Doboka is one of the oldest Transylvanian castle counties, its count recorded in 1164.
The castle at Doboka is an earth-and-timber fort on an older kindred stronghold: tradition makes the land the Zsombor kindred's, with the salt of Szék, until Stephen I took two thirds of it and set his own count there. The county is a long strip along the Szamos and its side valleys (Doboka, Szék, Bonchida, Buza, Cege), and in the Árpád age it reached the Beszterce country in the north-east, where the king's estates of Beszterce and Radna lay; German guests settled there before 1241 (the date is not pinned and may be after 1200).
Who he is
- Name
- Not named for 1199-1200
- Title
- Count (ispán, comes) of Doboka
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
A count of Doboka is first recorded in 1164 (hu.wikipedia, Doboka vármegye; Makkai); no name is pinned for 1199-1200 in the sources reached here.
Overlord
King Emeric directly (the counts of Doboka and Kolozs ranked with the voivode until the early 13th century).
What it holds
- The castle of Doboka and its castle folk
- The salt of Szék
- The castle lands along the Szamos and in the Mezőség (Szék, Bonchida, Buza, Cege)
- The royal lands of Beszterce and Radna toward the Borgó and Radna passes (settlement in 1200 not pinned)
How it was acquired
Royal office; count first recorded 1164.
Allies and rivals
The king's officer. Neighbours: the count of Kolozs, the king's county of Szolnok at Dés, the Zsombor kindred's traditional land.
How things stand that morning
A royal count (unnamed) holds Doboka for Emeric on 1 January 1200, answering to the king.
Wealth
The count's third of the castle folk's dues; the salt of Szék is the king's; the Radna silver is not pinned for 1200.
Military
The castle warriors of Doboka; the north-eastern passes (Borgó, Radna) toward the Cumans and Galicia. No figures.
Threats
- The north-eastern passes
- Subordination to the voivode (13th century)
Places of note
- Doboka castle: County castle
- Szék salt: Salt mine of the county
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: One early record of the count (1164); the extent from hu.wikipedia and the later county; Beszterce and Radna as royal estates from the History of Transylvania survey.
On the map: Drawn on the later county and the later Beszterce district.
Primary sources for Transylvania (voivode Legforus)
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Deeds of the Hungarians, by the Anonymous Notary of King Béla, Anonymus (P. magister) (about 1200 to 1210, the date disputed). Not a record of events but a picture of the kingdom's nobility and geography as a courtier of about 1200 wished to see it: the clans and their lands, the castles and counties, the Vlachs, Cumans and other peoples of the Carpathian basin, all projected back onto the conquest. Read online
- Hungarian royal charters: Fejér's Codex diplomaticus and Szentpétery's critical calendar of the Árpád kings (documents of the 11th to 13th centuries; Fejér published 1829 to 1844, Szentpétery vol. 1 in 1923). The documentary base for Hungary in 1200: King Emeric's grants to Pannonhalma, the bishops, the Templars and Hospitallers, Duke Andrew's acts in Croatia and Dalmatia, and the papal letters of 1200 to Emeric about his brother's rebellion and about heresy in Bosnia. Read online
Sources and studies
- Doboka vármegye, hu.wikipedia
- L. Makkai, Royal Counties in Transylvania, in History of Transylvania I (ed. B. Köpeczi, English ed. 2001)
- Bistrița, en.wikipedia
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.