Lajos Kazar: Facts against fiction

YUGOSLAVIA

Transylvania (Transilvanija; Rumanian Ardeal; Hungarian Erdély) is a region in Rumania. Its area is 62,200km², its population numbers 3,5 million (in 1963). - In old times the inhabitants of the area in question were the Dacians of Celtic and Thracian stock who were conquered by the Scythians in the 4th century B.C. From 103 A.D. on the area was the possession of the Romans, forming an enclave called Dacia. From the end of the 3rd century it was overrun by the Goths, Huns, Gepids, Avars and Slavs. From the 6th to the 8th century it was under Avar rule. In 896 the Magyars (Székelys) entered this territory; the Székelys occupied its southeastern region. German settlers, called Saxons, from the Rhineland strengthened the defensive belt against the incursions of the Pechenegs into Hungarian territory. From the second half of the 11th century through to 1526 voivodes were placed by the Hungarian kings over Transylvania. The territory was devastated by the Mongols in 1241. - After their victory over the Serbs at Kosovo in 1389 and over the Bulgars in 1381, 1393, 1396, 1398, the Turks began to threaten Hungary as well. Until 1421 the Hungarians fought off the minor Turkish assaults in Wallachia and Transylvania. Encouraged by the weakening of the central power in Hungary, the Turks devastated Transylvania in 1438. In 1437 and 1438 Transylvania was the scene of a massive peasant uprising.

Lajos Kazar: Facts against fiction