Voivode (/ˈvɔɪvoʊd/ VOY-vohd), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode (/ˈvaɪvoʊd, ˈveɪ-/ V(A)Y-vohd), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the medieval rulers of the Romanian-inhabited states and of governors and military commanders of Polish, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Balkan, Russian and other Slavic-speaking populations.
In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, voivode was interchangeably used with palatine. In the Tsardom of Russia, a voivode was a military governor. Among the Danube principalities, and in Bohemia, voivode was considered a princely title.
