Count of the Székelys
From around 1320 to the second half of the 15th century, the counts' jurisdiction included four Transylvanian Saxon districts, in addition to the seven Székely seats (or administrative units).
The counts also held important castles outside the territories under their administration, including their seat at Görgény (now Gurghiu in Romania).
They were the supreme commanders of the Székely troops; their military campaigns against Bulgaria and the Golden Horde were mentioned in royal charters and medieval chronicles.
After the integration of the principality with the Habsburg Empire, in the early 18th century, the title was in abeyance until Maria Theresa revived it at the Székelys' request.
[3] In Transylvania, they first settled along the rivers Kézd (Saschiz), Orbó (Gârbova), and Sebes (Sebeș),[3] but started to migrate to the easternmost region of the province when the ancestors of the Transylvanian Saxons began to arrive around 1150.
[4] Bishop Otto of Freising mentioned that "two counts" commanded the archers in the vanguard of the Hungarian army in the Battle of the Fischa, in 1146.
[6] For instance, a royal charter tells of an army of Saxon, Vlach, Székely, and Pecheneg troops fighting in Bulgaria under the command of Joachim, Count of Hermannstadt (now Sibiu in Romania), in the early 1210s.
[9] For instance, a diploma of Béla IV of Hungary refers to the count of the Székelys of Nagyváty in Baranya County.
[10] Lack Hermán, who held the office from 1328 to 1343, was styled as "count of the three clans of the Székelys"; but the exact meaning of the title is unknown.
[11] The Székelys were organized into special administrative units (originally known as "lands", "districts", "communities" or "universities") in Transylvania.
[2] Udvarhelyszék, Marosszék, Csíkszék, Kézdiszék, Orbaiszék, and Sepsiszék formed a contiguous territory in south-eastern Transylvania; Aranyosszék was located apart from them in the central region.
[15] The Saxon district of Mediasch (now Mediaș in Romania) was subject to them until Sigismund of Luxemburg, King of Hungary, exempted the inhabitants from the counts' authority in 1402.
[21] The counts most frequently held court in the castle of Görgény, in Torda County (at present-day Gurghiu in Romania).
[26] Lack Hermán, who held the office from 1328 to 1343, also styled himself the commander of the royal army stationed between the rivers Rába and Rábca during a campaign against Austria in 1336.
[27] Andrew Lackfi and his Székely troops inflicted a crushing defeat on the Tatars of the Golden Horde in early February 1345.
[29] They signed the agreement between the leaders of the noblemen, the Saxons, and the Székelys that declared their "Brotherly Union" against their enemies on 16 September.
[14][16] Lack Hermán was mentioned as the "judge of the Székelys" in the first half of the 14th century, evidence that the counts had acquired significant judicial authority by that time.
[37][38] The Lackfis and their immediate successors were the kings' loyal supporters,[11] but Sigismund of Luxemburg appointed close allies of John Kanizsai, Archbishop of Esztergom, to the office, for helping him seize the throne in 1387.
[39] After his two principal military commanders, John Hunyadi and Nicholas Újlaki, annihilated the army of Ladislaus's supporters in early 1441, Wladislas made them joint voivodes of Transylvania and counts of the Székelys.
