Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin
magnas, a great man, itself from
Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities.
The term was specifically applied to the members (equivalent to British Peers) of the Upper House in the
Apostolic kingdom of Hungary, the
Főrendiház or
House of Magnates.
It is also a
title of nobility commonly used in the
Kingdom of Poland (and later the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, not just of peerage level), and some other
medieval realms . In Sweden, wealthiest lords were known as
storman (plural
stormän), "great men", a similar description as magnate, and same meaning.
In the
Middle Ages a
bishop sometimes held territory as a magnate, collecting the revenue of the
manors and the associated
knights' fees.
In Poland all members of the nobility (
szlachta) were equal under the law. "Magnate" () was thus not an official title but rather a position of
social class, based on
wealth. Magnates (or higher nobility) vied for political power with the lesser and middle nobility (see
Ruch egzekucyjny) and the Krol (Monarch). From the second half of the
17th century, the magnates emerged as the victors in the struggle for power in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as they were able to concentrate most of the land in their own hands and bribe smaller nobles to preserve the appearance of democracy: "
Golden Liberty" in the parliaments, not only the local
Sejmiks but also in the national
Sejm.
There were several other terms for "magnate" in Poland:
*
Możny - "powerful one"; used up to the
15th century, later replaced by
Magnat;
*
królik, plural
królewięta - "petty kings", used especially of magnates with large
fiefdoms in
Lithuania or
Ukraine; rather negative (
król in Polish means "king", but the diminutive
królik also means "rabbit");
*
pan - lord (much later, by title devaluation, Mister); this could also apply to members of the common
szlachta and was often used by people from other social classes;
*
starsi bracia - "older brothers"; all members of the
szlachta referred to each other as
Pan brat, but Magnates who were appointed to the
Senate of Poland often styled themselves
senior brothers, referring to the nobles from the
Sejm ("parliament") as
młodsi bracia ("junior brothers");
*
karmazyn - "the crimson one", from their expensive crimson-coloured clothing (especially the boots).
Several Magnates held high feudal titles or peerage ranks such as
prince or
count. With few exceptions, mostly dating from the
Union of Lublin, and special privileges permitting some
Lithuanian magnates to use them, such titles were forbidden by law. Titles from offices however were very popular: see
Offices in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
*
Aristocracy*
Leidang*
List of szlachta (this article lists the families of the magnate class, or higher nobility).
*
Swedish nobility(incomplete)
