County of Temes ( Hungarian: ''Temes'',

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

: ''Timiș'',

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation ...

: ''Тамиш'' or ''Tamiš'',

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Temes'' or ''Temesch'') was an administrative county ( comitatus) of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, c ...

. Its territory is now in southwestern

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and northeastern

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

. The capital of the county was Temesvár (

Timișoara ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...

: Темишвар or Temišvar,

: Temeswar or Temeschwar), which also served as the kingdom's capital between 1315–1323.

Geography

Temes county was located in the

Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of ...

region. It shared borders with the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Prin ...

and the Hungarian counties of Torontál, Arad and Krassó-Szörény. The river

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

formed its southern border, and the river Mureș its northern border. The rivers Bega, Timiș, Bârzava and Caraș flowed through the county. Its area in 1910 was .

History

Temes County was formed in the 12th century, after the establishment of Hungarian rule in the region. It was named after the local Temes (Timiș) river. The principal center of the county was named ''Temesvár'' in the Hungarian language, meaning literally: Temes Castle. The territory was an important place in the power struggle between

Samuel Aba Samuel Aba ( hu, Aba Sámuel; before 990 or 1009 – 5 July 1044) reigned as King of Hungary between 1041 and 1044. He was born to a prominent family with extensive domains in the region of the Mátra Hills. Based on reports in the ''Gesta ...

and Peter Orseolo. In 1070, the

Pechenegs The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა� ...

, allying with the Byzantines, who tried to annex the territory, devastated it, before they were routed by Géza I. Michael Doukas VII sent a golden diadem, today part of the Holy Crown, recognizing Hungary's territorial sovereignty. In the late 11th century,

Cuman The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many sough ...

and Byzantine raids restarted, but were repelled by Ladislaus I, the "knight-king". By the reign of

Béla III Béla may refer to: * Béla (crater), an elongated lunar crater * Béla (given name), a common Hungarian male given name See also * Bela (disambiguation) Bela may refer to: Places Asia *Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar ...

, a substantial part of the territory was inhabited by Turks and

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

due to constant raids and the decrease of the Hungarian population. The first mention of the county was in 1212. The area was taken by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

in the

16th century The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The 16th centur ...

(following the 1552 Siege of Temesvár) and the county was abolished. Its territory was then included into the Ottoman Temeşvar Eyalet. After the region was captured by the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

in 1716, the area was included into the so-called

Banat of Temeswar The Banat of Temeswar or ''Banat of Temes'' was a Habsburg province that existed between 1718 and 1778. It was located in the present day region of Banat, which was named after this province. The province was abolished in 1778 and the follow ...

, a Habsburg province with the administrative center in Temeswar. This province was abolished in 1778 and the county of Temes was restored (with significantly different borders than in medieval times) and incorporated into Habsburg

in 1779. Between 1849 and 1860, the area of the county was part of the Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat, a separate

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

crownland. After 1853, the county did not exist since the voivodeship was divided into districts. After the voivodeship was abolished in 1860, the area was again incorporated into the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary and the county was recreated in January 1861. In 1876, when the administrative structure of the Kingdom of Hungary was changed, the borders of Temes County were modified to include parts of the territory of the former Banat Military Frontier (including Fehértemplom/

Bela Crkva Bela Crkva ( sr-cyrl, Бела Црква, ; german: Weißkirchen; hu, Fehértemplom; ro, Biserica Albă) is a town and municipality located in the South Banat District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a populatio ...

, formerly the seat of the so-called Illyrian Regiment). In 1918, the county first became part of the newly proclaimed

Banat Republic The Banat Republic (german: Banater Republik, hu, Bánáti Köztársaság or ''Bánsági Köztársaság'', ro, Republica bănățeană or ''Republica Banatului'', sr, Банатска република, ) was a short-lived state proclaimed ...

that lasted for only a few days. The region was taken by Serbian and French troops, and then divided in 1919 between the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

and the newly formed

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

, as both of the powers claimed the entire territory of the Banat. The border arrangements were set by the Paris Peace Conference. A majority of the county was assigned to Romania, while the south-western third was assigned to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (renamed to

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

in 1929). The Yugoslav part of the pre-1920 Temes County (the southern region) is part of the Serbian autonomous region of

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

. The Romanian part is now part of

Timiș County Timiș () is a county ('' județ'') of western Romania on the border with Hungary and Serbia, in the historical region of Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the westernmost and the largest county in Romania in terms of land are ...

, except for a ~ wide strip along the Mureș River, which is in

Arad County Arad County () is an administrative division ( judeţ) of Romania roughly translated into county in the western part of the country on the border with Hungary, mostly in the region of Crișana and few villages in Banat. The administrative cente ...

Demographics

Subdivisions

In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Temes county were: The towns of Vršac,

, and Kovin are now in Serbia; the other towns mentioned are now in Romania.

Notes

References

{{Authority control States and territories established in 1779 States and territories established in 1860 States and territories disestablished in 1552 States and territories disestablished in 1849 States and territories disestablished in 1920 Counties in the Kingdom of Hungary Medieval history of Vojvodina Vojvodina under Habsburg rule History of Banat