Well I've been brushing up on my Transylvanian history lately, doing a lot of research, so here it is. At the moment I have largely studied the political make up of Transylvania, but I will update this information in the future. I hope it helps, or if not is at least interesting.
TRANSYLVANIA
Siebenbürgen, Erdeuelu, Ardeliu, Transsilvania(Ultra Silvum)
The Formation of Transylvania
The Hungarians had established their rule over the region of Transylvania firmly since 1003AD, when Saint Stephen formed an ispán, or Comes as they were known in the Latin used by the nobility in the time, in the old Roman Apulium (Gyulafehérvár), thus setting up a mirror system of Comitatuses (megyék) managed by Comes (ispáns and foispáns) as was used in Hungary proper, with a few key differences. The fact that Transylvania lay on the far eastern border of the Kingdom of hungary meant that it was subject to the waves of aggresive immigrants from the east like the Cumans, and the Kypchaqs and so on. To accomodate this the Come of the region of Alba (Fehér) was appointed as the over-arching administrator of the region of Transylvania. Until 1193 the term Vajda never appears, and instead this administrator appears to have been reffered to as the ispán. From the founding of the Comes system the ispáns of Szolnok (Doboka) and of Alba allernated between one another as the administrator of Transylvania. This ceased in 1263, when the roles of the Comes of Alba and Szolnok were terminated, along with the gradual reformation of the comitatuses from royal to noble ones. From this point all the Comes of the Comitatuses of Transylvania were subject to the authority of the Vajda, who had the right to appoint them and call local assemblies in which unique Transylvanian laws were passed. These laws had to be affirmed by the King, and could not directly contradict the laws of Hungary proper. The first Vajda is recorded as being Zoltán Erdoelue a relative of King Stephen. By the 14th century the three most imortant people in Transylvanian politics were the Vajda, the Bishop of Transylvania and the Abbot of Kolozsmonostor (outskirt of present day Cluj-Napoca).
The Three Natios
Due to the Vajda’s right to call Transylvanian asssemblies, the status of land owners varied from that of Hungary proper. Transylvania was administered by an estate system, in which the three separate Natios (classes of nobles) existed, which was different from Hungary propers single class of nobles. A Natio (often translated as estate) was effectively a classification of Comes, and the three Natios of Transylvania were divided into the ethnically Hungarian, Szekler, and Saxon groups. This division was not made on the basis that nobles should represent separate natios because of their race, but was formulated due to logistical reasons. During the time of the formulation of the Natios the Szekler’s chief responsibilty to the Vajda was as border guards, as was the purpose of the recently settled hospite Saxons. Due to these two people’s intitially militant nature, and the fact that the Saxons were considered as newcomers to Transylvania, it was clearly evident that these different group’s inclininations would vary from one another and often contradict the wishes of the Hungarian nobility of central western Transylvania. Therefore, for the purpose of efficiently administering the decisions made by the national assemblies of the Vajda, these separate groups of nobles were divided into individual natios. The formulation of the natios was agradual process, and coincided with the increasing power of thecomes that eventually earnt them Royal status. The first right for nobles to exercise individual rights over their lands originated from the Golden Bulls issued by king Andrew II in 1222 and 1224. The Hungarian Natio was subject to the laws of the Hungarian Kingdom, while the Saxon and Szekler Natios governed themselves largely independantly, electing their own Comes and living under separate laws.
The Division of the Natios
By 1345 Transylvania was divided into eleven Comitatii. These Comitatii were governed by Comes, who formed the Hungarian Natio of Transylvania. The Szekler Natio and Saxon natio covered areas exempt from the Comitatus system, which were divided into their own seats (Sedes, szék). The Szekler Natio was comprised of the seats of:
* Udvarhely Seat
* Csík Seat
* Aranyos Seat
* Maros Seat
* Orbai Seat
* Sepsi Seat
* Kézdi Seat
The Szeklers elected who would represent each Seat, and the seven seats were judiciarily governed by a Come selected by the King, who was given the title of Siculorum Comes (count of the Szeklers). This position was not filled by the Vajda, but was a noble selected from the Hungarian aristocracy by the King known as the lófő. Janos Hunyadi (1441 – 1456) was the first Vajda to attain the position of Siculorum Comes, as did all the “princes” of Transylvania after him.
The Saxon’s Natio covered the land between Draas (Drăuşeni) and Broos (Orăştie), given to the by the Golden Bull of king Andrew II, in which they exercised both administrative and religious autonomy and obligations towards the kings of Hungary. The territory that was colonized by Saxon hospites covered an area of about 30,000 km˛, which was organised into seats by King Charles 1 of Hungary between 1325 and 1329. Following the Mongol invasion of Transylvania many Tranylvanian towns became heavily fortified towns, a system adopted by the Saxons. Many Saxon towns were defended by Kirchenburgen, or fortified churches with massive walls, the most prevalent seven of which formed the sevens seats of the Saxon lands in Transylvania. The Saxons did not have a direct representative of the King govern them as the Szeklers did, due to their nature as hospites. They were as follows:
* Bistritz (Bistriţa, Beszterce)
* Hermannstadt (Sibiu, Nagyszeben)
* Klausenburg (Cluj-Napoca, Kolozsvár)
* Kronstadt (Braşov, Brassó)
* Mediasch (Mediaş, Medgyes)
* Mühlbach (Sebeş, Szászsebes)
* Schässburg (Sighişoara, Segesvár)
The Saxon name for Transylvania; Siebenbürgen roughly translates as seven forts, in reference to these seven fortified twons.
This map outlines the divisions of the three Natios during this period.
The Saxons
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The Szeklers
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The Romanians
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Oh yeah, nearly forgot, 200th post!