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Župan is a noble and administrative title used in several states in Central and
Southeastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...
between the 7th century and the 21st century. It was (and in
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
still is) the leader of the administrative unit
župa A župa, or zhupa, is a historical type of administrative division in Southeast Europe and Central Europe, that originated in medieval South Slavs, South Slavic culture, commonly translated as "county" or "parish". It was mentioned for the first t ...
(or zhupa,
županija A ''županija'' (singular; plural ''županije'') is a Croatian term for administrative subdivisions. The etymology is the South Slavic term '' Župa'', which means parish in Croatian. The similar Slovene term župnija is used to mean that. Th ...
). The term in turn was adopted by the
Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...
as ''
ispán The ispánRady 2000, p. 19.''Stephen Werbőczy: The Customary Law of the Renowned Kingdom of Hungary in Three Parts (1517)'', p. 450. or countEngel 2001, p. 40.Curta 2006, p. 355. (, , and ),Kirschbaum 2007, p. 315. deriving from title of župan, ...
'' and spread further.


Origin of the title

The exact origin of the title is not definitively known and there have been several hypotheses: Slavic (
Franz Miklosich Franz Miklosich (, also known in Slovene as ; 20 November 1813 – 7 March 1891) was a Slovenian philologist and rector of the University of Vienna. Early life Miklosich was born in the small village of Radomerščak near the Lower Styrian town ...
), Turkic-Avarian (A. Bruckner), Iranian (F. Altheim), Proto-Indo-European (V. Machek), Indo-European (D. Dragojević), Illyrian-Thracian (K. Oštir), Old-Balkan (M. Budimir), among others.
Francis Dvornik Francis Dvornik (; 14 August 1893 – 4 November 1975) was a Czech academic medievalist, byzantinist, slavist and Catholic priest. He was one of the leading 20th century authorities on Slavic and Byzantine history and matters related to the church ...
considered it having an Indo-European or Iranian origin. There's no similar
Proto-Slavic Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium BC through the 6th ...
word, but the title was preserved primarily among the
Slavic peoples The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, Southeast ...
and their neighbours who were under their influence. The title origin is not necessarily related to the origin of the titleholder, and many scholars often considered it to be a title and institution the Slavs borrowed from the
Pannonian Avars The Pannonian Avars ( ) were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins. The peoples were also known as the Obri in the chronicles of the Rus' people, Rus, the Abaroi or Varchonitai (), or Pseudo-Avars in Byzantine Empi ...
. This is argued in a viewpoint of an "image of an early Slavic society that initially was almost completely non-hierarchical". However, its presence among Pannonian Avars and in the Avar language is unconfirmed. Theories of an Avar connection are dismissed by some scholars due to the lack of evidence for the title's use by Avars, in addition to the term's occurrence in Slavic territories far beyond the area where the two groups co-existed. Toponyms which are etymologically related to the title župan include ''Županovo kolo'' in
Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...
, Russia, and ''Župany kolo'' in Ukraine. Following research by Ambroży Bogucki, Bohumil Vykypĕl and Georg Holzer, in 2007 Franjo Smiljanić excluded any Avar influence on the origin of the term. He concluded that remnants of Slavic tribal organization may have been preserved under Avar authority. With them agreed Andrej Pleterski in 2015.


Historical sources

In 2009, A. Alemany considered that the title ''*ču(b)-pān'', often in a northeastern Iranian milleu, had an Eastern and Central Asian derivation, ''čupan'', and a Western and European derivation, ''župan''. The Eastern ''čupan'' first occurs, but allegedly as is usually connected with ''čupan'', in a
Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...
n contract dated to 588 AD, where are mentioned two "headman" (''σωπανο'', "sopano"); among the Western Turks (582–657), the leader of the fifth Shunishi
Duolu Duolu (Wade–Giles: To-lu; c. 603-651 as a minimum) was a tribal confederation in the Western Turkic Khaganate (c. 581-659). The Turgesh Khaganate (699-766) may have been founded by Duolu remnants. There existed several Chinese transcriptions ...
tribe was a ''chuban chuo'' (''čupan čor''), while the leader of the fifth Geshu
Nushibi Nushibi (Nu-shibi, ; Middle Chinese: *''nuoXɕiɪt̚piɪt̚'') was a Chinese collective name for five tribes of the right (western) wingYu. Zuev, ''"The Strongest tribe - Izgil"''//Historical And Cultural Relations Between Iran And Dasht-i Kipc ...
tribe was ''chuban sijin'' (''čupan irkin''), with ''chuo'' and ''sijin'' being the standard title of the each tribe's leader, inferior to ''qayan'' (
khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...
), but superior to '' bäg''. However, there is no mention of ''čupan'' in
Old Turkic Old Siberian Turkic, generally known as East Old Turkic and often shortened to Old Turkic, was a Siberian Turkic language spoken around East Turkistan and Mongolia. It was first discovered in inscriptions originating from the Second Turkic Kh ...
runic incsriptions; a Chinese document (c. 8th century) near
Kucha Kucha or Kuche (also: ''Kuçar'', ''Kuchar''; , Кучар; zh, t= 龜茲, p=Qiūcí, zh, t= 庫車, p=Kùchē; ) was an ancient Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along the northern edge of what is now the Taklam ...
mentions several persons (allegedly
Tocharians The Tocharians or Tokharians ( ; ) were speakers of the Tocharian languages, a group of Indo-European languages known from around 7,600 documents from the 6th and 7th centuries, found on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin (modern-day Xinj ...
) with patronymic Bai and title ''chuban''; in the same century, in the Chinese documents of province
Khotan Hotan (also known by #Etymology, other names) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region in Northwestern China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become an ...
are mentioned word ''chiban'' and alleged title of low rank ''chaupam''; the first (Old) Turkic document recording the title ''čupan'' is a
Uyghur Uyghur may refer to: * Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia (West China) ** Uyghur language, a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uyghurs *** Old Uyghur language, a different Turkic language spoken in the Uyghur K ...
decree from
Turpan Turpan () or Turfan ( zh, s=吐鲁番) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 693,988 (2020). The historical center of the ...
dated c. 9th–11th century. According to the work ''Dīwānu l-Luġat al-Turk'' by the 11th century scholar
Mahmud al-Kashgari Mahmud ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Kashgari; ; , Мәһмуд Қәшқири; , Махмуд Қашғарий was an 11th-century Kara-Khanid scholar and lexicographer of the Turkic languages from Kashgar. His father, Husayn, was the mayor of ...
, a ''čupan'' is an assistant to a village headman. The first certain mention of Western ''župan'' occurs in a charter of
Kremsmünster Kremsmünster is a town in Kirchdorf an der Krems District, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Settled in 777, it is home to the Kremsmünster Abbey. The Abbey was founded 777 by Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria and is one of the oldest abbeys ...
abbey, by Bavarian duke Tassilo III in 777 AD, in which the monastery was granted by a group of Slavs, headed by the chieftains Taliup and Sparuna, whose abode lied beneath the boundaries reported under oath by the ''iopan'' Physso (according to Otto Kronsteiner originally named Pribislav, or a non-Slavic name; as a Slavic leader, or probably wrongly as an Avar dignitary); the ''zo(ō)apan'' of
Buyla inscription The Buyla inscription is a 9-word, 56-character inscription written in the Greek alphabet but in a non-Greek language. It is found on a golden buckled bowl (vessel), bowl or cup which is among the pieces of the Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós which ...
on a buckled bowl of a heterogeneous and chronologically uncertain (7th or 8th century)
Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós The Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós (; ; ) is an important hoard of 23 early medieval gold vessels, in total weighing 9.945 kg (about 22 lbs), found in 1799 near Nagyszentmiklós, Kingdom of Hungary (, today Sânnicolau Mare, Romania), me ...
; the ''supan'' in Lusatian and Latin language (7th century): the ''ζουπανος'' (zoupanos) on a silver bowl found at
Veliki Preslav The modern Veliki Preslav or Great Preslav (, ), former Preslav (; until 1993), is a city and the seat of government of the Veliki Preslav Municipality (Great Preslav Municipality, new Bulgarian: ''obshtina''), which in turn is part of Shumen P ...
, capital of
First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led by Asparuh of Bulgaria, Asparuh, moved south to the northe ...
(893–972), and ''zhupan'' in Greek stone inscriptions and Cyrillic alphabet (
Codex Suprasliensis The Codex Suprasliensis is a 10th-century Cyrillic literary monument, the largest extant Old Church Slavonic canon manuscript and the oldest Slavic literary work located in Poland. As of September 20, 2007, it is on UNESCO's Memory of the World l ...
); the ''zuppanis'' in Latin charter of St. George's church at Putalj by Croatian duke Trpimir in 852 AD; the Slavic, generally considered of
White Croats The White Croats (; ; ; ), also known simply as Croats, were a group of Early Slavs, Early Slavic tribes that lived between East Slavs, East Slavic and West Slavs, West Slavic tribes in the historical region of Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia n ...
, title of king's deputy mentioned by
Ibn Rusta Ahmad ibn Rusta Isfahani (), more commonly known as ibn Rusta (, also spelled ''ibn Roste''), was a tenth-century Muslim Persian explorer and geographer born in Rosta, Isfahan in the Abbasid Caliphate. He wrote a geographical compendium known ...
in the 10th century, the ''sūt.ğ'' or ''sūb.ğ'', of which corrupted text some transcribe as ''sūbanğ'' (or Turkic '' sū beḫ''); according to
Constantine VII Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, an ...
in his 10th century work ''
De Administrando Imperio (; ) is a Greek-language work written by the 10th-century Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII. It is a domestic and foreign policy manual for the use of Constantine's son and successor, the Emperor Romanos II. It is a prominent example of Byz ...
'', Croats, Serbs and other Slavic nations of Dalmatia had the ''ζουπάνους'' (zoupanous), "Princes, as they say, these nations had none, but only ''župans'', elders, as is the rule in the other Slavonic regions"; also the Croatian state was divided in 11 ''ζουπανίας'' (zoupanias) administrative regions, with additional three ruled by ''βοάνος'' (boanos) or ''μπάνος'' (b/mpanos) ( Ban); and is individually mentioned ''ζουπανου'' (zoupanou)
Beloje Beloje ( sr-cyrl, Белоје; ; 839), was a local Slavic chieftain from the region surrounding Trebinje, who ruled the area with a title of ''župan'', sometime in the first half of the 9th century. Travunia was a polity centered in Trebinje ...
of
Travunia Travunia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Travunija, Травунија; ; ; ) was a South Slavic medieval principality that was part of Medieval Serbia (850–1371), and later the Medieval Bosnia (1373–1482). The principality became hereditar ...
; later among Serbs it also temporary became a title for supreme leader '' ζουπανος μεγας'' (zoupanos megas,
Grand Župan Grand, Great or Chief Župan ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Велики жупан, Veliki župan, , ) is the English rendering of a South Slavic title which relates etymologically to '' Župan'' (originally a ''pater familias'', later the tribal chief of a unit ...
); in Czech sources ''supani'' (1187).


Etymology

By now the title's origin remains uncertain, with majority of scholars considering Iranian etymology: * Franz Altheim derived the title from
Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...
etymon *''fsu-pāna''- that evolved to ''šuβān'' in Parthian, ''šupān'' and ''šubān'' in
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
; all these words meaning "shepherd".
Gerhard Doerfer Gerhard Doerfer (8 March 1920 – 27 December 2003) was a German Turkologist, Altaicist, and philologist best known for his studies of the Turkic languages, especially Khalaj. Biography Doerfer was born on March 8, 1920, in Königsberg (pres ...
suggested possible Iranian origin for
Mahmud al-Kashgari Mahmud ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Kashgari; ; , Мәһмуд Қәшқири; , Махмуд Қашғарий was an 11th-century Kara-Khanid scholar and lexicographer of the Turkic languages from Kashgar. His father, Husayn, was the mayor of ...
's ''čupan'' linking it with New Persian ''čōpan'', a variant form of ''šubān'', with usual change of ''š-'' to ''č-''.
Omeljan Pritsak Omeljan Yosypovych Pritsak (; 7 April 1919 – 29 May 2006) was the first Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of History of Ukraine, Ukrainian History at Harvard University and the founder and first director (1973–1989) of the Harvard Ukrainian Rese ...
in Iranian *''fsu-pāna'' saw "shepherd of (human) cattle" in Avar service, using the Slavic masses as cannon fodder. Some scholars derived it from alleged Old Iranian ''ašurpan/aszurpan'', meaning "great lord, noblemen". It may be traced to the Slavic and Iranian cultural interactions in Eastern and Southeastern Europe in the first centuries AD. *
Karl Brugmann Friedrich Karl Brugmann (; 16 March 1849 – 29 June 1919) was a German linguist. He is noted for his work in Indo-European linguistics. Biography Friedrich Karl Brugman was born in Wiesbaden to a middle-class family in 1849. He was educated a ...
derived the
Common Slavic Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the Attested language, unattested, linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately ...
*''županъ'' from ''župa'' "district, small administrative region", < ''*geupā'', comparing this word with
Skt. Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest i ...
''gopā-'' (herdsman, guardian), derived from ''gopaya'' (to guard, protect), of ''gup-'', or even ''go-pā'' (cow-herd), Avestan ''gufra-'' (deep, hidden), among others. Oleg Trubachyov derived it from ''*gupana'' (from ''gopaya'', the guard of cattle).
Karl Heinrich Menges Karl Heinrich Menges (April 22, 1908 – September 20, 1999) was a German linguist known for his advocacy of the Altaic hypothesis. He was a faculty member at Columbia University in New York and subsequently at the University of Vienna. Bio ...
considered ''župan'' to be a slavicized form of Altaic ''čupan'' (which itself was a loanword from Iranian), with modified meaning from "clan, community" to "district". * According to Alemany, the (Old) Turkic ''ču(b)'' was likely borrowed from Khotanese ''-cū'' and Chinese ''zhou'' (prefecture), which was a Chinese territorial administration applied to Central Asian regions inhabited by Iranians, but it has even older meaning of small island; a township unit; a region, up to ''zhoumu'' (regional governor) from Han to Sui dynasty. Alemany stated that, as there were settlements of Central Asian Iranians at least in some of those ''zhou'', the title ''čupan'' as ''*ču(b)-pān'' (protecting a ''ču(b)'' or ''zhou''), was an Iranian rendering (see '' marz-bān'', "protecting the marches"), of the Chinese ''zhoumu''. The suffix ''-pān'' (from
Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...
and
Old Persian Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as (I ...
''pat'', "protector"; ''pā-'', "to protect, to care") is well documented in Manichean
Parthia Parthia ( ''Parθava''; ''Parθaw''; ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Medes during the 7th century BC, was incorporated into the subsequent Achaemeni ...
n texts from
Turpan Turpan () or Turfan ( zh, s=吐鲁番) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 693,988 (2020). The historical center of the ...
, and lesser extent in
Sogdia Sogdia () or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemen ...
n and Khotanese. He concluded that the title meant both ''regio'' and ''rector'', and if čupan is a loanword mediated by Avars (instead of derived from a common Slavic word ''župa''), the association could explain the proposed shift ''č-'' > ''ž-'' in ''župan''. *
András Róna-Tas András Róna-Tas (born 30 December 1931) is a Hungarian historian and linguist. Biography He was born in 1931 in Budapest. Róna-Tas studied under such preeminent professors as Gyula Ortutay and Lajos Ligeti, and received a degree in folklore ...
argued against Turkic origin of ''župan'' (due to initial ''/zh/'' from ''choban'').
Eugene Helimski Eugene Arnoldovich Helimski (sometimes also spelled Eugene Khelimski; ; 15 March 1950 – 25 December 2007) was a Soviet and Russian linguist (in the latter part of his life working in Germany). He was a Doctor of Philology (1988) and Professo ...
proposed its
Tungusic language The Tungusic languages (also known as Manchu–Tungus and Tungus) form a language family spoken in Eastern Siberia and Manchuria by Tungusic peoples. Many Tungusic languages are endangered. There are approximately 75,000 native speakers of the ...
origin, which was rejected by
Marcel Erdal Marcel Erdal (born 8 July 1945) is a linguist and Turkologist. He is Head of the Turcology department at the Goethe University in Frankfurt. He graduated from Istanbul's Robert College in 1963. Publications * ''The Turkic Nagy-Szent-Miklos Ins ...
whose supporting Iranian origin.


Usage of the title and division

The title had a widespread distribution, and did not always have a concrete institutional definition. Slavic tribes were divided into fraternities, each including a certain number of families. The territory inhabited by a tribe was a ''župa'', and its leader was the ''župan''. The ''župans'', once as ''kopan'', of the
First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led by Asparuh of Bulgaria, Asparuh, moved south to the northe ...
are traditionally seen as Slavic chiefs, or leaders of a local tribe and district. In Belarusian, Czech, Polish, Slovak and Ukrainian allegedly from ''župan'' was shortened to ''pan'', meaning "master, mister, sir".


Bosnia

Similarly to Serbia and Croatia, Bosnian rulers of the early Middle Ages were referred to as ''župan''. According to Fine, the governorship was hereditary, and the ''župan'' reported to a ban or a king, whom they were obliged to aid in war.


Croatia

As heads of the ''županija'', the most important role of the ''župans'' were their public authority function. They were the ''primates populi'', nobile aristocracy from where the king (or duke) recruited the official servants. Those ''župans'' by origin most probably belonged to the tribal or noble family structure, in historiography known as the
Twelve noble tribes of Croatia The twelve noble tribes of Croatia (), also known as twelve noble families of Croatia, was a medieval institution of nobility, alliance, or narrow noble community in the Croatia in union with Hungary, Kingdom of Croatia, which can be traced back at ...
, which are mentioned in the
Pacta conventa ''Pacta conventa'' (Latin for "articles of agreement") was a contractual agreement entered into between the "Polish nation" (i.e., the szlachta (nobility) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) and a newly elected king upon his "free electi ...
and
Supetar Cartulary Supetar cartulary or Sumpetar cartulary () is a 12th-century cartulary which contains charters from the years 1080 to 1187. Although the cartulary itself just lists the possessions of the monastery of St. Peter in Selo on the territory of the ...
. In the Supetar Cartulary, and in Croatian redaction of
Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja The ''Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea or Duklja'' ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Ljetopis popa Dukljanina, Љетопис попа Дукљанина; ) is the usual name given to a medieval chronicle written in two versions between 1295 and 1301 by an eccles ...
, they were called as ''nobile sapienciroes'' and ''starac'' (elderman), indicating that to the agreement with king Coloman went twelve "elders župan". According to the charter by Croatian duke Muncimir (892 AD) it can be identified various official functions; ''župans'' who work at the ducal palace (''Budimiro zuppani palatii'', ''Prisna maccererarii'', ''Pruade zuppano cauallario'', ''Zelestro zuppano camerario'', ''Zestededo zuppano pincernario'', ''Bolledrago zuppano carnicario'', ''Budimiro zuppano comitisse'', ''Augina zuppano armigeri''), who are part of territorial organization (''Zelllerico zuppano Cleoniae'', ''Sibidrago zuppano Clesae''), or are only noble by position (''Petro zuppano'', ''Pribritreco filius Petri zuppano''). The ''župans'' were usually listed in historical documents only as witnesses, without mark of duty. The transition of 12th to the 13th century is characterized by terminological change of the title ''župan'' and the spreading beyond the tribal main territory. The older social rank of the ''župan'' (''iupanus'') in Latin documents was changed with the title ''
comes ''Comes'' (plural ''comites''), translated as count, was a Roman title, generally linked to a comitatus or comital office. The word ''comes'' originally meant "companion" or "follower", deriving from "''com-''" ("with") and "''ire''" ("go"). Th ...
''. The Latin term ''comes'' in the 14th and 15th century Croatia was translated in two different ways, as ''špan'' and ''knez''. The first signified the royal official in the ''županija'', while the second the hereditary lord of the ''županija'' exempted from the direct royal rule. Thus the term lost its old tribal and got a new administrative meaning, while the old Croatian tribes (genus) under the title of ''knez'' preserved the inheritance rights over the lands of ''županija''.


Hungary

There were several "ispán"'s in the royal court of
Hungarian Kingdom The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
: 'nádorispán' (
palatine A palatine or palatinus (Latin; : ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman Empire, Roman times.
), 'udvarispán' (court ispán), 'kápolna ispán' (chapel ispán), and 'ispán's of the financial hierarchy ('harmincadispán', 'pénzverőispán', 'sókamaraispán', 'urburaispán'). Similarly the leaders of the ethnic groups were called 'ispán' like 'besenyők ispánja' ( Besermian ispán) ' székelyispán' ( Szekler ispán).


Serbia

According to Fine, the governorship was hereditary, and the ''župan'' reported to the Serbian prince, whom they were obliged to aid in war. The earlier ''župan'' title was abolished and replaced with the Greek-derived ''kefalija'' ('' kephale'', "head, master").


Slovakia

The title ''župan'' is widely used as an informal name for presidents of self-governing regions (''župa'') in Slovakia.


Slovenia

In Slovenia, ''župan'' is the official title of the mayor of the 212 municipalities. In the Slovene-speaking municipalities in Italy, the term ''županstvo'' is used for the municipal administration (similar to the Spanish
ayuntamiento ''Ayuntamiento'' ()In other languages of Spain: * (). * (). * (). is the general term for the town council, or ''cabildo'', of a municipality or, sometimes, as is often the case in Spain and Latin America, for the municipality itself. is mai ...
), while in Slovenia, this usage is obsolete. Before the 19th century, ''župan'' was used as a name for the village elder. With the introduction of modern municipal administration in the
Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...
in 1849, it became the official Slovene title for mayors. The Slovene name for
parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
es, ''župnija'', has the same etymology. The parish priest is called ''župnik''. The name ''županija'' is used to refer to the
counties of Hungary Hungary is subdivided administratively into 19 county, counties (''vármegyék'', singular: ''vármegye'') and the capital city (''főváros'') Budapest. The counties are further subdivided into 174 Districts of Hungary, districts (''járások'', ...
(the term has been historically used by the Prekmurje Slovenes, who were part of the Kingdom of Hungary from the 10th century until 1918).


See also

*
Grand Župan Grand, Great or Chief Župan ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Велики жупан, Veliki župan, , ) is the English rendering of a South Slavic title which relates etymologically to '' Župan'' (originally a ''pater familias'', later the tribal chief of a unit ...
, a Bulgarian and Serbian medieval title (equivalent to Grand Prince) * Gespan * Ban *
Župa A župa, or zhupa, is a historical type of administrative division in Southeast Europe and Central Europe, that originated in medieval South Slavic culture, commonly translated as "county" or "parish". It was mentioned for the first time in the e ...


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