Zagreb county is the heart of Slavonia: the plain of the Sava round Zagreb (the Campus Zagrabiensis, later called Turopolje), the southern Zagorje below the Medvednica and the Ivanščica, and the Pokuplje along the Kupa.
It is a royal castle county on the Hungarian model, run by an ispán with castle warriors and castle folk owing service and dues to the royal castle. Inside it lie the great estates of the bishop of Zagreb and his chapter (the Kaptol, Dubrava, Ivanić and others: Church map), which are not the ispán's. The ispán of 1199-1200 is not named in the sources used here.
Where the royal castle of the county stood is not pinned: the hill of Grič (Gradec) above the Kaptol is the obvious site, but its royal town is the work of Béla IV (1242).
Who he is
- Name
- Not pinned for 1199-1200
- Title
- Ispán (comes, župan) of Zagreb
- Confidence
- low
Not named in the sources used for 1199-1200; the king's appointee (an Emeric partisan since summer 1199, per Zsoldos 2022 on the exile period). The county is one of the two great cores of Slavonia (Hrvatska enciklopedija, Slavonija).
Overlord
The king, through the ban
What it holds
- The castle land and castle folk of Zagreb county.
- Royal estates and tolls on the Sava crossing and the road from Hungary toward the Kupa and the coast.
- Jurisdiction over the free men of the county below the ban.
How it was acquired
A royal county since the Árpád conquest of Slavonia (the bishopric was founded about 1094).
Allies and rivals
The bishop of Zagreb (Dominic, Emeric's man: campaign notes) is the greatest landowner in the county.
How things stand that morning
A royal county under an ispán loyal to Emeric that winter (inferred from the exile period, name not pinned).
Wealth
The marten-skin tax (marturina), castle-folk dues, tolls, Zagorje wine, the Sava trade.
Military
Castle warriors and castle folk of Zagreb; no numbers recorded. The later privileges of the Turopolje castle nobility (1278-1279) are not yet in being.
Threats
- Andrew's return in 1200 could bring a change of ispán.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- Summer 1200With Andrew restored as duke the ispáns may change hands.Depends on: The reconciliation. Stopped by: No peace.
Places of note
- Zagreb: County centre and the bishop's city.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The county is certain; its ispán, castle and extent in 1200 are not pinned. Turopolje is first named in 1334 and its castle nobility's privileges date from 1278-1279 (Hrvatska enciklopedija).
On the map: Medieval counties were not continuous blocks: the bishop's and the kindreds' estates lay among the castle lands. The northern edge toward Varaždin county and the eastern edge toward Križevci are rough. Žumberak (later Sichelburg) at the western edge falls inside the drawing; whether it was Croatian or Carniolan in 1200 is not pinned.
Primary sources for Croatia and Dalmatia
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.
- History of the bishops of Salona and Split, by Thomas the Archdeacon, Thomas of Split (about 1266). Written two generations later by a Split churchman born about 1200. Read online
- History of the doges of Venice (about 1229, with a continuation). The earliest surviving Venetian narrative close to the events. Read online
- 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
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
- Charters of the kingdom of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia, volume 2, 1101 to 1200 (documents of 1101 to 1200, edited 1904). The Croatian and Dalmatian charters to 1200: the acts of Duke Andrew as lord of Croatia and Dalmatia (1197 to 1204), the Hungarian kings' grants, the Templars and the bishops of Zagreb, Split, Zadar and Trogir, the communal statutes of the coastal towns, and the papal letters of 1200 to Emeric about Ban Kulin of Bosnia and heresy. 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
- Documents on the older commercial and political history of the Republic of Venice, part 1, 814 to 1205 (documents of 814 to 1205, edited 1856). Venice's treaties and privileges in full text. Read online
Sources and studies
- Slavonija (Hrvatska enciklopedija)
- History of Zagreb (English Wikipedia)
- Turopolje (Hrvatska enciklopedija)
- Andrew II of Hungary (English Wikipedia; citing Érszegi and Solymosi 1981, Curta 2006, Fine 1994, Zsoldos 2022)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.