History of the Székely people

[2][3] The Székelys' own 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' invention.

In our time, no one doubts, that the Székelys are the remnants of the Huns who first came to Pannonia, and because their people do not seem to have been mixed with foreign blood since then, they are also more strict in their morals, they also differ from other Hungarians in the division of lands.

[18][4] 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.

[17][23] 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).

[17] 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.

[34][2] 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.

[35] 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.

[37][21] 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.

[69][68] The register of the papal tithe (the tenth part of each clergyman's revenues which was to be paid to the pope) between 1330 and 1337 is the first document to provide detailed information of the Roman Catholic parishes in Székely Land.

[48] There were initially seven seats,[note 8] but Stibor of Stiboricz, Voivode of Transylvania, authorized the community of Miklósvár (now Micloșoara in Romania) to set up its own court of justice around 1395.

[85] Archaeologist Elek Benkő proposes that the tripartite Székely community (consisting of the high-ranking primores and primipili, and the commoners) preserved the features of the 11th-century Hungarian society.

[96][97] Sigismund, King of Hungary, had already in 1419 ordered that a third of the Transylvanian noblemen and a tenth of the peasants had to take up arms in case of an Ottoman invasion to assist the Székelys and Saxons in defending the borders.

[104] At Hunyadi's order, Nicholas Vízaknai, Vice-Voivode of Transylvania, and John Geréb of Vingárt, Castellan of Görgény (now Gurghiu in Romania), held an assembly for 24 Székely jurors in Marosvásárhely in 1451 to record customary laws.

[108] After King Vladislaus II's only son, Louis, was born on 1 July 1506, royal officials came to Székely Land to collect the oxen which had traditionally been given to the monarchs on similar occasions.

[120] After he made an alliance with the Ottomans, the sultan instructed Petru Rareș, Voivode of Moldavia, to invade Transylvania through Székely Land to fight against Ferdinand's local supporters in 1529.

[123] Taking advantage of the new civil war, Suleiman occupied central Hungary, but allowed John Sigismund to retain the lands to the east of the Tisza River.

[132] A year later, the Székely community was forced to pay a lump sum tax of 5,000 florins, only the primores and the primipili who were descended from 15th-century notables were exempted.

[139] The court of appeal of Székely Land was dissolved, the commoners' right to be elected jurors was abolished and the royal judges became the sole leaders of the seats.

[158] János Petki, Captain of Udvarhelyszék, convoked the general assembly of the Székelys shortly after Stephen Bocskai had risen up against Rudolph in October 1604.

[167] The Székely noblemen and commoners unanimously decided to support Bocskai if he was willing to confirm their liberties and to grant a general amnesty for the crimes committed during the anarchy.

[176] The 1614 conscription mentioned peasants named "Oláh" (or Vlach) who had come from Moldavia, Wallachia or from the region of Fogaras and Karánsebes (now Făgăraș and Caransebeș in Romania).

[186] After István Petki, Captain General of Csíkszék, did not accept the sultan's offer to claim the princely throne for himself, the Crimean Tatars pillaged Székely Land in 1661.

[198] After taking control of Upper Hungary (now Slovakia) and large territories to the east of the Tisza in autumn 1703, he sent letters to the Three Nations (and also to the Romanians), urging them to support his war for independence.

[203] After Rákóczi left Hungary for Poland to seek assistance, the representatives of the rebels signed the Treaty of Szatmár in 1711, acknowledging the rule of the Habsburgs.

[233] At the Diet that Joseph's successor, Leopold II, convoked in December 1790, the Székely György Aranka proposed the establishment of the Transylvanian Hungarian Philological Society.

[238] Sándor Kőrösi Csoma, who left Székely Land for Central Asia to search for the Hungarians' ancient homeland, compiled the first Tibetan-English dictionary.

[245] The new law secured a plot of land even for the cotters, with the exception of those who had settled in a "Székey inheritance", because the division of the properties of free Székelys would have created thousands of smallholders living below the level of subsistence.

[252] Batthyány's commissioner, László Berzenczey convoked the general assembly of the Székelys to Agyagfalva, threatening those who would not attend with capital punishment in accordance with customary law.

[253] The Székely troops pillaged the Saxon town of Szászrégen (now Reghin in Romania), but the cannons of the imperial army forced them to flee from the battlefield at Marosvásárhely.

[256] By the end of 1848 – beginning of 1849, Székelys joined the army set up by General Józef Bem and took part in his successful campaigns driving out Habsburg troops from Transylvania.