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Transylvania

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For other uses, see Transylvania (disambiguation).

Transylvania (Transilvania or Ardeal in Romanian, Erdély in Hungarian, Siebenbürgen in German, Urdul in Turkish, Sedmohradsko in Slovak, Siedmiogród in Polish) is a historic region that forms the western and the central parts of Romania.

Geography

Map of Romania with Transylvania in yellow

A high plateau, Transylvania is separated in the South from Walachia by the Transylvanian Alps and in the East from Moldavia and Bukovina by the Carpathian Mountains (of which the Transylvanian Alps are a continuation). The northern and the western regions of Transylvania (Crişana-Maramureş/Körösvidék-Máramaros/Kreischgebiet-Maramuresch) border Hungary and the southwestern region (Banat) borders Serbia.

The Transylvanian plateau, 1,000 to 1,600 feet (305-488 m) high, is drained by the Mureş River, the Someş River and other tributaries of the Danube. Cluj-Napoca is the chief city; other major urban centers are Timişoara, Braşov, Oradea, Sibiu and Târgu-Mureş.

Economy

Economically one of the most advanced regions of Romania, Transylvania is rich in mineral resources, notably lignite, iron, lead, manganese, gold, copper, natural gas, salt, and sulphur. There are large iron and steel, chemical, and textile industries. Stock raising, agriculture, wine production, and fruit growing are important occupations. Timber is another valuable resource.

Transylvania accounts for around 35% of Romania's GDP, and has a GDP per capita (PPP) of around $7,400, around 7% higher than the Romanian average.

Population

The province has a population of 7,300,000 persons, with a large Romanian majority. In addition, sizable Hungarian (1,437,000), Gypsy and German comunities live in Transylvania. This is reflected above in the names of the cities and areas, which all have historical names in Hungarian and German besides their official - Romanian - names.

Etymology

The first document in which the term "Ultra siluam" is used referring to the area dates from 1075, its meaning is "beyond the forest". The terms "Partes Transsylvanæ" ("parts beyond the forest") dates from the same century (in Legenda Sancti Gerhardi) and after that becomes the term used in the Latin documents of the Hungarian Kingdom (as "Transsilvania"). Ultrasilvania, "the land beyond the forest", had the connotation of "not yet in the Hungarians' possession".

Later, instead of the Latin name, the Hungarian Erdőelve (area beyond the forest), which means the same as the Latin, was popularly used. (The Hungarian word "Erdő" on the other hand could have been borrowed from Indo-European languages, or originated from the Finno-Ugric word "Ered" which means to orginate or to grow.) We can first read this in the form "Erdeuelu" in the 12th century Chronicles of Anonymus (Gesta Hungarorum). This form changed to "Erdély" in the centuries.

"Ardeal", which is a common Romanian name, is first known to occur in a document dated 1432, as "Ardeliu". It has an Indo-European etymology, as "Arde" meant "forest" (akin to Forest of Arden, England and Belgian Ardennes Woods) + "deal" meaning "hill" (in Romanian).

Siebenbürgen, the German name for Transylvania, first appeared in a document dated 1296. Translated from German, Siebenbürgen means "seven cities" or "seven boroughs", after the seven German cities founded or settled by the German Saxons in Transylvania: Klausenburg (Cluj), Kronstadt (Braşov), Hermannstadt (Sibiu), Schässburg (Sighişoara), Mediasch (Mediaş), Mühlbach (Sebeş), and Bistritz (Bistriţa).

Other possible theories listed below, as science and history cannot provide "rock hard evidence" on etymologies.

Transylvania

From Transilvania, the Latin name meaning "beyond the forest" ("trans" = beyond and "silva" = forest).

Ardeal

There are several variants:

  • from the name of the Gepid king Ardarich
  • an Indo-European etymology, as "Arde" meant "forest" (akin to Forest of Arden, England and Belgian Ardennes Woods) + "deal" meaning "hill" (in Romanian).
  • from Hungarian "Erdély"

Erdély

From Hungarian "Erdőelve" ("beyond the forest"), from Hungarian "Erdő" ("forest"), which is from Finno-Ugric word "Ered" ("to originate", "to grow") or from other Indo-European sources (Celtic or Thracic).

Siebenbürgen

From German "seven cities", named after the seven German cities located in Transylvania.

History

Early History: From Dacia to the Great Migrations

The area now constituting Transylvania was the political center of the Dacian state. In the wars of 101-102 and 106-107 A.D. the Roman Emperor Trajan conquered Dacia. However, in 271, the Roman Emperor Aurelian evacuated the imperial administration, and the province was subsequently occupied by migrating tribes of Goths until they were in turn swept away by the Huns in 376. The Huns, under the leadership of Attila, established a base in the Carpathian Basin which lasted through to Attila's death in 453.

The history of Transylvania during the early Middle Ages is largely unknown due to the lack of any written or archeological evidence.

After the disintegration of Attila's military conquests, Transylvania was ruled by the remnants of various Hunnic peoples brought by Attila, and a Germanic tribe, the Gepids. No major power was able to exert control over the region for any great length of time, until the Avars, who came from Scythia, established their military leadership.

At the very end of the 9th Century seven Magyar (Hungarian) tribes, under the leadership of Árpád, conquered the Carpathian Basin. In Transylvania, they defeated the Bulgars who had installed themselves in the region, with Árpád's son Levente leading the campaign. In addition to the Magyars, the Szeklers (Székely in Hungarian) may have entered Transylvania during this period. An alternative theory is that they were later brought into the area to act as border guards. Certainly by the 12th Century, the valleys in the east and southeast of Transylvania had been settled by the Szeklers.

There are two different theories, concerning whether or not Vlachs (ethnic Romanians) were present in Transylvania at the time of the great migrations. For more about this debate, see: Origin of Romanians.

Late Medieval Era: Transylvania as part of the Kingdom of Hungary

Hungarian authority over Transylvania was consolidated in the 10th and 11th Centuries, at which time Christianity was introduced. In 953 the gyula (leader), whose name was probably Zsombor, was baptised in Constantinople and on his return he built the first church in the region. Christianity was further promoted in Transylvania following the baptisement of Vajk as King Stephen of Hungary. In 1003, Stephen defeated the gyula Koppany, his mother’s brother, who was opposed to centralisation and missionary work. This made possible the organisation of the Transylvanian episcopacy which was finished in 1009 when the bishop of Ostia as the legate of the Pope paid a visit to St. Stephen and they approved the division of the dioceses and their boundaries.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the areas in the south and northeast were settled by German colonists called (then and now) Saxons, with the purpose of securing the borders. Siebenbürgen, the German name for Transylvania, derives from the seven principal fortified towns founded there by the Saxons. The German influence became more marked when, early in the 13th century, King Andrew II of Hungary called on the Teutonic Knights to protect Transylvania from the Cumans, who were followed (1241) by the Mongol invaders.

The administration of Transylvania was in the hands of a royal governor (a voivod or fejedelem), who by the mid-13th century controlled the whole region. After the suppression (1437) of a peasant revolt (the "Bobâlna revolt"), the political system was based on Unio Trium Natiorum (The Unity of the Three Nations), in which the ethnic Romanians were implicitly excluded. Society was divided into three privileged nations, the Magyars, the Szeklers, and the Saxons. These nations, however, corresponded to social rather than strictly ethnic divisions. Although the nonprivileged class of serfs consisted mostly of Romanians, it also included people of Saxon, Szekler, and Magyar origin. On the other hand, a small number of ethnic Romanians, by converting to Catholicism, succeeded in entering the ranks of the nobility.

A key figure to emerge in Transylvania in the first half of the 15th Century was John Hunyadi. From humble origins, he was awarded numerous estates and a seat in the royal council for his services to King Sigismund. 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 Belgrade and the voivodeship of Transylvania. His subsequent military exploits against the Ottomans brought him further status as governor of Hungary, from 1446, and papal recognition as Prince of Transylvania (1448).

Principate Transylvania

When the main Hungarian army and King Louis II were slain (1526) in the Battle of Mohács, John Zapolya, governor of Transylvania, took advantage of his military strength and put himself at the head of the nationalist Hungarian party, which opposed the succession of Ferdinand of Austria (later Emperor Ferdinand I) to the Hungarian throne. As John I he was elected king of Hungary, while another party recognized Ferdinand. In the ensuing struggle Zapolya received the support of Sultan Sulayman I, who after Zapolya's death (1540) overran central Hungary on the pretext of protecting Zapolya's son, John II. Hungary was now divided into three sections: West Hungary, under Austrian rule; central Hungary, under Turkish rule; and semi-independent Transylvania, where Austrian and Turkish influences vied for supremacy for nearly two centuries.

The Báthory family, which came to power on the death (1571) of John II, ruled Transylvania as princes under the Turks, and briefly under Hapsburg suzerainty, until 1602. The latter period of their rule saw a four-sided conflict in Transylvania involving the Austrians, the Turks and Michael the Brave, Voivod of Wallachia. Michael gained control of Transylvania in 1599, after the battle of Selimbar in which he defeated Báthory's army. In May 1600 he conquered Moldavia, briefly uniting for the first time the three principalities of Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania. However, Michael was assassinated on the orders of Habsburg General George Basta in August 1601. The latter finally subdued Transylvania in 1604, and initiated a reign of terror in which he was authorised to Germanize and Catholicize the principality and appropriate the land of noblemen.

Stephen Bocskay (right) and Gabriel Bethlen (left), Princes of Transylvania

In reaction to the depredations of Basta, Transylvanian nobleman Stephen Bocskay led a successful rebellion against Austrian rule. The two great achievements of his brief reign (he was elected prince of Transylvania on the 5th of April 1603, and died on the 29th of December 1606) were the peace of Vienna (June 23, 1606) and the truce of Zsitvatorok (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 retrospective amnesty for all the Hungarians in royal Hungary, besides his own recognition as independent sovereign prince of an enlarged Transylvania. Almost equally important was the twenty years truce of Zsitvatorok, negotiated by Bocskay between the emperor and the sultan.

Under Bocskay's successors - especially Gabriel Bethlen and George I Rákóczi - Transylvania had its golden age. Gabriel Bethlen, who reigned from 1613 to 1629, perpetually thwarted all the efforts of the emperor to oppress or circumvent his subjects, and won some reputation abroad by championing the Protestant cause. Three times he waged war on the emperor, twice he was proclaimed king of Hungary and by the peace of Nikolsburg (Dec. 31, 1621) he obtained for the Protestants a confirmation of the treaty of Vienna, and for himself seven additional counties in northern Hungary. Bethlen's successor, George I Rákóczi, was equally successful. His principal achievement was the peace of Linz (Sept. 16, 1645), the last political triumph of Hungarian Protestantism, in which the emperor was forced to confirm once more 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, Gyulafehervár, which became the main bulwark of Protestantism in Eastern Europe. However, during their regin Transylvania was also one of the very few European countries where Roman Catholics, Calvinists, Lutherans, and Unitarians lived in mutual tolerance. Orthodox Romanians, however, were denied equal rights. Despite the efforts of Inochentie Micu-Klein, a Romanian Greek Catholic bishop, the nation status promised to those Romanians who converted to Catholicism was also not granted.

Austrian Rule and the Austro-Hungarian Empire

After the Turkish defeat near Vienna (1683), Transylvania vainly battled the growing Austrian influence, and its alliance with Turkey under Emeric Thököly and with France under Francis II Rákóczi proved fatal to its independence. In 1711, Austrian control was definitely established over all Hungary and Transylvania, and the princes of Transylvania were replaced by Austrian governors. The proclamation (1765) of Transylvania as a grand principality was a mere formality. The pressure of Austrian bureaucratic rule gradually eroded the traditional independence of Transylvania. In 1791 the Romanians petitioned Leopold II of Austria for recognition as the fourth "nation" of Transylvania and for religious equality, but the Transylvanian diet rejected their demands, restoring the Romanians to their old status.

In 1848 the Hungarians proclaimed the union of Transylvania with Hungary, promising the Romanians abolition of serfdom in return for their support against Austria. The Romanians and the Saxons rejected the offer and instead rose against the Hungarian national state. In the fighting that followed (1849) between the Hungarians and the Austro-Russian forces (supported by the Romanians and the Saxons), the Hungarian regime of Lajos Kossuth was suppressed. The ensuing period of Austrian military government (1849-1860) was disastrous for the Hungarians but greatly benefited the Romanian peasants, who were given land and otherwise favored by the Austrian authorities. However, in the compromise (Ausgleich) of 1867, which established the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Transylvania became reunited with Hungary.

Twentieth Century: Transylvania ceded to Romania

In 1918, as a result of defeat in World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy collapsed. The countries of Romania, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, supported by the USA and the Entente Powers, made claims on the historical lands of the Kingdom of Hungary. Romania sent an army into Transylvania and occupied the region. On 1 December, 1918, several tens of thousands of ethnic Romanian Transylvanians assembled in Alba Iulia to hear the proclamation of the "unification of all Romanians from Transylvania, the Banat, Crişana and Maramureş with Romania for all ages to come". The transfer of Transylvania from Hungary to Romania was formalized in the Treaty of Trianon (1920). Thus the Kingdom of Romania was united within what Romanians consider its historical borders. King Ferdinand I of Romania and Queen Maria of Romania were crowned at Alba Iulia in the year 1922.

In August 1940, during the Second World War, Hitler awarded the northern part of Transylvania to Hungary by the second Vienna Award (Vienna Arbitration Award or Vienna Diktat). After the Second World War the teritory of northern Transylvania was returned to Romania. The post-WWII borders with Hungary, agreed on at the Treaty of Paris in 1947, were identical with those of 1920.

See also: List of Transylvanian rulers

Public Domain This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

Tourist attractions

Culture

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