A perpetual count ( Hungarian: örökös főispán, Latin: supremus et perpetuus comes) [1] was a head or an ispán of a county in the Kingdom of Hungary (“Lord Lieutenant”) whose office was either hereditary or attached to the dignity of a prelate or of a great officer of the realm. The earliest examples of a perpetual ispánate are from the 12th century, but the institution flourished between the 15th and 18th centuries. Although all administrative functions of the office were abolished in 1870, the title itself was preserved until the general abolition of noble titles in Hungary in 1946.
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County | Family | Period | Notes | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
Abaúj | Perényi | 1570–1598 1643–1699 |
[10] | |
Csáky | 1702–1764 | |||
Árva | Thurzó | 1585–1626 | also perpetual ispáns of Szepes County | [11] |
Thököly | 1666–1668 | |||
Bereg | Schönborn | 1740– | last grant of a perpetual ispánate | [12] |
Beszterce | Hunyadi | 1452–1458 | earliest example of a hereditary title in Hungary proper | [13] |
Beszterce | Szilágyi | 1458–? | [14] | |
Hont | Koháry | 1711–1826 | [15] | |
Komárom | Nádasdy | 1751– | last grant of a perpetual ispánate | [16] |
Liptó | Illésházy | 1582–1838 | also perpetual ispáns of Trencsén County | [17] |
Požega/Pozsega | Keglevich | 1707–1749 | [18] | |
Pozsony | Pálffy | 1651– | always a member of the family was appointed ispán from 1580 | [19] |
Sáros | Rákóczi | 1666–1711 | always a member of the family was appointed ispán from 1622 | [20] |
Sopron | Esterházy | 1686– | always a member of the family was appointed ispán from 1626 | [21] |
Szepes | Szapolyai | 1464–1528 | [22] [23] | |
Thurzó | 1531–1635 | also perpetual ispáns of Árva County | [24] | |
Csáky | 1638– | [25] | ||
Teočak | Újlaki | 1464–? | in Bosnia | [26] |
Trencsén | Illésházy | 1600–1838 | also perpetual ispáns of Liptó County | [27] |
Turóc | Révay | 1712–1875 | always a member of the family was appointed ispán from 1532 | [28] |
Valkó | Draskovich | 1693–1695 | the county was dissolved in 1695 | [29] |
Varaždin/Varasd | Erdődy | 1570–c. 1582 | [30] | |
Erdődy | 1687– | always a member of the family was appointed ispán from 1607 | [29] | |
Vas | Batthyány | 1728– | [31] | |
Zala | Althann | 1721–1824 | [32] |