, the Dacians were engaged in several wars with the Romans (from 85Year 85 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.-Roman Empire:* Dacians under Decebalus engage in two wars against the Romans from this year to AD 88 or 89....
to 89Year 89 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.-Europe:*Legio XIII Gemina is transferred to Dacia to help in the war against Decebalus.*Aquincum is founded....
). After two severe reverses, the Romans gained an advantage, but were obliged to make peace owing to the defeat of DomitianTitus Flavius Domitianus , known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death...
by the MarcomanniThe Marcomanni were a Germanic tribe, probably related to the Buri, Suebi or Suevi.- Origin :Scholars believe their name derives from one of two possible sources: old Germanic forms of "march" and "men"; or the name of a Roman legate, Marcus Fabius Romanus, who deserted Drusus' legions during...
. As a result, the Dacians were left independent, but had to pay an annual tribute to the Emperor.
In 101-Roman Empire:* Roman emperor Trajan starts an expedition against Dacia, exceeding the limits of the Empire set by Augustus.* The Battle of Tapae is fought.* Epictetus writes and publishes The Discourses.-Arts and sciences:...
-102-Roman Empire:*Trajan returns to Rome after a successful campaign against Dacia, through which he reestablishes clear Roman sovereignty over Decebalus.*Trajan divides Pannonia into two portions sometime between this year and 107.*The port of Portus is enlarged....
TrajanMarcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from A. D. 98 until his death in A. D. 117...
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 protectorateA protectorate, in international law, is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity. In exchange for this, the protectorate usually accepts specified obligations, which may vary greatly, depending on the real nature of...
. Three years later, the Dacians rebelled and destroyed the Roman troops in Dacia. The second campaign (105-Roman Empire:* Trajan starts the second expedition against Dacia.* Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix and II Traiana Fortis are created by Trajan.* The Romans conquer Kerak from the Nabateans.-Asia:...
-106-Roman Empire:* Ignatius writes a letter to Christians in Smyrna where the term Catholic Church is used. This is the earliest surviving witness to the use of the term "Catholic Church".*Trajan defeats king Decebalus of Dacia...
) 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 CassiusLucius 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 Column of TrajanTrajan's Column is a monument in Rome raised in honour of the Roman emperor Trajan and 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 the Quirinal Hill, north of the Roman Forum...
in RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
.
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-Roman Empire:* Ignatius writes a letter to Christians in Smyrna where the term Catholic Church is used. This is the earliest surviving witness to the use of the term "Catholic Church".*Trajan defeats king Decebalus of Dacia...
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 ZalmoxisZalmoxis was a legendary social and religious reformer, regarded as the only true god by the Thracian Dacians...
admitted suicide as a last resort by those who were in pain and misery. The Dacians who listened Decebalus' last speech spread and commit 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 his throat with his sword (falxFalx 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. Falx was also used to mean a weapon, particularly that of the Thracians and Dacians, and later a siege hook used by the...
). The great scene of his death may be found on Trajan's ColumnTrajan's Column is a monument in Rome raised in honour of the Roman emperor Trajan and 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 the Quirinal Hill, north of the Roman Forum...
in RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
.
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 is a town in the north-western part of Alba County, Transylvania, Romania, located on the river with the same name.-History:...
to protect them, The region developed a strong infrastructure and economy, based on agriculture, cattle farming and mining. Colonists from Thracia, MoesiaMoesia was an ancient region and Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River...
, MacedoniaThe 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...
, GaulGaul is a historical name used in the context of the Roman Empire in references to the region of Western Europe approximating present day France and Belgium, but also sometimes including the Po Valley, western Switzerland, and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River...
, SyriaSyria , 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 IuliaAlba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Between 1541—1690 it was the capital of Principality of Transylvania...
) and Napoca (now Cluj Napoca) into municipiumA municipium belonged to the second-highest class of Roman cities, being inferior in status to the colonia. The first municipium was Tusculum...
s and coloniaA 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. SarmatiansThe Sarmatians, Sarmatæ or Sauromatæ were a people of Ancient Iranian origin. Mentioned by classical authors, they migrated from Central Asia to the Ural Mountains around fifth century B.C...
and BurBUR can have the following meanings:*Abbreviation for:**Burmese language **Bob Hope Airport, Burbank, California **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 (CarpiansThe Carpi or Carpiani were a Dacian tribe that were located, between not later than ca. 100 and until at least ca. 400 AD, in the central eastern Carpathian Mountains, and in what is today central Moldavia...
) and Visigoths forced the Romans to abandon exposed Dacia Trajana.
In 271-Roman Empire:* The Goths are forced to withdraw across the Danube.* The Alamanni are repulsed from Italy, and forced back to the Alps.* Emperor Aurelian withdraws troops to the Danube frontier, abandoning Dacia. -Roman Empire:* The Goths are forced to withdraw across the Danube.* The Alamanni are...
, the Roman emperor AurelianLucius Domitius Aurelianus , known in English as Aurelian, Roman Emperor , was the second of several highly successful "soldier-emperors" who helped the Roman Empire regain its power during the latter part of the third century and the beginning of the fourth.During his reign, the Empire was...
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 EutropiusEutropius was an Ancient Roman Pagan historian who flourished in the latter half of the 4th century. He held the office of secretary at Constantinople, accompanied the Emperor Julian on his expedition against the Persians , and was alive during the reign of Valens , to whom he dedicates his...
in his Breviarum, Liber IX.
The province of Dacia, which TrajanMarcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from A. D. 98 until his death in A. D. 117...
had formed beyond the Danube, he gave up, despairing, after all IllyricumThe praetorian prefecture of Illyricum was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. The administrative centre of the prefecture was Sirmium , and, after 379 AD, Thessalonica...
and MoesiaMoesia was an ancient region and Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River...
had been depopulated, of being able to retain it. Roman citizens, removed from the town and lands of DaciaIn ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land in East-Central Europe inhabited by the Dacians. Ancient Greeks called the same people "Getae"...
, 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.
The first wave of the Great Migrations, (300 to 500 AD) brought the influence of migratory tribes, especially the Germanic tribes.
The Visigoths established a kingdom north of DanubeThe Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg rivers which join at the German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows...
and Transylvania between 300-380. 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 . 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.
UlfilasUlfilas, or Gothic Wulfila , bishop, missionary, and Bible translator, was a Goth or half-Goth 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 as a missionary...
carried (around 340) Homoean ArianismArianism is the theological teaching of Arius , a Christian priest, who was first ruled a heretic at the First Council of Nicea of 325, later exonerated in 335 at the First Synod of Tyre, and then pronounced a heretic again after his death at the First Council of Constantinople of 381...
to the Goths living in Guthiuda, and the Visigoths and other Germanic tribes became staunch AriansArianism is the theological teaching of Arius , a Christian priest, who was first ruled a heretic at the First Council of Nicea of 325, later exonerated in 335 at the First Synod of Tyre, and then pronounced a heretic again after his death at the First Council of Constantinople of 381...
.
In 380-Roman Empire:* January/February – Emperor Theodosius I is baptized.* February 27 – Theodosius I, with co-emperors Gratianus and Valentinian II, declare their wish that all their peoples convert to trinitarian Christianity, in accordance with the patriarchs of Rome and Alexandria, implicitly...
a new power reached the borders of Europe, the HunsThe Huns were a group of nomadic pastoral people who, appearing from beyond the Volga, migrated into Europe c.AD 370 and built up an enormous empire in Europe. They were possibly the descendants of the Xiongnu who had been northern neighbours of China three hundred years before and may be the first...
. They expelled every Germanic tribe from the Carpathian Basin except the Gepids. The AlansThe Alans or Alani 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 — Greek: Αλανοί, Αλαννοί; Chinese: 阿蘭聊...
, the VandalsThe Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Goth Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths and regent of the Visigoths, was allied by marriage with the Vandals as well as with the Burgundians and the Franks under .The Vandals are perhaps...
, and the Quads left the region toward the Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
. The Huns extended their rule over Transylvania after 420 AD.
After the disintegration of Attila's empire, Transylvania was inhabited by the remnants of various Hunnic peoples and the remaining Germanic tribe, the Gepids.
Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages: the Great Migrations
The rule of Gepids was crushed by an attack by the Langobards and urasian Avars in year 567 AD. The Gepids were almost completely exterminated from the region. Very few Gepid sites from after 600 remain , such as cemeteries in the BanatThe Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in Romania , the western part in Serbia , and a...
region. In Transylvania there are no traces of Gepid presence after 567.
By 568, the AvarsThe Eurasian Avars, sometimes referred to as the European Avars, or Ancient Avars, were a highly organized and powerful confederation of a mixed ethnic background, thought to be closely related to the Mongols, Bulgars, Khazars and other Oghur Turkic peoples of the time...
under the capable leadership of their KaganKagan is a surname found mainly among East European Jews and their descendants elsewhere , and may refer to:* Daryn Kagan* Donald Kagan , Yale historian specializing in ancient Greece...
, 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 warA civil war is a war between organized groups within a single nation state, or, less commonly, between two nations created from a formerly-united nation state. The aim of one side may be to take control of the nation or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies...
between the KaganKagan is a surname found mainly among East European Jews and their descendants elsewhere , and may refer to:* Daryn Kagan* Donald Kagan , Yale historian specializing in ancient Greece...
and Yugurrus which lasted from 796-803 A.D., the Avars were defeated.
The Transylvanian Avars were subjugated by the BulgarsThe Bulgars were originally semi-nomadic people, probably of Turkic descent, originating in Central Asia, who from the 2nd century onwards conquered different parts of Europe...
under Khan Krum at the beginning of the 9th century and Transylvania, along with eastern PannoniaPannonia is 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 EmpireThe history of Bulgaria as a separate country began in 681 AD. After Old Great Bulgaria disintegrating due to Khazar expansion from the east, one of the Bulgar leaders Asparuh crossed south of the Danube, into the territory of present-day Bulgaria, and defeated the armies of the Byzantine Empire...
.
In 862-Europe:* Ashot I becomes the first king of Armenia's Bagratuni dynasty.* Aed Finliath is crowned High King of Ireland.* First written record of Murom, Russia.* Rurik gains control of Novgorod.-Deaths:* July 2—St. Swithun, English bishop...
Prince RastislavSaint Rastic or Rastiz was the second ruler of Great Moravia between 846 and 870. He was canonized in October 1994 by the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church.-Life:...
of Great MoraviaGreat Moravia was a Slavic state that existed in Central Europe from the 9th century to the early 10th century. There is some controversy as to the actual location of its core territory...
rebelled against the FranksThe Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic tribal confederation first attested in the 3rd century 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...
, 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-Europe:* The Bulgarians, under Simeon I, defeat the Byzantine Empire at Bulgarophygon.* The Eastern Franks invade and conquer Italy under the leadership of Arnulf of Carinthia.* Alfred the Great restores the city walls of London.-Religion:...
and occupied the basin without significant resistance. According to the Gesta HungarorumGesta Hungarorum is a record of early Hungarian history by an unknown author who describes himself as Anonymus Bele Regis Notarius , but is generally cited as "Anonymous"...
they entered Transylvania first, where High Prince ÁlmosÁlmos , the first Grand Prince of the Magyars . The Gesta Hungarorum records that his father was Ügyek, while the Chronicon Pictum mentions his father as Előd ; his mother was Emese.The medieval chronicle recounts the story of his birth as...
was killed. The precise date of the conquest of Transylvania is not known; the earliest MagyarMagyar may refer to:* The Magyars, an ethnic group * The Hungarian language, known also as "Magyar" or "Magyar language"* A Hun Tribe...
artefacts found in the region are dated to the first half of the 10th century . A coin, minted under Berthold, Duke of BavariaBerthold , 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 TurdaTurda is a city and Municipality in Cluj County, Romania, situated on the Arieş River.- History :Founded as a Dacian city under the name Patavissa or Potaissa , Turda was conquered by the Romans. The castrum established was named Potaissa too and became a municipium, then a colonia...
indicates that Transylvanian Magyars participated in western military campaigns . Although the defeat in the Battle of LechfeldThe Battle of Lechfeld , often seen as the defining event for holding off the incursions of the Magyars into Western Europe, was a decisive victory by Otto I the Great, King of the Germans, over the Magyar leaders, the harka Bulcsú and the chieftains Lél and Súr...
in 955-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 John XII succeeds Pope Agapetus II as the 130th pope....
stopped the Magyar raids against western Europe, the raids on the Balkan Peninsula continued for another decade. 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 .
GelouGelou or Gelu was a Romanian duke mentioned in Gesta Ungarorum 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...
(Gelu in Romanian, Gyalu in Hungarian) is a figure in the Gesta HungarorumGesta Hungarorum is a record of early Hungarian history by an unknown author who describes himself as Anonymus Bele Regis Notarius , but is generally cited as "Anonymous"...
. He is portrayed as a leader of the Vlachs (ancient Romanians) in Transylvania. Duke Gelu the Romanian (originally Blacus in Gesta Hungarorum which means Romanian) was ruling over Transylvania and had his capital at Dăbâca. He was defeated by the warriors of the Magyar chieftain Tétény (also called Töhötöm; in the original Latin: Tuhutum) sometime during the 10th century. Romanian historian Neagu Djuvara proved 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.
Another ancient leader of Transylvania was GladGlad can refer to:*Glad , ruler in the territory of Banat, who was defeated by the Magyars during the 10th century*GLAD , GLancing Angle Deposition*Glad , an American brand of household plastic bags and containers...
(Bulgarian and Serbian Cyrillic: Глад). He was, according to the Gesta Hungarorum, a voivod (dux) from Bundyn (Vidin), ruler of the territory of Banat, during the 9th and 10th centuries. He also ruled part of south Transylvania, and Vidin region, and was a local governor or vassal of the First Bulgarian Empire under Bulgarian tsar Simeon. Glad had authority over the Slavs and Vlachs, which consisted most of the population of mentioned regions at the time.
Glad was defeated by the Hungarians during the 10th century. The Hungarians sent an army against duke Glad and subdued the population between the Morisio (Mureş) and Temes (Timiş) rivers. When they tried to pass the Timiş river Glad came against them with a great army including Cuman, Bulgarian and Vlach support. [1] On the following day Glad was defeated by the Hungarians. The Hungarian attack against the duke Glad in Banat is dated in 934. One of his descendants, Ahtum, was a duke of Banat and the last ruler who opposed to the establishment of the Hungarian Kingdom in the 11th century, but he was too, defeated by the Hungarian Crown.
MenumorutFor 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 Tisza, Mureş and Someş, which had been occupied by his grandfather, Morout , when the Magyars invaded the Carpathian...
ruled 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.
The ambassadors of Árpád crossed the Tisza and came to the capital fortress of Biharia, 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 God. 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 HungarySaint Stephen I was Grand Prince of the Hungarians and the first King of Hungary ....
.
There are two major conflicting interpretations, concerning whether or not the Romanized Dacian population (the ancestors of the RomaniansThe Romanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian ; they are the majority inhabitants of România.In one prominent interpretation of the census results in Moldova, Moldovans are counted as Romanians, which would...
) continued to live in Transylvania after the withdrawal of the RomansThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
, 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 RomaniansThe Romanians are a people who speak Romanian, a Romance language, and live in Central and Eastern Europe....
. These conflicting hypotheses are often used to back competing claims by chauvinistic Hungarian and Romanian nationalists.
Many Hungarian historians argue that written sources about the battles between Hungarians and these chieftains (such as Gesta HungarorumGesta Hungarorum is a record of early Hungarian history by an unknown author who describes himself as Anonymus Bele Regis Notarius , but is generally cited as "Anonymous"...
) are uncertain because the anonymous author was more focused on the literature of the chronicle rather than on historical facts; they recommend it as a fairytale rather than a reliable chronicle. Besides pointing to several erroneous facts (such as the arrival of CumansCumans were a nomadic Turkic people who inhabited a shifting area north of the Black Sea known as Cumania along the Volga River. They eventually settled to the west of the Black Sea, influencing the politics of Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Moldavia, and Wallachia...
in the Pannonian BasinThe Pannonian Basin or Carpathian Basin is a large basin in Central Europe.The basin forms a topographically discrete unit set in the European landscape, surrounded by imposing geographic boundaries that have created a fairly unified cultural area that looks more towards the south and east than to...
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, VajkSaint Stephen I was Grand Prince of the Hungarians and the first King of Hungary ....
, chieftain of the Magyars swore allegiance to RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
, and became King Saint Stephen ISaint Stephen I was Grand Prince of the Hungarians and the first King of Hungary ....
, adopting Roman Catholic ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
and bringing about the ChristianizationThe historical phenomenon of Christianization, the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once, also includes the practice of converting native pagan practices and culture, pagan religious imagery, pagan sites and the pagan calendar to Christian uses, due...
of the Magyars. Gyula*Gyula is a Hungarian male given name. It was adopted as a given name sometime after the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary. It was revived in the 19th century and is often associated with the Latin name Julius.* A gyula is a Magyar leader...
(Stephen's uncle) the Hungarian chieftain from Transylvania ( antagonized the new king which led to wars (e.g., the OrthodoxThe Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to in English speaking countries as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the world's second largest Christian communion, estimated to number 225 million members...
Gyula*Gyula is a Hungarian male given name. It was adopted as a given name sometime after the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary. It was revived in the 19th century and is often associated with the Latin name Julius.* A gyula is a Magyar leader...
(Prokuj/regem Iulum), the ruler of Northern Transylvania and Stephen maternal uncle; Kean, the duke of Bulgarians and Slavs, the Orthodox AhtumAhtum was an early 11th century voivod of Banat and a descendant of Glad, another local duke and governor in the First Bulgarian Empire...
, the ruler of the BanatThe Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in Romania , the western part in Serbia , and a...
) or were resolved through diplomacy (dux Vatha in CrisanaCrişana is a historical region of Romania and Hungary, named after the three tributaries of the Criş River that flow through it: the Crişul Alb , Crişul Negru and Crişul Repede...
region ). In 1003, Stephen led an army into Transylvania and Gyula surrendered without a fight. This made possible the organization of the Transylvanian Catholic episcopacy which was finished in 1009 when the bishop of OstiaThe 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 PopeThe pope is the Bishop of Rome and, as such, is leader of the worldwide Catholic Church...
paid a visit to Stephen; together they approved the division of the dioceses and their boundaries.
The SzeklersThe Székely or Szekler people , are a Hungarian-speaking ethnic group. They are an ethnic subgroup of the Hungarian nation. Their origin has been much debated. It is, however, now generally accepted that they are either Hungarians, or the descendants of a Magyarized Turkic peoples, transplanted...
, a community of uncertain origin, may have entered Transylvania before the Magyars 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 GermanThe German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of German ancestry...
colonists called (then and now) Saxons. Siebenbürgen, the German name for Transylvania, derives from the seven principal fortified towns founded by these Transylvanian 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...
. The German influence became more marked when, early in the 13th century, King Andrew II of HungaryAndrew II the Jerosolimitan , King of Hungary. 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 KnightsThe Order of the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary's Hospital in Jerusalem , or for short the Teutonic Order , is a German Roman Catholic religious order. It was formed to aid Catholics on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals to care for the sick and injured...
to protect Transylvania in the BurzenlandThe Burzenland is a historic and ethnographic area in southeastern Transylvania, Romania with a mixed population...
from the CumansCumans were a nomadic Turkic people who inhabited a shifting area north of the Black Sea known as Cumania along the Volga River. They eventually settled to the west of the Black Sea, influencing the politics of Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Moldavia, and Wallachia...
. 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 EuropeThe Mongol invasions of Europe, under the leadership of Subutai, centered on the destruction of East Slavic principalities, such as Kiev and Vladimir...
. Güyük KhanGüyük was the third Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. He was the son of Ögedei Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, and reigned from 1246 to 1248.- Early life :...
invaded Transylvania from the OituzOituz is a commune in Bacău County, Romania. It is composed of six villages: Călcâi, Ferestrău-Oituz, Hârja, Marginea, Oituz and Poiana Sărată....
Pass, while SubutaiSubutai was the primary military strategist and general of Genghis Khan and Ögedei Khan. He directed more than 20 campaigns, during which he conquered or overran more territory than any other commander in history...
attacked to the south from the Mehedia Pass toward OrşovaOrşova is a port city on the Danube river in southwestern Romania's Mehedinţi County . It is situated just above the Iron Gates, on the spot where the Cerna River meets the Danube.- History :The first documented mention of its name was in 1150 under the Latin name Ursova...
. While Subutai advanced northward to meet up with Batu KhanBatu Khan Batu Khan Batu Khan was a Mongol ruler of the Ulus of Jochi (or Golden Horde), the sub-khanate of the Mongol Empire, and the founder of the Blue Horde. Batu was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...
, Güyük attacked Sibiu to prevent the Transylvanian nobility from aiding King Béla IV of HungaryBéla IV Béla IV Béla IV , King of Hungary (1235-1270). Béla was present, at the age of seven, when a group of conspirators killed his mother, and he could never forgive his father's generosity towards the conspirators' accomplices...
. BistriţaBistriţa 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.-History:...
, Cluj-NapocaCluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth largest city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equally distant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...
, and the MezőségMezőség or Câmpia Transilvaniei is an ethnogeographical area in Transylvania, Romania, located between the Someş River and the Mureş River. The term is also used to reference a form of dance performed by the ethnic Hungarian inhabitants of the region...
region were all ravaged by the Mongols, as was the Hungarian king's silver mine at RodnaRodna is a commune in the historical region of Transylvania in Romania in the county of Bistriţa-Năsăud.During the Late Middle Ages, the Transylvanian Saxon-inhabited town was sacked by the Mongols during their invasion of the Kingdom of Hungary....
. A separate Mongol force destroyed the western Cumans near the Siret RiverThe Siret or Sireth River 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 MilcovMilcovul or Milcov is a commune in Vrancea County, Romania. It is located in the historical region of Moldavia.In 1227 Milcov became the seat of the Diocese of Cumania, a Roman Catholic bishopric which served the Cumans and the Teutonic Knights in the Burzenland. The diocese was destroyed during...
. Estimates of population decline in Transylvania owing to the Mongol invasion range from 15-20% to 50%.
The Western and Eastern Cumans convertedReligious conversion is the adoption of new religious beliefs that differ from the convert's previous beliefs. It involves a new religious identity, or a change from one religious identity to another. Conversion requires internalization of the new belief system...
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 HungaryStephen V , King of Hungary from 1270 to 1272.-Early years:...
in 1254.
Nogai KhanNogai , 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 TalabugaTalabuga, 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 TransylvaniaTransylvania 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 frequently encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
with success, where cities like ReghinReghin is a city and municipality in Mureş county in Romania, on the Mureş River in Transylvania. It is the place of origin of the Sasregen Hasidic Jewish dynasty. It had a population of approximately 35,700 in 2004.-Location:...
, BraşovBraşov is a city in Romania and the capital of Braşov County, with a population of 284,596, according to the 2002 census, is the 8th largest Romanian city....
and BistriţaBistriţa 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.-History:...
were plundered and ravaged. However Talabuga, who led an army in Northern Hungary, was stopped by the heavy snow of the CarpathiansThe Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the largest mountain range in Europe...
and the invading force was defeated near Pest by the royal army of Ladislaus IVLadislas IV the Cuman , also known as László IV, King of Hungary .-Early years:...
and ambushed by the SzékelyThe Székely or Szekler people , are a Hungarian-speaking ethnic group. They are an ethnic subgroup of the Hungarian nation. Their origin has been much debated. It is, however, now generally accepted that they are either Hungarians, or the descendants of a Magyarized Turkic peoples, transplanted...
in the return.
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 BullThe Golden Bull of 1222 was a golden bull, or edict, issued by King Andrew II of Hungary. The law established the rights of Hungary's noblemen, 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 go...
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 1224A 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
Gradually, after 1366 Romanians lost their status as an Estate (Universitas ValachorumUniversitas 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 "schismaticThe word schism , from the Greek σχίσμα, skhísma , means a split or a division, usually in an organization or a movement. A schismatic is a person who creates or incites schism in an organization or who is a member of a splinter group...
" in a state endowed with an apostolic mission by the Holy See: through the Decree of TurdaThe 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 ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
, 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 nobilityPetty 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 Cluj/Kolozsvár/Klausenburg 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 revoltThe 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 Transylvanian nobility, the Saxon burghers and the Székely formed the Unio Trium NationumUnio 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 clergy, 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 NationumUnio 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 clergy, the Saxon (i.e. German) burghers, and the free Szeklers....
and the society was led by these three privileged nations (Estates): the nobility (mostly Magyars), the SzeklersThe Székely or Szekler people , are a Hungarian-speaking ethnic group. They are an ethnic subgroup of the Hungarian nation. Their origin has been much debated. It is, however, now generally accepted that they are either Hungarians, or the descendants of a Magyarized Turkic peoples, transplanted...
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, implicitely excluding the OrthodoxThe Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to in English speaking countries as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the world's second largest Christian communion, estimated to number 225 million members...
from political and social life in Transylvania.
However, Eastern OrthodoxThe Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to in English speaking countries as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the world's second largest Christian communion, estimated to number 225 million members...
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 TurdaThe 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 CatholicismThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
, 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 OlahusNicolaus 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).
Nevertheless, since the overwhelming majority of Romanians refused to convert to Roman CatholicismThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
, 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 HunyadiJohn Hunyadi , nicknamed the White Knight, was a Voivode of Transylvania , captain-general and regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, argueably the most renowned military commander of the 15th century...
(c. 1387 or 1400–1456), also known as Iancu de HunedoaraHunedoara is a city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is in the Cerna Valley near the Poiana Ruscă Mountains within the Carpathian Mountains....
and Ioan CorvinHunyadi is a Hungarian noble family of either Wallachian or Cuman origin.Their Vlach ancestry is the subject of much heated debate but two contemporary authors have made this claim. Both authors suggest the Hunyadi family descended from Vlachs who converted to Catholicism...
. Hunyadi was a native Transylvanian and cared deeply for his homeland, unlike most of his predecessors, who resided in other parts of the Kingdom of HungaryThe Kingdom of Hungary , emerged in 1000, when the Principality of Hungary, founded in 896, was recognized as a Kingdom. The form of government was changed from Monarchy to Republic briefly in 1918 and again in 1946, ending the Kingdom and creating the Republic of Hungary...
, and who were too concerned with their estates and issues of national politics to pay much attention to Transylvania.
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 LuxemburgSigismund was one of the longest ruling Kings of Hungary, reigning for fifty years from 1387 to 1437, and was also Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, and the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Bohemia from 1419, of Lombardia from 1431, and of Germany...
. 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 (BelgradeBelgrade Belgrade Belgrade (Serbian Cyrillic: Београд, Serbian Latin: Beograd (meaning "White City" in Serbian) is the capital and largest city of Serbia. The city lies on two international waterways, at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where Central Europe's Pannonian Plain meets...
) 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 Middle Ages) against the Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
brought him further status as the regentA regent, from the Latin regens "reigning", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Thus, the common use is for an acting deputy governor....
of HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
in 1446 and papal recognition as the PrincePrince, from French "Prince" , is a general term for a monarch, for a member of a monarchs' or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in some members of Europe's highest nobility...
of Transylvania in 1448.
Early Modern Era: Transylvania as an autonomous principality
When the main Hungarian army and King Louis II JagielloThe Jagiellons were 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 MohácsThe 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.The Ottoman victory led to the partition of...
(1526), John ZápolyaJános Szapolyai or János 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:He was born at Spiš Castle...
, governor of Transylvania, took advantage of his military strength, who opposed the succession of Ferdinand of Austria (later Emperor Ferdinand IFerdinand I was a Central European monarch from the House of Habsburg. He was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558, King of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526. He ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs most of his public life, at the behest of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and...
) 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 ISuleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566...
, 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 HungaryUpper Hungary is the usual English translation of two terms:1. The older Hungarian term Felső-Magyarország formally referred to what is today approximately eastern Slovakia in the 16th-18th centuries and informally to all the northern parts of the Kingdom of Hungary in the 19th century.2...
and some of northwestern CroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a country in southeast Europe, at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is Zagreb...
. The OttomansThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
annexed central and southern Hungary. Transylvania became an autonomous state, under the suzeraintySuzerainty is a situation in which a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary some limited domestic autonomy. The superior entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a suzerain...
of the Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
, Principality of TransylvaniaThe Principality of Transylvania was a semi-independent state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire ruled by mostly Calvinist Hungarian princes...
, 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 CatholicThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
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-TrinitarianUnitarianism as a theology is the belief in the single personality of God, in contrast to the doctrine of the Trinity ....
(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 TurdaThe Edict of Torda in 1568, also known as the Patent of Toleration. was an early attempt to guarantee religious freedom in Christian Europe.- The original edict :...
(the first such legal guarantee of religious freedom in Christian Europe). Lutherans, Calvinists, Unitarians and Roman Catholics received protection, while the majority Eastern Orthodox ChurchThe Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to in English speaking countries as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the world's second largest Christian communion, estimated to number 225 million members...
was merely tolerated.
Transylvania was governed by princes and its DietIn politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is derived from Medieval Latin dietas, and ultimately comes from the Latin dies, "day". The word came to be used in this sense because assemblies met on a daily basis which is reflected in the German language use of Tagung and -tag...
(parliament). The Transylvanian Diet consisted of three EstatesThe Estates of the realm were the broad divisions of society, usually distinguishing nobility, clergy, and commoners recognized in the Middle Ages and later, in some parts of Europe...
: the Hungarian nobility (largely ethnic Hungarian nobilityNobility is a state-privileged status which is generally hereditary, but which may also be personal only. Titles of nobility are usually associated with present or former monarchies. The term originally referred to those who were "known" or "notable" and was applied to the highest social class in...
and clergyClergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term ultimately comes from the Greek κλῆρος - klēros, "a lot", "that which is assigned by lot" or metaphorically, "inheritence"....
); the leaders of Transylvanian 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...
—German burghersHistorically, the bourgeoisie were a social class of people, characterized by their ownership of capital and the related culture. They were a part of the middle or merchant classes of European feudalism, where their power came from employment, education, and wealth, as distinguished from those...
; 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 HabsburgThe 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 capital was mainly Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when the capital was Prague...
suzerainty, until 1602.
The younger Stephen Báthory, a Hungarian Catholic who later became King Stephen Bathory of PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is 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 BathorySigismund Báthory was Prince of Transylvania.- Biography :Hailing from the Báthory family's Somlyo branch, he was the son of Christopher Báthory, Voivod of Transylvania, and nephew of Stephen Báthory, King of Poland...
enter the Long WarLong War can refer to:*Long War , a war between the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire from 1593 to 1606*Long War , a concept describing several wars from 1914 to 1990 as one long war...
, which started as a Christian alliance against the Turks and became a four-sided conflict in Transylvania involving the Transylvanians, the AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
ns, the Ottomans, and the RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
n voivodVoivode is a Slavic title that originally denoted the principal commander of a military force. The word gradually came to denote the governor of a province; the territory ruled or administered by a voivode is known as a voivodeship. In English, the title is often translated as "prince", "duke",...
of WallachiaWallachia 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 BraveMichael the Brave was the Prince of Wallachia , of Transylvania , and of Moldavia , the three Romanian principalities that he united under his rule.He was born under the family name of Pătraşcu...
.
Michael gained control of Transylvania in 1599 after the Battle of ŞelimbărThe Battle of Şelimbăr was one of the great events in 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 BáthoryAndrew 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:...
'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 MoldaviaMoldavia 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. The union did not last long, however, as Michael was assassinated by WalloonWallonia , formally the Walloon Region , is the predominantly French-speaking southern region of Belgium. It makes up about 33% of the population and 55% of the territory of Belgium. Walloon Region is also the name given to the regional government of Wallonia...
mercenaries under the command of the Habsburg general Giorgio BastaGiorgio Basta, Count of Huszt was a general of Albanian descent, employed by the Holy Roman Emperor to command Habsburg forces in the Long War of 1591-1606 and later to administer Transylvania as an Imperial vassal...
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 percent 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 ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
(June 23, 1606), and the Peace of ŽitavaThe Peace of Zsitvatorok was a peace treaty which ended the Thirteen 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 HungaryRoyal Hungary was the name of medieval Kingdom of Hungary where the Habsburgs were recognized as Kings of Hungary in the wake of the Ottoman victory at the Battle of Mohács and subsequent partition of the country....
, 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 IAhmed I 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 BethlenGabriel 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 György 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 HungaryThe King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.After 1688, the principle of hereditary monarchy was enacted, and the son was typically crowned after his father's death.-Beginnings:...
, and by the Peace of NikolsburgThe 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 LinzLinz 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 30 km south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube...
(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 IuliaAlba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Between 1541—1690 it was the capital of Principality of Transylvania...
(Gyulafehérvár, Weißenburg), which became the main bulwark of Protestantism in Central EuropeCentral Europe is the region lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. The term and widespread interest in the region itself came back into fashion after the end of the Cold War, which, along with the Iron Curtain, had divided Europe politically into East and West,...
. During their reign Transylvania was also one of the few European countries where Roman Catholics, Calvinists, Lutherans, and UnitarianThe name Unitarian can refer to:* Members of the liberal Unitarian movement whose congregations in Britain meet under the auspices of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches or the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christian and other liberal religious congregations.*...
s lived in mutual tolerance, all of them belonging to the officially accepted religions - religiones recaepte, while OrthodoxsThe Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to in English speaking countries as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the world's second largest Christian communion, estimated to number 225 million members...
, however, were only tolerated.
This golden age and relative independence of Transylvania ended with the reign of George II RákócziGyörgy Rákóczi II , a Transylvanian Hungarian ruler, was the eldest son of George I and Susannah Lorantffy....
. The prince, coveting the Polish crown, allied with Sweden and invaded PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is 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 PorteThe Sublime Porte is a synecdoche for the Ottoman Empire, by reference to the High Gate of the Divan .- Terminology :...
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, VáradVárad is a village in Baranya county, Hungary.- External links :*...
in 1660) and diminishing manpower led to Prince KeményJános 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
After the defeat of the Ottomans at the Battle of ViennaThe 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| align=right | Leopold I Habsburg , Holy Roman emperor, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, was the second son of the emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margarita of Austria...
decreed Transylvania's Orthodox Church to be one with the Roman Catholic Church, by joining the newly created Romanian Greek-Catholic ChurchThe 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 CioaraSofronie 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. Within the Habsburg Empire, Transylvania was administratively part of HungaryThe Kingdom of Hungary , emerged in 1000, when the Principality of Hungary, founded in 896, was recognized as a Kingdom. The form of government was changed from Monarchy to Republic briefly in 1918 and again in 1946, ending the Kingdom and creating the Republic of Hungary...
, at that time just another Habsburg possession.
On November 2, 1784 started a revolt leaded by the Romanians Horea (Vasile Ursu Nicola), Cloşca (Ion Oargă) and Crişan (Marcu Giurgiu). It began in HunedoaraHunedoara is a city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is in the Cerna Valley near the Poiana Ruscă Mountains within the Carpathian Mountains....
County, but it soon spread all throughout the Apuseni MountainsThe 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 IILeopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1790 to 1792, King of Hungary, 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 ValachorumSupplex 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 DietIn politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is derived from Medieval Latin dietas, and ultimately comes from the Latin dies, "day". The word came to be used in this sense because assemblies met on a daily basis which is reflected in the German language use of Tagung and -tag...
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 lawsThe April laws, also called March laws, were a collection of laws legislated by Kossuth Lajos 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 national assembly at BlajBlaj 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 was the principal religious and cultural center of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church in Transylvania.- Administration :The municipality of Blaj is made up of...
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 BemJózef Zachariasz Bem was a Polish general 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 RussiaNicholas 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 kilometres.Nicholas I was born in Gatchina to Emperor Paul I and...
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 (TimişoaraTimişoara , also known as "The City of Athletes", is a city in the Banat region of western Romania...
) 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 BanatThe Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in Romania , the western part in Serbia , and a...
and BukovinaBukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains...
), as they did not want to replace the threat of Hungarian nationalism with the potential one of Romanian separatismSeparatism is the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group, often with demands for greater political autonomy and even for full political secession and the formation of a new state...
. 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 LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
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 BemJózef Zachariasz Bem was a Polish general 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 IuliaAlba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Between 1541—1690 it was the capital of Principality of Transylvania...
and DevaDeva is a city situated in Transylvania on the left bank of the middle course of the Mureş river. It is the capital of Hunedoara county in Romania and has around 80,000 inhabitants, including subordinated villages...
) and the Austrian-Romanian administration retreated to WallachiaWallachia 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 OlteniaOltenia is a historical province and geographical region of Romania, in western Wallachia...
(both were, at the time, under Russia's occupation). Avram Iancu's remained the only resistance force: he retreated to harsh terrain, mounting a guerrillaGuerrilla warfare is the irregular warfare warfare and combat in which a small group of combatants use mobile military tactics in the form of ambushes and raids to combat a larger and less mobile formal army....
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 AbrudAbrud is a town in the north-western part of Alba County, Transylvania, Romania, located on the river with the same name.-History:...
and listen to the Hungarian demands. Iancu's direct adversary, Hungarian commander Imre Hatvany, seems to have taken profit on the provisoral armisticeAn 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 cannonA cannon is any tubular piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellants 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 PolesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a Western Slavic ethnic group of Central Europe, living predominantly in Poland. Poles are sometimes defined as people who share a common Polish culture and are of Polish descent. Their religion is predominantly Roman Catholic...
fighting in the Hungarian revolutionary contingents wanted to see an all-out resistance to the Tsarist armies. People like Henryk DembińskiHenryk Dembiński was a Polish engineer, traveler and general.Dembiński was born in Strzałków, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 1809 he entered the 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 1813...
mediated for an understanding between Kossuth and the Wallachian émigréÉmigré 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 BălcescuNicolae Bălcescu was a Romanian Wallachian soldier, historian, journalist, and leader of the 1848 Wallachian Revolution.-Early life:...
, Gheorghe MagheruGeneral Gheorghe Magheru was a Romanian revolutionary and soldier from Wallachia, and political ally of Nicolae Bălcescu.-A Pandur and radical conspirator:...
, Alexandru G. GolescuAlexandru G. Golescu was a Romanian politician who served as a Prime Minister of Romania in 1870 .-Early life:...
, and Ion GhicaIon 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 DebrecenDebrecen , , is the second largest city in Hungary after Budapest. Debrecen is the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the capital of Hajdú-Bihar county.-Name:...
. The contact has for long been celebrated by Romanian MarxistMarxism is the political philosophy and economic worldview based upon a materialist interpretation of history, a Marxist analysis of capitalism, a theory of social change, and an atheist view of human liberation derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; three primary aspects of...
historians and politicians: Karl MarxKarl Heinrich Marx was a Germanphilosopher, political economist, historian, political theorist, sociologist, communist and revolutionary, whose ideas are credited as the foundation of modern communism...
's condemnation of everything opposing Kossuth had led to any Romanian initiative being automatically considered reactionaryReactionary refers to any political or social movement or ideology that seeks a return to a previous state . The term originated in the French Revolution, to denote the counter-revolutionaries who wanted to restore the real or imagined conditions of the monarchical Ancien Régime...
. 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 BucharestBucharest is the capital city, 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 Dâmboviţa River....
. While agreeing to mediate for peace, Bălcescu never presented these terms to the fighters in the Apuseni. His personal documents (commented by Liviu Maior) show that the un-realistic assumptions of Kossuth had made him view the Hungarian leader as a demagogue.
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 SegesvárThe Battle of Segesvár took place on July 31 1849 between forces of the Hungarian Transylvanian Army under the command of General Józef Bem and the Russian V Corps under the Russian General Alexander Lüders....
, 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 WallachiaWallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
and MoldaviaMoldavia 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
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 KöniggrätzThe 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 JosephFranz Joseph I , reigned as Emperor of Austria and King of Bohemia from 1848 until 1916 and as King of Hungary and Crotia from 1848 until 1916 .-Early life:Franz Joseph was born in the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the oldest son of...
to concede internal reforms. To appease Hungarian separatism, the Emperor made a deal with Hungary, negotiated by Ferenc DeákFerenc Deák, , 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, Count Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka was a Hungarian prime minister and statesman. He was sometimes called Count Julius Andrassy in English.-Biography:...
. The old Hungarian Constitution was restored, and Franz Joseph was crowned as King of HungaryThe King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.After 1688, the principle of hereditary monarchy was enacted, and the son was typically crowned after his father's death.-Beginnings:...
.
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 (AusgleichThe Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 established the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary, formerly the Habsburg Empire. Signed by Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and a Hungarian delegation led by Ferenc Deák, the Compromise established the framework of the new government in which the Cisleithanian...
) of 1867 which established the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the special status of Transylvania ended and it became a province under the control of Hungarian parliamentThe National Assembly of Hungary is the national parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 386 members elected to 4-year terms. Election of members is based on a complex system involving both area and list election; parties must win at least 5% of the popular vote in order to enter...
. While part of Austria-Hungary, Transylvania's Romanians were oppressed by the Hungarian administration through MagyarizationMagyarization is a designator applied to a number of ethnic assimilation policies implemented by various Hungarian authorities in the 19th century and at the beginning of 20th century...
; 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 HungaryThe Kingdom of Hungary , emerged in 1000, when the Principality of Hungary, founded in 896, was recognized as a Kingdom. The form of government was changed from Monarchy to Republic briefly in 1918 and again in 1946, ending the Kingdom and creating the Republic of Hungary...
. The Hungarian counties at the time were Alsó-FehérAlsó-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 Aiud .-Geography:...
, Beszterce-NaszódBeszterce-Naszód was the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in northern Romania...
, BrassóBrassó 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...
, CsíkCsík was the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in central Romania...
, FogarasFogaras 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:...
, HáromszékHáromszék is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in central Romania...
, HunyadHunyad 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-KüküllőKis-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...
, KolozsKolozs is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in north-western Romania...
, Maros-TordaMaros-Torda is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in central Romania...
, Nagy-KüküllőNagy-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...
, SzebenSzeben 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 Sibiu .-Geography:...
, Szolnok-DobokaSzolnok-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 Dej .-Geography:...
, Torda-AranyosTorda-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 UdvarhelyUdvarhely 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
Although Kings Carol ICarol I of Romania, original name Prince Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, later simply of Hohenzollern Carol I of Romania, original name Prince Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, later simply of Hohenzollern Carol I of Romania,...
and Ferdinand I were of the GermanThe German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of German ancestry...
Hohenzollern dynasty, the Kingdom of RomaniaThe Kingdom of Romania was the old 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 PowersThe Central Powers was one of the two sides that participated in World War I, the other being the Entente Powers.-Member states:...
and stayed neutral when the First World WarWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
began. In 1916 Romania joined the Triple EntenteThe Triple Entente was the name given to the loose alignment between the United Kingdom, 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 MarieMarie of Edinburgh was Queen of Romania as spouse of King Ferdinand 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 PowersThe Central Powers was one of the two sides that participated in World War I, the other being the Entente Powers.-Member states:...
on August 27, 1916, and crossed the Carpathian mountainsThe Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the largest mountain range in Europe...
into Transylvania, thus forcing the Central Powers to fight on yet another front. A German-BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
n counter-offensive began the following month in DobrujaDobruja, or Dobrudja , 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 BucharestBucharest is the capital city, 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 Dâmboviţa River....
. The exit of Russia from the war in March 1918 in the Treaty of Brest-LitovskThe Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on March 3, 1918, at Brest-Litovsk between the Russian SFSR and the Central Powers, marking Russia's exit from World War I....
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, and the Austro-Hungarian empire had begun to disintegrate. The nations living inside Austria-Hungary proclaimed their independence from the empire during September and October 1918.
After World War I
The resulting Treaty of BucharestThe 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.Among its terms:...
, never ratified in Romania, was denounced in October 1918 by the Romanian government, which then re-entered the war on the AlliedThe Triple Entente was the name given to the loose alignment between the United Kingdom, France, and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907...
side. The Romanian Army advanced to the Mureş riverThe Mureş is an approximately 725 km long river in Eastern Europe...
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 IuliaAlba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Between 1541—1690 it was the capital of 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 SwabiansThe Danube Swabians is a collective term for Germans who lived in the former Kingdom of Hungary, especially in the Danube River valley. Because of differential development within the territory settled, the Danube Swabians cannot be seen as a unified people...
from the BanatThe Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in Romania , the western part in Serbia , and a...
. In response, the Hungarian General Assembly of ClujCluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth largest city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equally distant 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 PartyA 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. The name originates from the 1848 tract Manifesto of the Communist Party by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels...
of HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
, led by Béla KunBéla Kun , born Béla Kohn, was a Hungarian Communist politician who ruled Hungary as leader of the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919.- Early life :...
, came to power in March 1919 it proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet RepublicThe Hungarian Soviet Republic or Soviet Republic of Hungary was a Communist regime established in Hungary from March 21 until August 6, 1919, under the leadership of Béla Kun. It was the first Communist government to be formed in Europe after the October Revolution in Russia which brought the...
and after promising that Hungary would regain the lands that were under its control during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it decided to attack CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia 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 1919The seeds of the Hungarian–Romanian war of 1919 were planted when Transylvania proclaimed union with Romania on December 1, 1918. In April 1919, the Bolsheviks came to power in Hungary, at which point its army attempted to retake Transylvania, commencing the war. By its final stage, more than...
. The Hungarian Army began the offensive in Transylvania in April 1919 along the SomeşThe river Someş in Romanian or Szamos in Hungarian, flows through Romania and Hungary.There are two headstreams, the Someşul Mare, rising from the Rodna Mountains in Bistriţa-Năsăud County and the Someşul Mic rising from the Apuseni Mountains in Cluj County, which is in turn formed by the...
, and MureşThe Mureş is an approximately 725 km long river in Eastern Europe...
rivers. A Romanian counter-offensive pushed forward to reach - and halt at - the TiszaThe Tisza is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It originates in Ukraine, with the White Tisza in the Chornohora and Black Tisza in the Gorgany range, flows partially along the Romanian border, enters Hungary at Tiszabecs, marks the Slovak-Hungarian border, passes through Hungary, and falls...
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 BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation center and is considered an important hub in Central Europe. In 2009, Budapest had 1,712,210 inhabitants, down from a mid-1980s...
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 VersaillesThe 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 RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
over Transylvania. The Treaties of St. Germain (1919) and TrianonThe Treaty of Trianon was the peace treaty concluded in 1920 at the end of World War I by the Allies of World War I, on one side, and Hungary, seen as a successor of Austria-Hungary, on the other. The treaty established the borders of Hungary and regulated its international situation...
(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 IuliaAlba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Between 1541—1690 it was the capital of Principality of Transylvania...
in the year 1922.
The Romanian expression România Mare (literal translation "Great Romania") generally refers to the RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
n state in the years between the FirstWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
and Second World Wars and, by extension, to the territory Romania covered at the time (see the map). RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
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 PartiumPartium or Részek is the name given in Latin and Hungarian to the region located to the north and west of Transylvania.-Origin of the name:...
/ CrişanaCrişana is a historical region of Romania and Hungary, named after the three tributaries of the Criş River that flow through it: the Crişul Alb , Crişul Negru and Crişul Repede...
). Historically, "Great Romania" represented one of the ideals of Romanian nationalismNationalism is an ideology, a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. It is a type of collectivism emphasizing the collective of a specific nation...
. 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 IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, TransylvaniaTransylvania 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 frequently encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
and BessarabiaBessarabia is a historical term for the geographic entity in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west...
united with the Romanian Old KingdomThe 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 IuliaAlba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Between 1541—1690 it was the capital of Principality of Transylvania...
voted by the Deputies of the Romanians from Transylvania; Bessarabia, having declared its independence from RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a 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 BolshevikThe Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists 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 RevolutionThe Russian Revolution is the collective term for the series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. In the first revolution of February 1917 the Czar was deposed and replaced by a Provisional government...
. The union of the regions of Transylvania, MaramureşMaramureş may refer to the following:*Maramureş, a geographical, historical, and ethno-cultural region in present-day Romania and Ukraine, that occupies the Maramureş Depression and Maramureş Mountains, a mountain range in North East Carpathians...
, CrişanaCrişana is a historical region of Romania and Hungary, named after the three tributaries of the Criş River that flow through it: the Crişul Alb , Crişul Negru and Crişul Repede...
and BanatThe Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in Romania , the western part in Serbia , and a...
with the Old Kingdom of Romania was ratified in 1920 by the Treaty of TrianonThe Treaty of Trianon was the peace treaty concluded in 1920 at the end of World War I by the Allies of World War I, on one side, and Hungary, seen as a successor of Austria-Hungary, on the other. The treaty established the borders of Hungary and regulated its international situation...
which recognised the sovereignty of Romania over these regions and settled the border between the independent Republic of HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
and the Kingdom of RomaniaThe Kingdom of Romania was the old 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 BukovinaBukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains...
and Bessarabia with Romania was ratified in 1920 by the Treaty of VersaillesThe 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 BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
as a result of its victory in the Second Balkan WarThe Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria dissatisfied from its share after the division of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies repulsed the Bulgarian offensive and counter-attacked...
in 1913.
Transylvania during World War II and Communism
In August 1940, during the Second World War, Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
gave the northern half of Transylvania to HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
, by the second Second Vienna AwardThe Second Vienna Award was the second of two Vienna Awards. Rendered on August 30, 1940, it re-assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary.-Prelude and historical background :...
. The Treaty of ParisThe 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 treaties allowed Italy,...
(1947) after the end of the Second World War overturned the Vienna Award, and the territory of northern Transylvania was returned to RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
. The post-WWII borders with HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
agreed on at the Treaty of Paris were identical with those set out in 1920.
Transylvania today
Today, "Transylvania proper" (bright yellow on the accompanying map) is included within the Romanian counties (judeţA judeţ is an administrative division in Romania and was also used for some time in Moldova. It is commonly translated to English as "county"....
e) of Alba, Bistriţa-Năsăud, BraşovBraşov ; ) is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Braşov. The county incorporates within its boundaries most of the Medieval "lands" Burzenland and Făgăraş Land.-Demographics:...
, ClujCluj ; is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Cluj-Napoca.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 702,755 and a population density of 105/km².*Romanians - 80%*Hungarians - 17.5%*Roma - 2.5%-Geography:...
, CovasnaCovasna 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%...
, Harghita, HunedoaraHunedoara 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%....
, MureşMureş is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureş.-Geography:The county has a total area of 6,714 km²....
, SălajSălaj is a county of Romania, in the historical regions of Crişana and Transylvania, with the capital city at Zalău.-Geography:Sălaj county has a total area of 3,864.38 km²....
(partially) and SibiuSibiu 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 CrişanaCrişana is a historical region of Romania and Hungary, named after the three tributaries of the Criş River that flow through it: the Crişul Alb , Crişul Negru and Crişul Repede...
and part of the BanatThe Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in Romania , the western part in Serbia , and a...
; these regions (dark yellow on the map) are in the counties of AradArad is a county of Romania, in Crişana and Banat , with the capital city at Arad .-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 461,791 and the population density was 60/km²....
, BihorBihor 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-SeverinCaraş-Severin is a county of Romania, in historical region Banat, with the county seat at Reşiţa.-Demographics:...
, MaramureşMaramureş is a county of Romania, in the Maramureş region. The county seat is Baia Mare.- History :* The 10th century frontier county of Borsova was founded by Stephen I of Hungary...
, SălajSălaj is a county of Romania, in the historical regions of Crişana and Transylvania, with the capital city at Zalău.-Geography:Sălaj county has a total area of 3,864.38 km²....
(partially), Satu MareSatu 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 TimişTimiş is a county of western Romania, in the historical region Banat, with the county seat at Timişoara...
.
Historical population
Official censuses with information on Transylvania's ethnical composition have been conducted since 1850. The data recorded in these 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 |
| 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 the 1850 Census refers to Transylvania proper only, namely the counties of Alba, Bistriţa-Năsăud, BraşovBraşov ; ) is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Braşov. The county incorporates within its boundaries most of the Medieval "lands" Burzenland and Făgăraş Land.-Demographics:...
, ClujCluj ; is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Cluj-Napoca.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 702,755 and a population density of 105/km².*Romanians - 80%*Hungarians - 17.5%*Roma - 2.5%-Geography:...
, CovasnaCovasna 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%...
, Harghita, HunedoaraHunedoara 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%....
, MureşMureş is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureş.-Geography:The county has a total area of 6,714 km²....
, SălajSălaj is a county of Romania, in the historical regions of Crişana and Transylvania, with the capital city at Zalău.-Geography:Sălaj county has a total area of 3,864.38 km²....
and SibiuSibiu 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 AradArad is a county of Romania, in Crişana and Banat , with the capital city at Arad .-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 461,791 and the population density was 60/km²....
, BihorBihor 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-SeverinCaraş-Severin is a county of Romania, in historical region Banat, with the county seat at Reşiţa.-Demographics:...
, MaramureşMaramureş is a county of Romania, in the Maramureş region. The county seat is Baia Mare.- History :* The 10th century frontier county of Borsova was founded by Stephen I of Hungary...
, Satu MareSatu 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 TimişTimiş is a county of western Romania, in the historical region Banat, with the county seat at Timişoara...
.
Historical coat of arms
The historical Transylvanian arms depicts:
- on a blue background, an eagle
Eagles are large birds of prey which 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...
representing the medieval nobility, which was primarily Magyar
- the Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 99.86% of the Solar System's mass....
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 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...
These symbols, representing the three privileged nations (estatesThe Estates of the realm were the broad divisions of society, usually distinguishing nobility, clergy, and commoners recognized in the Middle Ages and later, in some parts of Europe...
) of Transylvania had been in use since the 16th century, usually together with the elements of the Hungarian coat of armsThe current coat of arms of Hungary was adopted on July 3, 1990, after the end of the Communist regime.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 many of its elements date back to the Middle Ages.The...
, because Transylvanian Princes maintained their claims for the throne of the Kingdom of HungaryThe Kingdom of Hungary , emerged in 1000, when the Principality of Hungary, founded in 896, was recognized as a Kingdom. The form of government was changed from Monarchy to Republic briefly in 1918 and again in 1946, ending the Kingdom and creating the Republic of Hungary...
. The Diet of 1659 codified the coat of armsA coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways. Historically, they were used by knights to identify them apart from enemy...
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 DaciaIn ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land in East-Central Europe inhabited by the Dacians. Ancient Greeks called the same people "Getae"...
.
Regions are not legal administrative units in today's Romania, consequently the historical arms is now only used within the coat of arms of RomaniaThe 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 . As a central element it shows a golden aquila holding a cross in its beak and a mace and a sword...
. This officially recognised image is still based on the 1659 symbols, thus, includes only the traditional estatesThe Estates of the realm were the broad divisions of society, usually distinguishing nobility, clergy, and commoners recognized in the Middle Ages and later, in some parts of Europe...
of Transylvania.
Another, relatively short-lived heraldic representation of Transylvania is found on the coat of arms of Michael the BraveMichael the Brave was the Prince of Wallachia , of Transylvania , and of Moldavia , the three Romanian principalities that he united under his rule.He was born under the family name of Pătraşcu...
. Besides the Walachian eagle and the Moldavian auroch, Transylvania is here represented by two afronted lions holding a sword (elements referring to the Dacian KingdomIn ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land in East-Central Europe inhabited by the Dacians. Ancient Greeks called the same people "Getae"...
), 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 RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
n nation, holding in her right hand a sickle, and in the left hand a Roman legionThe Roman legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the...
'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 PhilippusMarcus Julius Philippus or Philippus I Arabs , known in English as Philip the Arab or formerly in English as Philip the Arabian, was a Roman Emperor from 244 to 249.-Early life:...
at Ulpia Traiana SarmisegetusaSarmizegetusa was the most important Dacian military, religious and political centre...
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 AcademyThe Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in 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 AcademyThe Hungarian Academy of Sciences is the most important learned society of Hungary...
.
See also
- Aftermath of World War I
The fighting in World War I ended when the Armistice took effect at 11:00 am GMT on November 11, 1918. In the aftermath of the war the political, cultural, and social order of the world was drastically changed in many places, even outside the areas directly involved in the war...
- Austria-Hungary
Austria–Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the k.u.k. Monarchy, or Dual State, was a monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in Central Europe...
- History of Hungary
Hungary is a state in central Europe, its history under this name dating to the early Middle Ages, when the region previously known as Pannonia was colonized by the Magyar nomad people from what is now central-northern Russia. For history of the area before this period, see Pannonian basin before...
- History of Romania
This article provides only a brief outline of each period of the history of Romania; details are presented in separate articles . -Prehistory:...
- List of Transylvanian rulers
- The Ancient History of Transylvania
- History of the Székely people
-Myths:At the end of the 12th century, in a chronicle called Gesta Hungarorum, the notary of Hungarian King Béla wrote about the conquest of Hungary about 300 years earlier. He said that the Hungarians and Székelys had common roots...