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Spiš (-Slovak; Latin: Scepusium, Polish: Spisz, German: Zips, Hungarian: Szepes) is the name of a historic administrative county now in north-eastern Slovakia, with a very small area in south-eastern Poland.

Today Spiš is an informal designation of the corresponding territory (like Burgundy or French Basque Country), but it is also the name of one the 21 official tourism regions of Slovakia. The region is no longer an administrative division in its own right.

Geography

Spiš county shared borders with Poland and with the counties of Liptov (Hungarian: Liptó), Gemer-Malohont (Gömör-Kishont), Abov-Turňa (Abaúj-Torna) and Šariš (Sáros) in the Kingdom of Hungary. After the late 18th century dismemberment of Poland, the border was with the Austrian province of Galicia. Its area was 3,668 km² in 1910. The province became part of Czechoslovakia, apart from a very small area now in Poland, after the First World War, and is now part of Slovakia.

The region is situated between the High Tatras and the Dunajec river in the north, the springs of the Váh river in the west, the Slovenské rudohorie mountains and Hnilec river in the south, and a line running from the town of Stará Ľubovňa, via the Branisko Mountain (under which lies a 4,822m long road tunnel, the longest in Slovakia), to the town of Margecany in the east. The core of the Spiš region is formed by the basins of the rivers Hornád and Poprad, and the High Tatra Mountains. Throughout its history, the territory has been characterized by a large percentage of forests - in the late 19th century, as much as 42,2% of Spiš was forest.

Capitals

The original seat of government of Spiš county was Spiš Castle which was constructed in the 12th century. Unofficially from the 14th century, and officially from the 16th century, until 1918 the capital of the county was Levoča (Hungarian: Lőcse, German: Leutschau).

Subdivisions

From the beginning of the 15th century, the county was subdivided into three processuses. The number was changed to 4 in 1798. In the 2nd half of the 19th century the number of processuses (districts) was increased.

In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of the county Szepes/Spiš were (town names first in Hungarian, then in Slovak, then in German):

History

Early history

Traces of settlement in the Neanderthal era have been found in remains at Gánovce and Bešeňová.

The territory of the Spiš county was later populated by Celts and Slovaks. The southern part of the territory was conquered by the Kingdom of Hungary at the end of the 11th century, when the border of the Kingdom ended near the modern town of Kežmarok. The royal county of Spiš (comitatus Scepusiensis) was created in the 2nd half of the 12th century. In the 1250s the border of the Kingdom of Hungary shifted to the north to Podolínec and in 1260 - in the northwest - to the Dunajec river. The northeastern region around Hniezdne and Stará Ľubovňa (the so-called "districtus Podoliensis") were incorporated only in the 1290s. The northern border of the county stabilized in the early 14th century. Around 1300, the royal county became a noble county.

The subsidiary of the Hungarian Chamber (the supreme Austrian financial and economy institution in the Kingdom of Hungary) responsible for eastern Slovakia and adjacent territories (i.e. not only for Spiš) was called the Spiš Chamber (Zipser Kammer in German). Its seat was the town of Košice (sometimes Prešov) and it existed from 1563 to 1848.

Counts of Spiš

The rulers of the county were from the following Hungarian noble families:

• Zápolya (1464-1527)
• Thurzo (1531-1636)
• Csáky (1638-1848)

Sedes of the ten lance-bearers

Until 1802, there was a special separate tiny county or 'Parvus comitatus', known as 'Sedes superior' (upper county) or 'Sedes X lanceatorum' (county of the ten lance-bearers), which was situated to the east of Poprad in present-day southern Spiš, and whose origin is unknown. From the 12th century onwards its inhabitants were known as the "guardians of the northern border." The inhabitants and names of the settlements in the county were Slovak. In 1802, when its inhabitants decided to merge the sedes with Spiš county, it included the following settlements: Abrahámovce, Betlanovce, Filice (today part of Gánovce), Hadušovce (today part of Spišské Tomášovce), Hôrka (including Kišovce, Svätý Ondrej, Primovce), Hozelec, Jánovce (including Čenčice), Komárov, Levkovce (today part of Vlková), and Machalovce (today part of Jánovce). Originally more villages were included.

The 'lance-bearers' were squires. The "sedes" was a collection of non-contiguous areas, which did not constitute a continuous territory. It had an autonomous government, similar to that of normal Hungarian counties, but was partly subordinated to the head of Spiš county. Until the 15th century its capital was Špišský Štvrtok (which interestingly was not part of the sedes territories); following this there were various capitals, and after 1726 the capital was Betlanovce.

Arrival of the Germans

Many of the towns of Spiš developed from German colonization of existing Slovak settlements. The German settlers had been invited to the territory from the mid-12th century onwards. The major immigration came following the devastating Tatar invasion of 1242, which turned Spiš, like other parts of the Kingdom of Hungary, into a largely depopulated area (some 50% of the population were lost). Subsequently, King Béla IV of Hungary invited Germans to colonize the Spiš and other regions of Slovakia, present-day Hungary and Transylvania. The settlers were mostly traders and miners. The settlements founded by them in the southern Spiš were mainly mining settlements (later towns). Consequently, until World War II Spiš had a large German population (see Carpathian Germans). The last wave of Germans arrived in the 15th century.

In the early 13th century, the people of Spiš created their own religious organization called the "Brotherhood of the 24 royal parish priests", which received many privileges from the local provost. It was re-established after the Tatar invasion in 1248.

At the same time, the German settlements of the Hornád and Poprad basins created a special political territory with its own administration. They received collective privileges from King Stephen V in 1271, which were confirmed and extended by King Charles I in 1317, because the Spiš Germans had helped him to defeat the oligarchs of the Kingdom of Hungary in the battle at Rozhanovce in 1312. The territory was granted self-government privileges similar to those of the royal free towns. In 1317, the special territory included 43 settlements, including Levoča and Kežmarok, which however withdrew before 1344. From 1370 the 41 settlements of the territory subscribed to a uniform special Spiš law system (called Zipser Willkür in German). Initially, the special territory was called "Communitas (or Provincia) Saxonum de Scepus". By the mid-14th century, the territory was reduced to 24 settlements and later the name was changed to Provincia XXIV oppidorum terrae Scepusiensis in Latin (Bund der 24 Zipser Städte in German ). The province was led by the Count (Graf) of Spiš elected by the town judges of the 24 towns.

There was yet another privileged territory in the Spiš. Until 1465, the privileged German mining towns in southern Spiš (e.g. Gelnica, Švedlár, Mníšek nad Hnilcom, Helcmanovce, Prakovce, Vondrišel (today called Nálepkovo), Jaklovce, Margecany, Smolník, Slovinky, and Krompachy) were also exempt from the power of the Count of Spiš.

The Pawning of Spiš towns and the Province of 16 Spiš towns

The Province of 24 Spiš towns was dissolved in 1412, when, by the Treaty of Lubowla King Sigismund of Luxembourg, ruler of Hungary, pawned 13 of the towns of the former Province, as well the territory around the Stará Ľubovňa (i. e. the royal domain Stará Ľubovňa, plus Hniezdo and Podolínec) to Poland, in exchange for 60 times the amount of 37,000 of Czech groschen, that is, approximately 7 tonnes of pure silver. This was to enable the financing of his war against Venice. Similar short-time pledges (without interest payments) were not uncommon at that time (e.g. the pawning of the Nitra county, Bratislava county, the Brandenburg marches etc). The pledged towns were to be returned to the Kingdom of Hungary as soon as the loan was repaid; nobody expected the pledge would take 360 years to redeem (from 1412 to 1772).

The 13 main pawned settlements did not form a continuous territory. They included: Ľubica, Poprad, Matejovce (today in Poprad), Spišská Sobota (today in Poprad), Stráže pod Tatrami (today in Poprad), Veľká (today in Poprad), Ruskinovce (no longer in existence, located in the military training area Javorina near Kežmarok), Spišská Belá, Spišská Nová Ves, Spišské Podhradie, Spišské Vlachy, Tvarožná and Vrbov.

They kept their privileged status (now in respect of the Polish kings who did not change the privileges) and created the "Province/Union of 13 Spiš towns" in 1412. The remaining 11 towns of the former 24 towns, which created the "Province/Union of 11 Spiš towns" in 1412, were not able to maintain their privileges and as early as in 1465 they were fully incorporated into the Spiš county, i. e. they became subjects of the lords of the Spiš Castle. Most of them gradually turned into simple villages and largely lost their German character.

The pawned territories remained politically a part of the Kingdom of Hungary (and of its Esztergom diocese), while the economic benefit of the territories was subject during the pledge to Poland. Poland also held some administrative powers in the area and was entitled to appoint a governor/administrator (starosta) for the territories, with his seat in Stará Ľubovňa, to manage them economically (especially to collect tax revenues) and to position guards at important road crossings even outside the pawned territories. One of the first Polish governors of Spiš was the famous knight Zawisza Czarny. Due to their complex political and economic status (German towns with Slovak subjects in the Kingdom of Hungary pawned to Poland) the towns experienced an economic collapse.

Attempts of the Kingdom of Hungary to repay the debt (most notably in 1419, 1426 and 1439) failed and later the will (or ability) to pay declined. After alleged mistreatment of the towns had occurred - especially by Teodor Konstanty Lubomirski, Maria Josepha of Austria, queen consort of August III of Poland, and by Count Heinrich Brühl -, Maria Theresa of Austria decided to recover them by force: she took advantage of the Polish noble insurrections in the second half of the 18th century and occupied the towns in 1769 (with the apparent consent of the then Polish king Stanislaus II of Poland) without debt repayment. This act was confirmed by the First Partition of Poland in 1772. In 1773 when the pawn was cancelled. In 1778 the 13 towns regained their privileges of 1271, the privileges were extended to the other 3 previously pawned towns, and this newly formed entity was named "Province of 16 Spiš towns". The capital of the province was Spišská Nová Ves. However, the privileges were gradually reduced and some 100 years later only religious and cultural rights remained. Finally, the province was dissolved altogether and incorporated into Spiš county in 1876.

From the 16th to the 19th centuries

The Spiš region prospered not only from being situated on trade routes, but also from its natural resources of wood, agriculture and, until relatively recent times, mining. In the fifteenth century and later, iron, copper and silver were all expolited in the south of the region. Its relatrve wealth during this period, and its mixture of nationalities and religions, resulted in it becoming a major cultural centre - many schools were founded, and the town of Levoča became a major centre for printing in the 17th century. The buidlings and churches of the region's towns, and the skills of schools such as those of the carver Master Paul of Levoča testify to this affluence and culture. Until the end of the 17th century the area was often disrupted by wars, uprisings against the Habsburgs, and epidemics (a plague of 1710/1711 killed over 20,000). But from the eighteenth century onwards, relative stability enabled faster economic development. Many craft guilds were founded and by the end of the 18th century over 500 iron mines were operative in the south.

Such prosperity naturally meant that the churches paid great interest to the region. А Lutheran synod, the so-called Spiš synod, took place in Spiš in 1614. It discussed the Protestant organisation of the Spiš and Šariš counties. In the Catholic sphere, a separate Spiš Bishopric was created in 1776 with its seat at Spišská Kapitula.

The spirit of nationalism, growing in the nineteenth century, moved also in Spiš. In 1868, 21 Spiš settlements sent their demands, the 'Spiš Petition', to the Diet of the Kingdom of Hungary, requesting special status for Slovaks within the Kingdom.

In 1871 the railway came to Spiš and this was to have profound consequences. On the one hand, it enabled economic and industrial expansion. On the other, it bypassed the old capital of the region, Levoča, and favoured the growth of centres on its route, such as Poprad and Spišská Nová Ves.

Spiš after the creation of Czechoslovakia

In 1918 (confirmed by the Treaty of Trianon 1920), the county became part of newly formed Czechoslovakia. A tiny part of the territory (situated in today's Poland below the Rysy), amonuting to 195 km² had become part of Austria (at that time the western part of Austria-Hungary) as early as in 1902. This territory was annexed by Poland and became the subject of a long-running border dispute between Poland and Czechoslovakia. (See separate article, Czechoslovak-Polish border dispute (1918-1947)). In 1923 Slovak Spiš was divided between the newly formed Sub-Tatra county (Podtatranská župa) and Košice county (Коšická župa). In 1928-1939 and 1945-1948 it was part of the newly created Slovak Land (Slovenská krajina).

During World War II, when Czechoslovakia was split temporarily, Spiš was part of independent Slovakia and formed the eastern part of the Tatra county ( Tatranská župa) between 1940 and 1945. During this period many thousands of Jewish residents of Spiš were deported to Nazi extermination camps, and the long-standing presence of Jews in the region came to an end. At the end of WWII, most of the Spiš Germans were evacuated between mid-November 1944 and 21 January 1945 in order to escape the Red Army approaching from the East (see also Carpathian Germans).

After World War II Spiš county was in Czechoslovakia again. In 1948, it became part of the newly created Košice Region (Košický kraj ) and Prešov Region (Prešovský kraj ), whose borders however were completely different from those of the present-day regions of the same name. From July 1960 it became part of the newly created Eastern Slovak region (Východoslovenský kraj), which ceased to exist in September 1990.

In 1993, Czechoslovakia was split and Spiš became part of Slovakia.

Nationalities

According to censuses carried out in the Kingdom of Hungary in 1869 (and later in 1900 and 1910) the population of Spiš county comprised the following nationalities: Slovaks 50.4%, (58.2%, 58%), Germans 35% (25%, 25%), Ruthenians/Ukrainians 13.8% (8.4%, 8%) and 0.7% (6%, 6%) Magyars (Hungarians). Hardly any Hungarians lived in the territory during the existence of the Kingdom of Hungary. The sudden increase after 1869 is due to statistical interpretation (use of "most frequently used language" as criterion) and extensive Magyarisation which entailed assimilation, especially of Germans. The figures thus do not make clear how Jews were categorised, but their numbers must have been substantial as many of the towns had synagogues (one survives in Spisske Podhradie) and Jewish cemeteries still survive in Kežmarok, Levoča and elsewhere.

The present breakdown of population in the region would however be very different. The Germans were effectively deported in the years following World War II. As mentioned above, virtually all the local Jews were deported to extermination camps during the First Slovak Republic.

Present day Spiš has a number of Roma settlements and the Roma people are a substantial minority of the region's population.

There is also a very small minority of Gorals (Slovak: Gorali; literally Highlanders). Although a negligible number in census terms, the Gorals have their own distinctive culture and dialect.

Economy

Historically economic activity in the region has been principally based on agriculture (and in former times mining) and it remains one of the relatively poorer regions of Slovakia. However tourism has always been an asset, with the sanatoria and the winter sports in the High Tatras and Low Tatras, areas of natural beauty such as the Slovak Paradise (Slovenský raj) in the southwest and Pieniny at the Slovak-Polish border, and the region's many historic sites. These include Spiš Castle and the nearby sites of Spišské Podhradie, Spišská Kapitula and Žehra (all of which are listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites), the town of Levoča and Stará Ľubovňa Castle. The tourism industry is now developing swiftly, aided by the introduction of international flights to the airport at Poprad and improving rail and road connections.

Spiš today

Spiš today is one of Slovakia's 21 tourist regions. It no longer however represents, as did its predecessor, an administrative region.

Since 1996, Spiš has been divided between the modern Kosice Region and Presov Region and is covered approximately by the following six administrative districts: Poprad, Kežmarok, Stará Ľubovňa, Spišská Nová Ves, Levoča and Gelnica, except for the eastern half of the Stará Ľubovňa District and three villages of the Poprad district (Štrba including Tatranská Štrba, Štrbské Pleso and Liptovská Teplička from Liptov county.)

The present population of the Spiš region is about 320,000; almost half the population lives in towns, the largest of which are Poprad (55,000), and Spišská Nová Ves (39,000).

External links

• (Unofficial) Spiš web site

Template:Link FA

• Spiš
• Traditional regions of Slovakia
• Disputed territories
• Polish historical regions
• Counties in the Kingdom of Hungary