Schultheiß

In medieval Germany, the ''Schultheiß'' () was the head of a municipality (akin to today's office of mayor), a ''Vogt'' or an executive official of the ruler. As official (''villicus'') it was his duty to order his assigned village or county (''villicatio'') to pay the taxes and perform the services due to the ruler. The name originates from this function: ''Schuld'' 'debt' + ''heißen'' 'to order'. Later, the title was also used for the head of a town (''Stadtschultheiß'') or village (''Dorfschultheiß'').

The office held by a ''Schultheiß'' was called ''Scholtisei'', ''Scholtisse'' (around 1400), ''Schultessy'', ''Schultissīe'', ''Schultissei'' (15th century); Latinized forms: sculdasia (10th century), scultetia (13th century).

The title first appears in the ''Edictum Rothari'' of 643 AD, where it is spelled in post-Roman Latin as ''sculdahis''. This title reappears again in the Lombard laws of Liutprand in 723 AD. The title was originally spelled in Old High German as ''sculdheizo'' and in Middle High German as ''Schultheize''; it was Latinised as ''scultetus'' or ''sculteus''. Alternative spellings include ''Schultheis'', ''Schulte'' or ''Schulze'', or in Switzerland ''Schultheiss''. It also appears in several European languages: In Hungarian as ''soltész'', in Slovak as ''šoltýs'' and ''škultét'', in Italian as ''scoltetto'' and ''sculdascio'', in Medieval Latin as ''sculdasius'', in Polish as ''sołtys'', in Romanian as ''șoltuz'', and in Dutch as ''schout''. Provided by Wikipedia