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)

hereditary) estates of the kindreds and that he was present during the discussion of every legal affair regarding them. Simultaneously, Ćuk emphasized that he was elected freely by the noblemen of Križevci on their assemblies.15

In 1946 Nada Klaić produced her doctoral thesis entitled Političko i društveno uređenje Slavonije za Arpadovića [Political and social organisation of Slavonia during the Árpáds], in which she dedicated a special chapter to the question of castle districts (which she called "comitat") in Slavonia. Thus, the author discusses the castle districts of Varaždin, Moravče, Hrašćina, Kalnik, Rovišće, Garić, Križevci, Garešnica, Grđevac, Virovitica, Vukovsko, Požega, Podgora, Gorica, Gora, Dubica, Sana, Vrbas, followed by the castle districts under the ownership of bishop, such as Dubrava, Čazma, Ivanić and Vugrovec. Klaić also addressed the question of the origin of that institution - whether it was a Hungarian model, or a Slavic one which predated the arrival of Arpadians to Slavonia. Moreover, Klaić mentioned that the comes terrestris (for which she used the Latin term) was the representative of the lesser nobility residing around the castle, their legal advocate, and sometimes even judge. His role was the institution into an estate, settling of borders and overseeing any legal litigation. Concerning the castle district of Križevci, the author explained that it appeared rather early. At its head was the comes, alongside whom comes terrestris also acted. Furthermore, she noted that the territory of the castle district of Križevci was larger in the fourteenth century than in the thirteenth century.16

In the 1940s, a work entitled Hűbériség és rendiség a középkori magyar jogban [The Feudal System and the State of Estates in Medieval Hungarian Law] by György Bónis argues that feudalism in its highest degree in the level of Kingdom of Hungary can be found in the areas in which Croatian and Slavonian lesser nobility resided. In Slavonia under the Arpadians, noble kindreds were organised according to their blood ties. The rulers of Hungary incorporated these noble kindreds into the castle system, since Slavonia was considered to be royal property. The process began in earnest during the reign of King Bela III. Bónis quoted aforementioned ideas of Lajos Thallóczy and Samu Barabás on the heads of kindreds. The joint possession of land was still kept in the twelfth cen-15 Juraj Ćuk, Plemeniti Križevčani do postanka županije križevačke [The Nobles of Križevci until the Formation of the County of Križevci], Vjesnik zemaljskog kr. hrv,slav.-dalm. árkivá, vol. 18, Zagreb 1916, pp. 41-80, especially pp. 65-66, 70.

16 Nada Klaić, Političko i društveno uređenje Slavonije za Arpadovića [Political and Social Organisation of Slavonia during the Árpáds], unpublished doctoral thesis, Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb 1946.

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