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| Etymology | |
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Main article: Historical names of Transylvania
Transylvania was first referred to in a Medieval Latin document in 1075 as ultra silvam, meaning "beyond the forest" (ultra (+accusative) meaning "beyond" or "on the far side of" and the accusative case of sylva (sylvam) meaning "wood or forest"). Transylvania, with an alternative Latin prepositional prefix, means "on the other side of the woods". Hungarian historians claim that the Medieval Latin form Ultrasylvania, later Transylvania, was a direct translation from the Hungarian form Erdő-elve (not the Hungarian was derived from the Latin).[16] That also was used as an alternative name in the Ukrainian language Залісся (Zalissya).
The German name Siebenbürgen means "seven fortresses", after the seven (ethnic German) Transylvanian Saxons' cities in the region. The order in which they were settled in Transylvania being as follows : — Mediasch, 1142 ; Muhlenbach, 1150 ; Hermannstadt, the capital, 1160 ; Klausenburg, 1178; Schässburg, 1178 ; Reussmarkt, 1198 ; Broos, 1200. To these seven were subsequently added two others, Bistritz, 1206 ; and Kronstadt, 1208.[17] This is also the origin of many other languages' names for the region, such as the Polish Siedmiogród and the Ukrainian Семигород (Semyhorod).
The Hungarian form Erdély was first mentioned in the 12th century Gesta Hungarorum as "Erdeuleu". Erdel, the Turkish equivalent originates from this form, too.
The first known written occurrence of the Romanian name Ardeal appeared in a document in 1432 as Ardeliu.[18]
Tags:Hungarian,German,Romania,Medieval Latin,Ukrainian Language,Ethnic German,Klausenburg,Broos,Kronstadt,Polish,Ukrainian,Gesta Hungarorum,Turkish,Romanian,Roman,Roma, | |
| History | |
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Main article: History of Transylvania
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Fortified church of Biertan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Tags:Duplicates,Wikipedia's Manual Of Style,Summary,Biertan, | |
| Early history | |
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See also: Prehistory of Transylvania
In its early history, the territory of Transylvania belonged to a variety of empires and states, including Dacia, the Roman Empire, the Hun Empire and the Gepid Kingdom.[19] There were also periods when autonomous political entities arose under the control of the Byzantine and the Bulgarian Empire.[20]
It is subject of controversy whether elements of the mixed Daco–Roman population survived in Transylvania through the Dark Ages (becoming the ancestors of modern Romanians) or the first Vlachs appeared in the area in the 13th century after a northwards migration from the Balkan Peninsula[citation needed]. There is an ongoing scholarly debate over the ethnicity of Transylvania's population before the Hungarian conquest (see Origin of the Romanians).
The Kingdom of Dacia was in existence at least as early as the beginning of the 2nd century BC when, Rubobostes, a Dacian king from the territory of present-day Transylvania, undertook the control of the Carpathian basin by defeating the Celts who previously held the power in the region.
Transylvania within the Dacian Kingdom, during the rule of Burebista, 82 BC, stretching from the Black Sea to the Adriatic and from the Balkan Mountains to Bohemia.[21]
Dacia reached its maximum extent under the rule of Burebista. The area now constituting Transylvania was the political center of the ancient Kingdom of Dacia, where several important fortified cities were built; among them was the capital Sarmizegetusa, located near the current Romanian town of Hunedoara.
In 101-102 and 105-106 AD, Roman armies under the Emperor Trajan fought a series of military campaigns to subjugate the wealthy Dacian Kingdom. The Romans under Trajan succeeded by 106 to subdue the south and the center regions of Dacia. After the conquest, the Romans seized an enormous amount of wealth (the Dacian Wars were commemorated on Trajan's Column in Rome) and immediately started to exploit the Dacian gold and salt mines located in today territory of Transylvania. Roman influence was broadened by the construction of modern roads, and some existing major cities, like Sarmizegetusa and Dierna (today Orsova) were made colonies. The new province was divided under Hadrian: Dacia Superior, that corresponded roughly to Transylvania and Dacia Inferior, similar to the region of South Romania (Walachia)[citation needed]. During Antoninus Pius (138-161) the same territory was included in the provinces Dacia Porolissensis (capital at Porolissum) and Dacia Apulensis (capital at Apulum, today Alba-Iulia city in Romania). The Romans built new mines, roads and forts in the province. Colonists from other Roman provinces were brought in to settle the land and found cities like Apulum (now Alba Iulia), Napoca (now Cluj-Napoca), Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa and Aquae. During the Roman administration also Christianity entered in the current territory of Transylvania from the neighboring Roman provinces where, according to the tradition of the Romanian Orthodox Church, St. Andrew preached.
Tags:Kingdom Of Dacia,Roman Empire,The Territory,Dark Ages,Romanians,Vlachs,Balkan Peninsula,Origin Of The Romanians,Carpathian,Dacia,Hun Empire,Gepid Kingdom,Bulgarian Empire,Bc,Carpathian Basin,Celts,Dacian Kingdom,Burebista,Black Sea,Adriatic,Balkan Mountains,Bohemia,Sarmizegetusa,Hunedoara,Trajan,Military Campaigns,Orsova,Porolissum,Apulum,Alba-iulia,Alba Iulia,St. Andrew, | |
| The Migration period | |
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Due to increasing pressure from the Visigoths,[22] the Romans abandoned the province during the reign of the Emperor Aurelian in 271. The history of the aftermath of the abandonment of the province by the Romans is controversial. The theory of Daco-Romanian continuity asserts that as across much of Europe, a period of chaos and conquests followed after the collapse of Roman rule, however, archeological research shows that many of the Roman cities continued to exist, building fortifications. It is also asserted that Christianity survived which is proven by great number of artifacts discovered. The theory refers with emphasis to a donarium from Biertan (4th century) having the inscription 'Ego Zenovius votvm posui' (I, Zenovie, offered this). The Migration theory denies that any significant Romanized population continued to exist in the former province after its occupation by the Visigoths. It is asserted that the rare and isolated Latin inscriptions may be attributed to slaves captured by the Goths in the territory of the Roman Empire and even these disappear within a few decades. The Goths themselves were Christians, so Christian artifacts do not prove for the continuity of a Romanized population. The territory fell under the control of the Visigoths and Carpians until they were, in their turn, displaced and subdued by the Huns after 376. After the disintegration of Attila's empire, the Huns were succeeded by the Gepids, who were defeated by the Eurasian Avars who ruled the region until around 800 AD. During the Avar rule, after the 6th century, the region was influenced by massive Slavic immigration.
At the beginning of the 9th century, Transylvania, along with eastern Pannonia, was under the control of the First Bulgarian Empire[citation needed]. After a brief period of Bulgarian rule the territory was partially under Byzantine control.
Tags:Visigoths,Huns,Gepids,Avars,Aurelian,Carpians,Attila,Eurasian Avars,Pannonia,First Bulgarian Empire, | |
| Hungarian rule | |
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Further information: Kingdom of Hungary (medieval) and Voivodeship of Transylvania
The Hungarians (Magyars) conquered the area at the end of the 9th century and firmly established their control over it in 1003, when king Stephen I, according to legend, defeated the native prince entitled or named Gyula.[1][2][3][4]
According to the theory of Daco-Romanian continuity, Hungary took possession of Transylvania in the 11th century, a territory that probably had a mixed but basically Romanian population.[23] According to Hungarian historiography, the population of Transylvania at the time of the Hungarian conquest in 895-96 consisted of Slavs and probably some Eurasian Avars. In this view, Romanians did not live in Transylvania in that period and appeared there only as from the 12th century.
Peasants of Hodod, Transylvania
After the occupation the Hungarian crown encouraged immigration in order to strengthen against outside invasion. Most important was the settlement of the Székelys and the Germans, who came in the 12th century. As a political entity, (Southern) Transylvania is mentioned from the 12th century as a county (Alba) of the Kingdom of Hungary (M. princeps ultrasilvanus - comes Bellegratae). Transylvania's seven counties were brought under the voivode's (count of Alba Iulia) rule in 1263. Although Transylvania was part of the Kingdom of Hungary, it retained wide autonomous privileges[24] and status[25] and after 1526 became a fully autonomous principality[25] under nominal Ottoman suzerainty.
Since medieval times, the population of the region has been a mixture of ethnic Romanians (historically known as Vlachs), Hungarians, the ethnic Hungarian[26] Székely people, Germans (known as Saxons), Bulgarians (see Şchei, Şcheii Braşovului, Banat Bulgarians), Armenians (especially in Gherla (Armenopolis), Gheorgheni and Târnăveni), Jews and Roma (known as Gypsies or "tatars" - Tatern in Transylvanian Saxon or tătăraşi in Romanian).
Transylvanian Saxons
Between 1003 and 1526, Transylvania was a voivodeship of the Kingdom of Hungary, led by a voivode appointed by the Hungarian King. After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Transylvania became part of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom which, in 1571, was transformed into the Principality of Transylvania (1571–1711) ruled primarily by Calvinist Hungarian princes. For most of this period, Transylvania, maintaining its internal autonomy, was under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire.
The early 11th century was marked by the conflict between King Stephen I of Hungary and his uncle Gyula, the ruler of Transylvania. The Hungarian ruler was successful in these wars, and Transylvania was incorporated into the Christian Kingdom of Hungary. The Transylvanian Christian bishopric and the comitatus system were organised. By the early 11th century the ethnic Hungarian[citation needed] Székely were established in southeastern Transylvania[27] as a border population of ready warriors, and in the 12th and 13th centuries, the areas in the south and northeast were settled by German colonists called Saxons.[27] Romanians maintained control over a few autonomous regions called 'terrae': Făgăraş, Amlas, Haţeg, Maramureş, Lapus. However, the autonomy was taken by the end of Árpád dynasty in 1301.
In 1241–1242, during the Mongol invasion of Europe, Transylvania was among the territories devastated by the Golden Horde. A large portion of the population perished. This was followed by a second Mongol invasion in 1285, led by Nogai Khan. To escape the deprecations, Wallachian (Romanian) settlers moved into the mountain fastness of the Carpathians.[5] The rulers of the Kingdom of Hungary established programs of colonization in eastern and southern Hungary. Saxon Germans, Székelys, Slavs, and Wallachians settled in the peripheral areas which had suffered so greatly from the Mongol invasion.[5]
Diocesan division of Transylvania in the 13th century within the Kingdom of Hungary
Following this devastation, Transylvania was reorganized according to a class system of Estates, which established privileged groups (universitates) with power and influence in economic and political life, as well as along ethnic lines. The first Estate was the lay and ecclesiastic aristocracy, ethnically heterogeneous, but undergoing a process of homogenization around its Hungarian nucleus. The other Estates were Saxons, Székelys and Romanians (or Vlachs - Universitas Valachorum), all with an ethnic and ethno-linguistic basis (Universis nobilibus, Saxonibus, Syculis et Olachis). The general assembly (congregatio generalis) of the four Estates had few genuine legislative powers in Transylvania, but it sometimes took measures regarding order in the country.
After the Decree of Turda (1366), which openly called for "to expel or to exterminate in this country malefactors belonging to any nation, especially Romanians" in Transylvania,[28] the only possibility for Romanians to retain or access nobility was through conversion to Roman Catholicism. Some Orthodox Romanian nobles converted, being integrated in the Hungarian nobility, but the most of them declined, thus losing their status and privileges.[29]
In some regions in the north (Maramureş) and south (Ţara Haţegului, Făgăraş, Banat) where Romanians formed a majority of the population,[30] the Orthodox Romanian ruling class of nobilis kenezius (classed as lesser and middle nobility in the Kingdom as a whole) enjoyed a period of prosperity at the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century, reflected in the reconstruction and decoration of some Orthodox churches. A Romanian archbishop is mentioned in 1377 in Transylvania; other Orthodox hierarchs were established in St. Michael's monastery at Feleac, near Cluj and Peri.[30] Nevertheless, because of the gradual loss of a nobility of its own, Romanians were no longer able to keep their Universitas Valachorum.
John Hunyadi
A key figure to emerge in Transylvania in the first half of the 15th century was John Hunyadi/János Hunyadi[31][32]/Iancu de Hunedoara, a native of Transylvania, born in a family of Romanian origins.[30] (According to the usage of Hungarian noblemen of the time, Iancu/John/János took his family name after his landed estate.[31]) He was one of the greatest military figures of the time, being Hungarian general, voivode of Transylvania[31] and then governor of the Kingdom of Hungary[30][31] from 1446 to 1452. He was a Transylvanian noble of Romanian origin[30] some sources indicating him as the son of Voicu/Vajk, a Romanian boyar from Wallachia.[33] Hungarian historians claim that his mother was Erzsébet Morzsinay the daughter of a Hungarian noble family.[34] His fame was built in the effective wars of defence against the Turkish attacks, waged from 1439. With his private mercenary army John rapidly rose to the heights of power. His military campaigns against the Ottoman Empire brought him the status of Transylvanian governor in 1446 and papal recognition as the Prince of Transylvania in 1448. Continuing his military activity, he won an important victory at Belgrade in 1456, which halted the Ottomans' advance for several decades, but died shortly afterwards during an epidemic.
After the suppression of the Budai Nagy Antal-revolt in 1437, the political system was based on Unio Trium Nationum (The Union of the Three Nations). According to the Union, which was explicitly directed against serfs and other peasants, society was ruled by three privileged Estates of the nobility (mostly ethnic Hungarians), the Székelys, also an ethnic Hungarian people who primarily served as warriors, and the ethnic German, Saxon burghers.
The only possibility for Romanians to retain or access nobility in Hungarian Transylvania was through conversion to Catholicism. Some Orthodox Romanian nobles converted, becoming integrated into the Hungarian nobility. These circumstances marked the beginning of a conflict between ethnic Hungarian Catholics and ethnic Romanian Orthodox (and ethnic Romanian Greek Catholics also) in the territory of Transylvania which in some regions remains unresolved to this very day.[35]
Tags:Maramureş,Slavs,Hungarians,Stephen I,Gyula,Voivodeship,Kingdom Of Hungary,Calvinist,Suzerainty,Ottoman Empire, | |
| Principality of Transylvania | |
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Main articles: Eastern Hungarian Kingdom and Principality of Transylvania (1571–1711)
See also: List of rulers of Transylvania
The medieval Kingdom of Hungary was divided into three parts after the Battle of Mohács (1526) which led to the formation of the semi-independent Principality
Transylvania
Gabriel Báthory, prince of Transylvania
The 16th century in Southeastern Europe was marked by the struggle between the Muslim Ottoman Empire and the Catholic Habsburg Empire. After the Hungarian defeat at Mohács, Hungary was divided between the Ottoman and Habsburg empires.[36]
Principality of Transylvania
Transylvania became an Ottoman vassal state, where native princes, who paid the Turks tribute, ruled with considerable autonomy.[36] Austrian and Turkish influences vied for supremacy for nearly two centuries. It is this period of independence and Turkish influence that contributed to Transylvania being seen as exotic in the eyes of Victorians such as Bram Stoker, whose novel Dracula was published in 1897.[37]
Because Transylvania was now beyond the reach of Catholic religious authority, Protestant preaching such as Lutheranism and Calvinism were able to flourish in the region. In 1568 the Edict of Turda proclaimed four religious expressions in Transylvania - Latin Rite or Eastern Rite Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism and Unitarianism (Unitarian Church of Transylvania), while Eastern Orthodoxy, which was the confession of almost the entire ethnic Romanian part of the population, was proclaimed as "tolerated" (tolerata).
The Báthory, a Hungarian noble family, began to rule Transylvania as princes under the Ottomans in 1571, and briefly under Habsburg suzerainty until 1600. The latter period of their rule saw a four-sided conflict in Transylvania involving the Transylvanian Báthorys, the emerging Austrian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Romanian voivoideship (province) of Wallachia. This included almost a year period of Romanian rule after the conquest of the territory by Wallachian voivod Michael the Brave. There are some late interpretations stating: as he subsequently extended his rule over Moldavia, Michael the Brave unified all the territories where Romanians lived, rebuilding the mainland of the ancient Kingdom of Dacia[38], although in Michael's time, the concept of the Romanian nation and the desire for unification did not exist[39], and the absence of any national element in Michael's politics, holding that Michael's lack of desire to join the principalities' administrations proved his actions were not motivated by any such concept[40]. Moreover, the princes of Transylvania never developed a Romanian national identity, the majority of them not being of Daco-Roman descent.[41]
Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia under the rule of Michael the Brave for almost a year in 1599-1600
Stephen Bocskay
The Calvinist magnate of Bihar county Stephen Bocskai managed to obtain, through the Treaty of Vienna (June 23, 1606), religious liberty and political autonomy for Tags:Dracula,Bram Stoker, | |
zote monety |