Isépy Explained

The Isépy family (in Latin gens de [Magyar-]Isép; in German von Isép) is one of the oldest surviving noble families in Hungary. Their ancestral seat was the village of Magyarizsép (since the Treaty of Trianon, Czehoslovakia and fro 1993 Slovakia; Slovak: Nižný Žipov).

Name

The name appears in different forms: Izsépy, Isipi, Isepi. The official version ‘Isépy’ is the archaic form of the phonetically correct ‘Izsépy’.^[1] Etymologically, the name is traced back to the Greek Εὐσέβειος or the Latin form Eusebius, which entered Hungarian as Özséb,^[2] or to the name Josef (József).^[3]

History

The Isépy descend from the Bogát-Radvány genus, which split into six families in the mid-13th century, along with the Cseleji, Monoky and Rákóczy.^[4] Except for the one branch of the Isépy, to which the members of the family living today can be traced back, all the others died out sooner or later.^[5] The ancestor of this branch was Sztáncs of Isép (early 13th century), whose name can be found in today's Isztáncs (Slovak: Stanča).^[6]

Coat of arms

A red-clad horseman with a blue shield on a white horse, his right hand holding a drawn sword and his left a decapitated head.^[7]

Notes and References

1. M. Kázmér, Régi magyar családnevek szótára, XIV-XVII. század, Budapest 1993, s. v. Izsépi, p. 505.
2. A. Isépy, The Chronicle of the Isépy Family from their ancient origins to the 20th Century, Budapest 1948, p. 25.
3. M. Kázmér, Régi magyar családnevek szótára, XIV-XVII. század, Budapest 1993, s. v. Izsep, 505.
4. J. Karácsonyi, A magyar nemzetségek a XIV. század közepéig, Budapest 1900, 248ff.; G. v. Csergheő / I. Nagy, Der Adel von Ungarn sammt den Nebenländern der St. Stephanskrone, Bd.1, Nürnberg 1893 (= J. Siebmachers grosses und allgemeines Wappenbuch IV.15), 260.
5. J. Karácsonyi, A magyar nemzetségek a XIV. század közepéig, Budapest 1900, S. 256-57.
6. A. Isépy, The Chronicle of the Isépy Family from their ancient origins to the 20th Century, Budapest 1948, 33.
7. Archive of Borsod–Abaúj–Zemplén county, #1782.pr.Pol.87.pag.207.108 and J. Csoma, Magyar Nemzetségi czímerek, Budapest 1904, 47.