medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Germany, the ''Schultheiß'' () was the head of a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

(akin to today's office of

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

), a ''

Vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

'' or an executive official of the ruler. As official (''villicus'') it was his duty to order his assigned village or county (''villicatio'') to pay the taxes and perform the services due to the ruler. The name originates from this function: ''Schuld'' 'debt' + ''heißen'' 'to order'. Later, the title was also used for the head of a town (''Stadtschultheiß'') or village (''Dorfschultheiß''). The office held by a ''Schultheiß'' was called ''Scholtisei'', ''Scholtisse'' (around 1400), ''Schultessy'', ''Schultissīe'', ''Schultissei'' (15th century); Latinized forms: sculdasia (10th century), scultetia (13th century). The title first appears in the ''

Edictum Rothari The ''Edictum Rothari'' (lit. ''Edict of Rothari''; also ''Edictus Rothari'' or ''Edictum Rotharis'') was the first written compilation of Lombard law, codified and promulgated on 22 November 643 by King Rothari in Pavia by a gairethinx, an ass ...

'' of 643 AD, where it is spelled in post-Roman Latin as ''sculdahis''. This title reappears again in the Lombard laws of Liutprand in 723 AD. The title was originally spelled in

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

as ''sculdheizo'' and in

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. Hig ...

as ''Schultheize''; it was Latinised as ''

scultetus Scultetus or Sculteti is the Latinized form of German family names Schultheiß, Schulze, Schulte, etc. Notable people of the surname include: * Abraham Scultetus (1566–1625), German professor of theology * Bartholomäus Scultetus (1540–161 ...

'' or ''sculteus''. Alternative spellings include ''Schultheis'', ''Schulte'' or ''Schulze'', or in Switzerland ''Schultheiss''.Scholtisei, die
''Digital Dictionary of German Language'' It also appears in several European languages: In Hungarian as ''soltész'', in Slovak as ''šoltýs'' and ''škultét'', in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

as ''scoltetto'' and ''sculdascio'', in

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functione ...

as ''sculdasius'', in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

as ''

sołtys A sołtys () is a head of a sołectwo elected by its permanent citizens in a village meeting (''zebranie wiejskie''). According to data from 2010, Poland had 40 thousand sołtys, 30.7% of which were women. Role and powers Since 1990, a soł ...

'', in

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, tradition ...

as ''

șoltuz Șoltuz is a Romanian-language surname. It is an occupational surname ultimately derived from the German title of "Schultheiß In medieval Germany, the ''Schultheiß'' () was the head of a municipality (akin to today's office of mayor), a ''Vog ...

'', and in Dutch as ''

schout In Dutch-speaking areas, a ''schout'' was a local official appointed to carry out administrative, law enforcement and prosecutorial tasks. The office was abolished with the introduction of administrative reforms during the Napoleonic period. Fu ...

''.

Modern uses

Until as recently as 2007, Schultheiss was the title of the president of the government of the Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. ''Schultheiß'' is also the basis for one of the most common German surnames, existing in many variations such as

Schulz Schulz is a common German and Jewish-Ashkenazi family name from Germany, particularly Northern Germany. The word ''Schulz'' originates from the local official title of Schultheiß or ''(Dorf-)Schulz(e)'', meaning village headman or constable / sh ...

, Schultz, Scholz, etc., corresponding to the local variants of the pronunciation of the office. It also produced surnames in a number of other European cultures: see Schultheiss (surname) for a table. In Poland, ''

'' is the name given to the elected head of a rural subdivision (usually a village, or part of a large village) known as a ''

sołectwo A sołectwo ( Polish plural: ''sołectwa'') is an administrative unit in Poland, an optional subdivision of a gmina. The actions and organs of the sołectwo are decided by the gmina council. On 31 December 2018 Poland had 40 740 sołectwa. G ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schultheiss Heads of local government German feudalism German words and phrases

Modern uses

See also

References