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Universitas Valachorum AI simulator
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Hub AI
Universitas Valachorum AI simulator
(@Universitas Valachorum_simulator)
Universitas Valachorum
Universitas Valachorum (Estate of the Vlachs) is the Latin denomination for an estate, an institution of self-government of the Romanians in medieval Transylvania, which then belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary.
For a certain period of time,[vague] when summoned by the king of Hungary or the voivode of Transylvania to the general assembly of Transylvania (congregatio generalis), the Universitas Valachorum attended the assembly together with the other three Estates of Transylvania: nobility, Saxons, and Székelys (universis nobilibus, Saxonibus, Syculis et Olachis in partibus Transiluanis). Assemblies on a smaller scale, concerning only a number of Transylvanian counties, at which Romanian representatives were present, are also known.
There are only two general assemblies of Transylvania at which Romanian participation is documented with complete certainty based on written sources (at least as of 1288): one in Alba Iulia, summoned by King Andrew III în 1291, and one Turda in May 1355, connected to a letter sent by King Louis I.
The structure of the Universitas Valachorum placed the leadership of common Romanians upon their own nobility (voivodes, knezes),[vague] enjoying a jurisdiction based on their own laws (ius valachicum).[citation needed]
In 1288, in the face of external danger such as Tatars, Cumans, Saracens and other pagans (omnino Tartarorum vel Cumanum Saracenum vel Meugarium) the universitas of the Romanians was called together with the other Estates (universisque nobilibus Ungarorum, Saxonibus, Syculis et Volachis) and Church representatives of two counties, Brașov and Sibiu, to defend Christian faith, according to the letter of Lodomer, Archbishop of Esztergom.
In 1291, the Romanian representatives were summoned to take part in the general assembly of the Estates of Transylvania, which took place in Alba Iulia after being summoned by King Andrew III.
A scarcity of written sources led researchers to believe for a while that from 1291 on, it would only be the representatives of privileged Romanian districts that would convene, and only at separate assemblies, so that the formation of a united autonomous Romanian commonwealth such as those of the Szeklers and Saxons never did come about. Some Hungarian historians attribute this outcome to the Romanian knezes' and voivodes' lack of interest in the creation of this type of wider representation, which is the same interpretation offered in 2015 by Romanian historian Adrian Magina for a similar behaviour of Romanian local nobles in the Banat during the mid-15th – mid-17th centuries (see below).
However, as of now the last known document attesting the participation of the Universitas Valachorum in a general assembly of the Estates (congregatio generalis) of Transylvania is dated May 1355, when such an event took place in Turda/Torda. There are six surviving documents which describe the proceedings, dated between 23–26 May, and each among them characterises the participants in a different way, from only mentioning the noblemen, to the other extreme, of exaggerating by claiming that all people, regardless of rank, either settled or present in Transylvania, have participated in the assembly. This fact is interpreted by Ioan-Aurel Pop to show that other surviving documents referring to other assemblies, which only mention the nobles as being present, do not exclude the possibility that the other Estates, including the Romanians, were actually participating. The last document from Turda, the one with the most inclusive list of participants, specifically mentions the "clergy, magnates, noblemen, Szeklers, Saxons, Romanians, and the other people" etc. Pop sees as certain the participation of the Romanians at least until the restrictive measures introduced in 1366 by Louis I, after which date it is only possible that they may have been invited sporadically.
Universitas Valachorum
Universitas Valachorum (Estate of the Vlachs) is the Latin denomination for an estate, an institution of self-government of the Romanians in medieval Transylvania, which then belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary.
For a certain period of time,[vague] when summoned by the king of Hungary or the voivode of Transylvania to the general assembly of Transylvania (congregatio generalis), the Universitas Valachorum attended the assembly together with the other three Estates of Transylvania: nobility, Saxons, and Székelys (universis nobilibus, Saxonibus, Syculis et Olachis in partibus Transiluanis). Assemblies on a smaller scale, concerning only a number of Transylvanian counties, at which Romanian representatives were present, are also known.
There are only two general assemblies of Transylvania at which Romanian participation is documented with complete certainty based on written sources (at least as of 1288): one in Alba Iulia, summoned by King Andrew III în 1291, and one Turda in May 1355, connected to a letter sent by King Louis I.
The structure of the Universitas Valachorum placed the leadership of common Romanians upon their own nobility (voivodes, knezes),[vague] enjoying a jurisdiction based on their own laws (ius valachicum).[citation needed]
In 1288, in the face of external danger such as Tatars, Cumans, Saracens and other pagans (omnino Tartarorum vel Cumanum Saracenum vel Meugarium) the universitas of the Romanians was called together with the other Estates (universisque nobilibus Ungarorum, Saxonibus, Syculis et Volachis) and Church representatives of two counties, Brașov and Sibiu, to defend Christian faith, according to the letter of Lodomer, Archbishop of Esztergom.
In 1291, the Romanian representatives were summoned to take part in the general assembly of the Estates of Transylvania, which took place in Alba Iulia after being summoned by King Andrew III.
A scarcity of written sources led researchers to believe for a while that from 1291 on, it would only be the representatives of privileged Romanian districts that would convene, and only at separate assemblies, so that the formation of a united autonomous Romanian commonwealth such as those of the Szeklers and Saxons never did come about. Some Hungarian historians attribute this outcome to the Romanian knezes' and voivodes' lack of interest in the creation of this type of wider representation, which is the same interpretation offered in 2015 by Romanian historian Adrian Magina for a similar behaviour of Romanian local nobles in the Banat during the mid-15th – mid-17th centuries (see below).
However, as of now the last known document attesting the participation of the Universitas Valachorum in a general assembly of the Estates (congregatio generalis) of Transylvania is dated May 1355, when such an event took place in Turda/Torda. There are six surviving documents which describe the proceedings, dated between 23–26 May, and each among them characterises the participants in a different way, from only mentioning the noblemen, to the other extreme, of exaggerating by claiming that all people, regardless of rank, either settled or present in Transylvania, have participated in the assembly. This fact is interpreted by Ioan-Aurel Pop to show that other surviving documents referring to other assemblies, which only mention the nobles as being present, do not exclude the possibility that the other Estates, including the Romanians, were actually participating. The last document from Turda, the one with the most inclusive list of participants, specifically mentions the "clergy, magnates, noblemen, Szeklers, Saxons, Romanians, and the other people" etc. Pop sees as certain the participation of the Romanians at least until the restrictive measures introduced in 1366 by Louis I, after which date it is only possible that they may have been invited sporadically.