A Župa (Serbian: Жупа) is a Slavic term, used historically among the Southern and Western branches of the Slavs, originally denoting various territorial and other sub-units, usually a small administrative division, especially a gathering of several villages. The term can be translated as parish in either the ecclesiastical or the civil sense.
The title Župan first denoted a holder of connected villages, later it was transformed - given to a person with power equivalent of either a Prince (monarch) or Duke.
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Originally, since nomadic times, the zupa started as an extended family, where authority rested with a pater familias, called župan. In time, some evolved into larger clans, and its origin made a hereditary principle for the succession to the chiefship logical.
The South Slavs of the Byzantine Empire, were organized within so-called Sklaviniae (transl. "Slav lands"), and within these there existed a number of subdivisions, namely, the Župa or Župania.
The first known mention of the title Jopan, dating to 777, described an owner of a feudal estate in the Slavic areas of the Enns river.[1]
The title Xpiani was used by Paul the Deacon in his Historia Langobardorum for Christians. He mentioned also that Slavs had many ships. The title župljan means "member of župa".
A manuscript on Glagolitic alphabet from the year 1250 interpreted the official title of a Župan so: that a Duke and the first Župan wanted to be grateful to the Church of St. John in Povlja on the island of Brač, and they went on the day of St. John in the Church of St. John, and vowed that after his term of his office he will leave his office again to God and to the people, so this official title was created to remember on this day of Saint John.[2]
The Church of Saint John in Povlja was an early Basilica from the 5th Century, built during Theodosius II, one of his law was: "If the owner of the land on which an aspirant to the clerical office lives and works is unwilling to have him join the clergy, the man may still join the clergy if he pays the poll tax and finds a substitute for his services on the land."[3][4] The Župan was elected by the people as a substitute, who should find a substitute for this man, how the law it wanted. This law is without a threat of punishment, called "Sub poena", if someone does not comply to this law.
Tax collection is complicated in Balkan countries.[5]
Valentinian I had written to bishops of eastern provinces, informing them that the Council in Illyricum ruled in favor of Homoousian and the Nicene Creed. He commanded that this be preached and its preachers be protected from harm.[6] This was the prerequisite for this title to become famous.
It was not only a question of taxes. The sum to become a qualifying member of the Curia was 300 Solidi. There have been cases in which priests were called by the Curia back into the secular life, even after more than 30 years in a clerical life. Therefore, this law was enacted to prevent difficulties with the Curia. The Council of Illyricum had decided that someone from the clerics was allowed to become presbyter and deacon and not from the Curiales or any other Officer of the Civil Government. Pope Innocent I had also written some letters about this question.[7] Finally, Theodosius bought from the presbytera Flavia Vitalia with 3 golden plates his grave in the near Salona.[8] How she was related to the uncle of the distinguished general John, Flavius Vitalianus, whose mother was a sister of Patriarch Macedonius II of Constantinople, is not entirely clear.
And so a Duke and the first Župan wanted to be grateful to the Church of St. John in Povlja on the island of Brač.
The history of the origin of the official title "Župan" had all prerequisites to make this title famous. The title "Župan" probably derived from "sub poena". Names were very important in the imperial propaganda of the Late Roman period.[9] In Dalmatia, some families had derived their origin from the ancient Romans.[10]
The history of the origin of the title "Župnik", which means Parson, is caused by the chronicle of John of Nikiû, because he described how the above mentioned Flavius Vitalianus was opposed by Marinus, who took all the ships he could find and manned them with a large force of Scythian and Gothic archers and sailed in the direction of Byzantium, but he took to flight and the sailors sailed then to Dalmatia, such way the Croats came to Dalmatia, who are described in the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja as probably Goths.
The župas were prominent in the Balkans among the South Slavs throughout the Middle Ages. De Administrando Imperio (10th c. Byzantine text) mentions županijas, as the provinces of the Croatian kingdom and the Serbian principalities. The župas were also an administrative unit in the First Bulgarian Empire, a subdivision of a larger unit called comitatus. The župan title was also used in Wallachia (in modern Romania).
The Slovaks and the Croats used the terms župa and/or županija for the counties in the Kingdom of Hungary and the Kingdom of Croatia. German language translation of the word for those counties was Komitat (from Latin Comitatus, 'countship') during the Middle Ages, but later it was Gespanschaft (picking up the span root that previously came from župan).
The župa was a confederation of village communities headed by a local župan, a magistrate or governor.[11] The župan in turn was subordinate the veliki župan (Grand Prince).
In the mid 9th century, Grand Prince Vlastimir marries his daughter to the son of župan Beloje of Trebinje. Krajina Belojević rules the appanage of Travunia under the Serbian crown. Prince Časlav (r. 927-960) marries his daughter to his voivode Tihomir, who receives the appanage of the Drina župa.
As head of the županija the most important was his judicial function, while it is not entirely clear how the function of a župan was directly related to the rulers in the 9th century. In later times the function of a župan or a veliki župan means only the official head of an administrative-territorial unit.[12]
There were several 'ispán's in the royal court: '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' (Sekler ispán)
The 'ispán' was nominated by the king for not defined time. From the 14th century, the 'ispán' controlled all incomes of the vármegye and was the military commander.
The rank was gradually replaced by 'főispán' in the 18-19th century.
The authority of megyésispán was the leader of the vármegye which was nominated by the king but could be expelled anytime. In Transylvania the nomination was done by the vajda of Transylvania, similarly, the ban made the nominations in Slavonia. One person could be 'ispán' of several counties, but one county could have more 'ispán's at the same time (in most cases, they were brothers). His deputy, 'alispán' was selected by the 'megyésispán', but then later this right was moved to the Noble Assembly (megyegyűlés). From the 15th century, this position was more and more hereditary.
The alispán or in Latin, "vicecomes" was the leader of the jurisdiction in the county if the 'megyésispán' was not available. He received the royal orders and issued decrees. After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, he became the representative of the noble's assembly, and so the assembly's approval was needed for his election from this time (Law of year 1548, nr LXX.). After the Ausgleich, he is the leader jurisdiction and administration (Law of year 1870 nr. XLII.). He executed the orders of the government. The authority ceised to exist after the law of year 1950. nr I.
The várispán, or in Latin, "comes castri" was more linked to the "vár" (fortress) in Hungary in the times of Árpád. He was the leader of all peasants around the fortress and the military commander. The authority was not hereditary, however, as one of the highest rank in Kingdom of Hungary, he was member of the "honor regni" (honourables of the kingdom).
The Serbs preserved the Old Slavonic term Županija until the 19th Century as the name for regional, county government such as Sremska županija. For example, poet Jovan Subotić was elected vice-Zupan of Sremska županija in 1860.
The Croats preserved the term župa until the modern times as the name for local clerical units (parishes) and slightly modified županija as the name for their regional government (the counties of Croatia). Heads of counties hold the title of župan (pl. župani), which is usually translated as "county prefect".
In Serbia exist the Zhupa's of Prizren: Sredačka Župa, Sirinićka Župa, Gora, Opolje and Prizrenski Podgor.
The Serbian language maintains the word in toponyms, the best known being that of the Župa Aleksandrovačka.
The Slovaks have also preserved the term: it was used as the official name of administrative units of Slovakia within Czechoslovakia in 1918 - 1928 and then again in the Slovak Republic during WWII in 1940-1945. Today it is used semi-officially as an alternative name for the "Autonomous Regions" of Slovakia (whose territory is identical with that of the administrative Regions).
When Slovenia was partitioned between Italy, Hungary, and Germany on 17 April 1941, in the Italian portion, named province of Lubiana, the new administration was led by an Italian High Commissioner, but there also were Presidents of the Council of Zhupans of Lubiana:
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