The history of the Székely people (a subgroup of the Hungarians in Romania) can be documented from the 12th century. According to medieval chronicles, the Székelys were descended from the Huns who settled in the Carpathian Basin in the 5th century. This theory was refuted by modern scholars, but no consensus view about the origin of the Székelys exists. They fought in the vanguard of the Hungarian army, implying that they had been a separate ethnic group, but their language does not show any trace of a language shift.
Scattered communities of light-armored Székely warriors lived in the Kingdom of Hungary, especially along the western frontier, till the 14th century. Their migration to Transylvania began in the 11th or 12th century. They first settled in southern Transylvania, but they moved to present-day Székely Land after the arrival of the Transylvanian Saxons in the late 12th century. They were subjected to a royal official, the Count of the Székelys, from the 1220s. Their military role enabled them to preserve their privileged status. They did not pay taxes, and the kings of Hungary could not grant landed property in Székely Land. Their basic administrative units, known as seats from the 14th century, were headed by elected lieutenants and seat judges. They formed one of the "Three Nations of Transylvania" after a "brotherly union" was formed by the (predominantly Hungarian) noblemen, the free military Székelys, and the Saxon patrician class against the Transylvanian peasants in 1437.
The existence of three groups within the Székely society became evident in the 15th century. The commoners (or pixidarii) held small parcels of land and fought as foot soldiers. The wealthier primipili were mounted warriors. The high-ranking primores, who often also owned estates outside Székely Land, began to expand their authority over the commoners. Royal judges, appointed by the counts of the Székelys, supervised the elected officials of the seats from the 1460s. Being unable to serve in the army, the commoners lost their tax exemption in the 1550s. Many of them were reduced to serfdom after their rebellion was suppressed in 1562. The position of the royal judges was also strengthened, limiting the autonomy of the seats. On the other hand, the liberties of the Székely towns were confirmed. Although most Székelys remained Roman Catholic, significant groups adhered to Calvinism, Unitarianism or Sabbatarianism in the 16th century. The Székelys' privileges were restored in the 17th century, but many commoners (who did not want to serve in the army) voluntarily entered into serfdom. After Transylvania became part of the Habsburg monarchy in the 1690s, the central government attempted to limit the Székelys' liberties. Hundreds of villages were integrated into the Military Frontier after the Siculicidium (or Massacre of Székelys) at Madéfalva in 1764, but thousands of Székelys migrated to Moldavia to avoid military service. The Székely border guards lived under strict military rules.
Origins
Medieval chronicles unanimously stated that the Székelys were descended from the 5th-century Huns. The Gesta Hungarorum and Simon of Kéza were the first to mention this information. The Székelys' tradition of their Hunnic origin is well-documented, but it is impossible to decide whether it is a genuine part of their folklore or an adoption of the medieval chroniclers'. Most modern historians refute the Székelys' association with the Huns.
After the theory of Hunnic descent lost scholarly currency in the 20th century, two substantial ideas emerged about Székely ancestry:Cathy O'Grady, Zoltán Kántor and Daniela Tarnovschi, Hungarians of Romania, In: Panayote Dimitras (editor), Center for Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe — Southeast Europe (CEDIME-SE) MINORITIES IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE, Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center, 2001, p. 5
Bálint Hóman was the first to propose that the Székelys were a Turkic group that joined the Magyars in the Pontic steppes. György Györffy likewise said, the Székelys were a separate ethnic group because they fought in the vanguard of the Hungarian army. Györffy and Gyula Kristó associated the Székelys with the Eskils (a tribe in Volga Bulgaria in the 9th century). Kristó proposed that the Eskils was one of the three tribes of the Kabars who joined the Magyars after their secession from the Khazar Empire. Gyula Németh and other linguists refuted the two peoples' identification, stating that their ethnonyms are not connected.
According to most linguists and most historians, the Székelys did not change their language, because they speak the Hungarian language "without any trace of a Turkic substratum". Linguist Lóránd Benkő asserted that the Székely dialects are closely connected to Hungarian dialects spoken along the borders of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. Consequently, he proposed that the Székelys were descended from the military guardians of the frontiers. Their military role secured their special privileges, contributing to the development of their cultural identity. Gyula László and Pál Engel proposed that the Székelys were descended from the (supposedly Hungarian-speaking) "Late Avar" (or Onogur) population of the Carpathian Basin. The "Double Conquest Theory" of the Carpathian Basin by the Hungarians has never been widely accepted.
Kingdom of Hungary
Settlement in Székely Land
Royal charters indicate that scattered Székely groups lived in many regions of the Kingdom of Hungary. A charter mentioned a military unit called ("Székelyszáz hundred") in Bihar County in 1217. A 1256 diploma referred to a forest at Boleráz in Pozsony County (now in Slovakia) which was located "towards the Székelys". The Székely warriors of Nagyváty in Baranya County were mentioned in 1272. A 1314 royal charter stated that long time before Székelys had lived in an estate in Sopron County. The Székelys of Sásvár in Ugocsa County (present-day Trosnik in Ukraine) were mentioned in 1323.
The three main dialects of their tongue indicate that the Székelys' ancestors lived along the western frontiers. The Székelys who now live along the rivers Nyárád and Kis-Küküllő (Niraj and Târnava Mică, respectively in Romania) speak a dialect similar to the tongue of the Hungarian communities near Pressburg (now Bratislava in Slovakia). The dialect of Udvarhelyszék is closely related to the Hungarian variant spoken in Burgenland (now in Austria). The third Hungarian variant of the Székely Land is similar to the Hungarian dialect of Baranya County.
Székely and Pecheneg warriors fought side by side in the army of Stephen II of Hungary in the Battle of Olšava in 1116, according to the 14th-century Illuminated Chronicle. The author of the chronicle blamed the Székelys and Pechenegs for the king's defeat, calling them as "the most wretched poltroons"The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle (ch. 153), p. 134. because of their unexpected retreat from the battlefield. Györffy argues, their flight from the battlefield was actually a feigned retreat which was an element of nomadic military tactics. The same source recorded that the "wretched" Pechenges and the "worthless" Székelys "as usual went before the Hungarian army" in the Battle of the Fischa in 1146, evidencing that they fought in the vanguard. The derogatory adjectives show that the Székelys were lightly armored archers.
The Székelys were divided into six "kindreds";Halom, Örlőcz, Jenő, Meggyes, Adorján and Ábrán. and each "kindred" was composed of four "lineages". All kindreds were documented in each district in Székely Land, implying that the kindreds had come into being by the time the Székelys settled in the territory. The names of two kindredsAdorján and Ábrán. and five lineagesBalázs, Gyerő, György, Karácson and Péter. had their roots in Christian names.
The exact date of the settlement of the Székelys in Transylvania cannot be determined. Simon of Kéza wrote that the Székelys "acquired part of the country ... not in the plains of Pannonia but in the mountains, which they shared with the Vlachs, mingling with them, it is said".Simon of Kéza: The Deeds of the Hungarians (ch. 21.), p. 71. Gyula Kristó says that the increase of the military role of the eastern borderlands caused their movement, because skirmishes along the western frontier became rare during the 12th century. Pál Engel, Zoltán Kordé and Tudor Sălăgean argue that the kings of Hungary settled the Székelys in Transylvania in several stages. Kristó adds, several Székely border guards voluntarily left for Transylvania, because the disintegration of the marchias (or border counties) threatened their freedom.
The first groups allegedly settled in southern Transylvania, along the rivers Kézd, Orbó, and Sebes (now Saschiz, Gârbova and Sebeș in Romania), because three administrative units in Székely LandKézdiszék, Orbaiszék and Sepsiszékwere named after these rivers. Early 12th-century cemeteries unearthed at Szászsebes and Homoróddaróc (now Sebeș and Drăuşeni in Romania) evidence that the region had been inhabited before the arrival of the ancestors of the Transylvanian Saxons. The Székelys who lived around Telegd in Bihar County (now Tileagd in Romania) also moved to Transylvania, because a group of the Székelys was known as the Székelys of Telegd in the 13th century.
Joachim, Count of Hermannstadt, led an army of Saxons, Vlachs, Székelys and Pechenegs across the Carpathian Mountains to fight for Boril of Bulgaria around 1210, according to a royal charter issued in 1250. The record suggests that the four ethnic groups were subjected to the Counts of Hermannstadt in the early 13th century. William, Bishop of Transylvania, granted the tithe in Burzenland to the Teutonic Knights in 1213, but preserved the right to collect the tithe from the Székelys (and Hungarians) who would settle in the region. The grant shows that significant Székely groups were on the move in the early 13th century. The "land of the Székelys" was located to the north and northeast of the domain of the Knights in 1222. Two years later, Andrew II granted the land of the Székelys of Sebes to the west of the Olt River to the Transylvanian Saxons, thus uniting the territories where Saxons had settled in southern Transylvania under the jurisdiction of the Count of Hermannstadt.
The adoption of more than a dozen place names of Slavic originIncluding, Kászon ("sour"), Kálnok ("muddy"), and Bölön ("henbane"). suggests that scattered Slavic-speaking communities inhabited present-day Székely Land at the time of the Székelys' arrival. More than a dozen place names representing the oldest layer of Hungarian place names (personal names in the nominative case),For instance, Székelyderzs and Tarcsafalva. implies that other Hungarian-speaking groups had also preceded the Székelys. The same conclusion can be drawn from the existence of the enclaves of Fehér County in Székely Land which survived until the 19th century.
High Middle Ages
The Székelys were put under the jurisdiction of a new royal official, the Count of the Székelys, in the early 13th century. The first known count, Bogomer, son of Szoboszló, was captured during a campaign that Béla, Duke of Transylvania, launched against Bulgaria in 1228. The monarchs always appointed the counts from among the Hungarian noblemen. The main administrative units of Székely Land were initially known as "terra" (or land). The Diploma Andreanum contained the first reference to such a territory, mentioning terra Sebes ("the land of the Székelys of Sebes") in 1224.