BOOKS
Settlement o f Rumanians in Transylvania
in Modern Times
In a volume entitled “ E r d e l y e s n e p e i ” ( T r a n s y l v a n i a a n d its
Peoples) the Hungarian Research Institute of the Peter Pazmany
University of Sciences has published a collection of treatises writ­
ten by various Magyar savants. Of these valuable and scholarly
essays special interest attaches to Sigismund Jako's study of
the settlement of Rumanians in Transylvania in modern times.
The author states that towards the close of the fourteenth
century what to begin with had merely been an inconsiderable in­
filtration of nomadic Rumanian shepherds from the Balkans grew
in volume, as a trickle of water leaking through a dyke in time
becomes a flood. These Rumanian shepherds came first in smaller,
then in larger, groups in search of pastures in Transylvania. The
way of life of some of them changed under the influence of
Magyar and Saxon culture. They learned the art of husbandry
from their surroundings and began to practise it in a primitive
fashion. These were the first Rumanian villagers in Transylvania.
The unbroken migration of the Rumanians had its peaks and
valleys, which followed in succession as conditions in the
Voivodina changed. W a r s , a c h a n g e f o r t h e w o r s e in in t e r n a l c o n ­
d itio n s, a n d
fr e s h ,
u n b e a r a b le
dem ands
on
th e
part
of
th e ir
l a n d o w n e r s ( b o y a r s ) d r o v e t h e m a c r o s s t h e h i l l s in t o T r a n s y l v a n i a
s e c r e t m o u n t a in p a t h s . It often happened, as in the case of
Voivode Radu, that Rumanian oligarchs asked and received per­
mission to settle in Transylvania with all their vassals, serfs and
gypsies. From this time on we find mention in ancient records of
elements described as “wanderers and men hiding from their mas­
ters" and ,,drones refusing to do service or pay taxes” . A t th a t
by
t im e th e R u m a n ia n s
liv e d
in a v e r y p r i m i t i v e
sta te
in T r a n s y l v a n i a ;
their huts were built on the outskirts of the villages, in dry river­
beds and in the woods, and they either worked in the fields until
they decided to migrate farther, or eked out a meagre existence
as shepherds. Only famine and destitution forced larger masses
to seek refuge for a time under the protection of Magyar
landowners.
A great impulse was given to Rumanian immigration by the
loss of Magyar lives in wars, when thanks to the Basta regime
and later on to George Rakoczi IPs Polish campaigns the autoch­
thonous populations of certain districts in Transylvania were
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DANUBIAN REVIEW
decimated. Safe in the forests and mountains the Rumanians sur­
vived this destruction without loss to themelves.
In the years of peace follow ing this havoc they were able
to settle without let or hindrance in the empty villages and
farms. The encroachment of the Rumanians in modern times
is clearly shown by what took place in the Saxon village of
S z e r d a h e l y i -s z e k i
K is a p o ld .
Most o f the Saxon inhabitants
perished between 1600 and 1602. Their places were taken by
Rumanians, who, though superior in number, recognized the
leadership of the Saxon survivors. In 1628 the Parish Council
consisted solely of Saxons, in 1649, when there were 40
Rumanian and only 8 Saxon families in the village, there was
one Rumanian member of the Parish Council; but by 1656 the
w hole Parish Council was Rumanian. In the second wave of
destruction that overtook this village the autochthonous Saxon
minority disappeared entirely, and the bells and sacred vessels
belonging to the Lutheran church there were removed by the
Saxon manorial court.
Rumanian encroachment took place in different ways in
the areas belonging to the three "nations” * in Transylvania.
In the counties the Rumanians were welcom ed gladly, for the
estates of the nobility, which were tilled by serfs, required
workers, and after the great extermination of the people they
were dependent for labour on men from the hills and immi­
grants from the other side of the Carpathians. T h e S a x o n s , o n
t h e o t h e r h a n d , s t r o v e to p r e v e n t an i n f l u x o f R u m a n ia n s . In
many places they preferred to leave their farms empty rather
than admit aliens. It was only when the inhabitants of Saxon
villages began to die out that they agreed to allow a certain
number of Rumanians to settle in them, subject to the condition
laid down in a written contract that w h e n e v e r th e S a x o n s
r eq u ired
th e
la n d
a g a in
th e
R u m a n ia n s w o u l d
have
to
E v a c u a te
W hy, despite the havoc, which was general, the Rumanians
could not establish a footing among the Szeklers, is explained
by the extraordinary vitality of that race, their unique legal
system and the fact that their villages were wellprotected by the
surrounding forests. In the towns, of course, it was difficult
for the Rumanians to gain ground; to these pastoral people even
husbandry represented a higher stage of development, one that
they could reach only by a m ajor social evolution. Except ot
Lugos and Karansebes and in the suburbs of B r a s s o and N a g y it.
szeb en ,
of
sc a r cely
T r a n s y l v a n ia
any
R u m a n ia n s
u n til
th e
w ere
b e g in n in g
to
of
be
th e
fo u n d
in
e ig h t e e n t h
th e
to w n s
c e n tu ry
This is shown by the fact that in 1733, at the time when the
Rumanians had gained much ground in the villages, t h e r e w e r e
o n ly
tw o
R u m a n ia n fa m i l i e s r e g i s t e r e d
* Magyar, Szekler and Saxon.
44
in K o l o z s v a r .