Воевода: История и значение славянского титула

Historical Slavic noble title
other uses of "voivod", "voyevoda", etc. Voivode ('/v//ɔɪ//v//oʊ//d/ VOYvohd), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ('/v//aɪ//v//oʊ//d//, /'/v//eɪ// / V(A)Yvohd), voivoda, vojvoda or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the medieval rulers of the Romanian inhabited states and of governors and military commanders of Ukrainian Cossacks, Hungarian, Balkan, Russian people and other Slavic speaking populations. In the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth, voivode was interchangeably used with palatine. In the Tsardom of Russia, a voivode was a military governor. Among the Danube principalities, voivode was considered a princely title.

The term voivode comes from two roots. вой(на) means war, fight, while водя means 'leading' in Old Slavic, together meaning 'war leader' or 'warlord'. The Latin translation is comes palatinus for the principal commander of a military force, serving as a deputy for the monarch. In early Slavic, vojevoda meant the bellidux, the military leader in battle. The term has also spread to non Slavic languages, like Romanian, Hungarian and Albanian, in areas with Slavic influence.

During the Byzantine Empire it referred to military commanders mainly of Slavic speaking populations, especially in the Balkans, the Bulgarian Empire being the first permanently established Slavic state in the region. The title voevodas originally occurs in the work of the 10th century Byzantine emperor Constantine VII in his De Administrando Imperio, in reference to Hungarian military leaders. The title was used in medieval: Bohemia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldavia, Poland, Rügen, Russian Empire, Ukraine, Serbia, Transylvania and Wallachia. In the Late Middle Ages the voivode, Latin translation is comes palatinus for the principal commander of a military force, deputising for the monarch gradually became the title of territorial governors in Poland, Hungary and the Czech lands and in the Balkans. During the Ottoman administration of Greece, the Ottoman Voivode of Athens resided in the ancient Gymnasium of Hadrian. The Serbian Autonomous Province of Vojvodina descends from the Serbian Vojvodina, with Stevan Šupljikac as Vojvoda or Duke, that became later Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar.

The transition of the voivode from military leader to a high ranking civic role in territorial administration (Local government) occurred in most Slavic speaking countries and in the Balkans during the Late Middle Ages. They included Bulgaria, Bohemia, Moldavia and Poland. Moreover, in the Czech lands, but also in the Balkans, it was an aristocratic title corresponding to dux, Duke or Prince. Many noble families of the Illyricum still use this title despite the disputes about the very existence of nobility in the Balkans.

The chief Ottoman administrator of Athens was also called the voivode. One such holder of this title, Hadji Ali Haseki, was voivode on five separate occasions before his final banishment and execution in 1795 after angering both the Greek and Turkish residents of Athens and making powerful enemies at the Porte.

In 16th century Poland and Lithuania, the wojewoda was a civic role of senatorial rank and neither heritable nor a title of nobility. His powers and duties depended on his location. The least onerous role was in Ruthenia while the most powerful wojewoda was in Royal Prussia. The role began in the crown lands as that of an administrative overseer, but his powers were largely ceremonial. Over time he became a representative in the local and national assemblies, the Sejm. His military functions were entirely reduced to supervising a mass mobilization and in practice he ended up as little more than overseer of weights and measures. Appointments to the role were usually made until 1775 by the king. The exceptions were the voivodes of Polock and Vitebsk who were elected by a local poll of male electors for confirmation by the monarch. In 1791, it was decided to adopt the procedure throughout the country but the 18th century Partitions of Poland put a stop to it. Polish voivodes were subject to the Law of Incompatibility (1569) which prevented them from simultaneously holding ministerial or other civic offices in their area.

Following the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, the rank of Vojvoda was continued in the Independent State of Croatia as Vojskovodja. The rank was used by both the Croatian Home Guard and the air force.

In the Kingdom of Serbia and its later iteration, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the highest military rank was Vojvoda. After the Second World War, the newly formed Yugoslav People's Army stopped using the royal ranking system, making the name obsolete.