Siculicidium
Siculicidium is a massacre on January 7, 1764 in Madéfalva ( Siculeni in Romanian ) that was started by Austrian troops at Széklern after riots broke out in Széklerland because of the establishment of a border guard .
prehistory
In the Middle Ages , Transylvania was divided into three so-called nations as part of the Kingdom of Hungary : the Hungarian nobles of the county or aristocratic soil , the Transylvanian Saxons of the royal soil , and the Széklern in Széklerland. At that time, both the Königsboden and the Széklerland enjoyed extensive autonomy : The Széklers committed themselves to serve in a border guard, for which they were exempted from paying taxes to the Hungarian king. Furthermore, the Székler were only allowed to be commanded by their own officers.
After the Battle of Mohács in 1526 and the subsequent claim to the throne by the two competing contenders Archduke Ferdinand von Habsburg and Johann Zápolya , the Kingdom of Hungary fell into three parts. Royal Hungary was formed in the west and was under the rule of the Habsburgs . Central and southern Hungary were occupied by the Ottoman Empire . In the east, under the rule of Zápolyas, the eastern Hungarian kingdom was formed, which later became the Grand Duchy of Transylvania and became a protectorate of the Ottoman Empire. The privileges of the Széklerland were preserved within the Grand Duchy of Transylvania.
In the Treaty of Karlowitz of 1699 , the Kingdom of Hungary was reunited, but it came completely under the sovereignty of the House of Habsburg. Transylvania remained independent from the Kingdom of Hungary within Austria.
In the war of freedom against Austrian rule , the Székler supported Franz II. Rákóczi . In the Peace of Sathmar of 1711 the Széklers were forced to surrender their weapons and their services as border guards were no longer required. For the time being, the Széklerland retained its privileges, as Austria contented itself with stabilizing its rule.
From 1750, however, there was a change in Austria's policy with regard to Transylvania. Austria lost one of its richest provinces in the course of its war of succession with Silesia and found itself in a bad financial situation. So far, the payment of taxes in Transylvania was divided between the three nations, who decided for themselves how they raised the taxes. In 1754, however, a tax reform was enacted on the basis of which taxes were to be paid individually, i.e. the tax burden was determined for each individual citizen on the basis of his occupation and status. This represented a curtailment of the privileges of the Széklerland.
The establishment of the military border, the setting up of the border guard and the Siculicidium
In 1761 there were first proposals to set up a military border with the Ottoman Empire in Transylvania with a border guard of 7,000 men. In 1762, Empress Maria Theresia commissioned Adolf Nikolaus von Buccow to set up the border guards, some of which were recruited from volunteers and some under duress. Unrest broke out and the Székler made their first demands in return for their service: The old laws and privileges should be reintroduced and Székler troops should not be allowed to be deployed outside of Transylvania. Later the requirements were extended to the effect that the Székler were only allowed to serve under their own officers. Székler, who resigned from the border guard, did not surrender their weapons. Instead, they kept them as compensation for the weapons that had to be surrendered in 1711.
From 1763, the border guard should only be recruited from volunteers and Baron Joseph Siskovich ( Croatian Josip Šišković ; Hungarian József Siskovics ) was entrusted with setting up the border guard. The Székler began to organize, however, and talks began about a national Székler assembly. On October 8, 1763, Empress Maria Theresa issued a patent to clarify the legal status of the border guard: wages would be paid to the border guard, their tax burden would be reduced by a third in peacetime and completely waived in wartime, and their service for the administration would be reduced essentially limited to road construction. She also allowed von Buccow to take up his post in Transylvania again, albeit with the restriction that he was no longer responsible for setting up the border guard. Nonetheless, there was competition for prestige between Siskovich and von Buccow.
In December 1763, many Széklers still refused to work and withdrew to the woods and higher altitudes to seek protection from the Austrian troops. Siskovich feared the unrest would spread and on January 7, 1764 ordered the storming of the rebel camp in Madéfalva. The Székler did not resist, but fled, but they were slaughtered by the troops. 400 people lost their lives, including women and children. This massacre has been known as Siculicidium ever since.
consequences
After the Siculicidium, the border guard could be set up in two and a half months. However, many Székler fled their homeland to Moldova , where they joined the Csángós who were already resident there and founded the so-called Bukowinaer Székler. When Bukowina came under Austrian control in 1774, these Széklers were pardoned and called upon to repopulate this depopulated region.
The events remained in the collective memory of the Széklers. In 1905 an obelisk was erected in Madéfalva: a turul bird perched on a pyramidal base and with a plaque commemorating the massacre. Because the massacre also founded the Bukovina Székler group, they also celebrate the day of the massacre as the birthday of their community.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j László Makkai, Zoltán Szász: History of Transylvania Volume II From 1606 to 1830. Publisher: Social Science Monographs, Boulder, Colorado [ua] 2002