Nobility in The Kingdom of Hungary

Nobility In The Kingdom Of Hungary

The origin of the nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary can be traced to the Magyar conquest of Pannonia in the 9th century, and it developed over the course of the Middle Ages. If flourished during the Late Middle Ages, up to the partial Ottoman conquest of the 16th century.

The origin of the Hungarian aristocracy (with regard to rank but not different in function from the minor nobility) derives from "men distinguished by birth and dignity" (maiores natu et dignitate) mentioned in the charters of the first kings. They descended partly from the leaders of the Magyar tribes and clans and including immigrant (mainly German, Italian and French) knights (by invitation by the kings of Hungary) who settled in the kingdom in the course of the 10-12th centuries. Local Slavic leaders were also recognized as nobles during the centuries. By the 13th century, the royal servants (servientes regis), who mainly descended from the wealthier freemen (liberi), managed to ensure their liberties and their privileges were confirmed in the Golden Bull issued by King Andrew II of Hungary in 1222. Several families of the "castle warriors" (iobagiones castri) could also strengthen their liberties and they received the status of the "true nobles of the realm" (veri nobiles regni) by the end of the 13th century, although most of them lost their liberties and became subordinate to private castle-holders. Many leaders of the mainly Slavic, German and Romanian colonists who immigrated to the kingdom during the 11th-15th centuries also merged into the nobility. Kings had the authority to reward commoners with nobility and thenceforward, they enjoyed all the liberties of other nobles.

From the 14th century, the idea of "one and the same liberty" (una eademque libertas) appeared in the public law of the kingdom; the idea suggested that all the nobles enjoyed the same privileges independently of their offices, birth or wealth. In reality, even the legislation made a distinction partly between the members of the upper nobility (i.e., the nobles who held the highest offices in the Royal Households and in the royal administration or, from the 15th century, who used distinctive noble titles granted by the kings) and other nobles, and partly between nobles possessing lands and those without land possession. Moreover, public law also recognized the existence of some groups of the "conditional nobles" (conditionarius) whose privileges were limited; e.g., the "nobles of the Church" (nobilis ecclesiæ) were burdened with defined services to be provided to certain prelates. In some cases, not individuals but a group of people was granted a legal status similar to that of the nobility; e.g., the Hajdú people enjoyed the privileges of the nobility not as individuals but as a community.

Beginning in the 14th century, Hungarian nobility was based on a Patent of Nobility with a coat of arms issued by the monarch and constituted a legal and social class. Privileges of nobility—e.g. no taxation but obligatory military service at war at own cost—were abolished 1848, titles of nobility were abolished in 1947, and the abolishment of titles of nobility were again confirmed in 1990.

Similarly to other countries in Central Europe, the proportion of the nobility in the population of the Kingdom of Hungary was significantly higher than in the Western countries: by the 18th century, about 5% of its population qualified a member of the nobility.

The "cardinal liberties" of the nobility were clearly summarized in the Tripartitum (a law book collecting the body of common laws of the Kingdom of Hungary) in 1514. According to the Tripartitum, the nobles enjoyed personal freedom, they were submitted exclusively to the authority of the king and they were exempted of taxation but were required to serve in war at own cost; until 1681, they were also entitled to resist any actions of the monarchs that would jeopardize their liberties.

The core privileges of the nobility were abolished or expanded to other citizens by the "April laws" in 1848, but the members of the upper nobility could reserve their special political rights (they were hereditary members of the Upper House of the Parliament) and the usage of names of the nobles also distinguished them from the commoners. All the distinctive features of nobility, including titles, were abolished in 1947 following the declaration of the Republic of Hungary. The abolition of titles of nobility was confirmed by parliamentary legislation in 1990.

The Latin term Natio Hungarica ("Hungarian nation") during the medieval period covered those groups with the right to representation in the Hungarian Diet: the nobility, the Roman Catholic clergy, and a few enfranchised burghers. Natio Hungarica thus came in the eighteenth century to refer to just the privileged group which had corporate political rights of parliamentary representation, the prelates, the magnates, and the nobles.