TheVlach law (Latin:ius valachicum,Romanian:legea românească, "Romanian law", orobiceiul pământului, "customs of the land",Hungarian:vlach jog) refers to the traditionalRomaniancommon law as well as to various special laws and privileges enjoyed or enforced upon particularlypastoralist communities (cf.obști) of Romanian stock or origin inEuropean states of theLate Middle Ages andEarly modern period, including in the two Romanian polities ofMoldavia andWallachia, as well as in theKingdom of Hungary, theKingdom of Poland,Kingdom of Serbia, thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, etc.
The first documents associated with settlement with the Vlach law began to appear in the 14th century. The main characteristics of the Vlach law, regardless of location:[1]
The term "Vlachs" originally denoted Romance-speaking populations; the term became synonymous in some contexts with "shepherds", but even in these cases an ethnical aspect was implicit. The establishment around them of a large number of "slaves" starting from the 6th century led to the linguistic Slavization of a significant number of these communities, so that in the 8th century, the word "Vlach" came, in Slavic languages, to designate any Orthodox shepherd, whether he remained Romanophone (as in the Kingdom of Eastern Hungary and the Principality of Transylvania) or became Slavophone (as in a large part of the Balkan Peninsula).[2] According to André Du Nay and Kosztin Árpád the concept originates in the laws enforced on Vlachs in the medieval Balkans.[3] In medieval Serbian charters, the pastoral community, primarily made up ofVlachs, were held under special laws due to their nomadic lifestyle.[4] In late medieval Croatian documentsVlachs were held by special law in which "those in villages" pay tax and "those without villages" (nomads) serve as cavalry.[5] Until the 16th century term Vlachs was used not only to describe a representative of the Vlach law or pastoral profession, it also had an ethnic meaning which was lost in the 17th century, although was still used for people (sheepherder) regardless of their origin.[6]
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. The classic exposition was published in 1517, in theTripartitum byStephen Werbőczy aHungarian statesman and legal theorist, this systematised the legal customs of theKingdom of Hungary.[7]
According to Hungarian historians,[citation needed] the Vlach 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. In Hungarian historiography, due to the settlement activities of the kenezes, villages with Vlach law arose in theKingdom of Hungary between the 13th and 16th centuries, initially mostly inhabited byRomanians (Vlachs) andRuthenians. The very first villages with Vlach law were established inTransylvania, their numbers increased, and spread inUpper Hungary, and in other parts of theKingdom of Hungary, primarily in mountainous areas, also inMoravian Wallachia and inGalicia. This way of life was also adopted by a part of theRuthenian population of today'sTranscarpathia from the 14th century. Mostly shepherds lived in their villages with the Vlach 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.[8]
According to historian Florin Curta, there is no mention of Romanian pastoralism in documents during theÁrpád dynasty.[9] This type of "common law" used by the Romanian population in the late medievalKingdom of Hungary, cognates with the law used inMoldavia 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. The law is 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. The districts were encountered throughout theKingdom of Hungary and were not formed only by Romanian population, the term depending upon context differed in its meaning. These Romanian districts had some sort of legal autonomy, where people might use Romanian customary law. Cases according to the Vlach law were more common inTransylvania,Máramaros County,Zaránd County and theBanat, where the Romanian population was most dense in theKingdom of Hungary. TheBanat highlands preserved specific legal practices until the late 17th century, that were recognised by officials of theKingdom of Hungary and by thePrincipality of Transylvania. The Vlach law had roots in the Romano-Byzantine legal tradition which was influenced by the Hungarian customary law.[7]
In Hungarian historiography, 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. As a result, there was a big difference in authority and rank between the individualkenezes. Initially, they settled in the vicinity of existing villages, but from the middle of the 14th century, they also founded independent settlements.[10]
In a certificate of KingLouis the Great of Hungary dated 1350:"hoping that under their diligent care our Vlach villages will gain many inhabitants, we give the keneziatus". A document dated in 1352, in which the lord-lieutenants ofKrassó County writes the following:"They asked me for the uninhabited land of the Mutnok stream with the same freedom as the kenezes living in the Sebes district rule their villages in order to populate it." In the beginning the Romanians settled only on the royal estates, later the king allowed the Bishop of Transylvania and the chapter to settle Romanians on their estates. In the time of KingLouis the Great, cities and even private landlords could settle immigrant Romanians.[10]
In Hungarian historiography, 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.[11]
According toIoan-Aurel Pop, the knezes were the representatives of autochthonous population and their settling activities were taken close to their village, new groups of houses being built at the outer limit of an old settlement. Knezes in lowland areas lost their influence and title quicker as their lands came under feudal lords, while those in higher areas maintained their customs for longer, such as in areas ofHațeg,Banat, andMaramureș. Somevoivodes andknezes rebelled against the King and passed over toMoldavia andWallachia where they established their own rule, while those in conflict with the new authority move into theKingdom of Hungary.[12]
Contrary to the name of this law, not only theRomanians (Vlachs), but also other peoples were entitled to this right. The Vlach word in the 15–16th centuries no longer primarily meant a people, but an occupation and a way of life, the village with Vlach law was not only the place of residence of theRomanian orRuthenian population,Slovaks,Poles,Croats andHungarians also settled according to the more free Vlach law, favorable to the immigration of foreigners.[8]
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). 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.[11]
The most important characteristics of the legal status of villages with Vlach law were the following:[8]
TheBanate of Severin had territories of several Vlach knezes, they were bound to provide tribute to support the province, and to assist as warriors at the defense of the area. After the rebellion ofBasarab, several Romanian knezes fled intoHunyad,Krassó, andTemes counties. The refugees were settled in small districts, they took place next to other territories which had been earlier established in theKingdom of Hungary by Romanian knezes. These 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. In the early 14th century, it was recorded about 40 Romanian districts, which stretched through eastern Hungary andTransylvania, northwards toMáramaros.The Romanian districts comprised estates possessed by the Romanian knezes where the Romanian peasantry worked, some of these had over a hundred peasants. 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".[13]
Pop states that the law originates from Ancient times on the lands inhabited by Romanians.[14] The customary law comes from the Roman 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.[14] The structure of early feudal Romanian society had ajude and aducă, two titles later renamed under Slavic influence ascneaz andvoievod. While the voievod had mostly military duties, the kneaz was the representative of legal authority. As such, duringArpad dynasty knezes that were not on church or nobility lands were under royal authority and became its representatives to the community, including the application of the law. In this context, many knezes acted as minor nobility, holding the title hereditarily and expanding their rule by new settlements in neighbouring areas. Their settling activities were taken within their districts, new groups of houses being built at the outer limit of an old settlement. After thebreakaway ofWallachia, knezes in conflict with the new authority moved to theKingdom of Hungary[15] The situation reversed during theAngevine dynasty, in particular with theDecree of Turda that took an explicitly negative action againstRomanians, and required that knezes were vested by the law of the kingdom rather than customary law.[14]
According to Romanian historianIoan-Aurel Pop, inTransylvania, after the establishment of theUnion of Three Nations and the suppression of theBobâlna Uprising in 1438, the Vlach law gradually disappeared while the Romanian masters and boyars (which enjoyed theUniversitas Valachorum) had to choose between three solutions: the loss of all rights and the fall into serfdom, having to migrate beyond theCarpathians toMoldavia orWallachia, or merging into the Hungarian nobility by converting toCatholicism and adopting theHungarian language.[16][17]
A document from 1436 issued byIvan VI Frankopan illustrates the relation between Vlachs and local rulers. Among the most important regulations are the military and fiscal duties of the Vlachs who are required to participate with "shield and sword" or pay a fine. In return Vlachs required that no foreignknez andvoivode would rule over them.[18][19][20]
TheMilitary Frontier was a borderland of theHabsburg monarchy against incursions from theOttoman Empire. The establishment of the new defense system inHungary andCroatia took place in the 16th century and fortresses were built in the area of the Military Frontier. When the area became inhabited, the residents got hereditary possession of the land. The border guards had a self-government and were linked to this centralized military and political order through their right of land ownership and personal freedom. In this way, the Habsburgs achieved several objectives such as a cheap army for border defense. As another result, the border guards were extremely loyal to the Habsburg king and he could utilize them not only against the Ottomans but also for internal conflicts against peasants and nobles. When the Military Frontier was established, many former serfs, nomadic farmers and immigrants from the Ottoman Empire-occupied areas were tasked with guarding the borders. Among them, theVlachs and brigands were the most different groups that acquired privileges in the 17th century, thus they became privileged classes of society by the Vlach law and brigand privileges. The Vlachs, who emigrated from the Balkans, brought along their customary law as an old Slavic social economic community. They also had dukes as military commanders and a self-government and judicial system. The Vlachs were tasked with guarding the borders, supervising major roads and mountain paths to ensure the safety of passengers and cargo transports. In return, the Habsburg monarchs gave them other privileges and tax reductions.[21]
Jus Valachicum continued to be in use in the 18th century in the area ofMărginimea Sibiului and, in a particular format, in the area of Făgăraș where the last modification to the statutes was made in 1885.[22]
The equivalent ofius Valachichum,Zakon Vlachom is a collection of norms from the 14th century based on three monastic charters:Banjska Monastery Charter issued by kingStefan Milutin in 1313–16,Hilandar Monastery Charter from 1343-1345, andPrizren Monastery Charter from 1348–53. The law distinguished between two categories of Vlachs: soldiers andchelators, and determined the obligations and taxation forms:Vlachs who paid a big tenth oftithe (representing a tenth oflivestock) were exempted from paying any other dues to the monarch, whileVlachs that paid a small tithe had to do various chores for the monasteries (such as wool processing, manufacturing wool products etc.).[23]
In theHabsburg monarchy, in 1630, theVlach Statutes (Statuta Valachorum) were enacted which defined the tenancy rights and taxation of Orthodox refugees in theMilitary Frontier; land were granted in return for military service.[24] In the 16th and 17th centuries Slavic pastoral communities (such asGorals) under the Vlach law were settled in the northernKingdom of Hungary.[25] The colonization of peoples under the Vlach law resulted in ethnic enclaves of Czechs, Poles and Ruthenians in historical Hungary.[26]