Grand, Great or Chief Župan ( sr, Велики жупан/Veliki župan, lat, magnus iupanus, gr, ζουπανος μεγας, ''zoupanos megas'') is the English rendering of a South Slavic Serbian title which relate etymologically to ''

Župan Župan is a noble and administrative title used in several states in Central and Southeastern Europe between the 7th century and the 21st century. It was (and in Croatia still is) the leader of the administrative unit župa (or zhupa, županija) ...

'' (originally a ''

pater familias The ''pater familias'', also written as ''paterfamilias'' (plural ''patres familias''), was the head of a Roman family. The ''pater familias'' was the oldest living male in a household, and could legally exercise autocratic authority over his ext ...

'', later the tribal chief of a unit called

župa A župa (or zhupa, županija) is a historical type of administrative division in Southeast Europe and Central Europe, that originated in medieval South Slavic culture, commonly translated as "parish", later synonymous "kotar", commonly transl ...

Bulgaria

A decorated silver cup with a

Medieval Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Fall of Co ...

inscription attests to the use of the title in 9th-century

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. The inscription refers to a certain Sivin, who appears to have held that position at the time of Kniaz Boris I (852–889). Sivin was among the Bulgarian boyars who supported the official

Christianization Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...

, as the subsequently added line "May God help" suggests.

Serbia

In the Middle Ages, the Serbian ''veliki župan'' (велики жупан) was the supreme chieftain in the multi-tribal society. The title signifies overlordship as the leader of lesser chieftains titled ''

župan Župan is a noble and administrative title used in several states in Central and Southeastern Europe between the 7th century and the 21st century. It was (and in Croatia still is) the leader of the administrative unit župa (or zhupa, županij ...

''. It was used by the Serb rulers in the 11th and 12th centuries. In Greek, it was known as ''archizoupanos'' (ἄρχιζουπάνος), ''megazoupanos'' (μεγαζουπάνος) and ''megalos zoupanos'' (μεγάλος ζουπάνος). In the 1090s, Vukan became the ''veliki župan'' in Raška (Rascia).

Stefan Nemanja Stefan Nemanja (Serbian Cyrillic: , ; – 13 February 1199) was the Grand Prince ( Veliki Župan) of the Serbian Grand Principality (also known as Raška, lat. ) from 1166 to 1196. A member of the Vukanović dynasty, Nemanja founded the Nema ...

expelled his brother Tihomir in 1168 and assumed the title of ''veliki župan'', as described in the

Charter of Hilandar Charter of Hilandar ( sr, Хиландарска повеља) is the founding charter of the Hilandar monastery, the cradle of the Serbian Orthodox Church and main endowment of Stefan Nemanja and Saint Sava. It was written in 1198, while the sec ...

(). A Latin document used ''mega iupanus'' for King Stefan the First-Crowned (). Afterwards, it was a high noble rank with notable holders such as

Altoman Vojinović Altoman Vojinović ( sr, Алтоман Војиновић; 1335–59) was a Serbian magnate ('' velikaš'') who served Emperor Stefan Dušan (r. 1331–55) as ''župan'' ("count") and Emperor Uroš V (r. 1355–71) as '' veliki župan'' ("gran ...

( 1335–59). It was used in the

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 ...

(1922–29) as a governmental title for the head of the ''

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...

'' (an administrative division), the state being divided into 33 oblasts.

Bulgaria

Serbia

References

Further reading