three Nations) revived the title of voivode, initially for himself. He adopted the title of "prince of Transylvania" when he was elected king of Poland in 1576. At the same time, he conferred the title voivode on his brother Christopher in 1576. Christopher Báthory was followed in 1581 by his minor son Sigismund who continued to style himself voivode until the death of his uncle, Stephen Báthory in 1586. Sigismund Báthory's title of prince was acknowledged in 1595 by Emperor Rudolph (also king of Hungary). == List of voivodes ==

Twelfth century Thirteenth century Fourteenth century family Fifteenth century in the Church of St. John of Capistrano at Újlak (Ilok, Croatia) on an engraving Sixteenth century == See also ==