Szekler

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Szekler
(Székelyek)
Total population approx. 670,000 (2002)
Settlement areas Romania (in the districts of Mureș , Harghita and Covasna , but also in the vicinity of Turda ), Hungary (megyék / Counties Tolna and Baranya )
language Szekler dialect of the Hungarian language
religion Christian ( Roman Catholic , Calvinist and Unitarian )
The historical Szekler flag
The flag used by the Szekler National Council
The migrations of the Szekler
One of the typical wood-carved Szeklertors
Szekler memorial column
Szeklerkeramik from Corundum (Korond)

The Szekler [ ˈseːk- ] or Székler , seldom also Sekler ( Hungarian singular székely , plural székelyek ; Romanian singular secui , plural secui ; Latin siculi ), are a population group speaking the Hungarian Szekler dialect in eastern Transylvania in central Romania . In 2002 around 670,000 Hungarians - most of them Szekler - and around 407,000 Romanians as well as members of various minorities such as Roma , Jews , Germans and Armenians lived on the soil of the historic Szeklerland .

designation

The most frequently used denomination of the ethnic group in German-language specialist and popular literature is "Szekler". In addition, the form “Székler” is also in use, underlining the derivation of the Hungarian noun szék (“chair”, here meaning “chair district”, see below). The more Germanized form "Sekler" can also be found here and there.

history

The origin of the Szekler is not entirely clear. Theories about their alleged Avar , Hunnic, or gepidic origins have been viewed as ahistorical by science for decades. Some researchers consider the Pechenegs , Cumans , Bashkirs or Volga Bulgarians of Turkish origin to be the ancestors of the Szeklers who were linguistically assimilated into the Magyar followers. However, there is insufficient evidence that the Szeklers spoke any language other than Hungarian.

The term Siculi appears in historical sources for the first time in 1116.

After their resettlement from western and southern Transylvania to central and eastern Transylvania, the Szeklers were transformed from a legal community in the medieval sense into a specific Magyar ethnographic group. Szekler contingents have been represented in the ranks of the Hungarian kings and Transylvanian princes since the late Middle Ages. Szeklers were also often present in the armies of the Wallachian and Moldovan princes, and even in the army of Mihai Viteazul (Vitéz Mihály), Szekler fought against the Hungarian nobleman Andreas Báthory .

Between 12./13. In the 18th century and in 1867, the territorial legal community of the Szekler had an internal autonomy comparable to that of the Transylvanian Saxons in many areas of life. Until the early 18th century , they acted as “border guards” in the parts of the Kingdom of Hungary assigned to them . Until the late 18th century, the Szeklers had their own legal system that differed from the Hungarian one.

A group of Szeklers also live in the vicinity of the town of Turda , which is isolated from the rest of the Szeklerland. In the Middle Ages, the settlement of Szeklerstuhl , today Aranyosszék, was located here . 10,000 to 15,000 Szeklers still live here today.

language

The Hungarian language prevailed over the other language groups in the Carpathian Basin until the High Middle Ages . The Szeklers speak their own dialect within the Hungarian language with a higher proportion of Turkish-language terms than in the Hungarian dialects.

identity

Since the Szeklers, as border guards of the Hungarian Gyepű system , had had privileges guaranteed by the Hungarian king since the Middle Ages, they always emphasized their own Szekler identity. Along with the Magyar nobility and the Transylvanian Saxons, they were one of the three constituent nations of Transylvania in the late Middle Ages (Unio Trium Nationum of 1438) . Since the 19th century and the "national awakening" of the Magyars , the Szeklers began to see themselves as part of Magyarism.

After the Peace Treaty of Trianon , Transylvania and the Partium - including the entire Szekler settlement area (Szeklerland) - were ceded by Hungary to Romania. In Romania today is possible in censuses as a nationality not only "Magyar" (rum. Maghiar ), but also "Szekler" (rum. Secui specify).

location

The Szeklerland was divided into seven "chair districts" or "chairs", i.e. cantons: Marosszék, Aranyosszék, Csíkszék, Udvarhelyszék and the three chairs of Háromszék ('three chairs'), namely "Kézdiszék, Orbaíszék" - and Fünfiszék - Gyergyó and Kászon in Csík, Keresztúr and Bardóc in Udvarhely, Miklósvár in Háromszék. The Szekler are partly Roman Catholic (Csík with Gyergyó and Kászon, northern parts of Udvarhely and Kézdiszék), Calvinist (Marosszék, Orbaíszék, parts of Aranyosszék, Udvarhelyszék, Háromszék.) And Unitarian confession

Since the 18th century, Szekler emigrated in large numbers to the Moldau ( Tschango ), to Bucharest , Cluj and Budapest .

In 1867, Transylvania lost its internal autonomy and became an integral part of the Hungarian half of the imperial and royal dual monarchy .

For its participation in the First World War, Romania had demanded in the subsequent peace negotiations that Transylvania - and with it the Szeklerland - be separated from the previous Hungary and added to its own national territory. This was met with the Treaty of Trianon in 1920. The now beginning Romanization policy led, among other things, to the settlement of a significant number of Romanians; Romanians had settled in Szeklerland in small numbers since the 17th century.

After the Second Vienna Arbitration on August 30, 1940, the Szeklerland was annexed by Hungary again, but the Soviet Red Army and, in its wake, the Romanian Army recaptured the country as early as 1944 .

Well-known representatives

Popular culture

In his vampire novel Dracula, the Irish novelist Bram Stoker made the count and his family lords and military leaders of the Szeklers. In a monologue in the third chapter, he lets Count Dracula speak about the history of the country and his ancestors: "We Szeklers have a right to be proud, because the blood of many brave peoples who fought like lions for rule flows in our veins." It goes on to say: "... the Szekler and the Draculas - their heart and soul, their brains, their sword - can boast of a past like none of the upstart families of the Romanovs or Habsburgs."

literature

  • Ioan-Aurel Pop: The Middle Ages. In: Thede Kahl, Michael Metzeltin, Mihai-Răzvan Ungureanu (eds.): Romania. Space and population, history and images of history, culture, society and politics today, economy, law and constitution, historical regions (=  Österreichische Osthefte. Vol. 48, 2006, special volume). Lit-Verlag, Vienna a. a. 2006, ISBN 3-7000-0593-8 , pp. 195-220.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ignaz Aurelius Fessler: Hungary . Gleditsch, 1816 ( google.de [accessed on July 16, 2019]).
  2. ↑ Bram Stoker: Dracula. (Complete German edition), translation: Stasi Kull , Chapter 3.