Hospodar
Encyclopedia
Hospodar or gospodar is a term of Slavonic
origin, meaning "lord" or "master".
The rulers of Wallachia
and Moldavia
were styled hospodars in Slavic writings from the 15th century to 1866. Hospodar was used in addition to the title voivod. When writing in Romanian
, the term Domn (from the Latin
dominus
) was used.
At the end of this period, as the title had been held by many vassals of the Ottoman
Sultan
, its retention was considered inconsistent with the independence of the Danubian Principalities
' (formalized from Romania
only in 1878 — replacing the tributary
status). Hospodar was therefore discarded in favour of domnitor
or, in short, domn, which continued to be the official princely title up to the proclamation of a Kingdom of Romania
in 1881 (which did not include Transylvania
until 1918).
).
The pronunciation as hospodar of a word written gospodar in most of the Slavonic languages which retain the Cyrillic alphabet
is not, as is sometimes alleged, due to the influence of Ukrainian
, but to that of Church Slavonic — in both of these, g is frequently pronounced h.
In Ukrainian, hospodar is usually applied to the master/owner of a house or other properties and also the head of a family. The hospodar's house is called as hospoda. There also an alternative form for the head of the household - gazda which also common in Hungary
. Hospod is used exclusively when referring to the Lord and has only has a slight relation to hospodar.
The title was used briefly towards the end of the Second Bulgarian Empire
. In 1394-95, Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria
referred to himself not as a Tsar
(as traditionally), but as a gospodin of Tarnovo, and in foreign sources was styled herzog
or merely called an "infidel bey
". This was possibly to indicate vassalage to Bayezid I
or the yielding of the imperial title to Ivan Sratsimir
.
Ruthenian population of Grand Duchy of Lithuania
used the term to style Grand Duke of Lithuania; in that sense it is also used in official documents (for example, Statutes of Lithuania
), given that Old Belarusian was an official language in Grand Duchy.
In Slovene
, Serbian
, Croatian
and Bulgarian
, gospodar (господар) means a "master", "lord", or "sovereign lord". Other derivatives of the word include the Bulgarian
, Russian
, Macedonian
, Serbian
and Croatian
gospodin (господин, "Mister"), Russian
gospod` (господь, "the Lord"), the Slovene
gospod ("Mister", "gentleman"), the Polish
gospodarz ("host", "owner", "presenter"), the Czech
hospodář (archaic term for "master"). All forms stem from the Proto-Slavic
word gospodü (господъ). Russian word gosudar, which means "sovereign
".
In Slovak
, the word Hospodin (capitalized) is an older and rare address of God. Related to it is hospodár, in a stricter sense an owner or manager of a farm or similar establishment (poľnohospodárstvo or agriculture
is composed of "field" and hospodár. In a broader sense, a manager of any resource. The verb hospodáriť is translated as "to manage", esp. money and property. In Czech
, the word Hospodin (capitalized) is another address of God. Related to it is hospodář referring to a person, that manage some property (e.g. steward, major-domo, bailiff, manciple
or bursar), especially in agriculture (e.g. husbandman, farmer, landowner).
As a term denoting authority the word gospodar has also been the subject of ironic derision. A good example is the song "Gospodar" from the early 1980s by the Slovene punk rock
band Pankrti
.
word gazda = "potentate", "rich landowner" is borrowed from the language of Southern Slavs who inhabited today's Hungary
before the arrival of Hungarians, aka Magyars, to Europe
.
In Romanian
gospodar means good manager of a household or property.
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
origin, meaning "lord" or "master".
The rulers of Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
and Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
were styled hospodars in Slavic writings from the 15th century to 1866. Hospodar was used in addition to the title voivod. When writing in Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
, the term Domn (from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
dominus
Dominus (title)
Dominus is the Latin word for master or owner. As a title of sovereignty the term under the Roman Republic had all the associations of the Greek Tyrannos; refused during the early principate, it finally became an official title of the Roman Emperors under Diocletian...
) was used.
At the end of this period, as the title had been held by many vassals of the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
Sultan
Ottoman Dynasty
The Ottoman Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I , though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself sultan...
, its retention was considered inconsistent with the independence of the Danubian Principalities
Danubian Principalities
Danubian Principalities was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th century. The term was coined in the Habsburg Monarchy after the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common...
' (formalized from Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
only in 1878 — replacing the tributary
Tribute
A tribute is wealth, often in kind, that one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often the case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance. Various ancient states, which could be called suzerains, exacted tribute from areas they had conquered or threatened to conquer...
status). Hospodar was therefore discarded in favour of domnitor
Domnitor
Domnitor was the official title of the ruler of the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia between 1859 and 1866....
or, in short, domn, which continued to be the official princely title up to the proclamation of a Kingdom of Romania
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
in 1881 (which did not include Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
until 1918).
Etymology and Slavic usage
Gospodar is a derivative of gospod, lord, (spelled with a capital G, Gospod, it means Lord, GodGod
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
).
The pronunciation as hospodar of a word written gospodar in most of the Slavonic languages which retain the Cyrillic alphabet
Cyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
is not, as is sometimes alleged, due to the influence of Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
, but to that of Church Slavonic — in both of these, g is frequently pronounced h.
In Ukrainian, hospodar is usually applied to the master/owner of a house or other properties and also the head of a family. The hospodar's house is called as hospoda. There also an alternative form for the head of the household - gazda which also common in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. Hospod is used exclusively when referring to the Lord and has only has a slight relation to hospodar.
The title was used briefly towards the end of the Second Bulgarian Empire
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...
. In 1394-95, Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria
Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria
Ivan Shishman ruled as emperor of Bulgaria in Tarnovo from 1371 to 3 July 1395. The authority of Ivan Shishman was limited to the central parts of the Bulgarian Empire. His indecisive and inconsistent policy did little to prevent the fall of his country under Ottoman rule. In 1393 the Ottoman...
referred to himself not as a Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
(as traditionally), but as a gospodin of Tarnovo, and in foreign sources was styled herzog
Herzog (name)
Herzog is a German hereditary title held by one who rules a territorial duchy, exercises feudal authority over an estate called a duchy, or possesses a right, by law or tradition, to be referred to by the ducal title. The word is usually translated by the English duke and the Latin Dux. Generally,...
or merely called an "infidel bey
Bey
Bey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...
". This was possibly to indicate vassalage to Bayezid I
Bayezid I
Bayezid I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1389 to 1402. He was the son of Murad I and Valide Sultan Gülçiçek Hatun.-Biography:Bayezid was born in Edirne and spent his youth in Bursa, where he received a high-level education...
or the yielding of the imperial title to Ivan Sratsimir
Ivan Sratsimir of Bulgaria
Ivan Sratsimir or Ivan Stratsimir was emperor of Bulgaria in Vidin from 1356 to 1396. He was born in 1324 or 1325, and he died in or after 1397. Despite being the eldest surviving son of Ivan Alexander, Ivan Sratsimir was disinherited in favour of his half-brother Ivan Shishman and proclaimed...
.
Ruthenian population of Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
used the term to style Grand Duke of Lithuania; in that sense it is also used in official documents (for example, Statutes of Lithuania
Statutes of Lithuania
The Statutes of Lithuania originally known as the Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were a 16th century codification of all the legislation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and its successor, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth...
), given that Old Belarusian was an official language in Grand Duchy.
In Slovene
Slovenian language
Slovene or Slovenian is a South Slavic language spoken by approximately 2.5 million speakers worldwide, the majority of whom live in Slovenia. It is the first language of about 1.85 million people and is one of the 23 official and working languages of the European Union...
, Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
, Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
and Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
, gospodar (господар) means a "master", "lord", or "sovereign lord". Other derivatives of the word include the Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, Macedonian
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
, Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
and Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
gospodin (господин, "Mister"), Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
gospod` (господь, "the Lord"), the Slovene
Slovenian language
Slovene or Slovenian is a South Slavic language spoken by approximately 2.5 million speakers worldwide, the majority of whom live in Slovenia. It is the first language of about 1.85 million people and is one of the 23 official and working languages of the European Union...
gospod ("Mister", "gentleman"), the Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
gospodarz ("host", "owner", "presenter"), the Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
hospodář (archaic term for "master"). All forms stem from the Proto-Slavic
Proto-Slavic language
Proto-Slavic is the proto-language from which Slavic languages later emerged. It was spoken before the seventh century AD. As with most other proto-languages, no attested writings have been found; the language has been reconstructed by applying the comparative method to all the attested Slavic...
word gospodü (господъ). Russian word gosudar, which means "sovereign
Sovereign
A sovereign is the supreme lawmaking authority within its jurisdiction.Sovereign may also refer to:*Monarch, the sovereign of a monarchy*Sovereign Bank, banking institution in the United States*Sovereign...
".
In Slovak
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
, the word Hospodin (capitalized) is an older and rare address of God. Related to it is hospodár, in a stricter sense an owner or manager of a farm or similar establishment (poľnohospodárstvo or agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
is composed of "field" and hospodár. In a broader sense, a manager of any resource. The verb hospodáriť is translated as "to manage", esp. money and property. In Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
, the word Hospodin (capitalized) is another address of God. Related to it is hospodář referring to a person, that manage some property (e.g. steward, major-domo, bailiff, manciple
Manciple
A manciple is a person in charge of the purchase and storage of food at an institution such as a college, monastery, or court of law. Manciples were sometimes also in charge of catering more generally, including food preparation...
or bursar), especially in agriculture (e.g. husbandman, farmer, landowner).
As a term denoting authority the word gospodar has also been the subject of ironic derision. A good example is the song "Gospodar" from the early 1980s by the Slovene punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Pankrti
Pankrti
Pankrti were a punk rock band from Ljubljana, Slovenia, active in the late 1970s and during the 1980s. They were known for provocative and politically engaged songs and billed themselves "The First Punk Band Behind The Iron Curtain"...
.
Non-Slavic usage
HungarianHungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
word gazda = "potentate", "rich landowner" is borrowed from the language of Southern Slavs who inhabited today's Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
before the arrival of Hungarians, aka Magyars, to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
In Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
gospodar means good manager of a household or property.
See also
- Slavic honorificsSlavic honorificsSlavic honorifics do not consist of a broad array of titles. There are two main honorifics among the Slavic peoples. The Western Slavs and the Ukrainians use the title of Pan, the Southern Slavs and Russians use title of Gospodin, while Belarussians use either Pan or Spadar...
- Voivod
- List of rulers of Moldavia
- List of rulers of Wallachia
- PhanariotesPhanariotesPhanariots, Phanariotes, or Phanariote Greeks were members of those prominent Greek families residing in Phanar , the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople, where the Ecumenical Patriarchate is situated.For all their cosmopolitanism and often Western education, the Phanariots were...