Royal servant (Kingdom of Hungary)

A royal servant (Hungarian: szerviens, Latin: serviens regis) was a freeman in the Kingdom of Hungary in the 13th century who owned possession and was subordinate only to the king. The expression was documented for the first time in a charter issued in 1217. By the end of the 13th century, the use of the expression ceased, and the "royal servants" merged into the nobility of the kingdom and they formed the basis of the lesser nobility.

In the 11-12th centuries, the ancestors of the "royal servants" can be found among the "freemen" who provided military services to the kings and whose troops were led by the kings and not by the heads of the "royal counties". "Castle warriors" also increased the number of "royal servants" if the king liberated them from the services they had been obliged to provide to the heads of the royal castles. Even serfs could receive their liberties provided that the king not only liberated them personally but also granted them possessions.

The "royal servants'" freedom became endangered during the reign of King Andrew II (1205-1235) who granted whole "royal counties" (i.e., all the royal domains in the counties) to his partisans. The new lords endeavoured to expand their supremacy over the "royal servants" who owned possessions in the county. However, the "royal servants'" commenced to organize themselves and they persuaded the king to issue the Golden Bull, a royal decree summarizing and confirming their following liberties:

Article 2: We also wish that neither me or the kings following us would arrest a royal servant or cause his deterioration for the benefit of any of the notabilities only if an action have been taken against him and he have been sentenced in the course of ordinary legal procedure.

Article 3: Moreover, we will not levy either any tax or the servants' denarius in the royal servants' possessions. We will not stay uninvited either in their houses or in their villages. (...)

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