A helytartói státus. Albert szász herceg (1738–1822) kinevezése és évtizedei Magyarországon
The Lieutenant-Governorship. Prince Albert of Saxony (1738– 1822) – his appointment and decades in Hungary

Summary/Abstract: Instead of naming a new person to replace the deceased palatine (viceroy), Lajos Batthyány, Maria Theresa appointed a lieutenant-governor (locumtenens) of Hungary in 1765. The lieutenant-governorship was not an unknown institution in the kingdom. In the Middle Ages, the viceroy (palatine), elected by the Estates, stood in for the king in a number of fields. After 1526, Habsburg rulers did not reside in Hungary. If no viceroy was elected, they appointed a lieutenant-governor, a trustworthy, loyal person, to run the affairs of the country. The rights and privileges of the locumtenentes were never clearly defined, and it was always up to the monarch to decide their responsibilities. There was a tendency after Charles III (IV) to select such persons from among chose associates of the Habsburg family. In 1732, Francis Stephen of Lorraine was chosen. He was the prospective husband of Maria Theresa and future Holy Roman Emperor, who held the office until 1741, when the new diet elected a new viceroy. His sphere of authority and role served as model in 1765 at the appointment of Prince Albert as locumtenens. The lieutenantgovernors were granted various powers and titles: the chief responsibility of both princes was to preside at the sessions of the Lieutenant-Governor’s Council, the highest (administrative) government office in Hungary, founded in 1723. Both presided at the sessions of the Supreme Court of Justice (Septemvirate Court of Appeal) as Chief Justice of Hungary. Albert was in addition, High Sheriff and Chief Justice of the Jazygians and Cumans. Francis did not have this title (since the three privileged regions redeemed themselves only in 1745), but he had the right to grant up to 32 tenements held in villeinage. This mediaeval privilege of the viceroys was, however, kept by Maria Theresa for herself in 1765. According to Article 1659:76, the palatine was also High Sheriff of Pest-Pilis-Solt County. The monarch had the right to appoint a lieutenant-governor to that office. Both Francis of Lorraine and Prince Albert were granted the office, although they subsequently ran the county through administrators.[...] Provinces and the Kingdom of Hungary, and thus restricted the influence of the Estates. The Hungarian Lieutenant-Governorships of Francis and Albert thus gained significance not only for political reasons, but for family and family-political considerations as well.

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