Tripartitum

(Latin, Tripartitum opus juris consuetudinarii incluti regni Hungariae, Three-part Common Law Code of the Kingdom of Hungary), a law code compiled by the royal protho-notary I. Werbőczy.

The Tripartitum, approved by the king in 1514, was the basic legal text of the Kingdom of Hungary until 1848. It legitimized the division into estates and the privileges of the estates with full rights—the nobility (the minor and middle nobility had the same rights as the magnates) and the clergy. Certain rights were granted to wealthy city dwellers. Peasants were excluded from the concept of the Hungarian nation and were deprived of the right to change masters.