Vogt

:"This article is about the title Vogt. For the surname, see Vogt (surname). For the place in Germany, see Vogt, Germany. For the musical group, see Funker Vogt."

Vogt (also "Voigt"; plural Vögte; Dutch "voogd"; Danish "foged"; Polish: "Wójt"; equivalent in Latin "advocatus") is probably derived from Old High German "vogeten", "to protect". Originally, it referred in medieval German-speaking areas to the guardianship or military protection executed by an overlord over ecclesiastical institutions and their territory. The territory or area of responsibility of a Vogt is called a "Vogtei". In addition to his protective military function, the Vogt dispensed secular justice.

Frankish Empire

The range of social status and degrees of responsibility of persons so titled varied greatly, from the humble — the equivalents of the English reeve or bailiff — to the very elevated. At the upper end of its social range the office of Vogt was frequently held by noble and princely families in relation to ecclesiastical territories, a position which such families often exploited to their own advantage, and it is in this connection that it is most commonly referred to.

The concept of the "Vogt" was related to the Old German idea of the "Munt", or guardian, but also included some ideas of physical defence and legal representation (whence the connection with "advocatus" or "advocate").

From the time of Charlemagne, who had such officials appointed in ecclesiastical territories not directly under the control of his counts, the "Vogt" was a state functionary representing ecclesiastical dignitaries (such as bishops and abbots) or institutions in secular matters, and particularly before secular courts. Such representatives had been assigned to the church since late antiquity, as it was not supposed to act for itself in worldly affairs. Therefore, in areas such as the territories of abbeys and bishoprics, which by virtue of their ecclesiastical status were free (or immune) from the secular government of the local count ("Graf", in origin an administrative official in charge of a territory and reporting to the emperor), the "Vogt" fulfilled the function of a protective lordship, generally commanding the military contingents of such areas ("Schirmvogtei"). Beyond that, he administered the high justice instead of the count from the "Vogt court" ("Vogtgericht" or Blutgericht).

Holy Roman Empire

In the Holy Roman Empire, the term "Vogt" can refer to two different offices: church vogt or imperial vogt. Imperial vogts are further subdivided into land vogts and city vogts. In addition, the term vogt was used for administrative officers of territorial rulers, such as bailiffs.

Church vogt

In private and family monasteries (see proprietary church) the proprietor himself often also held the office of "Vogt", frequently retaining it after reform of the propietorship (see also Lay abbot).

The three-way struggle for control of the "Vogtei" of the more important abbacies, played out among the central monarchy, the Church and the territorial nobility, [This institutional struggle is analysed by Theodor Mayer, "Fürsten und Staat: Studien zur Verfassungsgeschichte des deutschen Mittelalters" (Weimar, 1950) chapters i to xii.] was pretty well established as a prorogative of the nobility; the Hirsau formulary (1075) confirmed count Adalbert of Calw as hereditary advocate of the Abbey, an agreement so widely copied elsewhere in Germany that from the tenth century the office developed into an hereditary possession of the higher nobility, who frequently exploited it as a way of extending their power and territories, and in some cases took for themselves the estates and assets of the church bodies for whose protection they were supposedly responsible. In Austria, the teaching of the Church that, according to canon law individuals were prohibited from exercising authority over Church property, was only with reluctance accepted by the nobles. The rights of advocacy were bought back by the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century abbeys in alliance with the Babenberg and early Hapsburg dukes; the abolition of the "Vogtei" ("Entvogtung") thereby exchanged local secular jurisdiction for the protective overlordship of the duke of Austria, sometimes by forging charters that the duke confirmed. [Folker Reichert, "Landesherrschaft, Adel, und Vogtei: Zur Vorgeschichte des spätmittelalterlichen Ständestaates im Herzogtum Österreich" (Cologne and Vienna, 1985).]

Imperial vogt

An imperial vogt ("Reichsvogt") was an officer of the king, who served as administrator and judge of a subdivision of royal property, or of a royal abbey. The seat of an imperial vogt was often at an imperial city. When the imperial cities gained more independence, the office was split into city vogt ("Stadtvogt") for the cities and land vogt ("Landvogt") for other areas. The offices of city vogts were usually bought by the imperial cities by the late Middle Ages, which led to the independence of the cities. Most land vogt offices became meaningless as the amount of royal property was reduced more and more in favor of territorial rulers (such as dukes and counts).

The land vogt office of the Alsace, consisting of the ten imperial cities of the Décapole, was ceded to the king of France in 1648, but the cities remained part of the Holy Roman Empire. However, the cities were soon thereafter annexed by France.

Several small land vogts continued to exist until the end of the Empire in 1806, mainly in the Swabian Circle.

Old Swiss Confederacy

The title of "Landvogt" appears in the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1415. A "Landvogt" ruled a "Landvogtei", either representing a sovereign canton, or acting on behalf of the Confederacy, or a subset thereof, administring a condominium ("Gemeine Herrschaft") shared between several cantons. In the case of condominiums, the cantons took turns in appointing a "Landvogt" for a period of two years.

In exceptional cases, the population of the "Landvogtei" was allowed to elect their own "Landvogt". This concerned Oberhasli in particular, which was nominally a subject territory of Berne, but enjoyed a special status as a military ally. The office of "Landvogt" was abolished in 1798, with the foundation of the Helvetic Republic.

Parallels in medieval England and France

The status of protective lordship, however, in relation to ecclesiastical estates as held, and notoriously abused, by the nobility in Germany throughout the Middle Ages, is without close parallel. There is no single equivalent in English history. The office of reeve was much the same at a village or peasant level, and in other contexts the roles of sheriff, bailiff, seneschal and castellan of course included similar elements. In France, the office of vidame, the temporal administrator for certain bishoprics, showed some connection. The most frequent translations in that connection are either "advocate" or "lord protector".

Modern Europe

Poland

In Poland the title of "Wójt" (the same origin as Russian "vozhd"' - chieftain, leader, somebody who conducts, leads, makes others follow) was used to denote hereditary heads of towns (under the overlordship of the town's owner - the King, the Church or a nobleman). Today "Wójt" denotes the elected mayor of a rural commune (gmina), i.e. one consisting only of villages (mayors of towns and cities take different titles).

Denmark

In Danish the word "vogt" carries different connotations, all pertaining to guarding or keeping watch over something. In modern Danish law, the "fogedret" (vogt court) administers the forcible enforcement and execution of judgments or other valid legal claims.

Notes

References

*Arnold, Benjamin, 1991. "Princes and Territories in Medieval Germany." Cambridge:CUP.