Kaznac (Serbian Cyrillic: казнац) was a court title of the state employee in medieval Bosnia and Serbia who was in charge for the treasury in the territory under his jurisdiction — kaznačina (казначина).[1][2][better source needed] The name of the title is derived from Serbo-Croatian word kazna (English: penalty).[3] The kaznac was a financial-taxation service, translated into Latin camerarius (itself rendered "chamberlain").[4]
In the Dečani chrysobulls, King Stefan Dečanski (r. 1321–1331) mentioned that the court dignitaries present at the Dečani assembly were the kaznac, tepčija, vojvoda, sluga and stavilac.[5]
The title of veliki kaznac (велики казнац, "grand kaznac") was later transformed into protovestijar.
A kaznacina is headed by a Kaznac who is a state employee, representative of the state authority in the kaznacina
kaznac, koji se pominje u srbskih i bosanskih listinah sa značenjem praefectus
He also inflicts penalties, hence his title kazna-penalty in Serbo-Croat language)