History of Transylvania
Encyclopedia
Transylvania
is a historical region in the central part of the Romania
. In ancient times it was part of the Dacian Kingdom
and Roman Dacia
. Since the 10th century, Transylvania became part of the Kingdom of Hungary
. After the Battle of Mohacs
in 1526, it formed part of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom
, out of which the Principality of Transylvania emerged, which, most of the times in the 16th and 17th century, was the vassal country of the Ottoman Empire
. At the end of the 17th century, Transylvania came under the control of the Habsburg Empire. From 1437 to 1848, medieval political power in Transylvania was shared between the mostly Hungarian nobility, German
burghers
, and the seats of the Székely people (a Hungarian ethnic group), while the population was made up by Romanians
, Hungarians (especially Székelys) and Germans
(see also Kingdom of Hungary
). Starting then, Transylvania was in name attached to Habsburg-controlled Hungary
, though it had a separate status, being subjected to the direct rule of the emperor’s governors. In practice Transylvania was severed from Hungary until 1867 when, after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise
, the separate status of Transylvania ceased and it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary
(Transleithania) as part of Austrian-Hungarian Empire. After World War I, Transylvania became part of Romania
. In 1940, Northern Transylvania
reverted once again to Hungary
as a result of the Second Vienna Award
, but it was taken back by Romania after the end of World War II.
Due to its luscious history, the population of Transylvania is quite diverse from an ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural point of view. Currently, the majority of the population consists of Romanians, but large minorities (mainly Hungarian and Roma) preserve their traditions. However, as recently as the Communist era
, ethnic minority relations in Romania remained an issue of international contention. This has abated, but not disappeared, since the Revolution of 1989
restored democracy in Romania. Notably, Transylvania retains a significant Hungarian
minority, slightly less than half of which also identify themselves as being Székely. Ethnic Germans in Transylvania
(known collectively as "Saxons") now form only about 1% of the population. However, ancient Austrian and German influences remain obvious in the architecture and urban landscape of many parts of Transylvania.
The region's history can partly be traced through the religions of its inhabitants. Most Romanians in Transylvania are of Eastern Orthodox
faith, while in 18th-20th centuries Romanian Greek-Catholic Church also had a substantial weight. Hungarians mainly belong to either the Roman Catholic
or the Reformed
Churches, while a smaller number are Unitarians
. Of the ethnic Germans in Transylvania, Transylvanian Saxons
have mostly been Lutheran
since the Reformation
, while Danube Swabians
are Catholic. The Baptist Union of Romania
is the second-largest such body in Europe, Seventh-day Adventists
are long-established, and other Evangelical
churches have been a growing presence since 1989. No Islam
ic communities remain from the era of Ottoman invasions
. As elsewhere, anti-Semitic 20th-century politics saw Transylvania's once sizable Jewish population
greatly reduced, firstly in the Holocaust
, and then through emigration.
Herodotus
gives an account of the Agathyrsi
, who lived in Transylvania during the 5th century BC. He described them as a luxurious people who enjoyed wearing gold ornaments. He also claimed that they held their wives in common, so that all men would be brothers.
A kingdom of Dacia
was in existence at least as early as the beginning of the 2nd century BC under a king, Oroles
. Under Burebista
, the greatest king of Dacia and a contemporary of Julius Caesar
, the Dacian kingdom reached its maximum extent. The area now constituting Transylvania was the political center or heartland of Dacia.
The Dacians are often mentioned under Augustus
, according to whom they were compelled to recognize Roman
supremacy. However, they were by no means subdued, and in later times seized every opportunity of crossing the frozen Danube
during winter and ravaging the Roman cities in the recently acquired Roman province
Moesia
.
The Dacians built several important fortified cities, among them Sarmizegetusa, near today's Hunedoara
.
expansion in the Balkans
brought the Dacians into open conflict with Rome. During the reign of Decebalus
, the Dacians were engaged in several wars with the Romans (from 85
to 89
). After two severe reverses, the Romans gained an advantage, but were obliged to make peace owing to the defeat of Domitian
by the Marcomanni
. As a result, the Dacians were left independent, but had to pay an annual tribute to the Emperor.
In 101
-102
Trajan
began a military campaign (Dacian Wars) against the Dacians which included the siege of the Dacian capital Sarmizegetusa and the occupation of part of the country. Decebalus was left as a client king under a Roman protectorate
. Three years later, the Dacians rebelled and destroyed the Roman troops in Dacia. The second campaign (105
-106
) ended with the suicide of Decebalus and the conversion of parts of Dacia into the Roman province Dacia Trajana. The history of the Dacian Wars is given in Dio Cassius
, but the best commentary upon it is the famous Trajan's Column
in Rome
.
Dacians were divided into two classes: the aristocracy (tarabostes) and the common people (comati).
Following his subjugation, Decebalus complied with Rome for a time, but was soon inciting revolt among tribes against them and pillaging Roman colonies across the Danube. Intrepid and optimistic, Trajan rallied his forces once more in 106
for a second war against the Kingdom of Dacia.
Unlike the first conflict, the second war involved several skirmishes that proved costly to the Roman military, who, facing large numbers of allied tribes, struggled to attain a decisive victory. Eventually, however, Rome prevailed and took Dacia. An assault against the capital Sarmizegethusa proved successful and it was burned to the ground. Decebalus fled, but soon committed suicide rather than face capture.
The battle for Sarmizegetusa Regia took place at the beginning of the summer of 106 BC with the participation of the Adriutix II and Flavia Felix legions and of a detachment (vexillatio) from the Ferrata VI Legion. The Dacians repelled the first attack, but the water pipes from the Dacian capital were destroyed. The city was on fire, all of the pillars of the sacred sanctuaries were cut down, and the entire fortification system was destroyed. But the war went on. By the treason of Bacilis (a confidant of the Dacian king) the Romans found Decebalus' treasure in the river of Sargesia (evaluated by Jerome Carcopino at 165,500 kg of gold and 331,000 kg of silver). The last battle with the army of the Dacian king took place at Porolissum
(Moigrad).
The Dacians had a very powerful custom which encouraged them not to be afraid of death. This is why it was said that they left for war merrier than for any other journey. In his retirement in the mountains, Decebalus was followed by the Roman cavalry led by Tiberius Claudius Maximus. The Dacian religion of Zalmoxis
admitted suicide as a last resort by those who were in pain and misery. The Dacians who listened Decebalus' last speech spread and committed suicide. Only the unkneeled king tried to retreat from the Romans, hoping that he could find in the mountains and in the unwalked woods the means to prepare the recommencement of the battle and to seek revenge. But the Roman cavalry followed him closely. They almost caught him, and at that point the great Decebal committed suicide by slashing his throat with his sword (falx
). The great scene of his death may be found on Trajan's Column
in Rome
.
to protect them, The region developed a strong infrastructure and economy, based on agriculture, cattle farming and mining. Colonists from Thracia
, Moesia
, Macedonia
, Gaul
, Syria
, and other Roman provinces were brought in to settle the land, developing cities like Apulum (now Alba Iulia
) and Napoca (now Cluj Napoca) into municipium
s and colonia
s.
The Dacians rebelled frequently, with the biggest rebellion occurring after the death of Trajan. Sarmatians
and Bur
s were allowed to settle in Dacia Trajana after repeated clashes between the native Dacians and the Roman administration. During the 3rd century increasing pressure from the free Dacians (Carpians
) and Visigoths forced the Romans to abandon exposed Dacia Trajana.
In 271
, the Roman emperor Aurelian
removed the army and the administration from Dacia Trajana and reorganised a new Dacia Aureliana inside former Moesia Superior.
The abandonment of Dacia Trajana by the Romans is mentioned by Eutropius in his Breviarum, Liber IX.
It appears proven however that part of the "Vulgar Latin
" speaking population and mostly Christianized Dacian-Roman (Proto-Romanian) population continued to flourish in smaller remote communities. This is evidenced by the findings dating from the 4th to 7th centuries: Roman coins, sections of Latin inscriptions like the Biertan Donarium
, early Christianity artefacts and others.
Prior to their withdrawal, the Romans had negotiated an agreement with the Goths, whereby Dacia remained Roman territory. A few Roman outposts remained north of the Danube. Visigoths, also called Thervingi
, settled in the southern part of Transylvania, in contrast with the Ostrogoths (eastern Goths) or Goths of the flatlands living in the Pontic steppe.
The Visigoths established a kingdom north of Danube
and Transylvania between 271-380. The region was known by Romans as Guthiuda and included the region between the Alutus (Olt) and the Ister (Danube
). It is unclear whether they used the term Kaukaland (land of the mountains) for Transylvania proper or the whole Carpathians .
Ulfilas
carried (around 340) Homoean Arianism
to the Goths living in Guthiuda, and the Visigoths and other Germanic tribes became staunch Arians
.
The Goths were able to defend their territory for approximately one century against the Gepids, Vandals
and Sarmats. The Visigoths were unable to preserve the region's Roman era infrastructure. The goldmines of Transylvania were ruined and unused during the Early Middle Age.
Earlier than 376
the a new wave of migratory people, the Huns
, reached Transylvania entering in conflict with the Visigothic kingdom.
Hoping to find refuge from the Huns, one of Visigothic leaders, Fritigern
, appealed to the Roman emperor Valens
in 376
to be allowed to settle with his people on the south bank of the Danube. However a famine broke out and Rome was unwilling to supply them with the food they were promised nor the land. As a result the Goths rebelled against the Romans for several years - see Gothic War (376–382).
The Huns fought against Alans
, Vandals
, and Quads forcing them to left the region towards the Roman Empire
. Pannonia became the centre during the peak of the reign under Attila (435-453).
After the death of Attila, the Hunnic empire disintegrated. In 455 AD the Gepids under king Ardarich conquered Pannonia
, allowing them to settle for two centuries in Transylvania. The rule of the Gepids was destroyed by the attack of Lombards
and Avars
in 567 AD.
Very few Gepid sites from after 600 remain, such as cemeteries in the Banat
region. They probably lost their identity by being assimilated in population of the Avar empire.
By 568 AD, the Avars under the capable leadership of their Khagan
, Bayan, established an empire in the Carpathian Basin that lasted for 250 years. During this period the Slavs were allowed to settle inside Transylvania. The Avars met their demise with the rise of Charlemagne
's Frankish empire. After a fierce seven year war and civil war
between the Khagan
and Yugurrus which lasted from 796 to 803 AD, the Avars were defeated. The Transylvanian Avars were subjugated by the Bulgars
under Khan Krum at the beginning of the 9th century and Transylvania, along with eastern Pannonia
, was incorporated into the First Bulgarian Empire
.
In 862 Prince Rastislav
of Great Moravia
rebelled against the Franks
, and, after hiring Magyar troops, won his independence; this was the first time that Magyar expeditionary troops entered the Carpathian Basin. After a devastating Bulgar and Pecheneg attack the Magyar tribes crossed the Carpathians around 896
and occupied the basin without significant resistance. According to the eleventh century traditions, the road taken by the Hungarians under the leadership of Prince Álmos took them first to Transylvania in 895. This tradition is supported by an eleventh century Russian tradition, stating that the Hungarians moved to the Carpathian Basin by way of Kiev. According to supporters of the theory of Daco-Romanian continuity, Transylvania was populated by Vlachs at the time of the Hungarian conquest, while opponents of this theory assert that Transylvania was sparsely inhabited by various people, mostly of Slav origin, and the most dominative element of them was the Bulgarian, or indigenous Slavs and Turkic people. The precise date of the conquest of Transylvania is not known; the earliest Magyar artefacts found in the region are dated to the first half of the 10th century. A coin, minted under Berthold, Duke of Bavaria
, found near Turda
indicates that Transylvanian Magyars participated in western military campaigns. Although the defeat in the Battle of Lechfeld
in 955
stopped the Magyar raids against western Europe, the raids on the Balkan Peninsula continued until 970. Linguistic evidence suggests that after their conquest, the Magyars inherited the local social structures of the conquered Pannonian Slavs and, furthermore, that in Transylvania there was intermarriage between the Magyar ruling class and the Slavs' élites.
is a figure in the Gesta Hungarorum
, а medieval work written by an unknown author known as 'Anonymus', for most likelihood, at the end of the 12th century, approximately 300 years after the Hungarian conquest starting in 895-96. Gelou
is portrayed as 'some Vlach' (originally 'quidam Blacus', Vlach and Blacus meaning 'Romanian') being a leader of the Vlachs in Transylvania, and having his capital at Doboka
. He was said to be defeated by the warriors of the Magyar chieftain Töhötöm (in the original Latin: Tuhutum, also called Tétény) Romanian historian Neagu Djuvara asserts that the name of Gelou could be connected with the ancient Thracian toponym "Gelupara" ("para" meaning "town") and with the modern toponym of "Gilău", the name of a village and a river in Cluj
/Kolozs. This assertion is highly controversial. According to Bulgarian linguist Ivan Duridanov Thracian and Dacian were two different Indo-European languages. Many of the village names in ancient Thracia
were composite, with the words -para (-phara, -pera, -parn, etc.) meaning ‘ a village'. Such names are not to be found in Dacia proper (on the northern side of the Danube). The Dacian linguistic area is characterized with composite names ending in -dava (-deva, -daua, -daba, etc.) ‘a town’. Hungarian historians assert that the figure of Gelou
was created by the unknown author from the name of the village 'Gelou' (Hungarian: Gyalu) to be the legendary enemy of the Hungarian noble families the deeds of whom he wrote about. The ethnic groups mentioned in Gesta Hungarorum
reflect the ethnic composition of Hungary and its neighboring territories in the era when the author himself lived and that of the 9-10th century.
Another legendary leader of Transylvania is given as Glad
(Bulgarian and Serbian Cyrillic: Глад) by Anonymus. He was, according to the Gesta Hungarorum, a voivod (dux) from Bundyn (Vidin
), ruler of the territory of Banat, southern-Transylvania Vidin region. Glad was said to have authority over the Slavs and Vlachs. The Hungarians sent an army against duke Glad and subdued the population between the Morisio (Mureş river
) and Temes (Timiş River
) rivers. When they tried to pass the Timiş River, Glad came against them with a great army including Cuman, Bulgarian and Vlach support. On the following day Glad was defeated by the Hungarians. Romanian historiography claims that the Hungarian attack against duke Glad was dated in 934. Hungarian historiography regards him as fictional person created by Anonymus. A real historical figure was Ahtum, a duke of Banat
region, the last ruler who resisted the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary in the 11th century. He was defeated by the Stephen I of Hungary with Byzantine assistance. His and his peoples ethnicity in controversial. His name is thought to be Old Turkic meaning gold.
Menumorut
is given by Anonymus as the duke of khazars
from the lands between the River Tisza and the Ygfon Forest in the direction of Ultrasilvania (Transylvania), from the Mureş river
to the Someş river. He declined the request of the Magyar ruler Árpád (907) to cede his territory between the Someş river and the Meses Mountains, and in the negotiations with the ambassadors Usubuu and Veluc of Árpád he invoked the sovereignty of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise
.
See also: The original text in Latin
The Magyars first besieged the citadel of Zotmar (Romanian: Satu Mare, Hungarian: Szatmár) and then Menumorut's castle in Bihar, and were able to defeat him.
The Gesta Hungarorum then retells the story of Menumorut. In the second telling, he married his daughter into the Árpád dynasty. Her son Taksony, the grandson of Menumorut, became ruler of the Magyars and father of Mihály and Géza, whose son Vajk became the first King of Hungary in 1001 under the Christian baptismal name Stephen and became King Stephen I of Hungary.
There are two major conflicting interpretations, concerning whether or not the Romanized Dacian population, the ancestors of the Romanians
, continued to live in Transylvania after the withdrawal of the Romans
, and therefore whether or not the Romanians were present in Transylvania at the time of the Great Migrations, particularly at the time of the Magyar migration; see also: Origin of Romanians
. These conflicting hypotheses are often used to back competing claims by chauvinistic Hungarian and Romanian nationalists.
Besides pointing to several erroneous facts (such as the arrival of Cumans
in the Pannonian Basin
during the Hungarian conquest, when in fact they came 150 years later), many Hungarian historians regard Daco-Roman continuity as a false theory based on the fact that in the current Romanian lexicon Dacian words represent less than 1%. On the other hand, many Romanian historians regard Gesta as a serious proof of the Daco-Roman continuity: being the oldest Hungarian chronicle, thus it must have been based on earlier Hungarian gestas, and therefore its factual accuracy is likely to be high.
as king of Hungary
. Although, Stephen was brought up as a Roman Catholic and Christianization
of the Hungarians was achieved mostly by Rome, he also recognized and supported Orthodoxy. The endeavour of King Saint Stephen I to establish his control over all Hungarian tribal territories led to wars, among others, with his maternal uncle, Gyula
, chieftain in Transylvania. ("Gyula" meant the second highest title in Hungarian tribal confederation) In 1003, Stephen led an army into Transylvania and Gyula surrendered without a fight. This made possible the organization of the Transylvanian Catholic episcopacy with Gyulafehérvár as its seat which was finished in 1009 when the bishop of Ostia
as the legate of the Pope
paid a visit to Stephen; together they approved the division of the dioceses and their boundaries. In 1018, King Saint Stephen I defeated Ahtum
, the ruler of the country around the downsteram of Maros
River. According to a rather nebulous tradition preserved by Chronicon Pictum
, Stephen I also defeated the legendary Kean, a ruler in Southern-Transylvania, the duke of Bulgarians and Slavs.
The Szeklers
, a Hungarian community of uncertain origin, may have entered Transylvania before the Magyars of Árpád conquered the Carpathian basin. By the 12th century the Szeklers were established in eastern and southeastern Transylvania as border guards.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, the areas in the south and northeast were settled by German
colonists called (then and now) Saxons. Siebenbürgen, the German name for Transylvania, derives from the seven principal fortified towns founded by these Transylvanian Saxons
. The German influence became more marked when, early in the 13th century, King Andrew II of Hungary
called on the Teutonic Knights
to protect Transylvania in the Burzenland
from the Cumans
. After the Order began expanding their territory outside of Transylvania and acting independently, Andrew expelled the knights in 1225.
In 1241 Transylvania suffered greatly during the Mongol invasion of Europe
. Güyük Khan
invaded Transylvania from the Oituz
Pass, while Subutai
attacked to the south from the Mehedia Pass towards Orşova
. While Subutai advanced northward to meet up with Batu Khan
, Güyük attacked Sibiu to prevent the Transylvanian nobility from aiding King Béla IV of Hungary
. Bistriţa
, Cluj-Napoca
, and the Transylvanian Plain
region were all ravaged by the Mongols, as was the Hungarian king's silver mine at Rodna
. A separate Mongol force destroyed the western Cumans near the Siret River
in the Carpathian region and annihilated the Cuman Bishopric of Milcov
. Estimates of population decline in Transylvania owing to the Mongol invasion range from 15-20% to 50%.
The Western and Eastern Cumans converted
to Roman Catholicism, and, after they were defeated by the Mongols, looked for refuge in central Hungary; Erzsebet, a Cumanian princess, married Stephen V of Hungary
in 1254.
Nogai Khan
led an invasion of Hungary alongside with Talabuga
. Nogai lead an army that ravaged Transylvania
with success, where cities like Reghin, Braşov
and Bistriţa
were plundered and ravaged. However Talabuga, who led an army in Northern Hungary, was stopped by the heavy snow of the Carpathians
and the invading force was defeated near Pest by the royal army of Ladislaus IV and ambushed by the Székely
in the return.
The first written sources about Romanian settlements descent from the 13 century and the first Romanian township was Olahteluk (1283) in Bihar county. The 'land of Romanians', Terram Blacorum (1222,1280) showed up in Fogaras
and this area was mentioned under different name (Olachi) in 1285. The first appearance of a supposed Romanian name 'Ola' in Hungary derives from a charter (1258).
The administration of Transylvania was in the hands of a voivod appointed by the King. The word voivod or voievod first appeared in historical documents in 1193. Prior to that, the term ispán was used for the chief official of the County of Alba. The whole historical territory of Transylvania came under the rule of the voievod after 1263, when the functions of Count of Szolnok (Doboka) and Count of Alba were terminated. The voivod controlled seven comitatus. According to Chronica Pictum, Transylvania's first voivod was Zoltán Erdoelue, King Stephen's relative.
The three most important dignitaries of the 14th century were the voivod, the Bishop of Transylvania and the Abbot of Kolozsmonostor (outskirt of present day Cluj-Napoca).
Transylvania was organized according to the system of Estates. Transylvanian Estates were privileged groups or universitates (the central power acknowledged some collective or communal "liberties") with power and influence in socio-economic and political life; nevertheless they were organized according to certain ethnic criteria as well.
As in the rest of the Hungarian kingdom, the first Estate was the aristocracy (lay and ecclesiastic), ethnically heterogeneous, but undergoing a process of homogenization around its Hungarian nucleus. The basic document that granted privileges to the entire aristocracy was the Golden Bull
issued by king Andrew II in 1222.
The other Estates were Saxons, Szeklers and Romanians, all with an ethnic and ethno-linguistic basis. The Saxons, who had settled in southern Transylvania in the 12th-13th centuries, were granted privileges in 1224 by the Golden Bull of 1224
, also called the Andreanum. Szeklers and Romanians were not regarded as newcomers (colonists) in Transylvania, thus they were not granted general but partial privileges. While Szeklers kept on consolidating these privileges and extended them over the entire ethnic group, Romanians had difficulty keeping their old privileges in certain areas (terrae Vlachorum or districtus Valachicales) and ended up by losing the rank of a distinct Estate.
Nevertheless, in the 13th-14th centuries, when the king or the voivod summoned the general assembly of Transylvania (congregatio), this was attended by the four Estates: noblemen, Saxons, Szeklers, Romanians (Universis nobilibus, Saxonibus, Syculis et Olachis in partibus Transiluanis).
Gradually, after 1366 Romanians lost their status as an Estate (Universitas Valachorum
) and were excluded from Transylvania's assemblies. The main reason was religion: during Louis I's proselytizing campaign, privileged status was deemed incompatible with that of "schismatic
" in a state endowed with an apostolic mission by the Holy See: through the Decree of Turda
/Torda, in 1366, the king redefined nobility in terms of membership in the Roman Catholic Church
, thus excluding the Eastern Orthodox "schismatic" Romanians. After 1366 the status of nobility was determined not only by ownership of land and people, but also by the possession of a royal donation certificate. Since Romanians' social elite, chiefly made up of aldermen (iudices) or ‘knezes' (kenezii), who ruled over their villages according to the old law of the land (ius valachicum), managed only to a small extent to procure writs of donation, they came to be expropriated. Lacking land property and/or the official status of owner and being officially excluded from privileges as schismatic, the Romanian elite was no longer able to form an Estate and participate in the country's assemblies.
In 1437 Hungarian and Romanian peasants, the petty nobility
and burghers from Kolozsvár (Klausenburg, now: Cluj
) under the leadership of Budai Nagy Antal upraised against their feudal masters and proclaimed their own Estate (universitas hungarorum et valachorum - the Estate of Hungarians and Romanians) (see: Bobâlna revolt
). In order to suppress the revolt, the Hungarian nobility in Transylvanian counties, the Saxon burghers and the Székelys formed the Unio Trium Nationum
(The Union of the Three Nations), an alliance of mutual aid against the peasants, jointly pledging to defend their privileges against any power except that of Hungary's king. By 1438, the rebellion was crushed. From 1438 onwards the political system was based on the Unio Trium Nationum
and the society was led by these three privileged nations (Estates): the nobility (mostly Hungarians), the Szeklers
and the Saxon burghers. These nations, however, corresponded more to social and religious rather than ethnic divisions. Being explicitly directed against the peasants, the Union limited the number of Estates, implicitly excluding the Orthodox
from political and social life in Transylvania.
However, Eastern Orthodox
Romanians were not allowed to build up local self-government (like the Szekelys, Saxons in Transylvania, Cumans and Iazyges in Hungary), the Romanian ruling class the "nobilis kenezius" had the same rights like Hungarian "nobilis conditionarius". In contrast to Maramureş, after the Decree of Turda
/Torda 1366 in proper Transylvania the only possibility to remain or access nobility was for them through conversion to Roman Catholicism. In order to conserve their positions some Romanian families converted to Catholicism
, being subsequently magyarized (i.e. the Hunyadi/Corvinus, Bedőházi, Bilkei, Ilosvai, Drágffy, Dánfi, Rékási, Dobozi, Mutnoki, Dési, Majláth, etc. families). Some of them even reached the highest ranks of the society (Nicolaus Olahus
became Archishop of Esztergom, while half Romanian regent John Hunyadi's son - Mathias Corvinus - became king of Hungary).
Nevertheless, since the overwhelming majority of Romanians refused to convert to Roman Catholicism
, in the constitutional system of the three nations there was no place left for them up to the 19th century, to be politically represented. Thus, they remained deprived of their rights and subject to specific segregation such as not being allowed to dwell or acquire houses in the cities, to build stone churches, or enjoy fair justice. Several examples of legal decisions taken by the three nations some hundred years after Unio Trium Nationum (1542–1555) are illustrative: the Romanian could not appeal to justice against Hungarians and Saxons, but the latter could turn in the Romanian (1552); the Hungarian (Hungarus) accused of robbery could be defended by the oath of the village judge and three honest men, while the Romanian (Valachus) needed the oath of the village knez, four Romanians and three Hungarians (1542); the Hungarian peasant could be punished after being accused by seven trustworthy people, while the Romanian received punishment after he was accused by three trustworthy people (1554).
After the diversionary manoeuvre led by Sultan Murad II, personally, it became clear that the goal of the Ottomans was no more simply to consolidate their grip on the Balkans and intimidate the Hungarians, but to conquer Hungary.
A key figure to emerge in Transylvania in these hard times was John Hunyadi
(c. 1387 or 1400–1456). John Hunyadi himself was awarded numerous estates (he became one of the greatest landowners in Hungarian history) and a seat in the royal council for his services to Sigismund of Luxemburg
. After supporting the candidature of Ladislaus III of Poland to the throne of Hungary, he was rewarded in 1440 with the captaincy of the fortress of Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade
) and the voivodship of Transylvania (with his fellow voivode Miklos Újlaki). His subsequent military exploits (he is considered one of the most talented generals of the Middle Ages) against the Ottoman Empire
brought him further status as the regent
of Hungary
in 1446 and papal recognition as the Prince
of Transylvania in 1448.
were slain by the Ottomans in the Battle of Mohács
(1526), John Zápolya
, governor of Transylvania, took advantage of his military strength, who opposed the succession of Ferdinand of Austria (later Emperor Ferdinand I
) to the Hungarian throne. As John I was elected king of Hungary, another party recognized Ferdinand. In the ensuing struggle Zápolya received the support of Sultan Suleiman I
, who after Zápolya's death in 1540 overran central Hungary on the pretext of protecting Zápolya's son, John II.
Habsburg Austria controlled Royal Hungary, which consisted of counties along the Austrian border, Upper Hungary
and some of northwestern Croatia
. The Ottomans
annexed central and southern Hungary.
Transylvania became an autonomous state, under the suzerainty
of the Ottoman Empire
, Principality of Transylvania, where native princes, who paid the Turks tribute, ruled with considerable autonomy and where Austrian and Turkish influences vied for supremacy for nearly two centuries.
Transylvania was now beyond the reach of Catholic
religious authority, allowing Lutheran and Calvinist preaching to flourish. In 1563, Giorgio Blandrata was appointed as court physician, and his radical religious ideas increasingly influenced both the young king John II and the Calvinist bishop Francis David, eventually converting both to the Anti-Trinitarian
(Unitarian) creed. In a formal public disputation, Francis David prevailed over the Calvinist Peter Melius, resulting in 1568 in the formal adoption of individual freedom of religious expression under the Edict of Turda
(the first such legal guarantee of religious freedom in Christian Europe). Lutherans, Calvinists, Unitarians and Roman Catholics received protection, while the majority Eastern Orthodox Church
was merely tolerated.
Transylvania was governed by princes and its Diet
(parliament). The Transylvanian Diet
consisted of three Estates
: the Hungarian nobility (largely ethnic Hungarian nobility
and clergy
); the leaders of Transylvanian Saxons
—German burghers
; and the free Székely Hungarians.
The Báthory family, which came to power on the death of John II in 1571, ruled Transylvania as princes under the Ottomans, and briefly under Habsburg
suzerainty, until 1602.
The younger Stephen Báthory, a Hungarian Catholic who later became King Stephen Bathory of Poland
, undertook to maintain the religious liberty granted by the Edict of Turda, but interpreted this obligation in an increasingly restricted sense. The latter period of Báthory rule saw Transylvania under Sigismund Bathory
enter the Long War
, which started as a Christian alliance against the Turks and became a four-sided conflict in Transylvania involving the Transylvanians, the Austria
ns, the Ottomans, and the Romania
n voivode of Wallachia
, Prince Michael the Brave.
Michael gained control of Transylvania supported by the uprising Szeklers in October 1599 after the Battle of Şelimbăr
in which he defeated Andrew Báthory
's army. Báthory was killed by Szeklers who hoped to regain their old privileges with Michael's help. In May 1600 Michael also gained control of Moldavia
, uniting the three principalities of Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania (the three main parts of present-day Romania). Michael installed Wallachian boyars in certain offices, but even so, he did not interfere with the Transylvanian Estates, and sought support from the Hungarian nobility. In 1600 he was defeated by Giorgio Basta
the Captain of Upper Hungary
and lost his Moldavian holdings to the Poles. After he presented his case to Rudolf II in Prague
(that time capital of Germany
) where he was rewarded graciously for his deeds to the Caesar & Hungarian
king. . He returned assisting Basta in the battle of Battle of Guruslău
in 1601.
His rule did not last long however, as Michael was assassinated by Walloon mercenaries under the command of the Habsburg general Giorgio Basta
in August 1601. The rule of Michael the Brave was marred by the pillaging of Wallachian and Serbian mercenaries as well as Székelys avenging the Szárhegy Bloody Carnival of 1596. When Michael entered Transylvania, he did not free or grant rights to the Romanian inhabitants, who were primarily peasants but, nevertheless, constituted more than 60% of the population. Instead he sought to support the Hungarian, Szekler, and Saxon nobles by reaffirming their right and privileges.
After the defeat of Michael at Miriszló, the Transylvanian Estates swore allegiance to the Habsburg Emperor, Rudolph. As Basta finally subdued Transylvania in 1604 and initiated a reign of terror in which he was authorised to appropriate the land of noblemen, Germanize the population, and reclaim the principality for Catholicism through the Counter Reformation. The period between 1601 (assassination of Michael the Brave) - and 1604 (fall of gen. Basta) was the most tragic for Transylvania since the Mongol invasion. "Misericordia dei quod non consumti sumus" (only God's merciful save us from annihilation) characterised this period an anonymous Saxon writer.
From 1604–1606, the Calvinist magnate of Bihar county István Bocskay led a successful rebellion against Austrian rule. Bocskay was elected Prince of Transylvania on April 5, 1603 and prince of Hungary two months later.
The two main achievements of Bocskay's brief reign (he died December 29, 1606) were the Peace of Vienna
(June 23, 1606), and the Peace of Žitava
(November 1606). By the Peace of Vienna, Bocskay obtained religious liberty and political autonomy, the restoration of all confiscated estates, the repeal of all "unrighteous" judgments, and a complete retroactive amnesty for all Hungarians in Royal Hungary
, as well as his own recognition as independent sovereign prince of an enlarged Transylvania. Almost equally important was the twenty years Peace of Žitava, negotiated by Bocskay between Sultan Ahmed I
and Emperor Rudolf II.
Under Bocskay's successors Transylvania had its golden age , especially under the reigns of Gabriel Bethlen
and George I Rákóczi
. Gabriel Bethlen, who reigned from 1613 to 1629, perpetually thwarted all efforts of the emperor to oppress or circumvent his subjects, and won reputation abroad by championing the Protestant cause. Three times he waged war on the emperor, twice he was proclaimed King of Hungary
, and by the Peace of Nikolsburg
(December 31, 1621) he obtained for the Protestants a confirmation of the Treaty of Vienna, and for himself seven additional counties in northern Hungary. Bethlen's successor, George I Rákóczi, was equally successful. His principal achievement was the Peace of Linz
(September 16, 1645), the last political triumph of Hungarian Protestantism, in which the emperor was forced to confirm again the articles of the Peace of Vienna. Gabriel Bethlen and George I Rákóczi also did much for education and culture, and their era has justly been called the golden era of Transylvania. They lavished money on the embellishment of their capital Alba Iulia
(Gyulafehérvár, Weißenburg), which became the main bulwark of Protestantism in Central Europe
. During their reign Transylvania was also one of the few European countries where Roman Catholics, Calvinists, Lutherans, and Unitarian
s lived in mutual tolerance, all of them belonging to the officially accepted religions - religiones recaepte, while Orthodoxs
, however, were only tolerated.
This golden age and relative independence of Transylvania ended with the reign of George II Rákóczi
. The prince, coveting the Polish crown, allied with Sweden and invaded Poland
in 1657 in spite of the Turkish Porte clearly prohibiting any military action. Rákóczi was defeated in Poland, his army taken hostage by the Tatars. Chaotic years followed, with a quick succession of princes fighting one another and a Rákóczi unwilling to resign, despite Turkish threat of all-out military attack. To resolve the political situation, the Turks finally resorted to military power; the successional invasions of Transylvania by the Turks and their Crimean Tatar allies, the ensuing loss of territory (particularly, the loss of the most important Transylvanian stronghold, Várad
in 1660) and diminishing manpower led to Prince Kemény
proclaiming the secession of Transylvania from the Ottomans (April 1661) and appealing for help to Vienna. A secret Habsburg-Ottoman agreement, however, prevented the Habsburg court from intervening, and the defeat of Prince Kemény by the Turks, and the Turkish instalment of the insipid Mihály Apafi on the throne marked the complete subordination of Transylvania, which now became a powerless vassal of the Ottoman Empire.
After the defeat of the Ottomans at the Battle of Vienna
in 1683, the Habsburgs gradually began to impose their rule on the formerly autonomous Transylvania. Apart from strengthening the central government and administration, the Habsburgs also promoted the Roman Catholic Church, both as a uniting force and also as an instrument to reduce the influence of the Protestant nobility. By creating a conflict between Protestant and Catholic elements, the Habsburgs hoped to weaken the estates. In addition, they tried to persuade Orthodox clergymen to join the Uniate (Greek Catholic) Church, which accepted four key points of Catholic doctrine and acknowledged papal authority, while still retaining Orthodox rituals and traditions. In 1699 and 1701, Emperor Leopold I
decreed Transylvania's Orthodox Church to be one with the Roman Catholic Church, by joining the newly created Romanian Greek-Catholic Church
. Many, but not all, priests converted, although it was not clear to them what the difference was between the two denominations. As a response to the Habsburg policy of converting all Romanian Orthodox to Greek-Catholics, several peaceful movements of the Romanian Orthodox population advocated for freedom of worship for all the Transylvanian population, most notably being the movements led by Visarion Sarai, Nicolae Oprea Miclăuş and Sofronie of Cioara
.
From 1711 onward, Austrian control over Transylvania was consolidated, and the princes of Transylvania were replaced with Habsburg imperial governors. In 1765 the Grand Principality of Transylvania was proclaimed, consolidating the special separate status of Transylvania within the Austrian Empire, established by the Diploma Leopoldinum in 1691. The Hungarian histrography sees this as a mere formality.
On November 2, 1784 started a revolt led by the Romanians Horea (Vasile Ursu Nicola), Cloşca (Ion Oargă) and Crişan (Marcu Giurgiu).
It began in Hunedoara
County, but it soon spread all throughout the Apuseni Mountains
. Their main demands were related to the feudal serfdom and the lack of political equality between Romanians and other ethnicities of Transylvania. They fought at Câmpeni, Abrud and Roşia and defeated the Austrian Imperial Army at Brad on November 27, 1784. The revolt was crushed on February 28, 1785 at Dealul Furcilor (Forks' Hill), Alba-Iulia, and afterwards the leaders were caught. Horea and Cloşca were executed by breaking on the wheel; Crişan hanged himself on the night before the execution.
In 1791 the Romanians petitioned Emperor Leopold II
for recognition as the fourth "nation" of Transylvania (Supplex Libellus Valachorum
) and for religious equality, but the Transylvanian Diet
rejected their demands, restoring the Romanians to their old marginalised status.
In early 1848, the Hungarian Diet took the opportunity presented by the revolution to enact a comprehensive legislative program of reforms, referred to as the April laws
, which also included provision for the union of Transylvania and Hungary. The Romanians of Transylvania initially welcomed the revolution believing that they would benefit from the liberal reforms. However, their position changed due to the opposition of Transylvanian nobles to reforms such as emancipation of the serfs, and the failure of the Hungarian revolutionary leaders to recognise Romanian national interests. A Romanian diet at Blaj
in the middle of May, produced its own revolutionary program calling for proportionate representation of Romanians in the Transylvanian Diet
and an end to social and ethnic oppression. The Saxons were worried from the start about the idea of union with Hungary, fearing the loss of their traditional privileges. When the Transylvanian Diet met on May 29 the vote for union was pushed through despite the objection of many Saxon deputies. On June 10, the Emperor sanctioned the union vote of the Diet. Military executions, the arrest of revolutionary leaders and other activities which followed the union hardened the position of the Saxons. In September 1848, another Romanian assembly in Blaj denounced union with Hungary and called for an armed rising in Transylvania. Warfare erupted in November with both Romanian and Saxon troops, under Austrian command, battling the Hungarians led by the Polish general Józef Bem
. Within four months, Bem had ousted the Austrians from Transylvania. However, in June 1849, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia
responded to an appeal from Emperor Franz Joseph to send Russian troops into Transylvania. After initial successes against the Russians, Bem's army was defeated decisively at the Battle of Temesvár (Timişoara
) on August 9; the surrender of Hungary followed.
The Austrians clearly rejected the October demand that the ethnical criteria become the basis for internal borders, with the goal of creating a province for Romanians (Transylvania grouped alongside the Banat
and Bukovina
), as they did not want to replace the threat of Hungarian nationalism with the potential one of Romanian separatism
. Yet they did not declare themselves hostile to the rapid creation of Romanian administrative offices within Transylvania, one which prevented Hungary from including the region in all but name.
The territory was organized in prefecturi ("prefectures"), with Avram Iancu and Buteanu as two prefects in the Apuseni. Iancu's prefecture, the Auraria Gemina (a name charged with Latin
symbolism), became the most important one as it took over from bordering areas that were never really fully organized.
In the same month, the administrative efforts were put to a halt, as Hungarians under Józef Bem
carried out a sweeping offensive through Transylvania. With the discreet assistance of Imperial Russian troops, the Austrian army (except for the garrisons at Alba Iulia
and Deva
) and the Austrian-Romanian administration retreated to Wallachia
and Wallachian Oltenia
(both were, at the time, under Russia's occupation). Avram Iancu's remained the only resistance force: he retreated to harsh terrain, mounting a guerrilla
campaign on Bem's forces, causing severe damage and blocking the route to Alba Iulia. He was, however, challenged by severe shortages himself: the Romanians had few guns and very little gunpowder. The conflict dragged on for the next months, with all Hungarian attempts to seize the mountain stronghold being overturned.
In April 1849, Iancu was approached by the Hungarian envoy Ioan Dragoş (in fact, a Romanian deputy in the Hungarian Parliament). Dragoş appeared to have been acting out of his own desire for peace, and he worked hard to get the Romanian leaders to meet him in Abrud
and listen to the Hungarian demands. Iancu's direct adversary, Hungarian commander Imre Hatvany, seems to have taken profit on the provisoral armistice
to attack the Romanians in Abrud. He did not, however, benefit from a surprise, as Iancu and his men retreated and then encircled him. In the interval, Dragoş was lynched by the Abrud crowds, in the belief that he was part of Hatvany's ruse.
Hatvany also angered the Romanians by having Buteanu captured and murdered. While his position became weaker, he was permanently attacked by Iancu's men, until the major defeat of May 22. Hatvany and most of his armed group were massacred by their adversaries, as Iancu captured their cannon
s, switching the tactical advantage for the next months. Kossuth was angered by Hatvany's gesture (an inspection of the time dismissed all of Hatvany's close collaborators), especially since it made future negotiations unlikely.
However, the conflict became less harsh: Iancu's men concentrated on taking hold of local resources and supplies, opting to inflict losses only through skirmishes. The Russian intervention in June precipitated things, especially since the Poles
fighting in the Hungarian revolutionary contingents wanted to see an all-out resistance to the Tsarist armies. People like Henryk Dembiński
mediated for an understanding between Kossuth and the Wallachian émigré
revolutionaries. The latter, understandably close to Avram Iancu (especially Nicolae Bălcescu
, Gheorghe Magheru
, Alexandru G. Golescu
, and Ion Ghica
) were also keen to inflict a defeat on the Russian armies that had crushed their movement in September 1848.
Bălcescu and Kossuth met in May 1849, in Debrecen
. The contact has for long been celebrated by Romanian Marxist
historians and politicians: Karl Marx
's condemnation of everything opposing Kossuth had led to any Romanian initiative being automatically considered reactionary
. In fact, it appears that the agreement was in no way a pact: Kossuth meant to flatter the Wallachians, by getting them to champion the idea of Iancu's armies leaving Transylvania for good, in order to help Bălcescu in Bucharest
. While agreeing to mediate for peace, Bălcescu never presented these terms to the fighters in the Apuseni.
Even more contradictory, the only thing Avram Iancu agreed to (and which no party had asked for) was his forces' neutrality in the conflict between Russia and Hungary. Thus, he secured his position as the Hungarian armies suffered defeats in July, culminating in the Battle of Segesvár
, and then the capitulation of August 13.
After quashing the revolution, Austria imposed a repressive regime on Hungary and ruled Transylvania directly through a military governor, with German again becoming the official language. Austria abolished the Union of Three Nations and granted citizenship to the Romanians. Although the former serfs were given land by the Austrian authorities, it was often barely sufficient for subsistence living. These poor conditions obliged many Romanian families to cross into Wallachia
and Moldavia
searching for better lives.
Due to external and internal problems, reforms seemed inevitable to secure the integrity of the Habsburg Empire. Major Austrian military defeats, like the Battle of Königgrätz
(1866), forced the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph
to concede internal reforms. To appease Hungarian separatism, the Emperor made a deal with Hungary, negotiated by Ferenc Deák
, called the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, by which the dual Monarchy of Austria–Hungary came into existence.
The two realms were governed separately by two parliaments from two capitals, with a common monarch and common external and military policies. Economically, the empire was a customs union. The first prime minister of Hungary after the Compromise was Count Gyula Andrássy
. The old Hungarian Constitution was restored, and Franz Joseph was crowned as King of Hungary
.
The era witnessed an impressive economic development. The GNP per capita grew roughly 1.45% per year from 1870 to 1913. That level of growth compared very favorably to that of other European nations such as Britain (1.00%), France (1.06%), and Germany (1.51%).
Technological change accelerated industrialization and urbanization. Many of the state institutions and the modern administrative system of Hungary were established during this period.
However, in the compromise (Ausgleich
) of 1867 which established the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the special status of Transylvania ended and it became a province under the control of Hungarian diet
. While part of Austria-Hungary, Transylvania's Romanians were oppressed by the Hungarian administration through Magyarization
; the German Saxons were also subject to this policy, but not as heavily as were Romanians.
During the time of Austria-Hungary, Hungarian-administered "Transylvania proper" consisted of a 15-county region, covering 54,400 km² in the southeast of the former Kingdom of Hungary
. The Hungarian counties at the time were Alsó-Fehér
, Beszterce-Naszód
, Brassó
, Csík
, Fogaras
, Háromszék
, Hunyad
, Kis-Küküllő
, Kolozs
, Maros-Torda
, Nagy-Küküllő
, Szeben
, Szolnok-Doboka
, Torda-Aranyos
, and Udvarhely
.
Although Kings Carol I
and Ferdinand I were of the German
Hohenzollern dynasty, the Kingdom of Romania
refused to join the Central Powers
and stayed neutral when the First World War
began. In 1916 Romania joined the Triple Entente
by signing a secret Military Convention with the Entente, which recognised Romania's rights over Transylvania. King Ferdinand's wife Queen Marie
, who was of British and Russian parentage, was highly influential during these years.
As a consequence of the Convention, Romania declared war against the Central Powers
on August 27, 1916, and crossed the Carpathian mountains
into Transylvania, thus forcing the Central Powers to fight on yet another front. A German-Bulgaria
n counter-offensive began the following month in Dobruja
and in the Carpathians, driving the Romanian army back into Romania by mid-October and eventually leading to the capture of Bucharest
. The exit of Russia from the war in March 1918 in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
left Romania alone in Eastern Europe, and a peace treaty between Romania and Germany was negotiated in May 1918. By mid-1918 the Central Powers were losing the war in the more determinant Western front
, and the Austro-Hungarian empire had begun to disintegrate. Austria-Hungary signed general armistice in Padua
on 3 November 1918. The nations living inside Austria-Hungary proclaimed their independence from the empire during September and October 1918.
in Budapest
brought the left liberal pro-Entente count Mihály Károlyi
to power as Prime-Minister of Hungary. By a notion of Woodrow Wilson's pacifism, Mihály Károlyi
ordered the full disarmament of Hungarian Army. The Károlyi government pronounced illegal all Hungarian armed associations and proposals which wanted to defend the integrity of Hungary.
The resulting Treaty of Bucharest
, never ratified in Romania, was denounced in October 1918 by the Romanian government, which then re-entered the war on the Allied
side. The Romanian Army advanced to the Mureş river
in Transylvania.
The leaders of Transylvania's National Party met and drafted a resolution invoking the right of self-determination (Woodrow Wilson's 14 points) of Transylvania's Romanian people, and proclaimed the unification of Transylvania with Romania. In November, the Romanian National Central Council, which represented all the Romanians of Transylvania, notified the Budapest government that it was going to assume control of twenty-three Transylvanian counties and parts of three others, and requested a Hungarian response by November 2. The Hungarian Government, after negotiations with the Council, rejected the proposal, claiming that it failed to secure rights of the ethnic Hungarian and German population. A mass assembly of ethnic Romanians on December 1 in Alba Iulia
passed a resolution calling for unification of all Romanians in a single state. The National Council of the Germans from Transylvania approved the Proclamation, as did the Council of the Danube Swabians
from the Banat
. In response, the Hungarian General Assembly of Cluj
reaffirmed the loyalty of Hungarians from Transylvania to Hungary on December 22, 1918.
The Romanian Army, representing the Entente powers, entered Transylvania from the east on November 12. In December 1918 they entered Southern Transylvania as well, and reached, then crossed, the demarcation line on the Mureş River by mid-December and advanced up to Cluj and then up to Sighet, after making a request to the Powers of Versailles on the grounds of protecting the Romanians in Transylvania. In February 1919, to prevent armed clashes between the Romanian and the withdrawing Hungarian troops, a Neutral Zone was created.
The Prime Minister of the newly proclaimed independent Republic of Hungary resigned in March 1919, refusing the territorial concessions (including Transylvania) demanded by the Entente powers. When the Communist Party
of Hungary
, led by Béla Kun
, came to power in March 1919 it proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic
and after promising that Hungary would regain the lands that were under its control during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it decided to attack Czechoslovakia
and Romania. This led to the Hungarian-Romanian War of 1919
. The Hungarian Army began the offensive in Transylvania in April 1919 along the Someş
, and Mureş
rivers. A Romanian counter-offensive pushed forward to reach - and halt at - the Tisza
River in May A new Hungarian offensive in July penetrated 60 km into Romanian lines before a further Romanian counter-offensive led to the occupation of the Hungarian capital Budapest
in August, putting an end to the Hungarian Soviet Republic. The Romanian army withdrew from Hungary between October 1919 and March 1920.
The Treaty of Versailles
, formally signed in June 1919, recognised the sovereignty of Romania
over Transylvania. The Treaties of St. Germain (1919) and Trianon
(signed on June 1920) further elaborated the status of Transylvania and defined the new border between the states of Hungary and Romania. King Ferdinand I of Romania and Queen Maria of Romania were crowned at Alba Iulia
in the year 1922.
The Romanian expression România Mare (literal translation "Great Romania") generally refers to the Romania
n state in the years between the First
and Second World Wars and, by extension, to the territory Romania covered at the time (see the map). Romania
achieved at that time its greatest territorial extent, managing to unite almost all the historic Romanian lands (except northern Maramureş, Western Banat and some small areas of Partium
/ Crişana
). Historically, "Great Romania" represented one of the ideals of Romanian nationalism
. It is still seen by many as a "paradise lost" , often by comparison with the "stunted" Communist Romania.
In 1918, at the end of World War I, Transylvania and Bessarabia
united with the Romanian Old Kingdom
, Transylvania united by a Proclamation of Union of Alba Iulia
voted by the Deputies of the Romanians from Transylvania; Bessarabia, having declared its independence from Russia
in 1917 by the Conference of the Country (Sfatul Ţării), called in Romanian troops to protect the province from the Bolshevik
s who were spreading the Russian Revolution
. The union of the regions of Transylvania, Maramureş
, Crişana
and Banat
with the Old Kingdom of Romania was ratified in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon
which recognised the sovereignty of Romania over these regions and settled the border between the independent Republic of Hungary
and the Kingdom of Romania
. The union of Bukovina
and Bessarabia with Romania was ratified in 1920 by the Treaty of Versailles
. Romania had also recently acquired Southern Dobrudja from Bulgaria
as a result of its victory in the Second Balkan War
in 1913.
. The Treaty of Paris
(1947) after the end of the Second World War overturned the Vienna Award, and the territory of northern Transylvania was returned to Romania. The post-WWII borders with Hungary agreed on at the Treaty of Paris were identical with those set out in 1920.
Today, "Transylvania proper" (bright yellow on the accompanying map) is included within the Romanian counties (judeţ
e) of Alba, Bistriţa-Năsăud, Braşov
, Cluj
, Covasna
, Harghita, Hunedoara
, Mureş
, Sălaj
(partially) and Sibiu
. In addition to "Transylvania proper", modern Transylvania includes Crişana
and part of the Banat
; these regions (dark yellow on the map) are in the counties of Arad
, Bihor
, Caraş-Severin
, Maramureş
, Sălaj
(partially), Satu Mare
, and Timiş
.
and 23.3% Hungarians.
The first official census in Transylvania that made a distinction between nationalities (distinction made on the basis of mother tongue) was performed by Austro-Hungarian authorities in 1869.
The data recorded in all censuses is presented in the table below.
Note that the census system in Hungary (between 1880 and 1910) was based on native language. Before 1880 the Jews were counted as an ethnic group later they were counted according to their first language.
,
Note: a The data from 1700 (Benedek Jancsó's estimation) 1730 (Austrian Statistics), 1765 (Hóman and Szekfü record) and from 1850 Census refer to Transylvania proper only, namely the counties of Alba, Bistriţa-Năsăud, Braşov
, Cluj
, Covasna
, Harghita, Hunedoara
, Mureş
, Sălaj
and Sibiu
. It therefore excludes the data from the counties of Arad
, Bihor
, Caraş-Severin
, Maramureş
, Satu Mare
, and Timiş
.
These symbols, representing the three privileged nations (estates
) of Transylvania had been in use since the 16th century, usually together with the elements of the Hungarian coat of arms
, because Transylvanian Princes maintained their claims for the throne of the Kingdom of Hungary
. The Diet
of 1659 codified the coat of arms
considered to be the historical coat of arms until present day. While the Hungarians, Saxons, and Szeklers were represented in it, the Romanians were not, despite their proposal to include a representation of Dacia
.
Regions are not legal administrative units in today's Romania, consequently the historical arms is now only used within the coat of arms of Romania
. This officially recognised image is still based on the 1659 symbols, thus, includes only the traditional estates
of Transylvania.
Another, relatively short-lived heraldic representation of Transylvania is found on the coat of arms of Michael the Brave. Besides the Walachian eagle and the Moldavian auroch, Transylvania is here represented by two afronted lions holding a sword (elements referring to the Dacian Kingdom
), standing upon seven hills.
The 1848 revolutionary movement proposed a revision of the Transylvanian coat of arms, aimed at offering representation to the Romanian majority too. Besides the 1659 representation, it introduced a central section, portraying a Dacian woman, symbolizing the Romania
n nation, holding in her right hand a sickle, and in the left hand a Roman legion
's flag, with the initials D.F. (Dacia Felix). On the woman's right there was an eagle with a laurel crown in its beak, and on its left side a lion. This representation of the Romanian nation was inspired by a coin issued by the Roman emperor Marcus Julius Philippus
at Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa
in honor of the province of Dacia.
and the Hungarian Academy
.
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
is a historical region in the central part of the Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. In ancient times it was part of the Dacian Kingdom
Dacia
In ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...
and Roman Dacia
Roman Dacia
The Roman province of Dacia on the Balkans included the modern Romanian regions of Transylvania, Banat and Oltenia, and temporarily Muntenia and southern Moldova, but not the nearby regions of Moesia...
. Since the 10th century, Transylvania became part of the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
. After the Battle of Mohacs
Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács was fought on August 29, 1526 near Mohács, Hungary. In the battle, forces of the Kingdom of Hungary led by King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia were defeated by forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent....
in 1526, it formed part of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom
Eastern Hungarian Kingdom
The Eastern Hungarian Kingdom was the name of the area under the rule of King John I of Hungary. John I of Hungary was the former voivode of Transylvania and the wealthiest and the most powerful landlord after Mohács, secured the eastern part of the kingdom with the help of the Ottomans...
, out of which the Principality of Transylvania emerged, which, most of the times in the 16th and 17th century, was the vassal country of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. At the end of the 17th century, Transylvania came under the control of the Habsburg Empire. From 1437 to 1848, medieval political power in Transylvania was shared between the mostly Hungarian nobility, German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
burghers
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
, and the seats of the Székely people (a Hungarian ethnic group), while the population was made up by Romanians
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
, Hungarians (especially Székelys) and Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
(see also Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages
The Kingdom of Hungary was formed from the previous Principality of Hungarywith the coronation of Stephen I in AD 1000. This was a result of the conversion of Géza of Hungary to the Western Church in the 970s....
). Starting then, Transylvania was in name attached to Habsburg-controlled Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
, though it had a separate status, being subjected to the direct rule of the emperor’s governors. In practice Transylvania was severed from Hungary until 1867 when, after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise
Ausgleich
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise re-established the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hungary, separate from and no longer subject to the Austrian Empire...
, the separate status of Transylvania ceased and it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
(Transleithania) as part of Austrian-Hungarian Empire. After World War I, Transylvania became part of Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. In 1940, Northern Transylvania
Northern Transylvania
Northern Transylvania is a region of Transylvania, situated within the territory of Romania. The population is largely composed of both ethnic Romanians and Hungarians, and the region has been part of Romania since 1918 . During World War II, as a consequence of the territorial agreement known as...
reverted once again to Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
as a result of the Second Vienna Award
Second Vienna Award
The Second Vienna Award was the second of two Vienna Awards arbitrated by the Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Rendered on August 30, 1940, it re-assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary.-Prelude and historical background :After the World War I, the multi-ethnic...
, but it was taken back by Romania after the end of World War II.
Due to its luscious history, the population of Transylvania is quite diverse from an ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural point of view. Currently, the majority of the population consists of Romanians, but large minorities (mainly Hungarian and Roma) preserve their traditions. However, as recently as the Communist era
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
, ethnic minority relations in Romania remained an issue of international contention. This has abated, but not disappeared, since the Revolution of 1989
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
restored democracy in Romania. Notably, Transylvania retains a significant Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
minority, slightly less than half of which also identify themselves as being Székely. Ethnic Germans in Transylvania
Transylvanian Saxons
The Transylvanian Saxons are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary . For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the...
(known collectively as "Saxons") now form only about 1% of the population. However, ancient Austrian and German influences remain obvious in the architecture and urban landscape of many parts of Transylvania.
The region's history can partly be traced through the religions of its inhabitants. Most Romanians in Transylvania are of Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
faith, while in 18th-20th centuries Romanian Greek-Catholic Church also had a substantial weight. Hungarians mainly belong to either the Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
or the Reformed
Reformed Church in Romania
The Reformed Church in Romania is the organization of the Calvinist church in Romania. The majority of its followers are of Hungarian ethnicity and Hungarian is the main church language...
Churches, while a smaller number are Unitarians
Unitarian Church of Transylvania
The Unitarian Church of Transylvania is a church of the Unitarian denomination, based in the city of Cluj in the Principality of Transylvania, present day in Romania...
. Of the ethnic Germans in Transylvania, Transylvanian Saxons
Transylvanian Saxons
The Transylvanian Saxons are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary . For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the...
have mostly been Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
since the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
, while Danube Swabians
Danube Swabians
The Danube Swabians is a collective term for the German-speaking population who lived in the former Kingdom of Hungary, especially alongside the Danube River valley. Because of different developments within the territory settled, the Danube Swabians cannot be seen as a unified people...
are Catholic. The Baptist Union of Romania
Baptist Union of Romania
The Baptist Union of Romania is an alliance of Baptist churches for cooperative ministry in Romania. Since independent churches have no legal standing in Romania, the Baptist Union also provides a mediatorial relationship between churches and government.The first modern-era Baptists in Romania...
is the second-largest such body in Europe, Seventh-day Adventists
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
are long-established, and other Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
churches have been a growing presence since 1989. No Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic communities remain from the era of Ottoman invasions
Ottoman wars in Europe
The wars of the Ottoman Empire in Europe are also sometimes referred to as the Ottoman Wars or as Turkish Wars, particularly in older, European texts.- Rise :...
. As elsewhere, anti-Semitic 20th-century politics saw Transylvania's once sizable Jewish population
History of the Jews in Romania
The history of Jews in Romania concerns the Jews of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is nowadays Romanian territory....
greatly reduced, firstly in the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
, and then through emigration.
Transylvania as part of the Dacian state
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
gives an account of the Agathyrsi
Agathyrsi
Agathyrsi were a people of Scythian, Thracian, or mixed Thraco-Scythic origin, who in the time of Herodotus occupied the plain of the Maris , in the mountainous part of ancient Dacia now known as Transylvania, Romania...
, who lived in Transylvania during the 5th century BC. He described them as a luxurious people who enjoyed wearing gold ornaments. He also claimed that they held their wives in common, so that all men would be brothers.
A kingdom of Dacia
Dacia
In ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...
was in existence at least as early as the beginning of the 2nd century BC under a king, Oroles
Oroles
Oroles was a king of Dacia during the first half of the 2nd century BC.He successfully opposed the Bastarnae, blocking their invasion into Transylvania....
. Under Burebista
Burebista
Burebista was a king of the Getae and Dacians, who unified for the first time their tribes and ruled them between 82 BC and 44 BC. He led plunder and conquest raids across Central and Southeastern Europe, subjugating most of the neighbouring tribes...
, the greatest king of Dacia and a contemporary of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, the Dacian kingdom reached its maximum extent. The area now constituting Transylvania was the political center or heartland of Dacia.
The Dacians are often mentioned under Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
, according to whom they were compelled to recognize Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
supremacy. However, they were by no means subdued, and in later times seized every opportunity of crossing the frozen Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
during winter and ravaging the Roman cities in the recently acquired Roman province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
Moesia
Moesia
Moesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River. It included territories of modern-day Southern Serbia , Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, and Budjak .-History:In ancient...
.
The Dacians built several important fortified cities, among them Sarmizegetusa, near today's Hunedoara
Hunedoara
Hunedoara is a city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in southeastern Transylvania near the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, and administers five villages: Boş, Groş, Hăşdat, Peştişu Mare and Răcăştia....
.
Roman Dacia
The Roman EmpireRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
expansion in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
brought the Dacians into open conflict with Rome. During the reign of Decebalus
Decebalus
Decebalus or "The Brave" was a king of Dacia and is famous for fighting three wars and negotiating two interregnums of peace without being eliminated against the Roman Empire under two emperors...
, the Dacians were engaged in several wars with the Romans (from 85
85
Year 85 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Fulvus...
to 89
89
Year 89 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Fulvus and Atratinus...
). After two severe reverses, the Romans gained an advantage, but were obliged to make peace owing to the defeat of Domitian
Domitian
Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...
by the Marcomanni
Marcomanni
The Marcomanni were a Germanic tribe, probably related to the Buri, Suebi or Suevi.-Origin:Scholars believe their name derives possibly from Proto-Germanic forms of "march" and "men"....
. As a result, the Dacians were left independent, but had to pay an annual tribute to the Emperor.
In 101
101
Year 101 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Traianus and Paetus...
-102
102
Year 102 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ursus and Sura...
Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
began a military campaign (Dacian Wars) against the Dacians which included the siege of the Dacian capital Sarmizegetusa and the occupation of part of the country. Decebalus was left as a client king under a Roman protectorate
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
. Three years later, the Dacians rebelled and destroyed the Roman troops in Dacia. The second campaign (105
105
Year 105 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Candidus and Iulius...
-106
106
Year 106 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Commodus and Civica...
) ended with the suicide of Decebalus and the conversion of parts of Dacia into the Roman province Dacia Trajana. The history of the Dacian Wars is given in Dio Cassius
Dio Cassius
Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a Roman consul and a noted historian writing in Greek...
, but the best commentary upon it is the famous Trajan's Column
Trajan's Column
Trajan's Column is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, which commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate. It is located in Trajan's Forum, built near...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
.
Dacians were divided into two classes: the aristocracy (tarabostes) and the common people (comati).
Following his subjugation, Decebalus complied with Rome for a time, but was soon inciting revolt among tribes against them and pillaging Roman colonies across the Danube. Intrepid and optimistic, Trajan rallied his forces once more in 106
106
Year 106 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Commodus and Civica...
for a second war against the Kingdom of Dacia.
The battle for Sarmizegetusa Regia took place at the beginning of the summer of 106 BC with the participation of the Adriutix II and Flavia Felix legions and of a detachment (vexillatio) from the Ferrata VI Legion. The Dacians repelled the first attack, but the water pipes from the Dacian capital were destroyed. The city was on fire, all of the pillars of the sacred sanctuaries were cut down, and the entire fortification system was destroyed. But the war went on. By the treason of Bacilis (a confidant of the Dacian king) the Romans found Decebalus' treasure in the river of Sargesia (evaluated by Jerome Carcopino at 165,500 kg of gold and 331,000 kg of silver). The last battle with the army of the Dacian king took place at Porolissum
Porolissum
Porolissum was an ancient Roman city in Dacia. Established as a military camp in 106 during Trajan's Dacian Wars, the city quickly grew through trade with the native Dacians and became the capital of the province Dacia Porolissensis in 124. The site is one of the largest and best-preserved...
(Moigrad).
The Dacians had a very powerful custom which encouraged them not to be afraid of death. This is why it was said that they left for war merrier than for any other journey. In his retirement in the mountains, Decebalus was followed by the Roman cavalry led by Tiberius Claudius Maximus. The Dacian religion of Zalmoxis
Zalmoxis
Zalmoxis , is a divinity of the Getae, mentioned by Herodotus in his Histories IV, 93-96...
admitted suicide as a last resort by those who were in pain and misery. The Dacians who listened Decebalus' last speech spread and committed suicide. Only the unkneeled king tried to retreat from the Romans, hoping that he could find in the mountains and in the unwalked woods the means to prepare the recommencement of the battle and to seek revenge. But the Roman cavalry followed him closely. They almost caught him, and at that point the great Decebal committed suicide by slashing his throat with his sword (falx
Falx
Falx is a Latin word originally meaning sickle, but was later used to mean any of a number of tools that had a curved blade that was sharp on the inside edge such as a scythe...
). The great scene of his death may be found on Trajan's Column
Trajan's Column
Trajan's Column is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, which commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate. It is located in Trajan's Forum, built near...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
.
Late antiquity: after the Roman province Dacia
The Romans exploited the gold mines in the province extensively, building access roads and forts, such as AbrudAbrud
Abrud is a town in the north-western part of Alba County, Transylvania, Romania, located on the river Abrud. It administers three villages: Abrud-Sat, Gura Cornei and Soharu.-Population:...
to protect them, The region developed a strong infrastructure and economy, based on agriculture, cattle farming and mining. Colonists from Thracia
Thracia
Thracia is a Web-Based computer game created and developed by an exclusively Romanian team, part of Infotrend Consulting, and launched in 2009. At the time, it was the first endeavor of its kind. All browser games were text based, made up mostly of static content...
, Moesia
Moesia
Moesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River. It included territories of modern-day Southern Serbia , Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, and Budjak .-History:In ancient...
, Macedonia
Macedonia (Roman province)
The Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated Andriscus of Macedon, the last Ancient King of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved...
, Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, and other Roman provinces were brought in to settle the land, developing cities like Apulum (now Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Since the High Middle Ages, the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese. Between 1541 and 1690 it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania...
) and Napoca (now Cluj Napoca) into municipium
Municipium
Municipium , the prototype of English municipality, was the Latin term for a town or city. Etymologically the municipium was a social contract between municipes, the "duty holders," or citizens of the town. The duties, or munera, were a communal obligation assumed by the municipes in exchange for...
s and colonia
Colonia (Roman)
A Roman colonia was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of Roman city.-History:...
s.
The Dacians rebelled frequently, with the biggest rebellion occurring after the death of Trajan. Sarmatians
Sarmatians
The Iron Age Sarmatians were an Iranian people in Classical Antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD....
and Bur
BUR
BUR may refer to:* Bur, a saying by Gucci Mane* Burs , a Germanic tribe* Bob Hope Airport, Burbank, California * Burmese language * Burkina Faso...
s were allowed to settle in Dacia Trajana after repeated clashes between the native Dacians and the Roman administration. During the 3rd century increasing pressure from the free Dacians (Carpians
Carpians
The Carpi or Carpiani were an ancient people that resided, between not later than ca. AD 140 and until at least AD 318, in the former Principality of Moldavia ....
) and Visigoths forced the Romans to abandon exposed Dacia Trajana.
In 271
271
Year 271 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelianus and Bassus...
, the Roman emperor Aurelian
Aurelian
Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...
removed the army and the administration from Dacia Trajana and reorganised a new Dacia Aureliana inside former Moesia Superior.
The abandonment of Dacia Trajana by the Romans is mentioned by Eutropius in his Breviarum, Liber IX.
The province of Dacia, which TrajanTrajanTrajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
had formed beyond the Danube, he gave up, despairing, after all IllyricumPraetorian prefecture of IllyricumThe praetorian prefecture of Illyricum was one of four praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided.The administrative centre of the prefecture was Sirmium , and, after 379, Thessalonica...
and MoesiaMoesiaMoesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River. It included territories of modern-day Southern Serbia , Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, and Budjak .-History:In ancient...
had been depopulated, of being able to retain it. Roman citizens, removed from the town and lands of DaciaDaciaIn ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...
, he settled in the interior of Moesia, calling that Dacia which now divides the two Moesiae, and which is on the right hand of the Danube as it runs to the sea, whereas Dacia was previously on the left.
It appears proven however that part of the "Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin is any of the nonstandard forms of Latin from which the Romance languages developed. Because of its nonstandard nature, it had no official orthography. All written works used Classical Latin, with very few exceptions...
" speaking population and mostly Christianized Dacian-Roman (Proto-Romanian) population continued to flourish in smaller remote communities. This is evidenced by the findings dating from the 4th to 7th centuries: Roman coins, sections of Latin inscriptions like the Biertan Donarium
Biertan Donarium
The Biertan Donarium is a fourth century Christian votive object found near the town of Biertan, in Transylvania, Romania.Made out of bronze in the shape of a Labarum, it has the Latin text EGO ZENOVIUS VOTUM POSVI, which can be approximatively translated as "I, Zenovius, offered this gift".It was...
, early Christianity artefacts and others.
Thervingi
The Thervingi, Tervingi, or Teruingi were a Gothic people of the Danubian plains west of the Dnestr River in the 3rd and 4th Centuries CE. They had close contacts with the Greuthungi, another Gothic people from east of the Dnestr River, as well as the Late Roman Empire...
, settled in the southern part of Transylvania, in contrast with the Ostrogoths (eastern Goths) or Goths of the flatlands living in the Pontic steppe.
The Visigoths established a kingdom north of Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
and Transylvania between 271-380. The region was known by Romans as Guthiuda and included the region between the Alutus (Olt) and the Ister (Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
). It is unclear whether they used the term Kaukaland (land of the mountains) for Transylvania proper or the whole Carpathians .
Ulfilas
Ulfilas
Ulfilas, or Gothic Wulfila , bishop, missionary, and Bible translator, was a Goth or half-Goth and half-Greek from Cappadocia who had spent time inside the Roman Empire at the peak of the Arian controversy. Ulfilas was ordained a bishop by Eusebius of Nicomedia and returned to his people to work...
carried (around 340) Homoean Arianism
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
to the Goths living in Guthiuda, and the Visigoths and other Germanic tribes became staunch Arians
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
.
Early Middle Ages: the Great Migrations
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
and Sarmats. The Visigoths were unable to preserve the region's Roman era infrastructure. The goldmines of Transylvania were ruined and unused during the Early Middle Age.
Earlier than 376
376
Year 376 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valens and Augustus...
the a new wave of migratory people, the Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
, reached Transylvania entering in conflict with the Visigothic kingdom.
Hoping to find refuge from the Huns, one of Visigothic leaders, Fritigern
Fritigern
Fritigern or Fritigernus was a Tervingian Gothic chieftain whose decisive victory at Adrinaople the Gothic War extracted favourable terms for the Goths when peace was made with Gratian in 382.-War against Athanaric:...
, appealed to the Roman emperor Valens
Valens
Valens was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the eastern half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latter's accession to the throne...
in 376
376
Year 376 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valens and Augustus...
to be allowed to settle with his people on the south bank of the Danube. However a famine broke out and Rome was unwilling to supply them with the food they were promised nor the land. As a result the Goths rebelled against the Romans for several years - see Gothic War (376–382).
The Huns fought against Alans
Alans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...
, Vandals
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
, and Quads forcing them to left the region towards the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Pannonia became the centre during the peak of the reign under Attila (435-453).
After the death of Attila, the Hunnic empire disintegrated. In 455 AD the Gepids under king Ardarich conquered Pannonia
Pannonia
Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
, allowing them to settle for two centuries in Transylvania. The rule of the Gepids was destroyed by the attack of Lombards
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
and Avars
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
in 567 AD.
Very few Gepid sites from after 600 remain, such as cemeteries in the Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
region. They probably lost their identity by being assimilated in population of the Avar empire.
By 568 AD, the Avars under the capable leadership of their Khagan
Khagan
Khagan or qagan , alternatively spelled kagan, khaghan, qaghan, or chagan, is a title of imperial rank in the Mongolian and Turkic languages equal to the status of emperor and someone who rules a khaganate...
, Bayan, established an empire in the Carpathian Basin that lasted for 250 years. During this period the Slavs were allowed to settle inside Transylvania. The Avars met their demise with the rise of Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
's Frankish empire. After a fierce seven year war and civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
between the Khagan
Khagan
Khagan or qagan , alternatively spelled kagan, khaghan, qaghan, or chagan, is a title of imperial rank in the Mongolian and Turkic languages equal to the status of emperor and someone who rules a khaganate...
and Yugurrus which lasted from 796 to 803 AD, the Avars were defeated. The Transylvanian Avars were subjugated by the Bulgars
Bulgars
The Bulgars were a semi-nomadic who flourished in the Pontic Steppe and the Volga basin in the 7th century.The Bulgars emerge after the collapse of the Hunnic Empire in the 5th century....
under Khan Krum at the beginning of the 9th century and Transylvania, along with eastern Pannonia
Pannonia
Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
, was incorporated into the First Bulgarian Empire
History of Bulgaria
The history of Bulgaria spans from the first settlements on the lands of modern Bulgaria to its formation as a nation-state and includes the history of the Bulgarian people and their origin. The first traces of human presence on what is today Bulgaria date from 44,000 BC...
.
Rastislav
Rastislav or Rostislav was the second known ruler of Moravia . Although he started his reign as vassal to Louis the German, king of East Francia, he consolidated his rule to the extent that after 855 he was able to repel a series of Frankish attacks...
of Great Moravia
Great Moravia
Great Moravia was a Slavic state that existed in Central Europe and lasted for nearly seventy years in the 9th century whose creators were the ancestors of the Czechs and Slovaks. It was a vassal state of the Germanic Frankish kingdom and paid an annual tribute to it. There is some controversy as...
rebelled against the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
, and, after hiring Magyar troops, won his independence; this was the first time that Magyar expeditionary troops entered the Carpathian Basin. After a devastating Bulgar and Pecheneg attack the Magyar tribes crossed the Carpathians around 896
896
Year 896 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Decisive Bulgarian victory over Magyars in the Battle of Southern Buh....
and occupied the basin without significant resistance. According to the eleventh century traditions, the road taken by the Hungarians under the leadership of Prince Álmos took them first to Transylvania in 895. This tradition is supported by an eleventh century Russian tradition, stating that the Hungarians moved to the Carpathian Basin by way of Kiev. According to supporters of the theory of Daco-Romanian continuity, Transylvania was populated by Vlachs at the time of the Hungarian conquest, while opponents of this theory assert that Transylvania was sparsely inhabited by various people, mostly of Slav origin, and the most dominative element of them was the Bulgarian, or indigenous Slavs and Turkic people. The precise date of the conquest of Transylvania is not known; the earliest Magyar artefacts found in the region are dated to the first half of the 10th century. A coin, minted under Berthold, Duke of Bavaria
Berthold, Duke of Bavaria
Berthold , of the Luitpolding dynasty, was the younger son of Margrave Luitpold of Bavaria and Cunigunda, sister of Duke Erchanger of Swabia. He followed his nephew Eberhard as Duke of Bavaria in 938....
, found near Turda
Turda
Turda is a city and Municipality in Cluj County, Romania, situated on the Arieş River.- Ancient times :The city was founded by Dacians under the name Patavissa or Potaissa...
indicates that Transylvanian Magyars participated in western military campaigns. Although the defeat in the Battle of Lechfeld
Battle of Lechfeld
The Battle of Lechfeld , often seen as the defining event for holding off the incursions of the Hungarians into Western Europe, was a decisive victory by Otto I the Great, King of the Germans, over the Hungarian leaders, the harka Bulcsú and the chieftains Lél and Súr...
in 955
955
Year 955 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* August 10 – Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I the Great defeats the Magyars, halting their westward expansion and ending the threat to Germany.* Eadwig becomes King of England.- Religion :* December 16 – Pope...
stopped the Magyar raids against western Europe, the raids on the Balkan Peninsula continued until 970. Linguistic evidence suggests that after their conquest, the Magyars inherited the local social structures of the conquered Pannonian Slavs and, furthermore, that in Transylvania there was intermarriage between the Magyar ruling class and the Slavs' élites.
The scenario of the Hungarian conquest as given by the chronicle Gesta Hungarorum of Anonymus
GelouGelou
Gelou or Gelu was a Romanian duke mentioned in Gesta Hungarorum as having opposed the conquest of Transylvania by Tuhutum, one of the “seven dukes” of the Magyars. His story was recorded only by the anonymous writer of the 13th century Gesta...
is a figure in the Gesta Hungarorum
Gesta Hungarorum
Gesta Hungarorum is a record of early Hungarian history by an unknown author who describes himself as Anonymi Bele Regis Notarii , but is generally cited as Anonymus...
, а medieval work written by an unknown author known as 'Anonymus', for most likelihood, at the end of the 12th century, approximately 300 years after the Hungarian conquest starting in 895-96. Gelou
Gelou
Gelou or Gelu was a Romanian duke mentioned in Gesta Hungarorum as having opposed the conquest of Transylvania by Tuhutum, one of the “seven dukes” of the Magyars. His story was recorded only by the anonymous writer of the 13th century Gesta...
is portrayed as 'some Vlach' (originally 'quidam Blacus', Vlach and Blacus meaning 'Romanian') being a leader of the Vlachs in Transylvania, and having his capital at Doboka
Dabâca, Cluj
Dăbâca is a commune in Cluj County, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Dăbâca, Luna de Jos and Pâglişa.- Demographics :According to the census from 2002 there was a total population of 1,804 people living in this town. Of this population, 87.91% are ethnic Romanians, 7.53% are ethnic...
. He was said to be defeated by the warriors of the Magyar chieftain Töhötöm (in the original Latin: Tuhutum, also called Tétény) Romanian historian Neagu Djuvara asserts that the name of Gelou could be connected with the ancient Thracian toponym "Gelupara" ("para" meaning "town") and with the modern toponym of "Gilău", the name of a village and a river in Cluj
Cluj
Cluj may refer to*Cluj-Napoca, county seat of Cluj County, named Cluj until 1974*Cluj County, Romania*Cluj-Napoca International Airport*U Cluj, a Romanian sports club*U Cluj, a Romanian football club*CFR Cluj, a Romanian football club...
/Kolozs. This assertion is highly controversial. According to Bulgarian linguist Ivan Duridanov Thracian and Dacian were two different Indo-European languages. Many of the village names in ancient Thracia
Thracia
Thracia is a Web-Based computer game created and developed by an exclusively Romanian team, part of Infotrend Consulting, and launched in 2009. At the time, it was the first endeavor of its kind. All browser games were text based, made up mostly of static content...
were composite, with the words -para (-phara, -pera, -parn, etc.) meaning ‘ a village'. Such names are not to be found in Dacia proper (on the northern side of the Danube). The Dacian linguistic area is characterized with composite names ending in -dava (-deva, -daua, -daba, etc.) ‘a town’. Hungarian historians assert that the figure of Gelou
Gelou
Gelou or Gelu was a Romanian duke mentioned in Gesta Hungarorum as having opposed the conquest of Transylvania by Tuhutum, one of the “seven dukes” of the Magyars. His story was recorded only by the anonymous writer of the 13th century Gesta...
was created by the unknown author from the name of the village 'Gelou' (Hungarian: Gyalu) to be the legendary enemy of the Hungarian noble families the deeds of whom he wrote about. The ethnic groups mentioned in Gesta Hungarorum
Gesta Hungarorum
Gesta Hungarorum is a record of early Hungarian history by an unknown author who describes himself as Anonymi Bele Regis Notarii , but is generally cited as Anonymus...
reflect the ethnic composition of Hungary and its neighboring territories in the era when the author himself lived and that of the 9-10th century.
Another legendary leader of Transylvania is given as Glad
Glad (duke)
Glad was a duke of Bulgarian origin who, according to the 13th-century chronicle Gesta Ungarorum "", ruled in the territory of modern Banat at the time of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin around 896...
(Bulgarian and Serbian Cyrillic: Глад) by Anonymus. He was, according to the Gesta Hungarorum, a voivod (dux) from Bundyn (Vidin
Vidin
Vidin is a port town on the southern bank of the Danube in northwestern Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Serbia and Romania, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as of the Metropolitan of Vidin...
), ruler of the territory of Banat, southern-Transylvania Vidin region. Glad was said to have authority over the Slavs and Vlachs. The Hungarians sent an army against duke Glad and subdued the population between the Morisio (Mureş river
Mures River
The Mureș is an approximately 761 km long river in Eastern Europe. It originates in the Hășmașu Mare Range in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, Romania, and joins the Tisza river at Szeged in southeastern Hungary....
) and Temes (Timiş River
Timis River
The Timiş or Tamiš is a 359 km long river originating from Țarcu Mountains , southern Carpathian Mountains, Caraş-Severin County, Romania. It flows through the Banat region and flows into the Danube near Pančevo, in northern Serbia....
) rivers. When they tried to pass the Timiş River, Glad came against them with a great army including Cuman, Bulgarian and Vlach support. On the following day Glad was defeated by the Hungarians. Romanian historiography claims that the Hungarian attack against duke Glad was dated in 934. Hungarian historiography regards him as fictional person created by Anonymus. A real historical figure was Ahtum, a duke of Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
region, the last ruler who resisted the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary in the 11th century. He was defeated by the Stephen I of Hungary with Byzantine assistance. His and his peoples ethnicity in controversial. His name is thought to be Old Turkic meaning gold.
Menumorut
Menumorut
For the residential district named after him, see Menumorut, Satu MareMenumorut or Menumorout ruled, according to the 13th century Gesta Ungarorum , the land between the rivers Tisa, Mureş and Someş when the Magyars invaded the Carpathian Basin around 895...
is given by Anonymus as the duke of khazars
Khazars
The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...
from the lands between the River Tisza and the Ygfon Forest in the direction of Ultrasilvania (Transylvania), from the Mureş river
Mures River
The Mureș is an approximately 761 km long river in Eastern Europe. It originates in the Hășmașu Mare Range in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, Romania, and joins the Tisza river at Szeged in southeastern Hungary....
to the Someş river. He declined the request of the Magyar ruler Árpád (907) to cede his territory between the Someş river and the Meses Mountains, and in the negotiations with the ambassadors Usubuu and Veluc of Árpád he invoked the sovereignty of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise
Leo VI the Wise
Leo VI, surnamed the Wise or the Philosopher , was Byzantine emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty , he was very well-read, leading to his surname...
.
- The ambassadors of Árpád crossed the Tisza and came to the capital fortress of BihariaBihariaBiharia is a commune in Bihor County, northwestern Romania. It is composed of two villages, Biharia and Cauaceu . In 2002 it had 5,870 inhabitants, of whom 85.87% were Hungarians, 12.12% Romanians and 1.73% Roma.-History:...
, demanding important territories on the left bank of the river for their duke. Menumorut replied: "Tell Arpad, duke of Hungary, your lord: Indebted we are to him as a friend to a friend, with all requisite to him, since he is a stranger and lacks many. Yet the territory he asked from our good will never will we bestow as long as we will be alive. And we felt sorry that duke Salanus conceded him a very large territory out either of love, which it is said, or out of fear, which is denied. Ourself on the other hand, neither out of love nor out of fear, we will ever concede him land, not even if spanning only a finger, although he said he has a right on it. And his words do not trouble our heart that he stressed he descends from the strain of king Attila, which was called the scourge of GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. And if that one raped this country from my ancestor, now thanks to my lord the emperor of Constantinople, nobody can snatch it from my hands."
See also: The original text in Latin
The Magyars first besieged the citadel of Zotmar (Romanian: Satu Mare, Hungarian: Szatmár) and then Menumorut's castle in Bihar, and were able to defeat him.
The Gesta Hungarorum then retells the story of Menumorut. In the second telling, he married his daughter into the Árpád dynasty. Her son Taksony, the grandson of Menumorut, became ruler of the Magyars and father of Mihály and Géza, whose son Vajk became the first King of Hungary in 1001 under the Christian baptismal name Stephen and became King Stephen I of Hungary.
There are two major conflicting interpretations, concerning whether or not the Romanized Dacian population, the ancestors of the Romanians
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
, continued to live in Transylvania after the withdrawal of the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, and therefore whether or not the Romanians were present in Transylvania at the time of the Great Migrations, particularly at the time of the Magyar migration; see also: Origin of Romanians
Origin of Romanians
The origin of the Romanians – the ethnogenesis of the Romanian people – can be traced back to the region’s Romanized inhabitants living, within the Roman Empire, in the lands north of the Jireček Line The origin of the Romanians – the ethnogenesis of the Romanian people (speakers of a Romance...
. These conflicting hypotheses are often used to back competing claims by chauvinistic Hungarian and Romanian nationalists.
Besides pointing to several erroneous facts (such as the arrival of Cumans
Cumans
The Cumans were Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. After Mongol invasion , they decided to seek asylum in Hungary, and subsequently to Bulgaria...
in the Pannonian Basin
Pannonian Basin
The Pannonian Basin or Carpathian Basin is a large basin in East-Central Europe.The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense - meaning only the lowlands, the plain that remained when the Pliocene Pannonian Sea dried...
during the Hungarian conquest, when in fact they came 150 years later), many Hungarian historians regard Daco-Roman continuity as a false theory based on the fact that in the current Romanian lexicon Dacian words represent less than 1%. On the other hand, many Romanian historians regard Gesta as a serious proof of the Daco-Roman continuity: being the oldest Hungarian chronicle, thus it must have been based on earlier Hungarian gestas, and therefore its factual accuracy is likely to be high.
Transylvania as part of the Kingdom of Hungary: High Middle Ages
In 1000, Stephen I of Hungary, Grand Prince of the Hungarian tribes, was recognised by the Roman Pope and by his brother-in-law, Henry II, Holy Roman EmperorHenry II, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry II , also referred to as Saint Henry, Obl.S.B., was the fifth and last Holy Roman Emperor of the Ottonian dynasty, from his coronation in Rome in 1014 until his death a decade later. He was crowned King of the Germans in 1002 and King of Italy in 1004...
as king of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. Although, Stephen was brought up as a Roman Catholic and Christianization
Christianization
The historical phenomenon of Christianization is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once...
of the Hungarians was achieved mostly by Rome, he also recognized and supported Orthodoxy. The endeavour of King Saint Stephen I to establish his control over all Hungarian tribal territories led to wars, among others, with his maternal uncle, Gyula
Gyula III
Gyula III, also Gyula the Younger, Geula or Gyla, was an early medieval ruler who apparently ruled in Transylvania . His actual name was probably Prokui, yet Prokui cannot possibly be the same as Gyula. Around 1003, he and his family were attacked, dispossessed and captured by King Stephen I of...
, chieftain in Transylvania. ("Gyula" meant the second highest title in Hungarian tribal confederation) In 1003, Stephen led an army into Transylvania and Gyula surrendered without a fight. This made possible the organization of the Transylvanian Catholic episcopacy with Gyulafehérvár as its seat which was finished in 1009 when the bishop of Ostia
Bishop of Ostia
The Bishop of Ostia is the head of the Suburbicarian Diocese of Ostia, one of the seven suburbicarian sees of Rome. The position is now attached to the post of Dean of the College of Cardinals, as it has been since 1150, with the actual governance of the diocese entrusted to the Vicar General of...
as the legate of the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
paid a visit to Stephen; together they approved the division of the dioceses and their boundaries. In 1018, King Saint Stephen I defeated Ahtum
Ahtum
Ahtum, also Achtum or Ajtony , was a local ruler in the region of Banat in the first decades of the 11th century. King Saint Stephen I of Hungary sent Csanád - one of Ahtum’s former retainers - to fight against him...
, the ruler of the country around the downsteram of Maros
Maros
Maros is a town in the South Sulawesi province of Indonesia; it is the capital of the Maros Regency. Nearby is a prehistoric cave that has been submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative list.- References :...
River. According to a rather nebulous tradition preserved by Chronicon Pictum
Chronicon Pictum
The Chronicon Pictum Pictum, Chronica Picta or Chronica de Gestis Hungarorum) is a medieval illustrated chronicle from the Kingdom of Hungary from the fourteenth century...
, Stephen I also defeated the legendary Kean, a ruler in Southern-Transylvania, the duke of Bulgarians and Slavs.
The Szeklers
Székely
The Székelys or Székely , sometimes also referred to as Szeklers , are a subgroup of the Hungarian people living mostly in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, Romania...
, a Hungarian community of uncertain origin, may have entered Transylvania before the Magyars of Árpád conquered the Carpathian basin. By the 12th century the Szeklers were established in eastern and southeastern Transylvania as border guards.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, the areas in the south and northeast were settled by German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
colonists called (then and now) Saxons. Siebenbürgen, the German name for Transylvania, derives from the seven principal fortified towns founded by these Transylvanian Saxons
Transylvanian Saxons
The Transylvanian Saxons are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary . For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the...
. The German influence became more marked when, early in the 13th century, King Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II the Jerosolimitan was King of Hungary and Croatia . He was the younger son of King Béla III of Hungary, who invested him with the government of the Principality of Halych...
called on the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
to protect Transylvania in the Burzenland
Burzenland
The Burzenland is a historic and ethnographic area in southeastern Transylvania, Romania with a mixed population...
from the Cumans
Cumans
The Cumans were Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. After Mongol invasion , they decided to seek asylum in Hungary, and subsequently to Bulgaria...
. After the Order began expanding their territory outside of Transylvania and acting independently, Andrew expelled the knights in 1225.
In 1241 Transylvania suffered greatly during the Mongol invasion of Europe
Mongol invasion of Europe
The resumption of the Mongol invasion of Europe, during which the Mongols attacked medieval Rus' principalities and the powers of Poland and Hungary, was marked by the Mongol invasion of Rus starting in 21 December 1237...
. Güyük Khan
Güyük Khan
Güyük was the third Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. As the eldest son of Ögedei Khan and a grandson of Genghis Khan, he reigned from 1246 to 1248...
invaded Transylvania from the Oituz
Oituz
Oituz is a commune in Bacău County, Romania. It is composed of six villages: Călcâi , Ferestrău-Oituz , Hârja , Marginea, Oituz and Poiana Sărată ....
Pass, while Subutai
Subutai
Subutai was the primary military strategist and general of Genghis Khan and Ögedei Khan...
attacked to the south from the Mehedia Pass towards Orşova
Orsova
Orșova is a port city on the Danube river in southwestern Romania's Mehedinți County. It is one of four localities in the county located in the Banat historical region. It is situated just above the Iron Gates, on the spot where the Cerna River meets the Danube.- History :The first documented...
. While Subutai advanced northward to meet up with Batu Khan
Batu Khan
Batu Khan was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Ulus of Jochi , the sub-khanate of the Mongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. His ulus was the chief state of the Golden Horde , which ruled Rus and the Caucasus for around 250 years, after also destroying the armies...
, Güyük attacked Sibiu to prevent the Transylvanian nobility from aiding King Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV , King of Hungary and of Croatia , duke of Styria 1254–58. One of the most famous kings of Hungary, he distinguished himself through his policy of strengthening of the royal power following the example of his grandfather Bela III, and by the rebuilding Hungary after the catastrophe of the...
. Bistriţa
Bistrita
Bistrița is the capital city of Bistriţa-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistriţa River. The city has a population of approximately 80,000 inhabitants, and it administers six villages: Ghinda, Sărata, Sigmir, Slătiniţa, Unirea and Viişoara.-History:The earliest sign of...
, Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...
, and the Transylvanian Plain
Transylvanian Plain
The Transylvanian Plain is an ethnogeographical area in Transylvania, Romania, located between the Someş River and the Mureş River....
region were all ravaged by the Mongols, as was the Hungarian king's silver mine at Rodna
Rodna
Rodna is a commune in Bistriţa-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Rodna and Valea Vinului.During the Late Middle Ages, the Transylvanian Saxon-inhabited commune was sacked by the Mongols during their invasion of the Kingdom of Hungary....
. A separate Mongol force destroyed the western Cumans near the Siret River
Siret River
The Siret or Sireth is a river that rises from the Carpathians in the Northern Bukovina region of Ukraine, and flows southward into Romania for 470 km before it joins the Danube...
in the Carpathian region and annihilated the Cuman Bishopric of Milcov
Milcov
Milcovul or Milcov is a commune in Vrancea County, Romania. It is located in the historical region of Moldavia. It is composed of two villages, Lămoteşti and Milcovul, and also included Gologanu and Răstoaca before these became separate communes in 2004.In 1227 Milcov became the seat of the...
. Estimates of population decline in Transylvania owing to the Mongol invasion range from 15-20% to 50%.
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
to Roman Catholicism, and, after they were defeated by the Mongols, looked for refuge in central Hungary; Erzsebet, a Cumanian princess, married Stephen V of Hungary
Stephen V of Hungary
Stephen V , was King of Hungary from 1270 to 1272.-Early years:...
in 1254.
Nogai Khan
Nogai Khan
Nogai , also called Isa Nogai, was a general and de facto ruler of the Golden Horde and a great-great-grandson of Genghis Khan. His grandfather was Baul/Teval Khan, the 7th son of Jochi...
led an invasion of Hungary alongside with Talabuga
Talabuga
Talabuga, Tulabuga, Talubuga or Telubuga was the khan of Golden Horde between 1287 and 1291. He was the son of Tartu and great-grandson of Batu Khan.He assumed the power in Golden Horde in 1287 with the help of Nogai Khan, but was dethroned 4 years later by the same, replaced by Tokhta.- European...
. Nogai lead an army that ravaged Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
with success, where cities like Reghin, Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
and Bistriţa
Bistrita
Bistrița is the capital city of Bistriţa-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistriţa River. The city has a population of approximately 80,000 inhabitants, and it administers six villages: Ghinda, Sărata, Sigmir, Slătiniţa, Unirea and Viişoara.-History:The earliest sign of...
were plundered and ravaged. However Talabuga, who led an army in Northern Hungary, was stopped by the heavy snow of the Carpathians
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
and the invading force was defeated near Pest by the royal army of Ladislaus IV and ambushed by the Székely
Székely
The Székelys or Székely , sometimes also referred to as Szeklers , are a subgroup of the Hungarian people living mostly in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, Romania...
in the return.
The first written sources about Romanian settlements descent from the 13 century and the first Romanian township was Olahteluk (1283) in Bihar county. The 'land of Romanians', Terram Blacorum (1222,1280) showed up in Fogaras
Fagaras
Făgăraș is a city in central Romania, located in Braşov County . Another source of the name is alleged to derive from the Hungarian language word for "partridge" . A more plausible explanation is that the name is given by Fogaras river coming from the Pecheneg "Fagar šu", which means ash water...
and this area was mentioned under different name (Olachi) in 1285. The first appearance of a supposed Romanian name 'Ola' in Hungary derives from a charter (1258).
The administration of Transylvania was in the hands of a voivod appointed by the King. The word voivod or voievod first appeared in historical documents in 1193. Prior to that, the term ispán was used for the chief official of the County of Alba. The whole historical territory of Transylvania came under the rule of the voievod after 1263, when the functions of Count of Szolnok (Doboka) and Count of Alba were terminated. The voivod controlled seven comitatus. According to Chronica Pictum, Transylvania's first voivod was Zoltán Erdoelue, King Stephen's relative.
The three most important dignitaries of the 14th century were the voivod, the Bishop of Transylvania and the Abbot of Kolozsmonostor (outskirt of present day Cluj-Napoca).
Transylvania was organized according to the system of Estates. Transylvanian Estates were privileged groups or universitates (the central power acknowledged some collective or communal "liberties") with power and influence in socio-economic and political life; nevertheless they were organized according to certain ethnic criteria as well.
As in the rest of the Hungarian kingdom, the first Estate was the aristocracy (lay and ecclesiastic), ethnically heterogeneous, but undergoing a process of homogenization around its Hungarian nucleus. The basic document that granted privileges to the entire aristocracy was the Golden Bull
Golden Bull of 1222
The Golden Bull of 1222 was a golden bull, or edict, issued by King Andrew II of Hungary. The law established the rights of the Hungarian nobility, including the right to disobey the King when he acted contrary to law . The nobles and the church were freed from all taxes and could not be forced to...
issued by king Andrew II in 1222.
The other Estates were Saxons, Szeklers and Romanians, all with an ethnic and ethno-linguistic basis. The Saxons, who had settled in southern Transylvania in the 12th-13th centuries, were granted privileges in 1224 by the Golden Bull of 1224
Golden Bull
A Golden Bull or chrysobull was a golden ornament representing a seal , attached to a decree issued by Byzantine Emperors and later by monarchs in Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The term was originally coined for the golden seal itself but came to be applied to the entire decree...
, also called the Andreanum. Szeklers and Romanians were not regarded as newcomers (colonists) in Transylvania, thus they were not granted general but partial privileges. While Szeklers kept on consolidating these privileges and extended them over the entire ethnic group, Romanians had difficulty keeping their old privileges in certain areas (terrae Vlachorum or districtus Valachicales) and ended up by losing the rank of a distinct Estate.
Nevertheless, in the 13th-14th centuries, when the king or the voivod summoned the general assembly of Transylvania (congregatio), this was attended by the four Estates: noblemen, Saxons, Szeklers, Romanians (Universis nobilibus, Saxonibus, Syculis et Olachis in partibus Transiluanis).
Transylvania as part of the Kingdom of Hungary: later Middle Ages
Universitas Valachorum
Universitas Valachorum is the Latin denomination for an Estate, an institution of self-government of the Romanians in medieval Transylvania....
) and were excluded from Transylvania's assemblies. The main reason was religion: during Louis I's proselytizing campaign, privileged status was deemed incompatible with that of "schismatic
Schism (religion)
A schism , from Greek σχίσμα, skhísma , is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization or movement religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a break of communion between two sections of Christianity that were previously a single body, or to a division within...
" in a state endowed with an apostolic mission by the Holy See: through the Decree of Turda
Decree of Turda
The Decree of Turda was a decree by Louis I Anjou of Hungary. It had longstanding consequences for the constitutional order and social structure of Transylvania....
/Torda, in 1366, the king redefined nobility in terms of membership in the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, thus excluding the Eastern Orthodox "schismatic" Romanians. After 1366 the status of nobility was determined not only by ownership of land and people, but also by the possession of a royal donation certificate. Since Romanians' social elite, chiefly made up of aldermen (iudices) or ‘knezes' (kenezii), who ruled over their villages according to the old law of the land (ius valachicum), managed only to a small extent to procure writs of donation, they came to be expropriated. Lacking land property and/or the official status of owner and being officially excluded from privileges as schismatic, the Romanian elite was no longer able to form an Estate and participate in the country's assemblies.
In 1437 Hungarian and Romanian peasants, the petty nobility
Petty nobility
Petty nobility is dated at least back to 13th century and was formed by Nobles/Knights around their strategic interests. The idea was more capable peasants with leader roles in local community that were given tax exemption for taking care of services like for example guard duties of local primitive...
and burghers from Kolozsvár (Klausenburg, now: Cluj
Cluj
Cluj may refer to*Cluj-Napoca, county seat of Cluj County, named Cluj until 1974*Cluj County, Romania*Cluj-Napoca International Airport*U Cluj, a Romanian sports club*U Cluj, a Romanian football club*CFR Cluj, a Romanian football club...
) under the leadership of Budai Nagy Antal upraised against their feudal masters and proclaimed their own Estate (universitas hungarorum et valachorum - the Estate of Hungarians and Romanians) (see: Bobâlna revolt
Bobâlna revolt
The Budai Nagy Antal Revolt or Bobâlna Revolt , of 1437 in Transylvania was the only significant popular revolt in the Kingdom of Hungary prior to the great peasant war of 1514...
). In order to suppress the revolt, the Hungarian nobility in Transylvanian counties, the Saxon burghers and the Székelys formed the Unio Trium Nationum
Unio Trium Nationum
Unio Trium Nationum Unio Trium Nationum Unio Trium Nationum (Latin for "Union of the Three Nations" was a pact of mutual aid formed in 1438 by three Estates of Transylvania: the (largely Hungarian) nobility, the Saxon (i.e. German) burghers, and the free Szeklers...
(The Union of the Three Nations), an alliance of mutual aid against the peasants, jointly pledging to defend their privileges against any power except that of Hungary's king. By 1438, the rebellion was crushed. From 1438 onwards the political system was based on the Unio Trium Nationum
Unio Trium Nationum
Unio Trium Nationum Unio Trium Nationum Unio Trium Nationum (Latin for "Union of the Three Nations" was a pact of mutual aid formed in 1438 by three Estates of Transylvania: the (largely Hungarian) nobility, the Saxon (i.e. German) burghers, and the free Szeklers...
and the society was led by these three privileged nations (Estates): the nobility (mostly Hungarians), the Szeklers
Székely
The Székelys or Székely , sometimes also referred to as Szeklers , are a subgroup of the Hungarian people living mostly in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, Romania...
and the Saxon burghers. These nations, however, corresponded more to social and religious rather than ethnic divisions. Being explicitly directed against the peasants, the Union limited the number of Estates, implicitly excluding the Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
from political and social life in Transylvania.
However, Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
Romanians were not allowed to build up local self-government (like the Szekelys, Saxons in Transylvania, Cumans and Iazyges in Hungary), the Romanian ruling class the "nobilis kenezius" had the same rights like Hungarian "nobilis conditionarius". In contrast to Maramureş, after the Decree of Turda
Decree of Turda
The Decree of Turda was a decree by Louis I Anjou of Hungary. It had longstanding consequences for the constitutional order and social structure of Transylvania....
/Torda 1366 in proper Transylvania the only possibility to remain or access nobility was for them through conversion to Roman Catholicism. In order to conserve their positions some Romanian families converted to Catholicism
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, being subsequently magyarized (i.e. the Hunyadi/Corvinus, Bedőházi, Bilkei, Ilosvai, Drágffy, Dánfi, Rékási, Dobozi, Mutnoki, Dési, Majláth, etc. families). Some of them even reached the highest ranks of the society (Nicolaus Olahus
Nicolaus Olahus
Nicolaus Olahus ; January 10, 1493, Sibiu-January 15, 1568, Trnava/Nagyszombat) was the Archbishop of Esztergom, Primate of Hungary, and a distinguished Roman Catholic prelate.-Early life:...
became Archishop of Esztergom, while half Romanian regent John Hunyadi's son - Mathias Corvinus - became king of Hungary).
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, in the constitutional system of the three nations there was no place left for them up to the 19th century, to be politically represented. Thus, they remained deprived of their rights and subject to specific segregation such as not being allowed to dwell or acquire houses in the cities, to build stone churches, or enjoy fair justice. Several examples of legal decisions taken by the three nations some hundred years after Unio Trium Nationum (1542–1555) are illustrative: the Romanian could not appeal to justice against Hungarians and Saxons, but the latter could turn in the Romanian (1552); the Hungarian (Hungarus) accused of robbery could be defended by the oath of the village judge and three honest men, while the Romanian (Valachus) needed the oath of the village knez, four Romanians and three Hungarians (1542); the Hungarian peasant could be punished after being accused by seven trustworthy people, while the Romanian received punishment after he was accused by three trustworthy people (1554).
After the diversionary manoeuvre led by Sultan Murad II, personally, it became clear that the goal of the Ottomans was no more simply to consolidate their grip on the Balkans and intimidate the Hungarians, but to conquer Hungary.
A key figure to emerge in Transylvania in these hard times was John Hunyadi
John Hunyadi
John Hunyadi John Hunyadi (Hungarian: Hunyadi János , Medieval Latin: Ioannes Corvinus or Ioannes de Hunyad, Romanian: Iancu (Ioan) de Hunedoara, Croatian: Janko Hunjadi, Serbian: Сибињанин Јанко / Sibinjanin Janko, Slovak: Ján Huňady) John Hunyadi (Hungarian: Hunyadi János , Medieval Latin: ...
(c. 1387 or 1400–1456). John Hunyadi himself was awarded numerous estates (he became one of the greatest landowners in Hungarian history) and a seat in the royal council for his services to Sigismund of Luxemburg
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...
. After supporting the candidature of Ladislaus III of Poland to the throne of Hungary, he was rewarded in 1440 with the captaincy of the fortress of Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
) and the voivodship of Transylvania (with his fellow voivode Miklos Újlaki). His subsequent military exploits (he is considered one of the most talented generals of the Middle Ages) against the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
brought him further status as the regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
in 1446 and papal recognition as the Prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
of Transylvania in 1448.
Early Modern Era: Transylvania as an autonomous principality
When the main Hungarian army and King Louis II JagielloJagiellon dynasty
The Jagiellonian dynasty was a royal dynasty originating from the Lithuanian House of Gediminas dynasty that reigned in Central European countries between the 14th and 16th century...
were slain by the Ottomans in the Battle of Mohács
Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács was fought on August 29, 1526 near Mohács, Hungary. In the battle, forces of the Kingdom of Hungary led by King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia were defeated by forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent....
(1526), John Zápolya
John Zápolya
John Zápolya was King of Hungary from 1526 to 1540. His rule was disputed by Archduke Ferdinand I, who also claimed the title King of Hungary between 1526 and 1540. He was the voivode of Transylvania before his coronation.- Biography :...
, governor of Transylvania, took advantage of his military strength, who opposed the succession of Ferdinand of Austria (later Emperor Ferdinand I
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...
) to the Hungarian throne. As John I was elected king of Hungary, another party recognized Ferdinand. In the ensuing struggle Zápolya received the support of Sultan Suleiman I
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East, as "The Lawgiver" , for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system...
, who after Zápolya's death in 1540 overran central Hungary on the pretext of protecting Zápolya's son, John II.
Habsburg Austria controlled Royal Hungary, which consisted of counties along the Austrian border, Upper Hungary
Upper Hungary
Upper Hungary is the usual English translation for the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia...
and some of northwestern Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. The Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
annexed central and southern Hungary.
Suzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...
of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, Principality of Transylvania, where native princes, who paid the Turks tribute, ruled with considerable autonomy and where Austrian and Turkish influences vied for supremacy for nearly two centuries.
Transylvania was now beyond the reach of Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
religious authority, allowing Lutheran and Calvinist preaching to flourish. In 1563, Giorgio Blandrata was appointed as court physician, and his radical religious ideas increasingly influenced both the young king John II and the Calvinist bishop Francis David, eventually converting both to the Anti-Trinitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
(Unitarian) creed. In a formal public disputation, Francis David prevailed over the Calvinist Peter Melius, resulting in 1568 in the formal adoption of individual freedom of religious expression under the Edict of Turda
Edict of Turda
The Edict of Torda in 1568, also known as the Patent of Toleration, was an early attempt to guarantee religious freedom in Christian Europe, that was born due the special political, social and religious situation in the Kingdom of Hungary in the 16 Century.- The original edict :King John II...
(the first such legal guarantee of religious freedom in Christian Europe). Lutherans, Calvinists, Unitarians and Roman Catholics received protection, while the majority Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
was merely tolerated.
Transylvania was governed by princes and its Diet
Diet (assembly)
In politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is mainly used historically for the Imperial Diet, the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire, and for the legislative bodies of certain countries.-Etymology:...
(parliament). The Transylvanian Diet
Transylvanian Diet
The Transylvanian Diet was the constitutional and political body of Principality of Transylvania, and later of the Grand Principality of Transylvania...
consisted of three Estates
Estates of the realm
The Estates of the realm were the broad social orders of the hierarchically conceived society, recognized in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period in Christian Europe; they are sometimes distinguished as the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and commoners, and are often referred to by...
: the Hungarian nobility (largely ethnic Hungarian nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
and clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
); the leaders of Transylvanian Saxons
Transylvanian Saxons
The Transylvanian Saxons are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary . For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the...
—German burghers
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
; and the free Székely Hungarians.
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
suzerainty, until 1602.
The younger Stephen Báthory, a Hungarian Catholic who later became King Stephen Bathory of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, undertook to maintain the religious liberty granted by the Edict of Turda, but interpreted this obligation in an increasingly restricted sense. The latter period of Báthory rule saw Transylvania under Sigismund Bathory
Sigismund Báthory
Sigismund Báthory was Prince of Transylvania.-Biography:Hailing from the Báthory family's Somlyó branch, he was the son of Christopher Báthory, Voivod of Transylvania, and nephew of Stephen Báthory, King of Poland...
enter the Long War
Long War (Ottoman wars)
The Long War took place from 1591 or 1593 to 1604 or 1606 and was one of the numerous military conflicts between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire that developed after the Battle of Mohács.- History :The major participants of this war were the Habsburg Monarchy ,...
, which started as a Christian alliance against the Turks and became a four-sided conflict in Transylvania involving the Transylvanians, the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
ns, the Ottomans, and the Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n voivode of Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
, Prince Michael the Brave.
Battle of Selimbar
The Battle of Şelimbăr is one of the great events of medieval Romanian history. It took place on 18 October 1599 between the Wallachian army of Michael the Brave and the Transylvanian-Hungarian army of Andrew Bathory...
in which he defeated Andrew Báthory
Andrew Báthory
Andrew Báthory was a Hungarian Roman Catholic Cardinal, a Prince-Bishop of Warmia , and Prince of Transylvania . He was also Grand Master of the Order of the Dragon.-Life:Báthory was born at Szilágysomlyó, Transylvania...
's army. Báthory was killed by Szeklers who hoped to regain their old privileges with Michael's help. In May 1600 Michael also gained control of Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
, uniting the three principalities of Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania (the three main parts of present-day Romania). Michael installed Wallachian boyars in certain offices, but even so, he did not interfere with the Transylvanian Estates, and sought support from the Hungarian nobility. In 1600 he was defeated by Giorgio Basta
Giorgio Basta
Giorgio Basta, Count of Huszt was an Italian general of Arbëreshë descent, employed by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II to command Habsburg forces in the Long War of 1591-1606 and later to administer Transylvania as an Imperial vassal to restore Catholicism as a predominant religion in...
the Captain of Upper Hungary
Upper Hungary
Upper Hungary is the usual English translation for the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia...
and lost his Moldavian holdings to the Poles. After he presented his case to Rudolf II in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
(that time capital of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) where he was rewarded graciously for his deeds to the Caesar & Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
king. . He returned assisting Basta in the battle of Battle of Guruslău
Battle of Guruslău
The Battle of Goroszló was fought on 3 August 1601, between the troops of the Habsburg Empire led by Giorgio Basta, the Cossacks and Wallachia led by Michael the Brave on one side and the Transylvanian troops led by Sigismund Báthory on the other side...
in 1601.
His rule did not last long however, as Michael was assassinated by Walloon mercenaries under the command of the Habsburg general Giorgio Basta
Giorgio Basta
Giorgio Basta, Count of Huszt was an Italian general of Arbëreshë descent, employed by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II to command Habsburg forces in the Long War of 1591-1606 and later to administer Transylvania as an Imperial vassal to restore Catholicism as a predominant religion in...
in August 1601. The rule of Michael the Brave was marred by the pillaging of Wallachian and Serbian mercenaries as well as Székelys avenging the Szárhegy Bloody Carnival of 1596. When Michael entered Transylvania, he did not free or grant rights to the Romanian inhabitants, who were primarily peasants but, nevertheless, constituted more than 60% of the population. Instead he sought to support the Hungarian, Szekler, and Saxon nobles by reaffirming their right and privileges.
After the defeat of Michael at Miriszló, the Transylvanian Estates swore allegiance to the Habsburg Emperor, Rudolph. As Basta finally subdued Transylvania in 1604 and initiated a reign of terror in which he was authorised to appropriate the land of noblemen, Germanize the population, and reclaim the principality for Catholicism through the Counter Reformation. The period between 1601 (assassination of Michael the Brave) - and 1604 (fall of gen. Basta) was the most tragic for Transylvania since the Mongol invasion. "Misericordia dei quod non consumti sumus" (only God's merciful save us from annihilation) characterised this period an anonymous Saxon writer.
From 1604–1606, the Calvinist magnate of Bihar county István Bocskay led a successful rebellion against Austrian rule. Bocskay was elected Prince of Transylvania on April 5, 1603 and prince of Hungary two months later.
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
(June 23, 1606), and the Peace of Žitava
Peace of Žitava
The Peace of Zsitvatorok was a peace treaty which ended the Fifteen Years' War between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy on November 11, 1606...
(November 1606). By the Peace of Vienna, Bocskay obtained religious liberty and political autonomy, the restoration of all confiscated estates, the repeal of all "unrighteous" judgments, and a complete retroactive amnesty for all Hungarians in Royal Hungary
Royal Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary between 1538 and 1867 was part of the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy, while outside the Holy Roman Empire.After Battle of Mohács, the country was ruled by two crowned kings . They divided the kingdom in 1538...
, as well as his own recognition as independent sovereign prince of an enlarged Transylvania. Almost equally important was the twenty years Peace of Žitava, negotiated by Bocskay between Sultan Ahmed I
Ahmed I
Ahmed I or Ahmed Bakhti was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 until his death in 1617.-Biography:...
and Emperor Rudolf II.
Under Bocskay's successors Transylvania had its golden age , especially under the reigns of Gabriel Bethlen
Gabriel Bethlen
Gabriel Bethlen was a prince of Transylvania , duke of Opole and leader of an anti-Habsburg insurrection in the Habsburg Royal Hungary. His last armed intervention in 1626 was part of the Thirty Years' War...
and George I Rákóczi
George I Rákóczi
György Rákóczi I was elected Hungarian prince of Transylvania from 1630 until his death. During his influence Transylvania grew politically and economically stronger.-Biography:...
. Gabriel Bethlen, who reigned from 1613 to 1629, perpetually thwarted all efforts of the emperor to oppress or circumvent his subjects, and won reputation abroad by championing the Protestant cause. Three times he waged war on the emperor, twice he was proclaimed King of Hungary
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.The style of title "Apostolic King" was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary, so after this date the kings are referred to as "Apostolic King of...
, and by the Peace of Nikolsburg
Peace of Nikolsburg
The Peace of Nikolsburg or Peace of Mikulov was signed on December 31, 1621 in Nikolsburg, Moravia . Esterhazy of Galantha contributed significantly to the negotiations...
(December 31, 1621) he obtained for the Protestants a confirmation of the Treaty of Vienna, and for himself seven additional counties in northern Hungary. Bethlen's successor, George I Rákóczi, was equally successful. His principal achievement was the Peace of Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
(September 16, 1645), the last political triumph of Hungarian Protestantism, in which the emperor was forced to confirm again the articles of the Peace of Vienna. Gabriel Bethlen and George I Rákóczi also did much for education and culture, and their era has justly been called the golden era of Transylvania. They lavished money on the embellishment of their capital Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Since the High Middle Ages, the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese. Between 1541 and 1690 it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania...
(Gyulafehérvár, Weißenburg), which became the main bulwark of Protestantism in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
. During their reign Transylvania was also one of the few European countries where Roman Catholics, Calvinists, Lutherans, and Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
s lived in mutual tolerance, all of them belonging to the officially accepted religions - religiones recaepte, while Orthodoxs
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
, however, were only tolerated.
This golden age and relative independence of Transylvania ended with the reign of George II Rákóczi
George II Rákóczi
György Rákóczi II , a Transylvanian Hungarian ruler, was the eldest son of George I and Susanna Lorantffy....
. The prince, coveting the Polish crown, allied with Sweden and invaded Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
in 1657 in spite of the Turkish Porte clearly prohibiting any military action. Rákóczi was defeated in Poland, his army taken hostage by the Tatars. Chaotic years followed, with a quick succession of princes fighting one another and a Rákóczi unwilling to resign, despite Turkish threat of all-out military attack. To resolve the political situation, the Turks finally resorted to military power; the successional invasions of Transylvania by the Turks and their Crimean Tatar allies, the ensuing loss of territory (particularly, the loss of the most important Transylvanian stronghold, Várad
Várad
Várad is a village in Baranya county, Hungary.- External links :*...
in 1660) and diminishing manpower led to Prince Kemény
John Kemény (Prince)
János Kemény was a Hungarian aristocrat, writer and prince of Transylvania....
proclaiming the secession of Transylvania from the Ottomans (April 1661) and appealing for help to Vienna. A secret Habsburg-Ottoman agreement, however, prevented the Habsburg court from intervening, and the defeat of Prince Kemény by the Turks, and the Turkish instalment of the insipid Mihály Apafi on the throne marked the complete subordination of Transylvania, which now became a powerless vassal of the Ottoman Empire.
Modern Era: Habsburg rule
Battle of Vienna
The Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...
in 1683, the Habsburgs gradually began to impose their rule on the formerly autonomous Transylvania. Apart from strengthening the central government and administration, the Habsburgs also promoted the Roman Catholic Church, both as a uniting force and also as an instrument to reduce the influence of the Protestant nobility. By creating a conflict between Protestant and Catholic elements, the Habsburgs hoped to weaken the estates. In addition, they tried to persuade Orthodox clergymen to join the Uniate (Greek Catholic) Church, which accepted four key points of Catholic doctrine and acknowledged papal authority, while still retaining Orthodox rituals and traditions. In 1699 and 1701, Emperor Leopold I
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...
decreed Transylvania's Orthodox Church to be one with the Roman Catholic Church, by joining the newly created Romanian Greek-Catholic Church
Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic
The Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic is an Eastern Catholic Church which is in full union with the Roman Catholic Church. It is ranked as a Major Archiepiscopal Church and uses the Byzantine liturgical rite in the Romanian language....
. Many, but not all, priests converted, although it was not clear to them what the difference was between the two denominations. As a response to the Habsburg policy of converting all Romanian Orthodox to Greek-Catholics, several peaceful movements of the Romanian Orthodox population advocated for freedom of worship for all the Transylvanian population, most notably being the movements led by Visarion Sarai, Nicolae Oprea Miclăuş and Sofronie of Cioara
Sofronie of Cioara
Sofronie of Cioara is a Romanian Orthodox saint. He was an Eastern Orthodox monk who advocated for the freedom of worship of the Romanian population in Transylvania.-Early life:...
.
From 1711 onward, Austrian control over Transylvania was consolidated, and the princes of Transylvania were replaced with Habsburg imperial governors. In 1765 the Grand Principality of Transylvania was proclaimed, consolidating the special separate status of Transylvania within the Austrian Empire, established by the Diploma Leopoldinum in 1691. The Hungarian histrography sees this as a mere formality.
On November 2, 1784 started a revolt led by the Romanians Horea (Vasile Ursu Nicola), Cloşca (Ion Oargă) and Crişan (Marcu Giurgiu).
It began in Hunedoara
Hunedoara
Hunedoara is a city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in southeastern Transylvania near the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, and administers five villages: Boş, Groş, Hăşdat, Peştişu Mare and Răcăştia....
County, but it soon spread all throughout the Apuseni Mountains
Apuseni Mountains
The Apuseni Mountains is a mountain range in Transylvania, Romania, which belongs to the Western Carpathians, also called Occidentali in Romanian. Their name translates from Romanian as Mountains "of the sunset" i.e. "western". The highest peak is "Cucurbăta Mare" - 1849 metres, also called Bihor...
. Their main demands were related to the feudal serfdom and the lack of political equality between Romanians and other ethnicities of Transylvania. They fought at Câmpeni, Abrud and Roşia and defeated the Austrian Imperial Army at Brad on November 27, 1784. The revolt was crushed on February 28, 1785 at Dealul Furcilor (Forks' Hill), Alba-Iulia, and afterwards the leaders were caught. Horea and Cloşca were executed by breaking on the wheel; Crişan hanged himself on the night before the execution.
In 1791 the Romanians petitioned Emperor Leopold II
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...
for recognition as the fourth "nation" of Transylvania (Supplex Libellus Valachorum
Supplex Libellus Valachorum
Supplex Libellus Valachorum Transsilvaniae is the name of two petitions sent by the leaders of the ethnic Romanians of Transylvania to the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, demanding equal political rights with the other ethnicities of Transylvania and a share of the Transylvanian Diet proportional...
) and for religious equality, but the Transylvanian Diet
Diet (assembly)
In politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is mainly used historically for the Imperial Diet, the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire, and for the legislative bodies of certain countries.-Etymology:...
rejected their demands, restoring the Romanians to their old marginalised status.
In early 1848, the Hungarian Diet took the opportunity presented by the revolution to enact a comprehensive legislative program of reforms, referred to as the April laws
April laws
The April laws, also called March laws, were a collection of laws legislated by Lajos Kossuth with the aim of modernizing Kingdom of Hungary into a nation state. The imperative program included Hungarian control of its popular national guard, national budget and Hungarian foreign policy, as well as...
, which also included provision for the union of Transylvania and Hungary. The Romanians of Transylvania initially welcomed the revolution believing that they would benefit from the liberal reforms. However, their position changed due to the opposition of Transylvanian nobles to reforms such as emancipation of the serfs, and the failure of the Hungarian revolutionary leaders to recognise Romanian national interests. A Romanian diet at Blaj
Blaj
Blaj is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 20,758 inhabitants.The landmark of the city is the fact that it was the principal religious and cultural center of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church in Transylvania....
in the middle of May, produced its own revolutionary program calling for proportionate representation of Romanians in the Transylvanian Diet
Transylvanian Diet
The Transylvanian Diet was the constitutional and political body of Principality of Transylvania, and later of the Grand Principality of Transylvania...
and an end to social and ethnic oppression. The Saxons were worried from the start about the idea of union with Hungary, fearing the loss of their traditional privileges. When the Transylvanian Diet met on May 29 the vote for union was pushed through despite the objection of many Saxon deputies. On June 10, the Emperor sanctioned the union vote of the Diet. Military executions, the arrest of revolutionary leaders and other activities which followed the union hardened the position of the Saxons. In September 1848, another Romanian assembly in Blaj denounced union with Hungary and called for an armed rising in Transylvania. Warfare erupted in November with both Romanian and Saxon troops, under Austrian command, battling the Hungarians led by the Polish general Józef Bem
Józef Bem
Józef Zachariasz Bem was a Polish general, an Ottoman Pasha and a national hero of Poland and Hungary, and a figure intertwined with other European nationalisms...
. Within four months, Bem had ousted the Austrians from Transylvania. However, in June 1849, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
responded to an appeal from Emperor Franz Joseph to send Russian troops into Transylvania. After initial successes against the Russians, Bem's army was defeated decisively at the Battle of Temesvár (Timişoara
Timisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
) on August 9; the surrender of Hungary followed.
The Austrians clearly rejected the October demand that the ethnical criteria become the basis for internal borders, with the goal of creating a province for Romanians (Transylvania grouped alongside the Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
and Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
), as they did not want to replace the threat of Hungarian nationalism with the potential one of Romanian separatism
Separatism
Separatism is the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. While it often refers to full political secession, separatist groups may seek nothing more than greater autonomy...
. Yet they did not declare themselves hostile to the rapid creation of Romanian administrative offices within Transylvania, one which prevented Hungary from including the region in all but name.
The territory was organized in prefecturi ("prefectures"), with Avram Iancu and Buteanu as two prefects in the Apuseni. Iancu's prefecture, the Auraria Gemina (a name charged with Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
symbolism), became the most important one as it took over from bordering areas that were never really fully organized.
Józef Bem
Józef Zachariasz Bem was a Polish general, an Ottoman Pasha and a national hero of Poland and Hungary, and a figure intertwined with other European nationalisms...
carried out a sweeping offensive through Transylvania. With the discreet assistance of Imperial Russian troops, the Austrian army (except for the garrisons at Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Since the High Middle Ages, the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese. Between 1541 and 1690 it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania...
and Deva
Deva, Romania
Deva is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, on the left bank of the Mureș River. It is the capital of Hunedoara County.-Name:...
) and the Austrian-Romanian administration retreated to Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
and Wallachian Oltenia
Oltenia
Oltenia is a historical province and geographical region of Romania, in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Danube, the Southern Carpathians and the Olt river ....
(both were, at the time, under Russia's occupation). Avram Iancu's remained the only resistance force: he retreated to harsh terrain, mounting a guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
campaign on Bem's forces, causing severe damage and blocking the route to Alba Iulia. He was, however, challenged by severe shortages himself: the Romanians had few guns and very little gunpowder. The conflict dragged on for the next months, with all Hungarian attempts to seize the mountain stronghold being overturned.
Abrud
Abrud is a town in the north-western part of Alba County, Transylvania, Romania, located on the river Abrud. It administers three villages: Abrud-Sat, Gura Cornei and Soharu.-Population:...
and listen to the Hungarian demands. Iancu's direct adversary, Hungarian commander Imre Hatvany, seems to have taken profit on the provisoral armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
to attack the Romanians in Abrud. He did not, however, benefit from a surprise, as Iancu and his men retreated and then encircled him. In the interval, Dragoş was lynched by the Abrud crowds, in the belief that he was part of Hatvany's ruse.
Hatvany also angered the Romanians by having Buteanu captured and murdered. While his position became weaker, he was permanently attacked by Iancu's men, until the major defeat of May 22. Hatvany and most of his armed group were massacred by their adversaries, as Iancu captured their cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
s, switching the tactical advantage for the next months. Kossuth was angered by Hatvany's gesture (an inspection of the time dismissed all of Hatvany's close collaborators), especially since it made future negotiations unlikely.
However, the conflict became less harsh: Iancu's men concentrated on taking hold of local resources and supplies, opting to inflict losses only through skirmishes. The Russian intervention in June precipitated things, especially since the Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
fighting in the Hungarian revolutionary contingents wanted to see an all-out resistance to the Tsarist armies. People like Henryk Dembiński
Henryk Dembinski
Henryk Dembiński was a Polish engineer, traveler and general.Dembiński was born in Strzałków, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 1809 he entered the Polish army of the Duchy of Warsaw and took part in most of the Napoleonic campaigns in the East. Among others, he took part in the Battle of Leipzig in...
mediated for an understanding between Kossuth and the Wallachian émigré
Émigré
Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....
revolutionaries. The latter, understandably close to Avram Iancu (especially Nicolae Bălcescu
Nicolae Balcescu
Nicolae Bălcescu was a Romanian Wallachian soldier, historian, journalist, and leader of the 1848 Wallachian Revolution.-Early life:...
, Gheorghe Magheru
Gheorghe Magheru
General Gheorghe Magheru was a Romanian revolutionary and soldier from Wallachia, and political ally of Nicolae Bălcescu.-A Pandur and radical conspirator:...
, Alexandru G. Golescu
Alexandru G. Golescu
Alexandru G. Golescu was a Romanian politician who served as a Prime Minister of Romania in 1870 .-Early life:...
, and Ion Ghica
Ion Ghica
Ion Ghica was a Romanian revolutionary, mathematician, diplomat and twice Prime Minister of Romania . He was a full member of the Romanian Academy and its president for four times...
) were also keen to inflict a defeat on the Russian armies that had crushed their movement in September 1848.
Bălcescu and Kossuth met in May 1849, in Debrecen
Debrecen
Debrecen , is the second largest city in Hungary after Budapest. Debrecen is the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar county.- Name :...
. The contact has for long been celebrated by Romanian Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
historians and politicians: Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
's condemnation of everything opposing Kossuth had led to any Romanian initiative being automatically considered reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
. In fact, it appears that the agreement was in no way a pact: Kossuth meant to flatter the Wallachians, by getting them to champion the idea of Iancu's armies leaving Transylvania for good, in order to help Bălcescu in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
. While agreeing to mediate for peace, Bălcescu never presented these terms to the fighters in the Apuseni.
Even more contradictory, the only thing Avram Iancu agreed to (and which no party had asked for) was his forces' neutrality in the conflict between Russia and Hungary. Thus, he secured his position as the Hungarian armies suffered defeats in July, culminating in the Battle of Segesvár
Battle of Segesvár
The Battle of Segesvár was a battle in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, fought on 31 July 1849 between the Hungarian revolutionary army supplemented by Polish volunteers under the command of General Józef Bem and the Russian V Corps under General Alexander von Lüders in ally with the Austrian...
, and then the capitulation of August 13.
After quashing the revolution, Austria imposed a repressive regime on Hungary and ruled Transylvania directly through a military governor, with German again becoming the official language. Austria abolished the Union of Three Nations and granted citizenship to the Romanians. Although the former serfs were given land by the Austrian authorities, it was often barely sufficient for subsistence living. These poor conditions obliged many Romanian families to cross into Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
and Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
searching for better lives.
Late Modern Era: The Austro-Hungarian Empire
Battle of Königgrätz
The Battle of Königgrätz , also known as the Battle of Sadowa, Sadová, or Hradec Králové, was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War, in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire...
(1866), forced the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
to concede internal reforms. To appease Hungarian separatism, the Emperor made a deal with Hungary, negotiated by Ferenc Deák
Ferenc Deák
Ferenc Deák de Kehida , , was a Hungarian statesman and Minister of Justice. He was known as "The Wise Man of the Nation".-Early life and law career:...
, called the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, by which the dual Monarchy of Austria–Hungary came into existence.
The two realms were governed separately by two parliaments from two capitals, with a common monarch and common external and military policies. Economically, the empire was a customs union. The first prime minister of Hungary after the Compromise was Count Gyula Andrássy
Gyula Andrássy
Gyula Count Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka was a Hungarian statesman, who served as Prime Minister of Hungary and subsequently as Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary...
. The old Hungarian Constitution was restored, and Franz Joseph was crowned as King of Hungary
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.The style of title "Apostolic King" was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary, so after this date the kings are referred to as "Apostolic King of...
.
The era witnessed an impressive economic development. The GNP per capita grew roughly 1.45% per year from 1870 to 1913. That level of growth compared very favorably to that of other European nations such as Britain (1.00%), France (1.06%), and Germany (1.51%).
Technological change accelerated industrialization and urbanization. Many of the state institutions and the modern administrative system of Hungary were established during this period.
However, in the compromise (Ausgleich
Ausgleich
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise re-established the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hungary, separate from and no longer subject to the Austrian Empire...
) of 1867 which established the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the special status of Transylvania ended and it became a province under the control of Hungarian diet
Diet of Hungary
The Diet of Hungary was a legislative institution in the medieval kingdom of Hungary from the 15th century, and in its successor states, Royal Hungary and the Habsburg kingdom of Hungary throughout the Early Modern period...
. While part of Austria-Hungary, Transylvania's Romanians were oppressed by the Hungarian administration through Magyarization
Magyarization
Magyarization is a kind of assimilation or acculturation, a process by which non-Magyar elements came to adopt Magyar culture and language due to social pressure .Defiance or appeals to the Nationalities Law, met...
; the German Saxons were also subject to this policy, but not as heavily as were Romanians.
During the time of Austria-Hungary, Hungarian-administered "Transylvania proper" consisted of a 15-county region, covering 54,400 km² in the southeast of the former Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
. The Hungarian counties at the time were Alsó-Fehér
Alsó-Fehér
Alsó-Fehér is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in western Romania . The capital of the county was Nagyenyed .-Geography:...
, Beszterce-Naszód
Beszterce-Naszód
Beszterce-Naszód was the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in northern Romania...
, Brassó
Brassó (county)
Brassó is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in central Romania . The capital of the county was Braşov .-Geography:Brassó county shared borders with Romania and the Hungarian counties Fogaras, Nagy-Küküllő and Háromszék...
, Csík
Csík
Csík was the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in central Romania...
, Fogaras
Fogaras
Fogaras is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in central Romania . The capital of the county was Făgăraş .-Geography:...
, Háromszék
Háromszék
Háromszék is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in central Romania...
, Hunyad
Hunyad
Hunyad was the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in Romania in Transylvania. The capital of the county was Deva .-Geography:...
, Kis-Küküllő
Kis-Küküllo
Kis-Küküllő is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in central Romania . Kis-Küküllő is the Hungarian name for the Târnava Mică River...
, Kolozs
Kolozs
Kolozs is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in north-western Romania...
, Maros-Torda
Maros-Torda
Maros-Torda is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in central Romania . Its county seat was Marosvásárhely .-Geography:...
, Nagy-Küküllő
Nagy-Küküllo
Nagy-Küküllő is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in central Romania . Nagy-Küküllő is the Hungarian name for the Târnava Mare River...
, Szeben
Szeben
Szeben was the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in central Romania . The capital of the county was Sibiu .-Geography:...
, Szolnok-Doboka
Szolnok-Doboka
Szolnok-Doboka is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in northern Romania . The capital of the county was Dés .-Geography:...
, Torda-Aranyos
Torda-Aranyos
Torda-Aranyos is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in central Romania . The capital of the county was Turda .-Geography:...
, and Udvarhely
Udvarhely
Udvarhely was the name of an administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in central Romania . The capital of the county was Székelyudvarhely .-Geography:...
.
Greater Romania
Carol I of Romania
Carol I , born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was reigning prince and then King of Romania from 1866 to 1914. He was elected prince of Romania on 20 April 1866 following the overthrow of Alexandru Ioan Cuza by a palace coup...
and Ferdinand I were of the German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
Hohenzollern dynasty, the Kingdom of Romania
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
refused to join the Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
and stayed neutral when the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
began. In 1916 Romania joined the Triple Entente
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
by signing a secret Military Convention with the Entente, which recognised Romania's rights over Transylvania. King Ferdinand's wife Queen Marie
Marie of Edinburgh
Marie of Romania was Queen consort of Romania from 1914 to 1927, as the wife of Ferdinand I of Romania.-Early life:...
, who was of British and Russian parentage, was highly influential during these years.
As a consequence of the Convention, Romania declared war against the Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
on August 27, 1916, and crossed the Carpathian mountains
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
into Transylvania, thus forcing the Central Powers to fight on yet another front. A German-Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n counter-offensive began the following month in Dobruja
Dobruja
Dobruja is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast...
and in the Carpathians, driving the Romanian army back into Romania by mid-October and eventually leading to the capture of Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
. The exit of Russia from the war in March 1918 in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on March 3, 1918, mediated by South African Andrik Fuller, at Brest-Litovsk between Russia and the Central Powers, headed by Germany, marking Russia's exit from World War I.While the treaty was practically obsolete before the end of the year,...
left Romania alone in Eastern Europe, and a peace treaty between Romania and Germany was negotiated in May 1918. By mid-1918 the Central Powers were losing the war in the more determinant Western front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
, and the Austro-Hungarian empire had begun to disintegrate. Austria-Hungary signed general armistice in Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
on 3 November 1918. The nations living inside Austria-Hungary proclaimed their independence from the empire during September and October 1918.
After World War I
In 1918, as a political result of German defeat on the Western front in World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy collapsed. On October 31, 1918, the success of the Aster RevolutionAster Revolution
The Aster Revolution or Chrysanthemum Revolution was a revolution in Hungary led by leftist liberal count Mihály Károlyi, who founded the Hungarian Democratic Republic....
in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
brought the left liberal pro-Entente count Mihály Károlyi
Mihály Károlyi
Count Mihály Ádám György Miklós Károlyi de Nagykároly was briefly Hungary's leader in 1918-19 during a short-lived democracy...
to power as Prime-Minister of Hungary. By a notion of Woodrow Wilson's pacifism, Mihály Károlyi
Mihály Károlyi
Count Mihály Ádám György Miklós Károlyi de Nagykároly was briefly Hungary's leader in 1918-19 during a short-lived democracy...
ordered the full disarmament of Hungarian Army. The Károlyi government pronounced illegal all Hungarian armed associations and proposals which wanted to defend the integrity of Hungary.
The resulting Treaty of Bucharest
Treaty of Bucharest, 1918
The Treaty of Bucharest was a peace treaty which the German Empire forced Romania to sign on 7 May 1918 following the Romanian campaign of 1916-1917.-Main terms of the treaty:...
, never ratified in Romania, was denounced in October 1918 by the Romanian government, which then re-entered the war on the Allied
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
side. The Romanian Army advanced to the Mureş river
Mures River
The Mureș is an approximately 761 km long river in Eastern Europe. It originates in the Hășmașu Mare Range in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, Romania, and joins the Tisza river at Szeged in southeastern Hungary....
in Transylvania.
The leaders of Transylvania's National Party met and drafted a resolution invoking the right of self-determination (Woodrow Wilson's 14 points) of Transylvania's Romanian people, and proclaimed the unification of Transylvania with Romania. In November, the Romanian National Central Council, which represented all the Romanians of Transylvania, notified the Budapest government that it was going to assume control of twenty-three Transylvanian counties and parts of three others, and requested a Hungarian response by November 2. The Hungarian Government, after negotiations with the Council, rejected the proposal, claiming that it failed to secure rights of the ethnic Hungarian and German population. A mass assembly of ethnic Romanians on December 1 in Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Since the High Middle Ages, the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese. Between 1541 and 1690 it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania...
passed a resolution calling for unification of all Romanians in a single state. The National Council of the Germans from Transylvania approved the Proclamation, as did the Council of the Danube Swabians
Danube Swabians
The Danube Swabians is a collective term for the German-speaking population who lived in the former Kingdom of Hungary, especially alongside the Danube River valley. Because of different developments within the territory settled, the Danube Swabians cannot be seen as a unified people...
from the Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
. In response, the Hungarian General Assembly of Cluj
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...
reaffirmed the loyalty of Hungarians from Transylvania to Hungary on December 22, 1918.
The Romanian Army, representing the Entente powers, entered Transylvania from the east on November 12. In December 1918 they entered Southern Transylvania as well, and reached, then crossed, the demarcation line on the Mureş River by mid-December and advanced up to Cluj and then up to Sighet, after making a request to the Powers of Versailles on the grounds of protecting the Romanians in Transylvania. In February 1919, to prevent armed clashes between the Romanian and the withdrawing Hungarian troops, a Neutral Zone was created.
The Prime Minister of the newly proclaimed independent Republic of Hungary resigned in March 1919, refusing the territorial concessions (including Transylvania) demanded by the Entente powers. When the Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, led by Béla Kun
Béla Kun
Béla Kun , born Béla Kohn, was a Hungarian Communist politician and a Bolshevik Revolutionary who led the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919.- Early life :...
, came to power in March 1919 it proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic
Hungarian Soviet Republic
The Hungarian Soviet Republic or Soviet Republic of Hungary was a short-lived Communist state established in Hungary in the aftermath of World War I....
and after promising that Hungary would regain the lands that were under its control during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it decided to attack Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
and Romania. This led to the Hungarian-Romanian War of 1919
Hungarian-Romanian War of 1919
The seeds of the Hungarian–Romanian war of 1919 were planted when the union of Transylvania with Romania was proclaimed, on December 1, 1918. In late March 1919, the Bolsheviks came to power in Hungary, at which point its army attempted to retake Transylvania, commencing the war. By its final...
. The Hungarian Army began the offensive in Transylvania in April 1919 along the Someş
Someş River
The river Someş flows through Romania and Hungary.It rises from two headstreams, the Someşul Mare, in the Rodna Mountains in Bistriţa-Năsăud County and the Someşul Mic in the Apuseni Mountains of Cluj County...
, and Mureş
Mures River
The Mureș is an approximately 761 km long river in Eastern Europe. It originates in the Hășmașu Mare Range in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, Romania, and joins the Tisza river at Szeged in southeastern Hungary....
rivers. A Romanian counter-offensive pushed forward to reach - and halt at - the Tisza
Tisza
The Tisza or Tisa is one of the main rivers of Central Europe. It rises in Ukraine, and is formed near Rakhiv by the junction of headwaters White Tisa, whose source is in the Chornohora mountains and Black Tisa, which springs in the Gorgany range...
River in May A new Hungarian offensive in July penetrated 60 km into Romanian lines before a further Romanian counter-offensive led to the occupation of the Hungarian capital Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
in August, putting an end to the Hungarian Soviet Republic. The Romanian army withdrew from Hungary between October 1919 and March 1920.
The Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
, formally signed in June 1919, recognised the sovereignty of Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
over Transylvania. The Treaties of St. Germain (1919) and Trianon
Treaty of Trianon
The Treaty of Trianon was the peace agreement signed in 1920, at the end of World War I, between the Allies of World War I and Hungary . The treaty greatly redefined and reduced Hungary's borders. From its borders before World War I, it lost 72% of its territory, which was reduced from to...
(signed on June 1920) further elaborated the status of Transylvania and defined the new border between the states of Hungary and Romania. King Ferdinand I of Romania and Queen Maria of Romania were crowned at Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Since the High Middle Ages, the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese. Between 1541 and 1690 it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania...
in the year 1922.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n state in the years between the First
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and Second World Wars and, by extension, to the territory Romania covered at the time (see the map). Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
achieved at that time its greatest territorial extent, managing to unite almost all the historic Romanian lands (except northern Maramureş, Western Banat and some small areas of Partium
Partium
Partium or Részek is the name given in Hungarian to the region located to the north and west of Transylvania.-Origin of the name:...
/ Crişana
Crisana
Crișana is a geographical and historical region divided today between Romania and Hungary, named after the Criș River and its three tributaries: the Crișul Alb, Crișul Negru and Crișul Repede....
). Historically, "Great Romania" represented one of the ideals of Romanian nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
. It is still seen by many as a "paradise lost" , often by comparison with the "stunted" Communist Romania.
In 1918, at the end of World War I, Transylvania and Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
united with the Romanian Old Kingdom
Romanian Old Kingdom
The Romanian Old Kingdom is a colloquial term referring to the territory covered by the first independent Romanian nation state, which was composed of the Danubian Principalities—Wallachia and Moldavia...
, Transylvania united by a Proclamation of Union of Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Since the High Middle Ages, the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese. Between 1541 and 1690 it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania...
voted by the Deputies of the Romanians from Transylvania; Bessarabia, having declared its independence from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in 1917 by the Conference of the Country (Sfatul Ţării), called in Romanian troops to protect the province from the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s who were spreading the Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
. The union of the regions of Transylvania, Maramureş
Maramures
Maramureș may refer to the following:*Maramureș, a geographical, historical, and ethno-cultural region in present-day Romania and Ukraine, that occupies the Maramureș Depression and Maramureș Mountains, a mountain range in North East Carpathians...
, Crişana
Crisana
Crișana is a geographical and historical region divided today between Romania and Hungary, named after the Criș River and its three tributaries: the Crișul Alb, Crișul Negru and Crișul Repede....
and Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
with the Old Kingdom of Romania was ratified in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon
Treaty of Trianon
The Treaty of Trianon was the peace agreement signed in 1920, at the end of World War I, between the Allies of World War I and Hungary . The treaty greatly redefined and reduced Hungary's borders. From its borders before World War I, it lost 72% of its territory, which was reduced from to...
which recognised the sovereignty of Romania over these regions and settled the border between the independent Republic of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and the Kingdom of Romania
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
. The union of Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
and Bessarabia with Romania was ratified in 1920 by the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
. Romania had also recently acquired Southern Dobrudja from Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
as a result of its victory in the Second Balkan War
Second Balkan War
The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 29 June 1913. Bulgaria had a prewar agreement about the division of region of Macedonia...
in 1913.
Transylvania during World War II and Communism
In August 1940, during the Second World War, the northern half of Transylvania was annexed to Hungary, by the second Second Vienna AwardSecond Vienna Award
The Second Vienna Award was the second of two Vienna Awards arbitrated by the Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Rendered on August 30, 1940, it re-assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary.-Prelude and historical background :After the World War I, the multi-ethnic...
. The Treaty of Paris
Paris Peace Treaties, 1947
The Paris Peace Conference resulted in the Paris Peace Treaties signed on February 10, 1947. The victorious wartime Allied powers negotiated the details of treaties with Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland .The...
(1947) after the end of the Second World War overturned the Vienna Award, and the territory of northern Transylvania was returned to Romania. The post-WWII borders with Hungary agreed on at the Treaty of Paris were identical with those set out in 1920.
Transylvania today
Judet
A județ is an administrative division in Romania, and was also used for some time in Moldova, before that country switched to raions.Județ translates into English as jurisdiction, but is commonly mistranslated as county .The territory of Romania is divided for administrative purposes into 41...
e) of Alba, Bistriţa-Năsăud, Braşov
Brasov County
Brașov ; ) is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Brașov. The county incorporates within its boundaries most of the Medieval "lands" Burzenland and Făgăraș Land.-Demographics:...
, Cluj
Cluj County
Cluj ; is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Cluj-Napoca.-Demographics:In 2007, it had a population of 692,316 and a population density of 104/km².*Romanians – 80%*Hungarians – 17.5%*Roma – 2.5%-Geography:...
, Covasna
Covasna County
Covasna is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Sfântu Gheorghe.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 222,449 and the population density was 60/km².*Hungarians – 73.79% *Romanians – 23.28%...
, Harghita, Hunedoara
Hunedoara County
Hunedoara is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Deva.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 485,712 and the population density was 69/km².*Romanians - 92%*Hungarians - 5%*Romas - 2%*Germans under 1%....
, Mureş
Mures County
Mureș is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș.-Geography:The county has a total area of 6,714 km²....
, Sălaj
Salaj County
Sălaj is a county of Romania, in the historical regions of Crișana and Transylvania, with the capital city at Zalău.-Geography:Sălaj county has a total area of ....
(partially) and Sibiu
Sibiu County
Sibiu is a county of Romania, in the historical region Transylvania, with the capital city Sibiu.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 421,724 and the population density was 78/km²....
. In addition to "Transylvania proper", modern Transylvania includes Crişana
Crisana
Crișana is a geographical and historical region divided today between Romania and Hungary, named after the Criș River and its three tributaries: the Crișul Alb, Crișul Negru and Crișul Repede....
and part of the Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
; these regions (dark yellow on the map) are in the counties of Arad
Arad County
Arad is an administrative division of Romania roughly translated into county in the western part of the country on the border with Hungary, mostly in the region of Crişana and few villages in Banat. The administrative center of the county lies in the city of Arad...
, Bihor
Bihor County
Bihor is a county of Romania, in Crişana, with capital city at Oradea. Together with Hajdú-Bihar County in Hungary it constitutes the Biharia Euroregion.-Demographics:...
, Caraş-Severin
Caras-Severin County
Caraș-Severin is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Banat and few villages in Transylvania, with the county seat at Reșița.-Demographics:The county is part of the Danube-Kris-Mureș-Tisza euroregion....
, Maramureş
Maramures County
Maramureș is a county of Romania, in the Maramureș region. The county seat is Baia Mare.- History :* The 10th century frontier county of Borsova was founded by Stephen I of Hungary. Since then Máramaros served as the north-eastern border of the Hungarian Kingdom until 1920, the Trianon Peace...
, Sălaj
Salaj County
Sălaj is a county of Romania, in the historical regions of Crișana and Transylvania, with the capital city at Zalău.-Geography:Sălaj county has a total area of ....
(partially), Satu Mare
Satu Mare County
Satu Mare County is a county of Romania. The capital city is Satu Mare. Besides Romanians , Satu Mare features a significant ethnic minority of Hungarians .-Demographics:...
, and Timiş
Timis County
Timiș , , Banat Bulgarian: ) is a county of western Romania, in the historical region Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the largest county in Romania in terms of land area....
.
Historical population
A plausible estimate is that Vlachs constituted about two-thirds of Transylvania's population in 1241 on the eve of the Mongol invasion. Antonius Verancius or Verancsics (1504-1573) wrote about the inhabitants of Transylvania and about the Romanians: the country “is inhabited by three nations, Secklers, Hungarians, Saxons; I would nevertheless add the Romanians, who, though they rather outnumber [the others] have no freedom, no aristocracy, no right of their own, besidesa small number living in the Hateg district". In 1600 the Romanian inhabitants were primarily peasants and constituted more than 60% of the population. In Benedek Jancsó's estimation, there were 150,000 Hungarians, 100,000 Saxons, and 250,000 Romanians in Transylvania at the beginning of the 18th century. Official censuses with information on Transylvania's ethnical composition have been conducted since the 18th century. On May 1, 1784 Joseph II calls for the first official census of the empire, including Transylvania. The data were published in 1787, and this census shows only the overall population. Fényes Elek, Hungarian statistician of the nineteenth century, estimated in 1842 that the population of Transylvania years 1830-1840 the majority were 62.3% RomaniansRomanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
and 23.3% Hungarians.
The first official census in Transylvania that made a distinction between nationalities (distinction made on the basis of mother tongue) was performed by Austro-Hungarian authorities in 1869.
The data recorded in all censuses is presented in the table below.
Note that the census system in Hungary (between 1880 and 1910) was based on native language. Before 1880 the Jews were counted as an ethnic group later they were counted according to their first language.
| Year | Total | Romanians | Hungarians | Germans | Szekelys |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1241a | |||||
| ~66% | |||||
| 1495 a | 454,000 | 22% | 55,2% (with Szekelys) | 22% | |
| 1500 (est. E. Mályusz) | |||||
| 24% | 47% | 16% | 13% | ||
| 1595 a | 670,000 | ~28.4% | 52,2% | 18,8% | |
| 1600a | |||||
| ~60% | |||||
| 1700 (est. Benedek Jancsó) a | ~500,000 | ~50% | ~30% | ~20% | |
| 1720a | 806,221 | 49,6% | 37,2% | 12,2% | |
| 1730a | ~725,000 | 57.9% | 26.2% | 15.1% | |
| 1765a | ~1,000,000 | 55.9% | 26% | 12% | |
| 1784a | 1,440,986 | ||||
| 1835a | |||||
| 62.3% | 23.3% | ||||
| 1850a | 2,073,372 | 59.1% | 25.9% | 9.3% | |
| 1869 | 4,224,436 | 59.0% | 24.9% | 11.9% | |
| 1880 | 4,032,851 | 57.0% | 25.9% | 12.5% | |
| 1890 | 4,429,564 | 56.0% | 27.1% | 12.5% | |
| 1900 | 4,840,722 | 55.2% | 29.4% | 11.9% | |
| 1910 | 5,262,495 | 53.8% | 31.6% | 10.7% | |
| 1919 | 5,259,918 | 57.1% | 26.5% | 9.8% | |
| 1920 | 5,208,345 | 57.3% | 25.5% | 10.6% | |
| 1930 | 5,114,214 | 58.3% | 26.7% | 9.7% | |
| 1941 | 5,548,363 | 55.9% | 29.5% | 9.0% | |
| 1948 | 5,761,127 | 65.1% | 25.7% | 5.8% | |
| 1956 | 6,232,312 | 65.5% | 25.9% | 6.0% | |
| 1966 | 6,736,046 | 68.0% | 24.2% | 5.6% | |
| 1977 | 7,500,229 | 69.4% | 22.6% | 4.6% | |
| 1992 | 7,723,313 | 75.3% | 21.0% | 1.2% | |
| 2002 | 7,221,733 | 74.7% | 19.6% | 0.7% | |
Note: a The data from 1700 (Benedek Jancsó's estimation) 1730 (Austrian Statistics), 1765 (Hóman and Szekfü record) and from 1850 Census refer to Transylvania proper only, namely the counties of Alba, Bistriţa-Năsăud, Braşov
Brasov County
Brașov ; ) is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Brașov. The county incorporates within its boundaries most of the Medieval "lands" Burzenland and Făgăraș Land.-Demographics:...
, Cluj
Cluj County
Cluj ; is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Cluj-Napoca.-Demographics:In 2007, it had a population of 692,316 and a population density of 104/km².*Romanians – 80%*Hungarians – 17.5%*Roma – 2.5%-Geography:...
, Covasna
Covasna County
Covasna is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Sfântu Gheorghe.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 222,449 and the population density was 60/km².*Hungarians – 73.79% *Romanians – 23.28%...
, Harghita, Hunedoara
Hunedoara County
Hunedoara is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Deva.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 485,712 and the population density was 69/km².*Romanians - 92%*Hungarians - 5%*Romas - 2%*Germans under 1%....
, Mureş
Mures County
Mureș is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș.-Geography:The county has a total area of 6,714 km²....
, Sălaj
Salaj County
Sălaj is a county of Romania, in the historical regions of Crișana and Transylvania, with the capital city at Zalău.-Geography:Sălaj county has a total area of ....
and Sibiu
Sibiu County
Sibiu is a county of Romania, in the historical region Transylvania, with the capital city Sibiu.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 421,724 and the population density was 78/km²....
. It therefore excludes the data from the counties of Arad
Arad County
Arad is an administrative division of Romania roughly translated into county in the western part of the country on the border with Hungary, mostly in the region of Crişana and few villages in Banat. The administrative center of the county lies in the city of Arad...
, Bihor
Bihor County
Bihor is a county of Romania, in Crişana, with capital city at Oradea. Together with Hajdú-Bihar County in Hungary it constitutes the Biharia Euroregion.-Demographics:...
, Caraş-Severin
Caras-Severin County
Caraș-Severin is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Banat and few villages in Transylvania, with the county seat at Reșița.-Demographics:The county is part of the Danube-Kris-Mureș-Tisza euroregion....
, Maramureş
Maramures County
Maramureș is a county of Romania, in the Maramureș region. The county seat is Baia Mare.- History :* The 10th century frontier county of Borsova was founded by Stephen I of Hungary. Since then Máramaros served as the north-eastern border of the Hungarian Kingdom until 1920, the Trianon Peace...
, Satu Mare
Satu Mare County
Satu Mare County is a county of Romania. The capital city is Satu Mare. Besides Romanians , Satu Mare features a significant ethnic minority of Hungarians .-Demographics:...
, and Timiş
Timis County
Timiș , , Banat Bulgarian: ) is a county of western Romania, in the historical region Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the largest county in Romania in terms of land area....
.
Historical coat of arms
The historical Transylvanian arms depicts:- on a blue background, an eagleEagleEagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
representing the medieval nobility, which was primarily Magyar - the Sun and the crescent Moon above the eagle represent the Szeklers.
- a red dividing band
- seven red towers on a yellow background representing the seven castles of the Transylvanian SaxonsTransylvanian SaxonsThe Transylvanian Saxons are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary . For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the...
Estates of the realm
The Estates of the realm were the broad social orders of the hierarchically conceived society, recognized in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period in Christian Europe; they are sometimes distinguished as the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and commoners, and are often referred to by...
) of Transylvania had been in use since the 16th century, usually together with the elements of the Hungarian coat of arms
Coat of arms of Hungary
The current coat of arms of Hungary was adopted on July 3, 1990, after the end of communist rule. The arms have been used before, both with and without the Holy Crown of Hungary, sometimes as part of a larger, more complex coat of arms, and its elements date back to the Middle Ages.The shield is...
, because Transylvanian Princes maintained their claims for the throne of the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
. The Diet
Transylvanian Diet
The Transylvanian Diet was the constitutional and political body of Principality of Transylvania, and later of the Grand Principality of Transylvania...
of 1659 codified the coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
considered to be the historical coat of arms until present day. While the Hungarians, Saxons, and Szeklers were represented in it, the Romanians were not, despite their proposal to include a representation of Dacia
Dacia
In ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...
.
Regions are not legal administrative units in today's Romania, consequently the historical arms is now only used within the coat of arms of Romania
Coat of arms of Romania
The coat of arms of Romania was adopted in the Romanian Parliament on 10 September 1992 as a representative coat of arms for Romania. It is based on the Lesser Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Romania , redesigned by Victor Dima. As a central element it shows a golden aquila holding a cross in its...
. This officially recognised image is still based on the 1659 symbols, thus, includes only the traditional estates
Estates of the realm
The Estates of the realm were the broad social orders of the hierarchically conceived society, recognized in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period in Christian Europe; they are sometimes distinguished as the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and commoners, and are often referred to by...
of Transylvania.
Dacia
In ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...
), standing upon seven hills.
The 1848 revolutionary movement proposed a revision of the Transylvanian coat of arms, aimed at offering representation to the Romanian majority too. Besides the 1659 representation, it introduced a central section, portraying a Dacian woman, symbolizing the Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n nation, holding in her right hand a sickle, and in the left hand a Roman legion
Roman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
's flag, with the initials D.F. (Dacia Felix). On the woman's right there was an eagle with a laurel crown in its beak, and on its left side a lion. This representation of the Romanian nation was inspired by a coin issued by the Roman emperor Marcus Julius Philippus
Philip the Arab
Philip the Arab , also known as Philip or Philippus Arabs, was Roman Emperor from 244 to 249. He came from Syria, and rose to become a major figure in the Roman Empire. He achieved power after the death of Gordian III, quickly negotiating peace with the Sassanid Empire...
at Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa
Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa
Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa was the capital and the largest city of Roman Dacia, later named Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa after the former Dacian capital, located some 40 km away. Built on the ground of a camp of the Fifth Macedonian Legion, the city was populated with...
in honor of the province of Dacia.
Historiography
The history of Transylvania has at times been subject to contestation between rival national historical narratives, especially those of Romania and Hungary. In November 2006, a Romanian newspaper reported that there is a project in the offing for a book on the history of Transylvania under the joint auspices of the Romanian AcademyRomanian Academy
The Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 acting members who are elected for life....
and the Hungarian Academy
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
The Hungarian Academy of Sciences is the most important and prestigious learned society of Hungary. Its seat is at the bank of the Danube in Budapest.-History:...
.
See also
- Prehistory of TransylvaniaPrehistory of TransylvaniaThe Prehistory of Transylvania describes what can be learned about the region known as Transylvania through archaeology, anthropology, comparative linguistics and other allied sciences....
- The Ancient History of Transylvania
- History of HungaryHistory of HungaryHungary is a country in central Europe. Its history under this name dates to the early Middle Ages, when the Pannonian Basin was colonized by the Magyars, a semi-nomadic people from what is now central-northern Russia...
- History of Romania
- List of Transylvanian rulers
- History of the Székely peopleHistory of the Székely peopleThe history of the Székely people, a Transylvanian subgroup of the Hungarians, spans nine centuries, although many historians consider that the formation of the Székely people had taken place before the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895-896.-Myths:...
- Aftermath of World War IAftermath of World War IThe fighting in World War I ended in western Europe when the Armistice took effect at 11:00 am GMT on November 11, 1918, and in eastern Europe by the early 1920s. During and in the aftermath of the war the political, cultural, and social order was drastically changed in Europe, Asia and Africa,...
- Austria-HungaryAustria-HungaryAustria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
- Celts in TransylvaniaCelts in TransylvaniaThe Celts of Transylvania were an ancient people of Indo-European origin, first attested to archaeologically in Central Europe between 800–450 BC. By the time of the later La Tène period The Celts of Transylvania were an ancient people of Indo-European origin, first attested to...
- DaciaDaciaIn ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...