HOSPODAR

hospodar, a term of slavonic origin, meaning "lord" (russ. _gospodar_). it is a derivative of _gospod_, "lord," and is akin to _gosudar_, which primarily means "sovereign," and is now also used in russia as a polite form of address, equivalent to "sir." the pronunciation as _hospodar_ of a word written _gospodar_ in all but one of the slavonic languages which retain the cyrillic alphabet is not, as is sometimes alleged, due to the influence of little russian, but to that of church slavonic. in both of these g is frequently pronounced h. in little russian the title _hospodar_ is specially applied to the master of a house or the head of a family. the rulers of walachia and moldavia were styled _hospodars_ from the 15th century to 1866. at the end of this period, as the title had been held by many vassals of turkey, its retention was considered inconsistent with the growth of rumanian independence. it was therefore discarded in favour of _domn_ (_dominus_, "lord"), which continued to be the official princely title up to the proclamation of a rumanian kingdom in 1881. host. (1) (through the o. fr. _oste_ or _hoste_, modern _hote_, from lat. _hospes_, a guest or host; _hospes_ being probably from an original _hostipes_, one who feeds a stranger or enemy, from _hostis_ and the root of _pascere_), one who receives another into his house and provides him with lodging and entertainment, especially one who does this in return for payment. the word is thus transferred, in biology, to an animal or plant upon which a parasite lives. (2) (from lat. _hostis_, a stranger or enemy; in med. latin a military expedition), a very large gathering of men, armed for war, an army, and so used generally of any multitude. in biblical use the word is applied to the company of angels in heaven; or to the sun, moon and stars, the "hosts of heaven," and also to translate "jehovah sabaoth," the lord god of hosts, the lord of the armies of israel or of the hosts of heaven. (3) (from lat. _hostia_, a victim or sacrifice), the sacrifice of christ's body and blood in the eucharist, more particularly the consecrated wafer used in the service of the mass in the roman church (see eucharist). hostage (through fr. _ostage_, modern _otage_, from late lat. _obsidaticum_, the state of being an obses or hostage; med. lat. _ostaticum_, _ostagium_), a person handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war. the practice of taking hostages is very ancient, and has been used constantly in negotiations with conquered nations, and in cases such as surrenders, armistices and the like, where the two belligerents depended for its proper carrying out on each other's good faith. the romans were accustomed to take the sons of tributary princes and educate them at rome, thus holding a security for the continued loyalty of the conquered nation and also instilling a possible future ruler with ideas of roman civilization. this practice was also adopted in the early period of the british occupation of india, and by france in her relations with the arab tribes in north africa.[1] the position of a hostage was that of a prisoner of war, to be retained till the negotiations or treaty obligations were carried out, and liable to punishment (in ancient times), and even to death, in case of treachery or refusal to fulfil the promises made. the practice of taking hostages as security for the carrying out of a treaty between civilized states is now obsolete. the last occasion was at the treaty of aix-la-chapelle in 1748, when two british peers, henry bowes howard, 11th earl of suffolk, and charles, 9th baron cathcart, were sent to france as hostages for the restitution of cape breton to france. in modern times the practice may be said to be confined to two occasions: (1) to secure the payment of enforced contributions or requisitions in an occupied territory and the obedience to regulations the occupying army may think fit to issue; (2) as a precautionary measure, to prevent illegitimate acts of war or violence by persons not members of the recognized military forces of the enemy. during the franco-prussian war of 1870, the germans took as hostages the prominent people or officials from towns or districts when making requisitions and also when foraging, and it was a general practice for the mayor and _adjoint_ of a town which failed to pay a fine imposed upon it to be seized as "hostages" and retained till the money was paid. the last case where "hostages" have been taken in modern warfare has been the subject of much discussion. in 1870 the germans found it necessary to take special measures to put a stop to train-wrecking by parties in occupied territory not belonging to the recognized armed forces of the enemy, an illegitimate act of war. prominent citizens were placed on the engine of the train "so that it might be understood that in every accident caused by the hostility of the inhabitants their compatriots will be the first to suffer." the measure seems to have been effective. in 1900 during the boer war, by a proclamation issued at pretoria (june 19th), lord roberts adopted the plan for a similar reason, but shortly afterwards (july 29) it was abandoned (see _the times' history of the war in s. africa_, iv. 402). the germans also, between the surrender of a town and its final occupation, took "hostages" as security against outbreaks of violence by the inhabitants. most writers on international law have regarded this method of preventing such acts of hostility as unjustifiable, on the ground that the persons taken as hostages are not the persons responsible for the act;[2] that, as by the usage of war hostages are to be treated strictly as prisoners of war, such an exposure to danger is transgressing the rights of a belligerent; and as useless, for the mere temporary removal of important citizens till the end of a war cannot be a deterrent unless their mere removal deprives the combatants of persons necessary to the continuance of the acts aimed at (see w. e. hall, _international law_, 1904, pp. 418, 475). on the other hand it has been urged (l. oppenheim, _international law_, 1905, vol. ii., "war and neutrality," pp. 271-273) that the acts, the prevention of which is aimed at, are not legitimate acts on the part of the armed forces of the enemy, but illegitimate acts by private persons, who, if caught, could be quite lawfully punished, and that a precautionary and preventive measure is more reasonable than "reprisals." it may be noticed, however, that the hostages would suffer should the acts aimed at be performed by the authorized belligerent forces of the enemy. in france, after the revolution of prairial (june 18, 1799), the so-called "law of hostages" was passed, to meet the insurrection in la vendee. relatives of _emigres_ were taken from disturbed districts and imprisoned, and were liable to execution at any attempt to escape. sequestration of their property and deportation from france followed on the murder of a republican, four to every such murder, with heavy fines on the whole body of hostages. the law only resulted in an increase in the insurrection. napoleon in 1796 had used similar measures to deal with the insurrection in lombardy (_correspondance de napoleon i._ i. 323, 327, quoted in hall, _international law_). in may 1871, at the close of the paris commune, took place the massacre of the so-called hostages. strictly they were not "hostages," for they had not been handed over or seized as security for the performance of any undertaking or as a preventive measure, but merely in retaliation for the death of their leaders e. v. duval and gustave flourens. it was an act of maniacal despair, on the defeat at mont valerien on the 4th of april and the entry of the army into paris on the 21st of may. among the many victims who were shot in batches the most noticeable were monsignor darboy, archbishop of paris, the abbe deguery, cure of the madeleine, and the president of the court of cassation, louis bernard bonjean. footnotes: [1] the sultan of bagiemi, in central africa, in 1906 sent his nephew to undergo military training with a squadron of spahis, and at the same time to serve as a guarantee of his fidelity to the french (_bulletin du comite de l'afrique francaise_, oct. 1906). [2] article 50 of the hague war regulations lays it down that "no general penalty, pecuniary or otherwise, can be inflicted on the population on account of the acts of individuals for which it cannot be regarded as collectively responsible." the regulations, however, do not allude to the practice of taking hostage.