B. Halász Eva - Suzana Miljan (szerk.): Diplomatarium comitum terrestrium Crisiensium (1274-1439) (Subsidia ad historiam medii aevi Hungariae inquirendam 6. Budapest - Zagreb 2014)

Epilógus

Diplomatarium comitum terrestrium Crisiensium (1274-1439)

the comes terrestris who was the head of the Saxons of Spiš.3 Lexicon Latinitatis medii aevi Hungáriáé defines comes terrestris (terrigena) as "an elected judge of nobles who live on certain territory (iudex electus nobilium in certo territorio habitantium)."4 It also notes many examples from the sources, of which the first is dated in 1244, and the last in 1419. Some of these examples are related to comes terrestris of Križevci. In a similar manner, the Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Iugoslaviae amongst various possible variations of the term comes notes the term comes terrestris (or comes terrigena) which are defined as iudex generationis or "comes of the land," that is judge of the kindred. The example it gives refers precisely to Prevša, comes terrestris of Križevci.5 Vladimir Mažuranić in his work Prinosi za hrvatski pravno-povjestni rječnik, while defining the term comes among many various meanings states that sometimes a comes of a kindred or a brotherhood is occasionally called comes terrestris and "their brotherhood or kindred is called supanatus."6

As will be demonstrated in the text below, the comes terrestris was in charge of castle warriors connected with a certain castle, since the

3 Antal Bartal, Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis Regni Hungáriáé, Lipsiae 1901, p. 145. Bartal has stated that the term for this service in the Saxon community in Spiš was Landgravius (which corresponds to German term Landgraf). The meaning of this term and its functions are unclear. Thus, Benjamin Arnold emphasizes that lantgrave appeared as a title among German high aristocracy only at the end of the eleventh century, and many of the examples connect those officials to royal land or prerogatives in the area of the Holy Roman Empire. Although it seems to the author that it could be possible to connect them with the elevation of the ministerial, he was confused by the fact that the layer of imperial ministerial only experienced a rise in social status two centuries later (Benjamin Arnold, Princes and territories in medieval Germany, Cambridge 1991, pp. 130-131). It is worth mentioning that Arnold in the same place mentions that the title was used in the context of German Eastern colonisation, which completely corresponds with Saxons from Spiš mentioned above.

4 Iván Boronkai et al., Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungáriáé. A Magyarországi Középkori Latinság Szótára, 5 vols., Budapest 1987-1999, vol. 2, p. 191 (line 58-60), p. 195 (line 22-41).

5 Marko Kostrenčić et al., Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Iugoslaviae, 2 vols., Zagreb 1973- 1978, vol. 1, p. 250.

6 Vladimir Mažuranić, Prinosi za hrvatski pravno-povjestni rječnik [Contributions to Croatian Legal and Historical Dictionary], Zagreb 1908-1922, reprint: Zagreb 1975, pp. 126-127. It should be emphasized that previous Croatian historiography did not stress enough the terminological difference between the castle district (županat) and county (županija), but it recognised that there was a distinction in content. On the other hand, Hungarian historiography made a clear distinction, for castle district is denoted by the term várispánság, while for the county the term megye is used. Also, it should be stressed that the Hungarian historical and legal terminology for researching the Middle Ages is more available than in Croatian scholarship.

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