Perpetual count

A perpetual count (Hungarian: örökös főispán, Latin: supremus et perpetuus comes)^[1] was a head or an ispán of a county in the Kingdom of Hungary whose office was either hereditary or attached to the dignity of a prelate or of a great officer of the realm. The earliest examples of a perpetual ispánate are from the 12th century, but the institution flourished between the 15th and 18th centuries. Although all administrative functions of the office were abolished in 1870, the title itself was preserved until the general abolition of noble titles in Hungary in 1946.

List of perpetual ispánates

Ex officio ispánates

Archduke Joseph of Austria, palatine of Hungary, perpetual count of Pest and Pilis Counties

County	Perpetual count	Period	Notes	Source
Baranya	Bishop of Pécs	?–1777		[2]
Bács	Archbishop of Kalocsa	?–1776		[2]
Bihar	Bishop of Várad	1466–1776		[2]
Esztergom	Archbishop of Esztergom	1270–1300 1301–1881	granted to archbishop Philip of the Türje clan by King Stephen V King Andrew III temporarily deprived the archbishop from the ispánate castellans of the archbishops' castle at Esztergom sometimes styled themselves ispán	[2][3][4]
Fehér	Voivode of Transylvania
Győr	Bishop of Győr	1453–1783		[2][5]
Heves	Bishop (from 1804 Archbishop) of Eger	1498–1840		[2]
Nyitra	Bishop of Nyitra	?–1777		[2][6]
Outer Szolnok	Bishop (from 1804 Archbishop) of Eger	1569–1840		[2]
Pest	Palatine	?–1848		[2][7]
Pilis	Castellan of the Visegrád Castle	?–?		[7]
	Palatine	1569–1848		[2]
Požega/Pozsega	Bishop of Bosznia	1753–1770	renounced of the title	[8]
Veszprém	Bishop of Veszprém	1313–1323 1392–1773	although King Charles I awarded the bishops with the ispánate, he seems to have failed to confirm this grant in 1323 the bishops perpetually held the office from 1392	[2][9]

Hereditary ispánates

Pálffy Palace, Pressburg/Pozsony (now Bratislava, Slovakia)

County	Family	Period	Notes	Source
Abaúj	Perényi	1570–1598 1643–1699		[10]
	Csáky	1702–1764
Árva	Thurzó	1585–1626	also perpetual ispáns of Szepes County	[11]
	Thököly	1666–1668
Bereg	Schönborn	1740–	last grant of a perpetual ispánate	[12]
Beszterce	Hunyadi	1452–1458	earliest example of a hereditary title in Hungary proper	[13]
Hont	Koháry	1711–1826		[14]
Komárom	Nádasdy	1751–	last grant of a perpetual ispánate	[15]
Liptó	Illésházy	1582–1838	also perpetual ispáns of Trencsén County	[16]
Požega/Pozsega	Keglevich	1707–1749		[17]
Pozsony	Pálffy	1651–	always a member of the family was appointed ispán from 1580	[18]
Sáros	Rákóczi	1666–1711	always a member of the family was appointed ispán from 1622	[19]
Sopron	Esterházy	1686–	always a member of the family was appointed ispán from 1626	[20]
Szepes	Szapolyai	1464–1528		[21][22]
	Thurzó	1531–1635	also perpetual ispáns of Árva County	[23]
	Csáky	1638–		[24]
Teočak	Újlaki	1464–?	in Bosnia	[25]
Trencsén	Illésházy	1600–1838	also perpetual ispáns of Liptó County	[26]
Turóc	Révay	1712–1875	always a member of the family was appointed ispán from 1532	[27]
Valkó	Draskovich	1693–1695	the county was dissolved in 1695	[28]
Varaždin/Varasd	Erdődy	1570–c. 1582		[29]
	Erdődy	1687–	always a member of the family was appointed ispán from 1607	[28]
Vass	Batthyány	1728–		[30]
Zala	Althann	1721–1824		[31]

See also

• County (Kingdom of Hungary)
• Ispán

Footnotes

1. Nemes 1989, p. 81.
2. Fallenbüchl 1994, p. 9.
3. Zsoldos 2011, p. 149.
4. Engel 1996, p. 126.
5. Engel 1996, p. 132.
6. Engel 1996, p. 159.
7. Engel 1996, p. 163.
8. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 11., 130.
9. Engel 1996, p. 231.
10. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 10., 99.
11. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 10., 61.
12. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 10., 66.
13. Engel 2001, p. 293.
14. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 10., 82.
15. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 10., 83.
16. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 10., 84.
17. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 11., 129-130.
18. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 10., 92-93.
19. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 10., 93-94.
20. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 10., 96.
21. Engel 2001, p. 311.
22. Fallenbüchl 1994, p. 99.
23. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 9-10., 99.
24. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 9., 99.
25. Engel 2001, p. 312.
26. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 10., 103.
27. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 9., 104.
28. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 11., 132.
29. Fallenbüchl 1994, p. 132.
30. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 10., 107-108.
31. Fallenbüchl 1994, pp. 10., 111.

References

• (Hungarian) Engel, Pál (1996). Magyarország világi archontológiája, 1301–1457, I. ("Secular Archontology of Hungary, 1301–1457, Volume I"). História, MTA Történettudományi Intézete. Budapest. ISBN 963-8312-44-0.
• Engel, Pál (2001). The Realm of St Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895-1526. I.B. Tauris Publishers. ISBN 1-86064-061-3.
• (Hungarian) (German) Fallenbüchl, Zoltán (1994). Magyarország főispánjai, 1526–1848 ("Lord-Lieutenants of Counties in Hungary, 1526–1848"). Argumentum Kiadó. ISBN 963-7719-81-4.
• (Hungarian) Nemes, Lajos (1989). Entry örökös főispán in: Bán, Péter; Magyar történelmi fogalomtár, I. kötet: L–Zs [=Thesaurus of Terms of Hungarian History, Volume I: L–Zs]. Gondolat. ISBN 963-282-204-8.
• Rady, Martyn (2000). Nobility, Land and Service in Medieval Hungary. Palgrave (in association with School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London). ISBN 0-333-80085-0.
• Sedlar, Jean W. (1994). East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000–1500. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-97290-4.
• (Hungarian) Zsoldos, Attila (2011). Magyarország világi archontológiája, 1000–1301 ("Secular Archontology of Hungary, 1000–1301"). História, MTA Történettudományi Intézete. Budapest. ISBN 978-963-9627-38-3.