Servientes regis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The servientes regis (Latin, Hungarian: királyi szerviensek, Slovak: kráľovskí servienti, or "royal servants") were a class of nobles in the Kingdom of Hungary in the 13th century. They were obliged to fight for the king in exchange for their freedom and land possessions and exemption from the jurisdiction of the county head. They were called to nobles from 1267.

The servientes regis were those who caused the counties to turn from royal entities to noble ones (see Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary)). They started to organise themselves in the 13th century when the persons from which this class arose got huge properties from the kings of the Kingdom of Hungary. The first reference to their organisations at the county level, called "congregationen servientum", dates from 1232.