Transylvania is a historical region in central and northwesternRomania. It was under the rule of theAgathyrsi, part of theDacian Kingdom (168 BC–106 AD),Roman Dacia (106–271), theGoths, theHunnic Empire (4th–5th centuries), theKingdom of the Gepids (5th–6th centuries), theAvar Khaganate (6th–9th centuries), theSlavs, and the 9th centuryFirst Bulgarian Empire. During the late 9th century, Transylvania was part of theHungarian conquest, and the family of Gyula II of theseven chieftains of the Hungarians ruled Transylvania in the 10th century. KingStephen I of Hungary asserted his claim to rule all lands dominated by Hungarian lords, and he personally led his army against his maternal uncleGyula III. Transylvania became part of theKingdom of Hungary in 1002, and it belonged to the Lands of the Hungarian Crown until 1920.

After theBattle of Mohács in 1526 it belonged to theEastern Hungarian Kingdom, from which thePrincipality of Transylvania emerged in 1570 by theTreaty of Speyer. During most of the 16th and 17th centuries, the principality was a vassal state of theOttoman Empire; however, the principality had dualsuzerainty (Ottoman andHabsburg kings of Hungary).^[1][2]

In 1690, the Habsburg dynasty claimed and gained possession of Transylvania through the historic rights of the Hungarian crown.^[3][4][5] After the failure ofRákóczi's War of Independence in 1711, Habsburg control of Transylvania was consolidated and Hungarian Transylvanian princes were replaced with Habsburg imperial governors.^[6][7] During theHungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian government proclaimed union with Transylvania in theApril Laws of 1848.^[8] After the failure of the revolution, theMarch Constitution of Austria decreed that the Principality of Transylvania be a separate crown land entirely independent of Hungary.^[9] After theAustro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the separate status^[10] of Transylvania ceased and the region was incorporated again into the Kingdom of Hungary (Transleithania) as part of theAustro-Hungarian Empire.^[11] During this period the Romanian community experienced the awakening of self-consciousness as a nation, which was manifested in cultural and ideological movements such asTransylvanian School,^[12] and the drafting of political petitions such asSupplex Libellus Valachorum.^[13] After World War I, the National Assembly of Romanians from Transylvania proclaimed theUnion of Transylvania with Romania on 1 December 1918. Transylvania became part ofKingdom of Romania by theTreaty of Trianon in 1920. In 1940,Northern Transylvania reverted to Hungary as a result of theSecond Vienna Award, but it was returned to Romania after the end of World War II.

Due to its varied history, the population of Transylvania is ethnically, linguistically, culturally and religiously diverse. From 1437 to 1848 political power in Transylvania was shared among the mostlyHungarian nobility, Germanburghers and theseats of theSzékelys (a Hungarian ethnic group). The population consisted of Romanians, Hungarians (particularly Székelys) and Germans. The majority of the present population is Romanian, but large minorities (mainly Hungarian andRoma) preserve their traditions. However, as recently as theRomanian communist era, ethnic-minority relations remained an issue of international contention. This has abated (but not disappeared) since theRevolution of 1989. Transylvania retains a significantHungarian-speaking minority, slightly less than half of which identify themselves as Székely.^[14] Ethnic Germans in Transylvania (known there asSaxons) comprise about one percent of the population; however, Austrian and German influences remain in the architecture and urban landscape of much of Transylvania.

The region's history may be traced through the religions of its inhabitants. For the first time in history, theDiet of Torda in 1568 declared freedom of religion. There was no state religion, while in other parts of Europe and the world religious wars were fought. The Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist, and Unitarian Churches and religions were declared to be fully equal, and the Romanian Orthodox religion was tolerated. Most Romanians in Transylvania belong to theEastern Orthodox Church faith, but from the 18th to the 20th centuries theRomanian Greek-Catholic Church also had substantial influence. Hungarians primarily belong to theRoman Catholic orReformed Churches; a smaller number areUnitarians. Of the ethnic Germans in Transylvania, the Saxons have primarily beenLutheran since theReformation; however, theDanube Swabians are Catholic. TheBaptist Union of Romania is the second-largest such body in Europe;Seventh-day Adventists are established, and otherevangelical churches have been a growing presence since 1989. NoMuslim communities remain from the era of theOttoman invasions. As elsewhere,anti-Semitic 20th century politics saw Transylvania's once sizableJewish population greatly reduced by theHolocaust and emigration.

The earliest known reference to Transylvania appears in aMedieval Latin document of theKingdom of Hungary in 1075 as"ultra silvam", in theGesta Hungarorum as"terra ultrasilvana", meaning "land beyond the forest" ("terra" means land,"ultra" means "beyond" or "on the far side of" and the accusative case of"silva","silvam" means "woods, forest"). Transylvania, with an alternative Latin prepositional prefix, means "on the other side of the woods". The Hungarian formErdély was first mentioned in theGesta Hungarorum as"Erdeuelu". The Medieval Latin form"Ultrasylvania", later Transylvania, was a direct translation from the Hungarian form"Erdőelve" ("erdő" means "forest" and"elve" means "beyond" in old Hungarian).^[15][16] That also was used as an alternative name in German "Überwald" ("über" means "beyond" and"wald" means forest) in the 13th–14th centuries. The earliest known written occurrence of the Romanian nameArdeal appeared in a document in 1432 as"Ardeliu". The RomanianArdeal is derived from the HungarianErdély.^[17]Erdelj in Serbian and Croatian,Erdel in Turkish were borrowed from this form as well.

According to the Romanian linguistNicolae Drăganu, the Hungarian name of Transylvania evolved over time fromErdőelü,Erdőelv,Erdőel,Erdeel in chronicles and written charters from 1200 up to late 1300. In written sources from 1390, we can find also the formErdel, which can be read also asErdély. There is evidence for that in the written Wallachian Chancellery Charters expressed in Slavonic where the word appears asErûdelû (1432),Ierûdel,Ardelîu (1432),ardelski (1460, 1472, 1478–1479, 1480, 1498, 1507–1508, 1508),erdelska,ardelska (1498). With the first texts written in Romanian (1513) the nameArdeal appears to be written.Drăganu claims that the greatest Romanian philologists and historians maintain thatArdeal came from Hungarian.^[18]

According to the archaeological evidence, Transylvania was ruled by several proto-Scythian groups, but the first of which we know by name were theAgathyrsi.^[19]

Herodotus gives an account of the Agathyrsi, who lived in Transylvania during the fifth century BCE. He described them as a luxurious people who enjoyed wearing gold ornaments.^[20] Herodotus also claimed that the Agathyrsi held their wives in common, so all men would be brothers.^[21]

The Agathyrsi, later partly assimilated into the Dacians.^[22]

A kingdom ofDacia existed at least as early as the early second century BCE under KingOroles. UnderBurebista, the foremost king of Dacia and a contemporary ofJulius Caesar, the kingdom reached its maximum extent. The area now constituting Transylvania was the political center of Dacia.

The Dacians are often mentioned byAugustus, according to whom they were compelled to recognizeRoman supremacy. However, they were not subdued and in later times crossed the frozenDanube during winter and ravaging Roman cities in the recently acquiredRoman province ofMoesia.

The Dacians built several importantfortified cities, among themSarmizegetusa (near the presentHunedoara). They were divided into two classes: the aristocracy (tarabostes) and the common people (comati).

TheRoman Empire expansion in theBalkans brought the Dacians into open conflict with Rome. During the reign ofDecebalus, the Dacians were engaged in several wars with the Romans from 85 to 89 CE. After two reverses, the Romans gained an advantage but were obliged to make peace due to the defeat ofDomitian by theMarcomanni.^[23] Domitian agreed to pay large sums (eight millionsesterces) in annual tribute to the Dacians for maintaining peace.

In 101, the emperorTrajan began amilitary campaign against theDacians, which included asiege of Sarmizegetusa Regia and the occupation of part of the country.^[24] Estimates give a total of 90,000 soldiers represented by 7 legions, 24 cohorts of auxiliary cavalry and more than 70 cohorts of auxiliary infantry.^[25] The Romans prevailed but Decebalus was left as aclient king under a Romanprotectorate^[26] and the territories outside the Carpathian arch were occupied by the Romans.^[27] The peace lasted only 3 years and Trajan quickly began a new campaign againstDecebalus (105–106).^[26] Thebattle for Sarmizegetusa Regia took place in the early summer of 106 with the participation of theII Adiutrix andIV Flavia Felix legions and a detachment (vexillatio) from theLegio VI Ferrata. The city was set on fire, the pillars of the sacred sanctuaries were cut down and the fortification system was destroyed; however, the war continued. Decebalus' dramatic flee, ended days later with the former king taking his own life. Through the treason of Bacilis (a confidant of the Dacian king), the Romans foundDecebalus' treasure in theStrei River^[26](estimated byJerome Carcopino as 165,500 kg of gold and 331,000 kg of silver). The last battle with the army of the Dacian king took place atNapoca.^[26]

Dacian culture encouraged its soldiers to not fear death, and it was said that they left for war merrier than for any other journey. In his retreat to the mountains, Decebalus was followed byRoman cavalry led byTiberius Claudius Maximus. The Dacian religion ofZalmoxis permitted suicide as a last resort by those in pain and misery, and the Dacians who heard Decebalus' last speech dispersed and committed suicide. Only the king tried to retreat from the Romans, hoping that he could find in the mountains and forests the means to resume battle, but "Maximus's cavalry pursued him like the furies". After they almost caught him, Decebalus committed suicide by slashing his throat with his sword (falx).^[26]The history of the Dacian Wars was written byCassius Dio, and it is also depicted onTrajan's Column inRome.^[24]

While ancient sources report the total extermination of the Dacian people,^[28][29][30] the conquest had a drastic impact on the demography of the region.^{[28][31][32][33]} Large parts of the population were enslaved, killed orexpelled during the war.^[28][32][33] Settlers from around the empire repopulated the area.^[28][33]

Following the war, several parts of Dacia including Transylvania were organized into the Roman province ofDacia Traiana.^[34]

The newly formed province of Dacia incorporate the areas south and southeast of Carpathians that were previously added to Moesia. Two major military centres were established atBerzobis andApulum with additional forts of auxiliary troops in strategic locations such asTibiscum andPorolissum, comprising some 35000 stationed soldiers. Major works of infrastructure were undertaken to connect the newly established urban and military centres such as the road fromPotaissa toNapoca, and theTrajan's Bridge was built in the preparation part of the conquest. During the time of the second governor of Dacia, Terentius Scaurianus, a new colony was set on the western edge ofHațeg Plain with colonists mainly from the Italian peninsula,colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa, taking from the name of the old Dacian capital and acting as the governor's residence (later moved to Apulum).^[35]

Rural settlements of thevicus andvilla types were established, many connected to military sites. Archaeological finds show most are of Roman type, including material culture such as tools and ovens of the lower classes. Roman administration took control of the salt trade route that served the neighbouring territories ofPannonia andUpper Moesia, and the placement of the new towns suggests they were established in part to exploit the gold and iron mines of southwest Transylvanian region, and it at least partially reflects the pattern of depopulation from the Dacian Wars.^[36] The colonists settled by official initiative were mostly veterans of various legions with a significant addition of Illyrian miners, while the private enterprise was a diverse mixture of Roman citizens from places such asGalatia,Palmyra,Gallia, along withslaves andperegrini.^[37]

Dacia province was among the last region which was conquered by the Roman Empire, and among the first which was abandoned. In less than 170 years, the Romans built 10 cities, more than 400 military buildings of which 100 legionary or auxiliary forts, left over 4000 inscriptions and thousands traces of material culture.^[38]

During the third century, increasing pressure from theFree Dacians andVisigoths forced the Romans to abandon Dacia Traiana.

According to historianEutropius in Liber IX of hisBreviarum, in 271, Roman citizens from Dacia Traiana were resettled by the Roman emperorAurelian across the Danube in the newly establishedDacia Aureliana, inside formerMoesia Superior:

Aurelian gave up the province of Dacia, which Trajan had created beyond the Danube, since the whole of Illyricum and Moesia had been devastated and he despaired of being able to retain it, and he withdrew the Romans from the cities and countryside of Dacia, and resettled them in the middle of Moesia and named it Dacia, which now divides the two Moeasias and is on the right bank of the Danube as it flows to the sea, whereas previously it was on the left.

In the same work, Etropius describes the people who lived in the region in his time, and gives a description of the ethnic composition of the area.

"He rebuilt some cities in Germany; he subdued Dacia by the overthrow ofDecebalus, and formed a province beyond the Danube, in that territory which theThaiphali,Victoali, andTheruingi now occupy. This province was a thousand miles in circumference."^[39]

Conflicting theories exist concerning whether or not the Romanians are a Romanized Dacian population that, surviving theMigration Period, remained in Transylvania after the withdrawal of theRomans.

Before their withdrawal the Romans negotiated an agreement with theGoths in which Dacia remained Roman territory, and a few Roman outposts remained north of the Danube. TheThervingi, aVisigothic tribe, settled in the southern part of Transylvania, and theOstrogoths lived on thePontic–Caspian steppe.^[40]

About 340,Ulfilas broughtAcacianArianism to the Goths in Guthiuda, and the Visigoths (and other Germanic tribes) became Arians.^{[citation needed]}

The Goths were able to defend their territory for about a century against theGepids,Vandals andSarmatians;^[40] however, the Visigoths were unable to preserve the region's Roman infrastructure. Transylvania's gold mines were unused during theEarly Middle Ages.

The Gothic presence in the area of Transylvania starts from the second half of the third century, after the Roman army withdrawal, a continued over the forth century. At the end of this the Gothic tribes left Transylvania, the settlements were abandoned without signs of destruction.^[41]

This is howTheophanes Confessor describes the area under Gothic rule:

There were at that time numerous extremely large Gothic tribes living beyond the Danube in the districts to the far north. Of these, four are particularly worthy of note, namely theGoths, theVisigoths, theGepids, and theVandals, who differ from one another in name alone and speak the same dialect. They all subscribe to theArian heresy. After crossing the Danube in the time ofArkadios andHonorius, they were settled on Roman territory.^[42]

By 376 a new wave of migratory people, theHuns, led byUldin defeated and expelled theVisigoths, setting up their own headquarters in what wasDacia Inferior. Hoping to find refuge from the Huns,Fritigern (a Visigothic leader) appealed to the Roman emperorValens in 376 to be allowed to settle with his people on the south bank of the Danube. However, a famine broke out and Rome was unable to supply them with food or land. As a result, the Gothsrebelled against the Romans for several years. The Huns fought theAlans,Vandals, andQuadi, forcing them toward theRoman Empire. Pannonia became the centre during the peak ofAttila's reign (435–453).^[40][43]

The race of Huns, long shut off by inaccessible mountains, broke out in sudden rage against the Goths and drove them in widespread confusion from their old homes. The Goths fled across the Danube and were received by Valens without negotiating any treaty.- Paulus Orosius: Histories against the Pagans^[44]

Dating from 425 to 455, theTransylvanian traces of theHuns lie in the lowlands of theMureș valley. The most important testimonies of theHun rule are the two separate sets of coins discovered atSebeș. Between the 420s and 455,Hun princes and lords established summer residences inTransylvania.^[45] The newest discoveries strengthens the theory that there was a more seriousHun military presence inTransylvania.^[46]

Sparse archeological findings from the 4th century (Biertan Donarium, a clay pot with Christian symbols fromMoigrad, and another clay pot withChi Rho monogram at the bottom fromUlpia Traiana for example) point at minor Christian communities isolated from the main group.

TheBiertan Donarium was found in 1775. There are two theories on the origins of this artifact. According to the supporters of the Daco-Romanian continuity theory this donarium was made by the survivor Latin-speaking Christian population population ofDacia following theAurelian Retreat.^[48] Those historians who are sceptic about this object point to the dubious circumstances of this finding.^[49] They emphasize that there were no Roman settlements or Christian churches near toBiertan.^[50][47] According to them this object was made inAquileia in Northern Italy during the 4th century^[47] and it was carried intoTransylvania as a loot byGothic warriors or by trading.^[51] It is the most possible that the find fromBiertan is a result of plundering in Illyricum or Pannonia or in the Balkans anytime between the fourth and the sixth century and this artifact was reused as a pagan object by its new owners.^[52][53] Originally it was intended to be hung from a candelabrum but the perforations made later indicate it was reused and attached to a coffer for storing vessels or other goods. According to this opinion even its usage for Christian purposes should be questioned in the territory ofTransylvania.

It is only in the 5th century that the artefacts become more common, most of them in the form ofoil lamps, gold rings with cross incisions (fromthe tomb of Omahar in Apahida), a chest piece with Christian symbols. From the 6th century, associated with the missionary work supported byJustinian I and confirmed by theirByzantine provenience, theoil lamps become even more common, accompanied by twoampullae with the representation ofSaint Menas, and several moulds forcross shaped pendants.^[54]

In the context of KhanBoris I conversion to Christianity and the baptism ofBulgarians, theByzantine type of church organization is identified in the region. Historian I. Baán, discussing the origin ofKalocsaarchdiocese, pointed that the existence of two archdioceses in the early days ofKingdom of Hungary is connected with parallel work undertaken by missionaries from both theEastern and theWestern churches. He identifies archdiocese ofKalocsa with "archdiocese of Tourkia" and lists in its suborder the dioceses of Transylvania, Banat, and Cenad. The baptism ofGyula II inConstantinople and his accompaniment by bishop Hierotheos lead to the deduction that the diocese of Transylvania was established before 1018. From this reasoning a diocese of Transylvania, subordinated to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, could be dated to the time ofGéza.^[55] His reasoning is sustained by the discovery in 2011 atAlba Iulia of a church built inEastern tradition, and dated between the second half of the 10th century and first half of the 11th century.^[56] During the rule ofAhtum (baptised inVidin) in Banat, towards the end of 10th century, a monastery of Eastern rite monks was active inCenad.^[57]

After Attila's death, the Hunnic empire disintegrated. In 455 the Gepids (under kingArdarich) conqueredPannonia, allowing them to settle for two centuries in Transylvania.^[40] TheGepids secured their rule by attacking and ravaging their neighbors' territories and creating military border zones, while themselves remaining in Transylvania proper, surrounded by hard terrain. On one occasion in 539, cooperating with theFranks they crossed theDanube and devastatedMoesia, killingmagister millitumCalluc. They weren't this lucky with theOstrogoths, who first routed the united forces of Gepids,Suebians,Scirians andSarmatians at theBattle of Bolia, than at theBattle of Sirmium.King Thraustila lost the city and his successors failed to recapture even after Theodoric's death.^[43][58] After a long decline, Gepidia finally fell to the joint invasion of theAvars andLombards in 567.^[40] Very few Gepid sites (such as cemeteries in theBanat region) after 600 remain; they were apparently assimilated by theAvar empire.

This is howJordanes describes the territory of Dacia, under theGepids, and the times before that:

"I mean ancient Dacia, which the race of the Gepidae now possesses. This country lies across the Danube within sight of Moesia, and is surrounded by a crown of mountains. It has only two ways of access, one by way of Boutae and the other by Tapae. This Gothia, which our ancestors called Dacia and now, as I have said, is called Gepidia, was then bounded on the east by the Roxolani, on the west by the Iazyges, on the north by the Sarmatians and Basternae and on the south by the river Danube. The lazyges are separated from the Roxolani by the Aluta river only."^[59]

Romanian scholars that specialise in the period, along with other specialists in the field such asWalter Goffart, generally reject the reliability ofJordanes's description of Gepid ethnic identity, their migration to the area - including what would later be known as Transylvania, and the report on their statal organization, arguing that archaeological evidence does not match with the literary source.^[60][61][62]

In 568, theAvars, under KhaganBayan I established an empire in theCarpathian Basin that lasted for 250 years.^[63] In the beginning, the Avar Khaganate controlled a larger territory which expanded from the Carpathian Basin to thePontic-Caspian Steppe and dominated numerous people. The Onogur-Bulgars fought their independence in the middle 7th century and the Avar Khaganate was shrunken to the area of the Carpathian Basin.^[63] Related peoples from the east arrived in theAvar Kaganate several times: around 595 theKutrigurs, and then around 670 theOnogurs.^[64] TheRavenna Cosmography, written around 700, describes the area as follows:

"And in front of this same Albis is the land called Lesser Dacia, and beyond it to the side is the large and spacious land called Greater Dacia, which is now referred to asGepidia; currently, the people of theUnorum [Avars] are known to inhabit it. Beyond that is Illyricum, which extends as far as the province of Dalmatia."^[65]

The region of Transylvania was an important site in theByzantine-Avar wars. Byzantine ambassadors often appeared in the area to try to persuade the various peoples living in Transylvania to form an alliance.^[66]Theophanes the Confessor recounts one such diplomatic mission as follows:

"As for Sarbaros, he dispatched him with his remaining army against Constantinople with a view to establishing an alliance between the western Huns (who are called Avars) and the Bulgars, Slavs, and Gepids, and so advancing on the City and laying siege to it."^[67]

Charlemagne started a Frankish campaign against the Avars in 791. The Avar Khaganate had a catastrophic civil war in 795 where the higher-ranking jugurrus who ruled the eastern regions and Transylvania was defeated and the Avars themselves decimated their ruling class in Transylvania. The Franks renewed their attacks in 795–796.Krum, the Bulgar khan also attacked the Avars, his army advanced into the Tisza region in 803.^[68] The Avars were defeated by the Franks and Bulgars in 803, and their steppe-empire ended around 822.^[63] The TransylvanianAvars were subjugated by theBulgars underKhan Krum at the beginning of the ninth century, after which the region was partially occupied by fleeing Slavs, who sought for protection from the Franks. Southern Transylvania was conquered by theFirst Bulgarian Empire which took control of its salt distribution network, most of it directed towards the early medieval site ofSzolnok from where it was distributed further in Europe.^[69] In theRoyal Frankish Annals, it is described that at that time in Transylvania, there wereAvars and a Slavic tribe called theObodrites, also called the Predecentes, andBulgars lived next to them.^[70]

The downfall of theAvar Khaganate at the beginning of the 9th century did not mean the extinction of theAvar population, contemporary written sources report survivingAvar groups.^[71][72] TheHungarian conquerors together with the Turkic-speakingKabars integrated theAvars,Onogurs and Slavonic groups.^[73] The conquering Hungarians mixed to varying degrees on individual level with the Avar population living in theCarpathian Basin, but they had Avar genetic heritage as well.^[72]

TheSlavs settled in some regions inTransylvania from the 7th century, and left traces up to the end of the 12th century.^[74] The occurrence of Early Slavs in the region (by some historians as early as the second half of the 6th century) followed two general directions: one from the south, along theOlt river valley, and one from the north-west (upper Tisza) along theCrasna river valley. No evidence has been found to sustain a movement along theMureș valley as well during this time. A third direction of entry was noted after the second half of the 7th century from the north-east.^[75] It should be noted, however, that the arrival and expansion of Slavic speaking population in the current territory or Romania is a debated topic and that the current understanding in Romanian academic circles is that some archaeological finds usually associated with migrating Slavs are no longer valid, for example the sunken-floored buildings of theIpotești–Cândești culture which were found also in southern Transylvania after the sixth century and were considered indicative of Slavic culture existed in the region even before the supposed Slav migration.^[76]Anania Shirakatsi, a 7th-century Armenian historian, describes Transylvania inhabited by the Slavs in his geography as follows:

"On the south side isThrace proper and on the north side the large country of Dacia, where dwell the Slavs who form twenty-five tribes, in whose place invaded the Goths, who came from the island ofScandia which is called Emios by the Germans."^[77]

Foundation of theHungarian state is connected to theHungarian conquerors, who arrived from thePontic Steppe in the frame of a strong centralized steppe-empire under the leadership of Grand PrinceÁlmos and his sonÁrpád^[63][78] TheHungarians arrived in theCarpathian Basin, in a geographically unified but politically divided land, after acquiring thorough local knowledge of the area from the 860s onwards.^{[79][64][73][71][80][81][82]} After the end of theAvar Kaganate (c. 822), theEastern Franks asserted their influence inTransdanubia, theBulgarians to a small extent in the SouthernTransylvania and the interior regions housed the survivingAvar population in their stateless state.^[64][83] The Avar population survived the time of theHungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin.^[84][64][81] In this power the Hungarian conqueror elite took the system of the former Avar Kaganate, there is no trace of massacres and mass graves, it is believed to have been a peaceful transition for local residents in the Carpathian Basin.^[84] Based on genetics evidence, the Hungarian conquerors hadUgric ancestry and later admixed withSarmatians andHuns.^[85] There is a genetic continuity from theBronze Age, a continuous migration of theSteppe folks from east to the Carpathian Basin.^[86][84][87] The contemporary local population is descended from previous peoples of the Carpathian Basin, and a large number of people survived to the 10th century from the previous Avar period.^[88][72] The local population started admixing only in the second half of the 10th century with the conquering Hungarians.^[89]

In 862, PrinceRastislav of Moravia rebelled against theFranks, and after hiringHungarian troops, won his independence; this was the first time that Hungarians expeditionary troops entered theCarpathian Basin.^[90][91] In 862, ArchbishopHincmar of Reims records the campaign of unknown enemies called "Ungri", giving the first mention of theHungarians inWestern Europe. In 881, theHungarian forces fought together with the Kabars in theVienna Basin.^[90][92] According to historian György Szabados and archeologist Miklós Béla Szőke, a group ofHungarians were already living in theCarpathian Basin at that time, so they could quickly intervene in the events of theCarolingian Empire.^{[64][83][71][79][92]} The number of recorded battles increased from the end of the 9th century.^[83] In the lateAvar period, a part ofHungarians was already present in theCarpathian Basin in the 9th century, this has been supported by genetic and archaeological research, because there are graves in whichAvar descendants are buried inHungarian clothes.^[93][92] An important segment of thisAvar eraHungarians is that theHungarian county system of KingSaint Stephen I may be largely based on the power centers formed during theAvar period.^[93]

TheHungarians took possession of theCarpathian Basin in a pre-planned manner, with a long move-in between 862 and 895.^{[92][73][83][64][79][80][81][82][94]} This is confirmed by the archaeological findings, in the 10th century Hungarian cemeteries, the graves of women, children and elderly people are located next to the warriors, they were buried according to the same traditions, wore the same style of ornaments, and belonged to the same anthropological group.^[81] According to genetic evidence, Hungarian conqueror's men and women came to the Carpathian Basin together.^[89]The Hungarian military events of the following years prove that the Hungarian population that settled in the Carpathian Basin was not a weakened population without a significant military power.^[81] Other theories assert that the move of theHungarians was forced or at least hastened by the joint attacks ofPechenegs andBulgarians.^[81][95] According to eleventh-century tradition, the road taken by the Hungarians under PrinceÁlmos took them first toTransylvania in 895. This is supported by an eleventh-century Russian tradition that theHungarians moved to theCarpathian Basin by way ofKiev.^[96] Prince Álmos, the sacred leader of theHungarian Great Principality died before he could reachPannonia, he was sacrificed in Transylvania.^[90][97] According to Romanian historian Florin Curta, no evidence exists of Magyars crossing Eastern Carpathian Mountains into Transylvania.^[98]

TheDe Administrando Imperio recounts the relations of the surrounding regions, including Transylvania, following theHungarian conquest as follows:

"Such are the landmarks and names along the Danube river; but the regions above these, which comprehend the whole settlement ofTurkey [Hungary], they now call after the names of the rivers that flow there. The rivers are these: the first river is theTimisis, the second river theToutis, the third river theMorisis, the fourth river theKrisos, and again another river, theTitza. Neighbours of theTurks [Hungarians] are, on the eastern side theBulgarians, where the riverIstros, also called Danube, runs between them; on the northern, thePechenegs; on the western, theFranks; and on the southern, theCroats. These eight clans of the Turks [Hungarians] do not obey their own particular princes, but have a joint agreement to fight together with all earnestness and zeal upon the rivers, wheresoever war breaks out."^[99]

According to supporters of theDaco-Roman continuity theory,Transylvania was populated byRomanians at the time of the Hungarian conquest.^[100] Opponents of this theory assert thatTransylvania was sparsely inhabited by peoples of Slavic origin and Turkic people.^[101]

The earliestHungarian artifacts found inTransylvania date to the first half of the 10th century.^[103] The very typical feature of theAsian Hun andEuropean Hun cemeteries is the partial horse burials, almost in allHun graves there are only remain of horses. Outside theHuns, only theHungarians used partial horse burials. This ancient tradition that went through centuries, it is easily identifiable in theHuns andHungarians graves.^[104] Archeologists also found this kind of horse burial inTransylvania.^[105] During joint research, archaeologists from theUniversity of Sibiu (Romania) and theUniversity of Tübingen (Germany) excavated one of the most importantHungarian cemeteries from the time of theHungarian conquest nearOrăștie (Szászváros in Hungarian) in 2005. According to Romanian archeologist Marian Tiplic, the excavated graves refer to the second generation ofHungarian conquerors, the skeletons found here are the remains of theGyula tribe. It was a permanent settlement, the location of which, on top of a hill, suggests that the goal of theHungarian was to control the valley of theMureș.^[106][107] Hungarian cemeteries from the 9th and 10th centuries were also unearthed atCluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár in Hungarian),Gâmbaș (Marosgombás in Hungarian), and otherTransylvanian sites.^[108] A coin minted underBerthold, Duke of Bavaria (reign 938–947) found nearTurda indicates that TransylvanianMagyars participated in western military campaigns.^[90] Although their defeat in the 955Battle of Lechfeld ended Magyar raids against western Europe, raids on the Balkan Peninsula continued until 970. Linguistic evidence suggests that after their conquest, the Magyars inherited the local social structures of the conqueredPannonian Slavs;^[109] in Transylvania, there was intermarriage between the Magyar ruling class and the Slavic élite.^[110]

Gyula's family ruledTransylvania from around 925 onwards.^[16]Gyula II was aHungarian tribal leader in the middle of the 10th century.^[111] His capital was Gyulafehérvár (nowAlba Iulia in Romania). The Hungarian nameGyulafehérvár is meaning "White Castle of the Gyula",^[112] the modern Romanian nameAlba Iulia coming from the Medieval Latin name of the city which originated from the Hungarian form, although the old Romanian nameBălgrad, which originated from Slavic, similarly meant "White Castle".^[113]Gyula II descended from a family whose members held the hereditary titlegyula, which was the second in rank among the leaders of theHungarian Great Principality.^[114]Ioannes Skylitzes narrates that around 952^[114]Gyula II visitedConstantinople, where he was baptized, and EmperorConstantine VII lifted him from the baptismal font.^[115] Abishop named Hierotheos accompaniedGyula II back to Hungary.^[116] Hierotheos was the first bishop of Transylvania.^{[117][118][119]}Gyula II built the first church ofTransylvania in Gyulafehérvár (nowAlba Iulia in Romania) around 950, the ruins of the church were discovered in 2011.Sarolt, daughter ofGyula II was married toGéza,Grand Prince of the Hungarians around 970. Their sonVajk was born around 975, who became the firstking of Hungary in 1000 as KingStephen I of Hungary.

The enemies of the conqueringHungarians in theGesta Hungarorum are not mentioned in other primary sources, consequently, historians debate whetherGelou,Glad, andMenumorut were a historical person or an imaginary figure created byAnonymus.

Gelou (Hungarian:Gyalu,Romanian:Gelu) is a figure in theGesta Hungarorum (Latin forThe Deeds of the Hungarians), а medieval work written by an author known as "Anonymus" in the Hungarian royal court probably at the end of the 12th century (about 300 years after theHungarian conquest, which was around 895). In theGesta HungarorumGelou ruled part ofTransylvania, he was described as "a certain Vlach" (quidamblacus) and "prince of the Vlachs" (ducem blacorum), inhabited his land by "Vlachs and Slavs" (blasij et sclaui).^[120] He was said to be defeated by one of theseven Hungarian dukes, Töhötöm (Tuhutum in the originalLatin, also known as Tétény). Hungarian historians assert thatGelou was created by the author from the name of the village of Gyalu (today'sGilău inRomania), aTransylvanian village in the Mountains of Gyalu (today's Gilău Mountains inRomania), whereGelou died in theGesta Hungarorum.^[121] Some Hungarian historians identify the Blaks (Blasii, Blaci) people with theBulaqs.^{[122][123][124][125]}

Then Tuhutum, having heard of the goodness of that land, sent his envoys to Duke Árpád to ask his permission to go beyond the woods [ultra silvas] to fight Duke Gelou. Duke Árpád, having taken counsel, commended Tuhutum's wish and he gave him permission to go beyond the woods to fight Duke Gelou. When Tuhutum heard this from an envoy, he readied himself with his warriors and, having left his companions there, went forth eastwards beyond the woods against Gelou, duke of the Vlachs [blacorum]. Gelou, duke of Transylvania, hearing of his arrival, gathered his army and rode speedily towards him in order to stop him at the Meszes Gates, but Tuhutum, crossing the wood in one day, arrived at the Almás [Almas] river. Then both armies came upon each other, with the river lying between them. Duke Gelou planned to stop them there with his archers.

Glad (Hungarian:Galád) was the ruler ofBanat at the time of theHungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin according to theGesta Hungarorum.Glad came fromVidin inBulgaria, he occupied the land from the riverMureș up to the castle ofOrșova andPalanka with the help of theCumans. According toAnonymus,Glad commanded a great army of horsemen and foot soldiers and his army was supported byCumans,Bulgarians andVlachs (blacorum). TheHungarians sent an army against him andGlad was defeated, his army was annihilated, two dukes of theCumans and threekneses of theBulgarians were slain in the battle.^[120] Hungarian historiography regards him as fictitious, along with many other imaginary enemy characters in theGesta Hungarorum, he is also not mentioned in other primary sources.Anonymus's reference to theCumans supportingGlad is one of the key points in the scholarly debate, because theCumans did not arrive inEurope before the 1050s. In Romanian historiography,Glad is described as one of "the three Romanian dukes" who ruled the regions of present-dayRomania in the early 10th century.

And because God with His grace went before the Hungarians, he gave them a great victory and their enemies fell before them as hay before reapers. And in that battle two dukes of the Cumans and three princes [kenezy] of the Bulgarians were slain, and Glad, their duke, escaped in flight but all his army, melting like wax before flame, was destroyed at the point of the sword. Then Zuard, Cadusa and Boyta, having won victory, setting forth from there, came to the borders of the Bulgarians and encamped beside the Ponoucea river. Duke Glad, having fled, as we said above, for fear of the Hungarians, entered Keve [Keuee] castle and, on the third day, Zuardu, Cadusa and Boyta, from whom the Brucsa kindred descends, having arranged their army began to fight against Keve castle.

Menumorut (Hungarian:Ménmarót) was the ruler of the lands between the riversMureș,Someș andTisza at the time of theHungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin around 900. According to theGesta Hungarorum,Menumorut's duchy was populated primarily withKhazars andSzékelys, and he acknowledged thesuzerainty of the rulingByzantine Emperor at the time. According toAnonymus,Menumorut communicated "haughtily with a Bulgarian heart".^[120]

After spending several days, Duke Árpád, having taken the advice of his noblemen, sent envoys to the castle of Bihar, to Duke Menumorout, asking him, by right of his forbear, King Attila, to give him the land from the Szamos [Zomus] river to the border of Nyr, up to the Meszes Gate [ad portam Mezesynam], and he sent him gifts, just as he had previously sent to Salan, duke of Titel [duci Tytulensy]. And in that embassy were sent two of the most energetic warriors: Vsubuu, father of Zoloucu, and Velec, from whose progeny Turda, the bishop, is descended. For these were the most nobleby birth, like the others that set forth from the Scythian land and who followed Duke Álmos with a great host of peoples.

According to theGesta Hungarorum, theHungarians besieged and seizedMenumorut's fortress atBiharia which caused him to apologise for his Bulgar sympathies and offered his daughter in marriage toZoltán, the son ofÁrpád, theGrand Prince of the Hungarians. The chronicle states thatMenumorut died without a son before 907 and left his whole kingdom in peace toZoltán, his son-in-law.^[120]

Ajtony was an early-11th-century ruler in the territory now known asBanat, According to theGesta Hungarorum, he was a descendant ofGlad. He taxed salt which was transferred to KingStephen I of Hungary on theMureș River. The Hungarian king sentCsanád,Ajtony's former commander-in-chief, against him at the head of a large royal army.Csanád defeated and killedAjtony,Csanád County and its capital Csanád (today'sCenad inRomania) were named after him.

TheGrand Principality of Hungary existed c. 862 until 1000, then it was re-organized as a Christian Kingdom by King Saint Stephen who was the 5th descendant of Grand Prince Álmos.^[63] In 1000 Stephen I of Hungary, grand prince of the Hungarian tribes, was recognised by thePope and by his brother-in-lawHenry II, Holy Roman Emperor as king ofHungary. Although Stephen was raised as aRoman Catholic andChristianization of the Hungarians was achieved mostly by Rome, he also recognized and supported orthodoxy. Attempts by Stephen to control all Hungarian tribal territories led to wars, including one with his maternal uncle Gyula (a chieftain in Transylvania;Gyula was the second-highest title in the Hungarian tribal confederation).^[126] In 1002, Stephen led an army into Transylvania and Gyula surrendered without a fight. This made possible the organization of the Transylvanian Catholic episcopacy (withGyulafehérvár as its seat), which was finished in 1009 when thebishop of Ostia (as papal legate) visited Stephen and they approved diocesan divisions and boundaries.^[16][127]

After when Saint Stephen had been deemed worthy, and won the crown of the royal majesty by divine order, he waged a famous and profitable war against his maternal uncle named Gyula, who at that time ruled the entire Transylvanian country with his own power. So in the 1002nd year of Our Lord's birth, King Saint Stephen captured Gyula, his wife and two sons and sent them to Hungary...Saint Stephen annexed Gyula's big, rich country all the way to Hungary.

According to theChronicon Pictum, KingStephen I of Hungary defeated Kean, a ruler of Bulgarians and Slavs in southernTransylvania.

Then, He sent his army against Kean, the leader of the Bulgarians and Slavs. These peoples live in places that are very strong according to their natural location, therefore it cost him to much trouble and battle sweat until he finally defeated and killed the named leader. He acquired an inestimable amount of treasure, especially gold, pearls and precious stones. He placed one of his great-grandfathers here, Zoltán by name, who later held those parts of Transylvania as a hereditary province, therefore, he was colloquially called Zoltán of Transylvania. He lived to the time of the holy king and was a very old man, that is why the king made him above the rich nations.

MedievalTransylvania was an integral part of theKingdom of Hungary; however, it was an administratively distinct unit.^{[129][130][131]} The medievalKingdom of Hungary was not divided into provinces, although at the beginning of the 14th century its kings bore a long title that included the names of nine countries and provinces –"By the grace of God, King of Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Cumania and Bulgaria". However, the majority of addresses were demand addresses. Actual rule was only exercised overCroatia andDalmatia, where the Hungarian authority was represented by thebans placed at the head of the provinces. Within the country – due to their great distance from the center – only two separate territorial governments were established, which are sometimes mentioned as a country (regnum) in the sources, but were never included among the titles of theHungarian kings:Transylvania along the eastern borders andSlavonia south of theDrava.^[132]

The first recorded Pecheneg invasion of Transylvania occurred during the reign ofStephen I of Hungary. TheBattle of Kerlés, was an engagement between an army ofPechenegs andOuzes commanded by Osul and the troops of KingSolomon of Hungary and his cousins, DukesGéza andLadislaus, inTransylvania in 1068.

King Saint Ladislaus, the knight-king (fresco of theSaint Ladislaus legend in the church ofSzékelyderzs, 1419)

KingLadislaus I of Hungary released the imprisoned former king,Solomon at the time of the ceremony of the canonization of the first five Hungarian saints. After his release, Solomon made a final effort to regain his crown. He persuaded aCuman chieftain, Kutesk, to invade Hungary. Solomon promised Kutesk, that he would give him the right of possession over Transylvania and would take his daughter as wife. King Ladislaus defeated the invaders in 1085.

Of the known Hungarian documents drafted before 1200, only twenty-seven bear some reference to Transylvania; two date from the 11th, the rest from the 12th century. Of the latter, sixteen reveal only the name of some Transylvanian, religious or lay dignitary, such as a bishop, a dean, a voivode, or a count. In the 13th century, and particularly after 1250, the number of documents touching on Transylvania grows rapidly and reaches over four hundred.^[133]

TheSzékelys have historically claimed descent fromAttila'sHuns.^[134] Hungarian medieval chronicles recount that a contingent ofHuns remained inTransylvania, later allying with the returningHungarians theyconquered the Carpathian Basin together in the 9th century.^{[120][135][97][136]} Several medieval Hungarian chronicles claimed that theSzékely people descended fromHuns:

They, having set forth from the island, riding through the sand and flow of the Tisza, crossed at the harbour of Beuldu, and, riding on, they encamped beside the Kórógy river, and all the Székelys, who were previously the peoples of King Attila, having heard of Usubuu's fame, came to make peace and of their own will gave their sons as hostages along with divers gifts and they undertook to fight in the vanguard of Usubuu's army, and they forthwith sent the sons of the Székelys to Duke Árpád, and, together with the Székelys before them, began to ride against Menumorout.

These Székelys were the remains of the Huns, who when they learned that the Hungarians had returned to Pannonia for the second time, went to the returnees on the border of Ruthenia and, after conquering Pannonia together, gained a part of it, though not in the plain of Pannonia, but among the Vlachs in the mountains along the border. Therefore, being mingled with the Vlachs, they are said to use their letters.

They were afraid of the western nations that they would suddenly attack them, so they went to Transylvania and did not call themselves Hungarians, but Székelys. The western clan hated the Huns in Attila's life. The Székelys are thus the remnants of the Huns, who remained in the mentioned field until the return of the other Hungarians. So when they knew that the Hungarians would return to Pannonia again, they hurried to Ruthenia to them, conquering the land of Pannonia together.

It is said that in addition to the Huns who escorted Csaba, from the same nation, yet three thousand people were retreating, cut themselves out of the said battle, remained in Pannonia, and first established themself in a camp called Csigla's Field. They were afraid of the Western nations which they harassed in Attila's life, and they marched to Transylvania, the frontier of the Pannonian landscape, and they did not call themselves Huns or Hungarians, but Siculus, in their own word Székelys, so that they would not know that they are the remnants of the Huns or Hungarians. In our time, no one doubts, that the Székelys are the remnants of the Huns who first came to Pannonia, and because their people do not seem to have been mixed with foreign blood since then, they are also more strict in their morals, they also differ from other Hungarians in the division of lands. They have not yet forgotten the Scythian letters, and these are not inked on paper, but engraved on sticks skillfully, in the way of the carving. They later grew into not insignificant people, and when the Hungarians came to Pannonia again from Scythia, they went to Ruthenia in front of them with great joy, as soon as the news of their coming came to them. When the Hungarians took possession of Pannonia again, at the division of the country, with the consent of the Hungarians, these Székelys were given the part of the country that they had already chosen as their place of residence.

In theMiddle Ages, theSzékelys played a role in the defense of theKingdom of Hungary against theOttomans in their posture as guards of the eastern border.^[139]Nicolaus Olahus stated in the bookHungaria et Athila in 1536 that"Hungarians and Székelys share the same language, with the difference that the Székelys have their own words specific to their nation."^{[140][141][142]} The people of Székelys were in general regarded as the most Hungarian of Hungarians. In 1558, a Hungarian poet, Mihály Vilmányi Libécz voiced this opinion, instructing the reader in his poem that if they had doubts about the correctness of the Hungarian language:"Consult without fail the language of the ancient Székelys, for they are the guardians of the purest Hungarian tongue".^[143]

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the areas in the south and northeast were settled byGerman colonists known asSaxons. Tradition holds thatSiebenbürgen, the German name for Transylvania, derives from the seven principal fortified towns founded by theseTransylvanian Saxons.

The first German settlers called in byGéza II in around 1160 came from theRhineland and established their villages between theOlt andKüküllő rivers. Around the same time north of them, German "guests" (hospites) arrived at the kingly estates in Radna and Beszterce. The colonization was organized by theGräves (de) orgerébs (hu). Somegerébs received judicial, administrative, martial positions. These titles later became hereditary.^[144]

Already in the 13th century, Transylvanian Saxony was divided into seats mirroring the Székelys. The basis of the Transylvanian German administration was laid byAndrew II in his 1224 diploma "Andreanum". He ceased the supervision of the voivode and gave the job (called "royal judge" (királybíró) from then on) to theispán of Szeben. The municipal privileges enabling local priest and judge elections, that the Saxon seats and villages received came to be known as "Szeben freedom" (szebeni szabadság). The area of the Beszterce river could also enjoy the "Szeben freedom" from 1366 on. The Saxons only had to pay tax to the king. This was every year on St. Martin's Day, 11 November. Furthermore, 500 German armored soldiers were recruited into the Hungarian army. The recruitment and training was managed by the Saxon count, the second most powerful Saxon lord in the colony.^[145]

As the society evolved, the Saxon middle class discriminated thegerébs who largely assimilated into theHungarian nobility. The now leaderless communities became either craftmen or independent peasants. The markets where they sold their products became towns. A new class also emerged: the merchant citizenry. Their towns gained the right to tax cargoes, containing expensive eastern goods. As the Saxons now preferred hiring mercenaries rather than recruiting from their own folk, the count post, now functioning more of an economist, was taken over by the mayor of Szeben. The mayor was chosen by an urban council of 12 persons who came from a council of 100 persons. Ergo, the Saxon society's most powerful officials were the royal judge and the mayor, both from Szeben.^[146]

The ecclesia of Transylvanian Saxony was very divided. Some counties in the southern part were attached to the provostship of Szeben, others to the bishopric of Gyulafehérvár.^[147]

God wanted them to move to Pannonia as soon as possible. Then they crossed mountains for three months, and finally, against the will of the said peoples, they reached the border area of Pannonia, the land now called Transylvania. When they marched into this land, fearing the attack of the surrounding peoples, the whole corps of the militants under their command was divided into seven armies, and captains, lieutenants, corporals were appointed in the usual manner to lead each army, and each army consisted of thirty thousand and eight hundred and fifty-seven armed warriors. Because at the time of their second exodus from Scythia, from the one hundred and eight tribes, two hundred and sixteen thousand armed men were reportedly brought with them, that is, two thousand of every tribe, except those of the household. Over these seven armies, a captain was assigned to lead each of them, and seven hillforts were built to protect their wives and animals and they remained in those castles for a time. This is why the Germans call this part of the land Siebenbürgen, meaning seven castles to this day.

The German influence became more marked when, in 1211, KingAndrew II of Hungary called on theTeutonic Knights to protect Transylvania in theBurzenland from theCumans. After the order strengthened its grip on the territory and expanded it beyond Transylvania without authorisation, Andrew expelled the Knights in 1225.

Administration in Transylvania was at the hands of avoivod appointed by the king (the wordvoivod, orvoievod, first appeared in 1193). Before then, the wordispán was used for the chief official ofAlba County. Transylvania came undervoivod rule after 1263, when the duties of the Counts of Szolnok (Doboka) and Alba were eliminated. The voivod controlled sevencomitatus. According to theChronicon Pictum, Transylvania's first voivod wasZoltán of Transylvania, the same person asZolta, great-grandfather ofSaint Stephen. This is debated by modern historians, as in theMiddle Ages a person couldn't live for so long and be capable to perform such an important position; however, it is not questioned that Zoltán was the relative of the king, maybe his brother.^{[148][149][150]}

According to Jean W. Sedlar, the oldest extant documents from Transylvania, dating from the 12th and 13th centuries, make passing references to both Hungarians and Vlachs.^[151]

In 1213, an army of Vlachs,Saxons andPechenegs, led by theCount of Sibiu,Joachim Türje, attacked theSecond Bulgarian Empire -Bulgarians andCumans in thefortress ofVidin.^[152]

A royal charter from 1223 is the first data on Romanians in Transylvania, related to the monastery of Kerc (nowCârța Monastery in Romania), which mentions that the Vlachs owned the land when the monastery was founded.^[153][154] According to theDiploma Andreanum issued by KingAndrew II of Hungary in 1224, the TransylvanianSaxons were entitled to use certain forests together with the Vlachs and Pechenegs.^[153]

In 1252 KingBéla IV of Hungary, for his services in various foreign embassies, donates to Vince, Comes of the Székely of Sebus, the land called Zek between the territory of the Vlachs ofKyrch, the Saxons ofBarasu, and the Székelys of Sebus, which once belonged to a Saxon estate called Fulkun, but has been uninhabited since the Mongol invasion.^[155]

In 1256 KingBéla IV of Hungary, upon the complaint of ArchbishopBenedict ofEsztergom, confirms the right of the archdiocese to tithes from mining wages and from animal taxes collected from the Szeklers and Romanians to the king or anyone else, among the judicial, accommodation and taxation privileges of the archdiocese, with the exception of land rents from Saxons, but also from Romanians from everywhere and from anywhere they came.^[156]

In the spring of 1291, in Alba Iulia, KingAndrew III of Hungary, the last from theÁrpád dynasty, convened and presided over an assembly consisting of the representatives of "all nobles, Saxons, Szeklers and Vlachs" (cum universis Nobilibus, Saxonibus, Syculis et Olachis). This was the general congregation of all the privileged groups in Transylvania (the Hungarian nobles, the Saxons, the Szeklers and the Romanians), held about six months after the General Assembly of the Kingdom of Hungary, unfold at Buda.^[157]

In 1241, Transylvania suffered during theMongol invasion of Europe.Güyük Khan invaded Transylvania from theOituz (Ojtoz) Pass, whileSubutai attacked in the south from the Mehedia Pass towardsOrșova.^[158] While Subutai advanced northward to meetBatu Khan, Güyük attacked Hermannstadt/Nagyszeben (Sibiu) to prevent the Transylvanian nobility from aiding KingBéla IV of Hungary.Beszterce,Kolozsvár and theTransylvanian Plain region were ravaged by the Mongols, in addition to the Hungarian king's silver mine atÓradna. A separate Mongol force destroyed the western Cumans near theSiret River in the Carpathians and annihilated theCuman bishopric of Milcov. Estimates of population decline in Transylvania due to the Mongol invasion range from 15 to 50 percent.

The Cumans converted to Roman Catholicism and, after their defeat by the Mongols, sought refuge in central Hungary;Elizabeth the Cuman (1244–1290), known as Erzsébet in Hungarian, a Cuman princess, marriedStephen V of Hungary in 1254.

In 1285,Nogai Khan withTalabuga led the invasion of Hungary.Talabuga led an army in northern Hungary but was stopped by heavy Carpathian snow; he was defeated nearPest by the royal army ofLadislaus IV and ambushed by the Székelys in retreat.Talabuga's army ravagedTransylvania; cities such asReghin,Brașov andBistrița were plundered. Still, the invaders suffered from lack of food, being also confronted with the resistance of the local people,Székelys,Romanians andSaxons.^[159]

Benedict, abbot of the church Szent Tamás of Esztergom, wrote regarding theMongol invasion of 1285:"26,000 Tatars were killed in the Kingdom of Hungary, so the Tatars fled, trying to save themselves from the hands of the Hungarians, they reached Transylvania, but the Székelys, Vlachs and Saxons blocked the roads with their scouts and surrounded them...".^{[160][161][162]} Iohannes Longus de Ypre,Marino Sanuto Torsello recorded that in theMongol invasion the passes of the Carpathians were defended together by the Romanians and the Székelys:^[159]"However, the remnants of the Tatars returned to Cumania, after their retreat, the nations of Pannonia, the Vlachs and the Székelys, who live in the Zipheos [Carpathian] mountains, which the Hungarians call forests [Transylvania], closed those passes in such a way that the Tatars could no longer cross them."^[162]

In 1288, the archbishop of Strigonius, Lodomerius, the most important Catholic church figure from Hungary, wrote an epistle "to the Hungarian, Saxon, Szeklely and Romanian nobles from the counties of Sibiu and Borsa in Transylvania", bringing serious charges against King Ladislaus IV and demanding them to no longer obey the sovereign and offer military aid against him.^[157]

The three most important 14th-century dignitaries were the voivod, the Bishop of Transylvania and the Abbot of Kolozsmonostor (on the outskirts of present-day Cluj-Napoca).

Transylvania was organized according to theestate system. Its estates were privileged groups, oruniversitates (the central power acknowledged some collective freedoms), with socio-economic and political power; they were also organized using ethnic criteria.

As in the rest of the Hungarian kingdom, the first estate was the aristocracy (lay and ecclesiastic): ethnically heterogeneous, but undergoing homogenization around its Hungarian nucleus. The document granting privileges to the aristocracy was theGolden Bull of 1222, issued by King Andrew II. The other estates were the Saxons, Szeklers and Romanians, all with an ethno-linguistic basis. The Saxons, who had settled in southern Transylvania in the 12th and 13th centuries, were granted privileges in 1224 by theDiploma Andreanum. The Szeklers and Romanians were granted partial privileges. While the Szeklers consolidated their privileges, extending them to the entire ethnic group, the Romanians had difficulty retaining their privileges in certain areas (terrae Vlachorum or districtus Valachicales) and lost their estate rank. Nevertheless, when the king (or the voivod) summoned the general assembly of Transylvania (congregatio) during the 13th and 14th centuries it was attended by the four estates: noblemen, Saxons, Szeklers and Romanians (Universis nobilibus, Saxonibus, Syculis et Olachis in partibus Transiluanis).

TheVlach law was a set of laws regulating the way of life and farming of theCentral European andBalkan peoples practicingtranshumance pastoralism that has been also introduced in theKingdom of Hungary, thus affectingTransylvania.^[163] The expression"ius valachicum" appears in documents issued in theKingdom of Hungary in the 14th century, referring to a type of law followed by the Romanian population in the kingdom. It was a type of "common law" used by the Romanian population inKingdom of Hungary, that is also cognate with the law used in bothMoldavia andWallachia. In theKingdom of Hungary, the unwritten law (customary law) coexisted with the written law (royal decrees), they had the same authority and were applied accordingly in the courts.^[164]

In Romanian historiography, the law in theKingdom of Hungary is cognate of the customary laws inMoldavia andWallachia^[164] and a continuation of the pre-Hungarian Slavo-Romanian legal practices of agricultural land distribution and social stratification (the title of kneze is of Slavic origin but correspondent to Romanianjude). The Romanian historianIoan-Aurel Pop says that the customary law originates fromRoman habit of land distribution were "sortes" (Romanian:sorți) were drawn, the land was divided infalces (Romanian:fălci), the neighbouringfalces owner was avicinus (Romanian: vecin). The uphold of the law was overseen byjudes (Romanianjuzi) a title that was replaced by the Slavic wordknez and developedin situ throughout the centuries.^[165] The law was connected to the so-called Romanian districts "districta Valachorum". The first Romanian districts are mentioned in the 14th century, after they become more visible in the records. These districts encountered throughout theKingdom of Hungary are not specific to a Romanian population, the term depending upon context differed in its meaning. ThatRomanian districts had some sort of legal autonomy, where people might use Romanian customary law. TheVlach law had roots in the Romano-Byzantine legal tradition which was influenced by the Hungarian customary law.^[164] More than 60Romanian districts are known to have existed in the Kingdom of Hungary.^[166]

In Hungarian historiography, due to the settlement activities of the kenezes, villages withVlach law arose in theKingdom of Hungary between the 13th and 16th centuries, initially mostly inhabited byRomanians (Vlachs) andRuthenians. The very first villages withVlach law were established inTransylvania, their numbers increased, and spread inUpper Hungary, and in other parts of theKingdom of Hungary, primarily in mountainous areas. Mostly shepherds lived in their villages with theVlach law. According to this law, people were settled where the natural conditions were not favorable for farming. Its essential elements were the unique taxation methods. As the law had a more freedom of degree of taxation, it was favoring the immigration of foreigners.^[163] The origin of Vlach law, that thekenez was not only chieftain, but also a settlement contractor, who receives some uninhabited land from the king in order to settle it and then he and his descendants judge over the settlers in non-principal matters. These areas are smaller or larger in proportion to the size of the donated land. There werekenezes with 300 families, but also ones with barely four or five families. Initially, they settled in the vicinity of existing villages, but from the middle of the 14th century, they also founded independent settlements.^[167]

The Romanian immigrants in theKingdom of Hungary are invariably characterized in Hungarian sources as mountain shepherds. As late as the 16th century, an official report referred to Romanians as people who kept many animals in the forests and mountains. The "sheep tax" (quinquagesima ovium, meaning "sheep fiftieth") was paid only by the Romanians, a people closely identified with sheep-breeding. The tax required the delivery of one sheep for every fifty sheep held. Since the mountain-dwelling Romanians practised but subsistence farming, they were not taxed on their agricultural output.^[168]

Contrary to the name of this law, not only theRomanians (Vlachs), but also other peoples were entitled to this right. The village withVlach law was not only the place of residence of theRomanian orRuthenian population,Slovaks,Poles,Croats andHungarians also settled according to the more freeVlach law, favorable to the immigration of foreigners.^[163]

Voivode was the title of a leader who held authority over severalkenezes. Sources dating from the 14th century confirm that whereaskenez was a hereditary title, the voivodes were initially elected by the Romanians, which was a practice consistent with Hungarian customary law, which provided that immigrant groups elect a leader from their ranks. (Székelys elected their captains and judges,Saxons elected the magistrates who worked alongside the royal court), and ). The voivodes followed the example of the kenezes and obtained that their status and privileges be passed on to their heirs. The hereditary status of voivodes and kenez did not deprive ordinary Romanians of their legal and economic rights, those rights were recognized by the castellans at the head of Hungarian castle districts. In the district courts, in accordance with Hungarian administrative practice, they appointed not only kenezes but also Romanian priests and commoners, and the courts followed Romanian customary law in rendering judgment.^[168]

The most important characteristics of the legal status of villages withVlach law were the following: the judge of the resettled population is the settler kenezes, or was his heir, and the court of Hungarian royal officers judged thekenez. One third of the amount of fines imposed on the people went to thekenez, and two thirds could be used by the villages for their own needs. The villages could redeem their public service obligation with a tenth of their produce. The population gave a royal fiftieth of their animals.^[163]

In the early 14th century, it was recorded about 40 Romanian districts, which stretched through eastern Hungary andTransylvania, northwards toMáramaros. The knezes were entrusted with the duty to populate private and royal estates. The Romanian knezes in return for their settlement activities, obtained permanent leadership of the settlements which they had founded and they acquired rights to revenues. The knezes held the title of nobles, however the knezes were not qualified as full nobles, because they were obligated to pay duties to the castle in exchange for their estates. The duties of the Romanian knezes varied according to the district and to the individual conditions under which their ancestors had initially acquired and settled the land: to provide a single mounted warrior for guarding theDanube river against intrusion, and to supply livestock, including delivery of the "sheep fiftieth".^[169]

In the 14th century, theKingdom of Hungary had a political and economic consolidation, thusTransylvania prospered as never before.^[143] KingLouis I of Hungary dispatchedAndrew Lackfi,Count of the Székelys to invade the lands of theGolden Horde in retaliation for theTatars's earlier plundering raids againstTransylvania.Lackfi and his army of mainlySzékely warriors inflicted a defeat on a largeTatar army on 2 February 1345.^[170][171] The campaign had finally expelled theTatars and ended the devastations of the Mongols inTransylvania.^[143] TheGolden Horde was pushed back behind theDniester River, thereafter theGolden Horde's control of the lands between theEastern Carpathians and theBlack Sea weakened.^[170][172]

In Hungarian historiography, the main source of problems was the relationship between nobles and villains, which was not resolved and was further complicated as claimed by legal and social aspects of the settlement of Romanians in the Hungarian counties. KingLouis I of Hungary visited Transylvania in 1366 to deal with the disorder.^[143]

Among the Hungarian kings, KingLouis I of Hungary was the most frequent visitor inTransylvania, one reason to settle the problems of the southern borderlands. It was not a serious threat, however the armies of theWallachian voivodes who are frequently rebelled against the Hungarian Crown rampaged the Saxon villages at the frontiers. To secure the defence of the southern mountain passes, KingLouis I of Hungary had rebuilt the castles of Talmács (nowTălmaciu in Romania) and Törcs (nowBran Castle in Romania) by the Saxons of Szeben and Brassó (nowSibiu andBrașov in Romania).^[143]

The relative calmness of public conditions inTransylvania is reflected in the list of thevoivodes in the 14th century. Individuals and families who enjoyed the Hungarian king's trust hold the extremely prestigious office for long periods, which ensured a political continuity:Thomas Szécsényi for 22 years, theLackfi family for 26 years, andLadislaus Losonci for 15 years. TheVoivode of Transylvania was the governor, chief magistrate, and the military commander of the Transylvania's counties, his authority included the Székely and Saxon territories as well. The Székely and Saxon areas were governed by theCount of the Székelys and Count of the Saxons who were nominally independent from the Transylvanian voivode, and the Székelys and Saxons insisted for this status, because they were afraid that if they came under common judicial and administrative authority with the Hungarian nobility, their specific legal order would be pushed into the background by the influence of Hungarian noble law. The unified control of Transylvania was in the interests of the Hungarian kings, harmony among the chief officials of Transylvania was ensured that theCount of the Székelys, who was also thecount of three of the four Saxon districts (Beszterce, Brassó, Medgyes-Selyk), was appointed from among the close relatives of the voivode. KingLouis I of Hungary entrusted Transylvania to theLackfi family for the posts of the Voivode of Transylvania and the Count of the Székelys for most of the period between 1344 and 1376. The voivode represented Transylvania to the outside world. Inside Transylvania, the voivode was the connection between the social groups that were different by language, custom, interest, and law. The first institutional relations of thethree feudal nations (Hungarian nobles,Székelys,Saxons) were forged through the voivode. Legal, administrative or military questions often arose in which the three nations were interested. The Hungarian king was supposed to call a general council, but he usually entrusted this task to theTransylvanian voivode. The diets at Torda (nowTurda in Romania) were a frequent occurrence in the 14th century, which helped to the leaders of the three nations to take note of their common interests. TheOttoman threat made the cooperation especially urgent.^[143]

According to Romanian historianPop, following theDecree of Turda, which came after the loss ofMoldavia toBogdan I of Moldavia one year earlier and thebreakaway of Wallachia a few decades earlier, Romanians' offered a "muted resistance" against the monarch and the noblemen who had attempted to deprive them of their property, especially their inherited estates.^[173] Romanians no longer had the right to participate in political power being gradually reduced to the state of the peasantry. The rich Romanians, Romanian nobility, Romanian knights and landowners, in order to maintain their rights and continue their hold on power, converted to the Catholicism and adopted the Hungarian customs. From the 16th century, the nobility becomes synonymous with Hungarianness. The Romanian nobles who continued and participated in power broke away from their mass of their people, whom they ceased to represent.^[174]

In 1437 Hungarian and Romanian peasants, thepetty nobility and burghers from Kolozsvár (Klausenburg, nowCluj), underAntal Nagy de Buda,rose against their feudal masters and proclaimed their own estate (universitas hungarorum et valachorum, "the estate of Hungarians and Romanians"). To suppress the revolt the Hungarian nobility in Transylvania, the Saxon burghers and the Székelys formed theUnio Trium Nationum (Union of the Three Nations): a mutual-aid alliance against the peasants, 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 theUnio Trium Nationum, and society was regulated by these three estates: the nobility (mostly Hungarians), theSzékely and Saxon burghers. These estates, however, were more social and religious than ethnic divisions. Directed against the peasants, the Union limited the number of estates (excluding the Orthodox from political and social life in Transylvania): "The privileges define the status of the three recognized nations – the Hungarians, the Siculi and the Saxons – and the four churches – Lutheran, Calvinist, Unitarian and Catholic. The exclusion concerns the Romanian community and its Orthodox Church, a community that accounts for at least 50% of the population in the mid-eighteenth century."^[175]

The Ottomans became aware of theTransylvanian peasant revolt in 1437, a fact which made the region an even more attractive target for the large-scale expedition of the following year. Ali Bey, possibly driven by a desire for revenge after his defeat near Smederevo that summer, launched a raid into Transylvania during the winter of 1437–1438, aiming to gather intelligence about the region.^[176]

Between 1438 and 1440, theOttoman Empire pursued a comprehensive strategy aimed at expanding its influence and territorial control in the Balkans and Central Europe. This approach involved the annexation and incorporation of buffer states such asSerbia, followed by efforts to bringWallachia under direct Ottoman control. Simultaneously, the Ottomans launched repeated raids into Transylvania and other regions of theKingdom of Hungary. The Ottomans planned to initiate a broader campaign aimed at the conquest of Hungary, with the ultimate goal of annexing at least a portion of the Hungarian Kingdom into the Ottoman realm.^[176]

In 1438, Sultan Murad II personally led the largest raid on Hungary in living memory,^[177] an Ottoman expedition in Transylvania.^[178] The Ottoman invasion ravaged southeastern Hungary for 45 days, during which the Ottomans faced little resistance, except at Szeben (nowSibiu, Romania), where the resistance of citizens caused significant Ottoman casualties.^[176]

A key figure in Transylvania at this time wasJohn Hunyadi (c. 1387 or 1400–1456). Hunyadi was awarded a number of estates (becoming one of the foremost landowners in Hungarian history) and a seat on the royal council for his service toSigismund of Luxemburg. After supporting the candidature ofLadislaus III of Poland for the Hungarian throne, he was rewarded in 1440 with the captaincy of the fortress of Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade) and thevoivodship of Transylvania (with his fellow voivod Miklos Újlaki). His subsequent military exploits (he is considered one of the foremost generals of the Middle Ages) against theOttoman Empire brought him further status as theregent ofHungary in 1446 and papal recognition as the Prince of Transylvania in 1448.

SultanMurad II proclaimed a raid intoTransylvania,John Hunyadi defeated the raidingOttoman army at theBattle of Hermannstadt in 1442.^[179][180]John Hunyadi and his 15,000 men defeated the 80,000-strong army ofBeylerbeyŞehabeddin at Zajkány (today'sZeicani), near theIron Gate of theDanube river in 1442.^[181]

TheBattle of Breadfield was the most tremendous conflict fought inTransylvania up to that time in theOttoman–Hungarian Wars, taking place in 1479 during the reign of KingMatthias Corvinus. TheHungarian army defeated a highly outnumberedOttoman army and theOttoman casualties were extremely high. The battle was the most significant victory for theHungarians against the raidingOttomans, and as a result, theOttomans did not attack southernHungary andTransylvania for many years thereafter.

When the main Hungarian army and KingLouis IIJagiello were slain by the Ottomans in the 1526Battle of Mohács,John Zápolya—voivod of Transylvania, who opposed the succession of Ferdinand of Austria (laterEmperor Ferdinand I) to the Hungarian throne—took advantage of his military strength. When John I was elected king of Hungary, another party recognized Ferdinand. In the ensuing struggle Zápolya was supported bySultan Suleiman I, who (after Zápolya's death in 1540) overran central Hungary to protect Zápolya's son John II. John Zápolya founded theEastern Hungarian Kingdom (1538–1570), from which the Principality of Transylvania arose. The principality was created after the signing theTreaty of Speyer in 1570 by kingJohn II and emperorMaximiliam II, thusJohn Sigismund Zápolya, theEastern Hungarian king became the firstprince of Transylvania. According to the treaty, thePrincipality of Transylvania nominally remained part of theKingdom of Hungary in the sense of public law.^[182] TheTreaty of Speyer stressed in a highly significant way thatJohn Sigismund's possessions belonged to theHoly Crown of Hungary and he was not permitted to alienate them.^[183]

Habsburgs controlledRoyal Hungary, which comprised counties along theAustrian border,Upper Hungary and some of northwesternCroatia.^[184] TheOttomans annexed central and southern Hungary.^[184]

Transylvania became a semi-independent state under theOttoman Empire (thePrincipality of Transylvania), where Hungarian princes^{[185][186][187]} who paid the Turks tribute enjoyed relative autonomy,^[184] and Austrian and Turkish influences vied for supremacy for nearly two centuries. It was now beyond the reach of Catholic religious authority, allowingLutheran andCalvinist preaching to flourish. In 1563Giorgio Blandrata was appointed court physician; his radical religious ideas influenced young King John II and Calvinist bishopFrancis David, eventually converting both toUnitarianism. Francis David prevailed over CalvinistPeter Melius in 1568 in a public debate, resulting in individual freedom of religious expression under theEdict of Turda (the first such legal guarantee of religious freedom in Christian Europe). Lutherans, Calvinists, Unitarians and Roman Catholics received protection, while the majorityEastern Orthodox Church was tolerated.

Transylvania was governed by princes and itsDiet (parliament). TheTransylvanian Diet consisted of three estates: the Hungarian elite (largely ethnicHungariannobility andclergy), Saxon leaders (German burghers) and the freeSzékely Hungarians.

The Báthory family, which assumed power at the death of John II in 1571, ruled Transylvania as princes under the Ottomans (and briefly underHabsburg suzerainty) until 1602. The younger Stephen Báthory, a Hungarian Catholic who later became King Stephen Báthory ofPoland, tried to maintain the religious liberty granted by the Edict of Turda but interpreted this obligation in an increasingly restricted sense. UnderSigismund Báthory, Transylvania entered theLong War, which began as a Christian alliance against the Turks and became a four-sided conflict in Transylvania involving the Transylvanians,Habsburgs, Ottomans and the Romanian voivod ofWallachia led byMichael the Brave.

Michael gained control of Transylvania (supported by theSzeklers) in October 1599 after theBattle of Șelimbăr, in which he defeatedAndrew Báthory's army. Báthory was killed by Szeklers who hoped to regain their old privileges with Michael's help. In May 1600 Michael gained control ofMoldavia, thus he became the leader of the three principalities of Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania (the three major regions of modern Romania). Michael installed Wallachian boyars in certain offices but did not interfere with the estates and sought support from the Hungarian nobility. In 1600 he was defeated byGiorgio Basta (Captain ofUpper Hungary) and lost his Moldavian holdings to the Poles. After presenting his case toRudolf II inPrague (capital of Germany), Michael was rewarded for his service.^[188] He returned, assistingGiorgio Basta in theBattle of Guruslău in 1601.Michael's rule did not last long, however; he was assassinated byWalloon mercenaries under the command of Habsburg general Basta in August 1601. Michael's rule was marred by the pillaging of Wallachian and Serbian mercenaries and Székelys avenging the Szárhegy Bloody Carnival of 1596. When he entered Transylvania he did not grant rights to the Romanian inhabitants. Instead, Michael supported the Hungarian, Szekler, and Saxon nobles by reaffirming their rights and privileges.^[189]

After his defeat at Miriszló, the Transylvanian estates swore allegiance to the Habsburg emperor Rudolph. Basta subdued Transylvania in 1604, initiating a reign of terror in which he was authorised to appropriate land belonging to noblemen,Germanize the population and reclaim the principality for Catholicism in theCounter-Reformation. The period between 1601 (the assassination of Michael the Brave) and 1604 (the fall of Basta) was the most difficult for Transylvania since the Mongol invasion."Misericordia dei quod non-consumti sumus" ("only God's mercy saves us from annihilation") characterised this period, according to an anonymous Saxon writer.

During the first half of the16th century, Transylvania was dominated byheat periods anddroughts, while during the second half, heavy rainfall and floods occurred. Both are considered to be consequences of theLittle Ice Age. There were crop failures, outbreaks of plague, decades-long famines and plagues oflocusts.^[190]

From 1604 to 1606, theCalvinist Bihar magnateIstván Bocskay led a successful rebellion against Habsburg rule. Bocskay was elected Prince of Transylvania April 5, 1603, and Prince of Hungary two months later. The two major achievements of Bocskay's brief reign (he died December 29, 1606) were thePeace of Vienna (June 23, 1606) and thePeace of Zsitvatorok (November 1606). With the Peace of Vienna Bocskay obtained religious liberty, the restoration of all confiscated estates, repeal of all "unrighteous" judgments, full retroactive amnesty for all Hungarians inRoyal Hungary and recognition as independent sovereign prince of an enlarged Transylvania. Almost-equally important was the twenty-year Peace of Zsitvatorok, negotiated by Bocskay between SultanAhmed I and Rudolf II.

Gabriel Bethlen (who reigned from 1613 to 1629) thwarted all efforts of the emperor to oppress (or circumvent) his subjects, and won a reputation abroad by championing the Protestant cause. He waged war on the emperor three times, was proclaimedKing of Hungary twice and obtained a confirmation of the Treaty of Vienna for the Protestants (and seven additional counties in northern Hungary for himself) in thePeace of Nikolsburg signed December 31, 1621. Bethlen's successor, George I Rákóczi, was equally successful. His principal achievement was the Peace ofLinz (September 16, 1645), the last political triumph of Hungarian Protestantism, in which the emperor was forced to reconfirm the articles of the Peace of Vienna. Gabriel Bethlen and George I Rákóczi aided education and culture, and their reign has been called the golden era of Transylvania.^{[citation needed]} They lavished money on their capitalAlba Iulia (Gyulafehérvár orWeißenburg), which became the main bulwark of Protestantism inCentral Europe. During their reign, Transylvania was one of the few European countries where Roman Catholics, Calvinists, Lutherans and Unitarians lived in mutual tolerance—all officially accepted religions (religiones recaepte). The Orthodox, however, still had inferior status.

This golden age (and relative independence) of Transylvania ended with the reign ofGeorge II Rákóczi. The prince, coveting the Polish crown, allied with Sweden and invadedPoland in 1657 despite theOttoman Porte's prohibition of military action. Rákóczi was defeated in Poland and his army taken hostage by the Tatars. Chaotic years followed, with a quick succession of princes fighting one another and Rákóczi unwilling to resign, despite the Turkish threat of military attack. To resolve the political situation, the Turks resorted to military might; invasions of Transylvania with their Crimean Tatar allies, the ensuing loss of territory (particularly their primary Transylvanian stronghold,Várad, in 1660) and diminished manpower led toPrince John Kemény proclaiming the secession of Transylvania from the Ottomans in April 1661 and appealing for help to Vienna. A secret Habsburg-Ottoman agreement, however, prevented the Habsburgs from intervening; Kemény's defeat by the Turks (and the Turkish installation of the weakMihály Apafi on the throne) marked the subordination of Transylvania, now aclient state of the Ottoman Empire.

• 
  John Sigismund Zápolya, King of Hungary (1540–1551, 1556–1570), first Prince of Transylvania (1570–1571)
• 
  Stephen Báthory, Prince of Transylvania, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586)
• 
  Sigismund Báthory, Prince of Transylvania (1586–1598, 1598–1599, 1601–1602), Wallachia and Moldavia (1595)
• 
  Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia (1593–1601) and Moldavia (1600), and self-styled deputy in Transylvania (1599–1600)
• 
  Stephen Bocskai, Prince of Transylvania and Hungary (1605–1606)
• 
  Gabriel Báthory, Prince of Transylvania (1608–1613)
• 
  Gabriel Bethlen, Prince of Transylvania (1613–1629) and King of Hungary (1620-1621)
• 
  George I Rákóczi, Prince of Transylvania (1630–1648)
• 
  George II Rákóczi, Prince of Transylvania (1648–1657)

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After the defeat of the Ottomans at theBattle of Vienna in 1683, the Habsburgs began to impose their rule on Transylvania. In addition to strengthening the central government and administration, they promoted the Roman Catholic Church as a uniting force and to weaken the influence of Protestant nobility. By creating a conflict between Protestants and Catholics, the Habsburgs hoped to weaken the estates. They also attempted to persuade Orthodox clergymen to join theUniate (Greek Catholic) Church, which accepted four key points of Catholic doctrine and acknowledged papal authority while retaining Orthodox rituals and traditions.Emperor Leopold I decreed Transylvania'sEastern Orthodox Church in union with the Roman Catholic Church by joining the newly createdRomanian Greek-Catholic Church. Some priests converted, although the similarity between the two denominations was unclear to many. In response to the Habsburg policy of converting all Romanian Orthodox to Greek-Catholics, several peaceful movements within the Romanian Orthodox population advocated freedom of worship for all Transylvanians; notable leaders were Visarion Sarai, Nicolae Oprea Miclăuș andSofronie of Cioara.

From 1711 onward, Habsburg control over Transylvania was consolidated and Transylvanian princes were replaced with Habsburg imperial governors.^[191] In 1765 theGrand Principality of Transylvania was proclaimed, consolidating the separate status of Transylvania within theHabsburg monarchy established by the 1691 Diploma Leopoldinum.^[5][7] This was a formality.^[192]

On November 2, 1784, arevolt detonated by Romanian peasant leaders Horea, Cloșca and Crișan began inHunyad County and spread throughout theApuseni Mountains. The insurgents' main demands were related to feudal serfdom and the lack of political equality between Romanians and other Transylvanian ethnic groups. They fought atTopánfalva (Topesdorf/Câmpeni), Abrudbánya (Großschlatten/Abrud) and Verespatak (Goldbach/Roșia), defeating the Habsburg Imperial Army at Brád (Tannenhof/Brad) on November 27, 1784. The revolt was crushed on February 28, 1785, at Dealul Furcilor (Forks Hill), Alba-Iulia, when the leaders were apprehended. Horea and Cloșca were executed bybreaking on the wheel; Crișan hanged himself the night before his execution.

In 1791 the Romanians petitionedEmperor Leopold II for religious equality and recognition as a fourth "nation" in Transylvania (Supplex Libellus Valachorum). The Transylvanian Diet rejected their demands, restoring the Romanians to their marginalised status.

In early 1848, the Hungarian Diet took the opportunity presented byrevolution to enact a comprehensive program of legislative reform (theApril laws), which included a provision for the union of Transylvania and Hungary. Transylvanian Romanians initially welcomed the revolution, believing they would benefit from the reforms. However, their position changed due to the opposition of Transylvanian nobles to the Hungarian reforms (such as emancipation of the serfs) and the failure of Hungarian revolutionary leaders to recognise Romanian national interests. In mid-May a Romanian diet atBalázsfalva produced its own revolutionary program, calling for proportional representation of Romanians in theTransylvanian Diet and an end to social and ethnic oppression. The Saxons were concerned about union with Hungary, fearing the loss of their traditional medieval origin privileges. When the Transylvanian Diet met on May 29, the vote for union was pushed through despite objections from many Saxon deputies. On June 10, the Emperor sanctioned the union vote of the Diet. Military executions and the arrest of revolutionary leaders after the union hardened the Saxons' position.

In September 1848, the Austrian commanderKarl von Urban was the first to make a stand against the Revolution. He summoned leaders of all 44 districts of the Principality to his headquarters inNaszód (Năsăud) on 10 September, and offered protection both to villages that rejected conscription and to the landowners who feared a peasant rising. Urban then administered the oath of allegiance to the hundreds of peasants and village delegate, finally denouncing the Revolution in a Memorandum widely distributed.^[193] Von Urban acted in such a compelling manner that, by the end of September, 918 communities in the region had distanced themselves from the Revolution and were won over to the Imperial and Counter-revolutionary cause. This dealt a fatal blow to the power of the revolutionary party in Transylvania.^[193]

Soon after, another Romanian assembly in Balázsfalva (Blaj) denounced the union with Hungary and called for an armed uprising in Transylvania. War broke out in November, with Austrian troops led byKarl von Urban and Romanian and Saxon insurgents battling Hungarians led by Polish generalJózef Bem. Within four months, Bem had ousted the Austrians from Transylvania. However, in June 1849 TsarNicholas I of Russia responded to an appeal from EmperorFranz Joseph to send Russian troops into Transylvania. After initial successes against the Russians, Bem's army was defeated decisively at the Battle of Temesvár (Timișoara) on August 9; the surrender of Hungary followed.

The Austrians clearly rejected the October demand that ethnic criteria become the basis for internal borders, with the goal of creating a province for Romanians (Transylvania, alongsideBanat andBukovina); they did not want to replace the threat of Hungarian nationalism with a potential one of Romanianseparatism. However, they did not declare themselves hostile to the creation of Romanian administrative offices in Transylvania (which prevented Hungary from including the region in all but name). The territory was organized intoprefecturi (prefectures), with Avram Iancu and Buteanu two prefects in theApuseni Mountains. Iancu's prefecture, theAuraria Gemina (a name charged withLatin symbolism), became important; it took over from bordering areas which were never fully organized.

Administrative efforts were then halted as Hungarians, under Józef Bem, carried out an offensive through Transylvania. With the covert assistance ofImperial Russian troops, the Austrian army (except for garrisons atGyulafehérvár andDéva) and the Austrian-Romanian administration retreated to Wallachia and WallachianOltenia (both were under Russian occupation). The last remaining resistance force was that ofAvram Iancu: he retreated to harsh terrain, mounting aguerrilla campaign on Bem's forces, causing severe damage and blocking the route to Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia). He was, however, challenged by severe shortages: the Romanians had few guns and very little gunpowder. The conflict dragged on for several months, with all Hungarian attempts to seize the mountain stronghold repulsed.^{[citation needed]}

In April 1849, Iancu was approached by Hungarian envoy Ioan Dragoș (a Romanian deputy in the Hungarian Parliament). Dragoș was apparently acting from a desire for peace, and he worked to have Romanian leaders meet him in Abrudbánya (todayAbrud) and listen to the Hungarian demands. Iancu's adversary, Hungarian commander Imre Hatvany, seems to have exploited the provisional armistice to attack the Romanians in Abrudbánya. However, Iancu and his men retreated and encircled him.

Hatvany angered the Romanians by having Buteanu captured and murdered. As his position became weaker, he was attacked by Iancu's men until his defeat on May 22. Hatvany and most of his armed group were massacred by their adversaries; Iancu captured theircannons, switching the tactical advantage for the next several months.Lajos Kossuth was angered by Hatvany's gesture (an inspection at the time dismissed all of Hatvany's close collaborators), since it made future negotiations unlikely.

However, the conflict became less harsh: Iancu's men concentrated on seizing local resources and supplies, opting to inflict losses only through skirmishes. The Russian intervention in June precipitated an escalation, since thePoles fighting in the Hungarian revolutionary contingents wanted to resist the Tsarist armies.Henryk Dembiński, a Polish general, negotiated for a truce between Kossuth and the Wallachianémigré revolutionaries. The latter, who were close to Iancu (especiallyNicolae Bălcescu,Gheorghe Magheru,Alexandru G. Golescu, andIon Ghica) wanted to defeat the Russian armies that had crushedtheir movement in September 1848.

Bălcescu and Kossuth met in May 1849 atDebrecen. The contact has long been celebrated by RomanianMarxist historians and politicians.Karl Marx's condemnation of everything opposing Kossuth led to any Romanian initiative being automatically considered "reactionary". The agreement was not a pact: Kossuth flattered the Wallachians, encouraging them to persuade Iancu's armies leaving Transylvania to help Bălcescu inBucharest. While agreeing to mediate for peace, Bălcescu never presented these terms to the fighters in theApuseni Mountains. All Iancu agreed to was the neutrality of his forces in the conflict between Russia and Hungary. Thus, he secured his position as the Hungarian armies suffered defeats in July (culminating in theBattle of Segesvár) and capitulated on August 13.

After quashing the revolution, Austria imposed a repressive regime on Hungary and ruled Transylvania directly through a military governor, with German as the official language. Austria abolished the Union of Three Nations and acknowledged the Romanians. Although the former serfs were given land by the Austrian authorities, it was often barely sufficient for subsistence living. These poor conditions caused many Romanian families to cross into Wallachia and Moldavia in search for better lives.

Romanian nationalistsSterca-Șuluțiu,Bariț,Bărnuțiu andLaurian demanded that the "other nations of Transylvania should call the Romanian nation Romanian, notoláh orwalach". The 1849 Transylvanian national assembly accepted this demand.^[194][195]

Due to external and internal problems, reforms seemed inevitable to secure the integrity of the Habsburg Empire. Major Austrian military defeats (such as the 1866Battle of Königgrätz) forced Austrian emperorFranz Joseph to concede internal reforms. To appease Hungarian separatism, the emperor made a deal with Hungary (theAustro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, negotiated byFerenc Deák) 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 acustoms union. The first prime minister of Hungary after the Compromise was CountGyula Andrássy. The old Hungarian Constitution was restored, and Franz Joseph was crowned asKing of Hungary. Romanian intellectuals issued theBlaj Pronouncement in protest of the Compromise.^[196]

The era saw considerable economic development, with the GNP per capita growing roughly 1.45 percent annually from 1870 to 1913. That level of growth compared favorably with that of other European nations, such as Britain (1.00 percent), France (1.06 percent), and Germany (1.51 percent). Technological growth accelerated industrialization and urbanization. Many state institutions and the modern administrative system of Hungary were established during this period. However, as a result of the Compromise the special status of Transylvania ended; it became a province under theHungarian diet. While part of Austria-Hungary, Transylvania's Romanians were oppressed by the Hungarian administration throughMagyarization;^[197][198] German Saxons were also subject to this policy.During this time, Hungarian-administered Transylvania consisted of a 15-county (Hungarian:megye) region, covering 54,400 km² in the southeast of the formerKingdom of Hungary. The Hungarian counties at the time wereAlsó-Fehér,Beszterce-Naszód,Brassó,Csík,Fogaras,Háromszék,Hunyad,Kis-Küküllő,Kolozs,Maros-Torda,Nagy-Küküllő,Szeben,Szolnok-Doboka,Torda-Aranyos, andUdvarhely.

At the outbreak ofWorld War I, theKingdom of Romania refused to join theCentral Powers and remained neutral, although KingsCarol I andFerdinand I were from theGermanHohenzollern dynasty.

On 17 August 1916, Romania signed a secret treaty (theTreaty of Bucharest, 1916) with theEntente Powers (United Kingdom,France,Italy andRussia), according to which the Allies agreed thatTransylvania,Banat, andPartium would become part of Romania after the War if it entered the war. Romania joined theTriple Entente after signing the treaty and declared war against theCentral Powers on 27 August 1916. It crossed theCarpathian Mountains into Transylvania, forcing the Central Powers to fight on another front. A German-Bulgarian counter-offensive began the following month inDobruja and in the Carpathians, driving the Romanian army back into Romania by mid-October and eventually leading to the capture ofBucharest. The exit of Russia from the war in March 1918 with theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk left Romania alone in Eastern Europe, and a peace treaty between Romania and Germany was negotiated in May (theTreaty of Bucharest, 1918). By mid-1918 the Central Powers were losing the war on theWestern Front, and theAustro-Hungarian empire had begun to disintegrate. Austria-Hungary signed ageneral armistice in Padua on 3 November 1918, and the nations inside Austria-Hungary proclaimed their independence from the empire during September and October of that year.

King Ferdinand's wife,Marie (who had British and Russian parentage) was highly influential during these years.^[199]

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In 1918, as a result of the German defeat in World War I the Austro-Hungarian monarchy collapsed. On October 31, the successfulAster Revolution inBudapest brought theleft liberal, pro-Entente countMihály Károlyi to power as prime minister of Hungary. Influenced by Woodrow Wilson's pacifism, Károlyi ordered the disarmament of Hungarian Army. The Károlyi government outlawed all Hungarian armed associations and proposals intending to defend the country.

The resultingTreaty of Bucharest, 1918 was denounced in October 1918 by the Romanian government, which then re-entered the war on theAllied side and advanced to theMureș (Maros) river in Transylvania.

The leaders of Transylvania'sRomanian National Party met and drafted a resolution invoking the right of self-determination (influenced byWoodrow Wilson's 14 points) for Transylvania's Romanian people, and proclaimed the unification of Transylvania with Romania. In October theRomanian National Council, representing all Romanians in Transylvania, notified the Budapest government that it would take control of twenty-four Transylvanian counties (and parts of three others) and requested a Hungarian response by November 12.^[200] The Hungarian government (after negotiations with the council) rejected the proposal, claiming that it failed to secure the rights of the ethnic Hungarian and German populations. As a result theRomanian National Council decided for a grand assembly within 10 days and on December 1, in Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia), theGreat National Assembly of Alba Iulia, composed of Romanian political delegates and the newly formed paramilitary wingRomanian National Guards passed a resolution calling for the unification of all Romanians in a single state.^[201] The National Council of Transylvanian Germans and the Council of theDanube Swabians from theBanat approved the proclamation on 8 January 1919. In response, the Hungarian General Assembly ofKolozsvár (Cluj) reaffirmed the loyalty of Hungarians from Transylvania to Hungary on December 22, 1918.

The Romanian Army, representing theEntente powers, entered Transylvania from the east on November 12, 1918. In December they entered southern Transylvania, crossed the demarcation line on the Maros (Mureș) river by mid-December and advanced to Kolozsvár (Cluj) and Máramarossziget (Sighet) after making a request to the Powers of Versailles to protect the Romanians in Transylvania. In February 1919, to prevent armed clashes between Romanian and withdrawing Hungarian troops, a neutral zone was created.

The prime minister of the newly proclaimed Republic of Hungary resigned in March 1919, refusing the territorial concessions (including Transylvania) demanded by the Entente. When theCommunist Party ofHungary (led byBéla Kun) came to power in March 1919, it proclaimed theHungarian Soviet Republic; after promising that Hungary would regain the lands under its control during the Austro-Hungarian Empire it attackedCzechoslovakia and Romania, leading to theHungarian-Romanian War of 1919. The Hungarian army began an April 1919 offensive in Transylvania along theSomeș (Szamos) andMaros rivers. A Romanian counter-offensive pushed forward to reach theTisza River in May. Another Hungarian offensive in July penetrated 60 km into Romanian lines before a further Romanian counter-offensive led to the end of Hungarian Soviet Republic and after the occupation ofBudapest. The Romanian army withdrew from Hungary between October 1919 and March 1920.

România Mare ("Great Romania") refers to theRomanian state between theFirst andSecond World Wars.Romania reached its greatest territorial extent, uniting almost all historical Romanian lands (exceptNorthern Maramureș,Western Banat and small areas ofPartium andCrișana). Great Romania was an ideal of Romaniannationalism.

At the end of World War I the Deputies of Transylvanian Romanians declared the union of Transylvania with Romania in Alba Iulia on 1. December 1918.; Bessarabia, having declared independence fromRussia in 1917 at the Conference of the Country (Sfatul Țării) which proclaimed the union with Romania and called in Romanian troops to protect the province from theBolsheviks. The union ofBukovina and Bessarabia with Romania was ratified in 1920 by theTreaty of Versailles. Romania had also acquiredSouthern Dobrudja fromBulgaria as a result of its victory in theSecond Balkan War in 1913. TheTreaty of Trianon (4 June 1920) defined the new borders with Hungary, assigningTransylvania and parts ofBanat,Crișana, andMaramureș to the Kingdom of Romania.King Ferdinand I of Romania andQueen Maria of Romania were crowned atAlba Iulia in 1922.

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In August 1940, during theSecond World War, the northern half of Transylvania (Northern Transylvania) was annexed toHungary by the secondSecond Vienna Award, leavingSouthern Transylvania to Romania. On March 19, 1944, following the occupation of Hungary by theNazi German army throughOperation Margarethe, Northern Transylvania came under German military occupation. AfterKing Michael's Coup, Romania left the Axis and joined the Allies, and, as such, fought together with theSoviet Union'sRed Army against Nazi Germany, regaining Northern Transylvania. The Second Vienna Award was voided by theAllied Commission through the Armistice Agreement with Romania (September 12, 1944) whose Article 19 stipulated the following:

The Allied Governments regard the decision of the Vienna award regarding Transylvania as null and void and are agreed that Transylvania (or the greater part thereof) should be returned to Rumania, subject to confirmation at the peace settlement, and the Soviet Government agrees that Soviet forces shall take part for this purpose in joint military operations with Rumania against Germany and Hungary.

The 1947Treaty of Paris reaffirmed the borders between Romania and Hungary, as originally defined inTreaty of Trianon, 27 years earlier, thus confirming the return of Northern Transylvania to Romania. From 1947 to 1989, Transylvania, as the rest of Romania, wasunder a communist regime.

In 1950, Romania adopted aSoviet-styleadministrative and territorial division of the country into regions and raions (until then,Romania had been divided intojudețe or counties).

Two years later, in 1952, under Soviet pressure,^[202][203] the number of regions was reduced and by comprising tenraions from the formerMureș Region and from theStalin Region (both of them created in 1950), of the territory inhabited by a compact population ofSzékely Hungarians, a new region called the Magyar Autonomous Region was created.^[204][205] According to the 1956 census, the total population of the region was 731,361, distributed among the ethnic groups as follows:Hungarians (77.3%),Romanians (20.1%),Roma (1.5%),Germans (0.4%) andJews (0.4%). The official languages of the province wereHungarian andRomanian and the provincial administrative centre wasTârgu Mureș (Marosvásárhely).

In December 1960, a governmental decree modified the boundaries of the Magyar Autonomous Region. Its southern raions were reattached toBrașov Region (formerStalin Region) and in place of this, several raions were joined to it fromCluj Region. The region was called the Mureș Region-Magyar Autonomous, after theMureș River. The ratio of Hungarians was thus reduced from 77.3% to 62%.^{[citation needed]}According to Kopyś, this was done to water down the proportion of Hungarians in preparation to eventually abolishing the autonomy of the region.^{[citation needed]}

In 1968, theGreat National Assembly put an end to the soviet style administrative division of the country into regions and re-introduced the historicaljudeț (county) system, still used today. This also automatically eliminated the Mureș-Magyar Autonomous Region and replaced it with counties that are not identified with any nationality. The two new counties formed on the majority of the territory of former Mureș-Magyar Autonomous Region areMureș County andHarghita County, plus one from the former Magyar Autonomous Region until 1960 and part of the Brașov Region in 1968,Covasna County.

Amid tensions in the late 1980s, early protests occurred in the city ofTimișoara in mid-December on the part of theHungarian minority in response to an attempt by the government to evict HungarianReformed Church pastorLászló Tőkés. In response, Romanians sought the deposition of Ceaușescu and a change in government in light of similar recent events in neighbouring nations. Riots and protests resumed the following day.

On the morning of 21 December, Ceaușescu addressed an assembly of approximately 100,000 people to condemn the uprising in Timișoara. The protest demonstration soon erupted into a riot; the crowd took to the streets, placing the capital, like Timișoara, in turmoil. The revolution ultimately resulted in the fall of Ceausescu and the communist regime.

Today, "Transylvania proper" is included within the Romanian counties (județe) ofAlba,Bistrița-Năsăud,Brașov,Cluj,Covasna,Harghita,Hunedoara,Mureș,Sălaj andSibiu. In addition to Transylvania proper, modern Transylvania includes parts of theBanat,Crișana andMaramureș; these regions are in the counties ofArad,Bihor,Caraș-Severin,Maramureș,Sălaj,Satu Mare andTimiș.

There is an ongoing scholarly debate among Hungarian and Romanian historians regarding the medieval population of Transylvania. While some Romanian historians claim there was a continuous Romanian majority, Hungarian historians argue that Romanians continuously settled in theKingdom of Hungary.

The first heraldic representations ofTransylvania date from the 16th century. TheDiet of 1659 codified the representation of the privileged nations (Unio Trium Nationum (Union of the Three Nations)) inTransylvania's coat of arms. It depicted a black eagle (Turul) on a blue background, representing theHungarians, the Sun and the Moon representing theSzékelys, and seven red towers on a yellow background representing theseven fortified cities of theTransylvanian Saxons.^[206] Theflag and coat of arms of Transylvania were granted by QueenMaria Theresa in 1765, when she established aGrand Principality within theHabsburg monarchy.

In 1596,Levinus Hulsius created a coat of arms forTransylvania, consisting of a shield with a rising eagle in the upper field and seven hills with towers on top in the lower field. He published it in his work "Chronologia", issued inNuremberg the same year.^[207] The seal from 1597 ofSigismund Báthory,Prince of Transylvania, reproduced the new coat of arms with some slight changes: in the upper field the eagle was flanked by a sun and a moon and in the lower field the hills were replaced by simple towers. The coat of arms ofSigismund Báthory beside the coat of arms of theBáthory family, included the Transylvanian, Wallachia and Moldavian coat of arms, he used the titlePrince of Transylvania,Wallachia andMoldavia. A short-lived heraldic representation ofTransylvania is found on the seal ofMichael the Brave. Besides the Wallachian eagle and theMoldavian aurochs,Transylvania is represented by two lions holding a sword standing on seven hills. HungarianTransylvanian princes used the symbols of theTransylvanian coat of arms usually with theHungarian coat of arms since the 16th century becauseTransylvanian princes maintained their claims to the throne of theKingdom of Hungary.

While neither symbol has official status in present-dayRomania, theTransylvanian coat of arms is marshalled within the nationalCoat of arms of Romania, it was also a component of theCoat of arms of Hungary.

• 
  Coat of arms ofJohn Sigismund Zápolya, King of Hungary (1540–1551) and Prince of Transylvania (1570-1571)
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  Coat of arms of Transylvania byLevinus Hulsius (1596)
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  Coat of arm ofSigismund Báthory, Prince of Transylvania (1586–1598, 1598–1599, 1601–1602)
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  Seal ofMichael the Brave during his personal union ofWallachia,Moldavia andTransylvania (1599–1600)
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  Coat of arms ofSophia Báthory,Princess of Transylvania (1642–1657, 1657–1658, 1659–1660)
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  Coat of arms ofGeorge I Rákóczi, Prince of Transylvania (1630-1648)
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  Coat of arms of Transylvania byHristofor Žefarović (1741)
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  Coat of arms of Transylvania byHugo Gerard Ströhl
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  Coat of arms of Transylvania (1765)
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  Coat of arms of Transylvania in anAustrian coat of arms (1850)
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  Coat of arms of Transylvania in the coat of arms of theKingdom of Hungary (1867–1915)
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  Coat of arms of Transylvania in the coat of arms of theKingdom of Hungary (1867–1915)
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  Coat of arms of Transylvania in the coat of arms of theKingdom of Hungary (1915–1918)
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  Coat of arms of Transylvania in the coat of arms of theKingdom of Romania (1921–1947)
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  Coat of arms of Transylvania in the coat of arms ofRomania (2016)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toHistory of Transylvania.

• History of Transylvania, Volume I-III (2001-2002)online
• Jókai, Mór.The Golden Age in Transylvania (1898)online
• Oțetea, Andrei and Andrew MacKenzie.A Concise History of Romania (1985)online
• Scholten, Jaap.Comrade Baron: A Journey Through the Vanishing World of the Transylvanian Aristocracy (2016)

• History of Transylvania
• History of Hungary
• History of Romania

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