Orăștie (Romanian pronunciation: [orəʃˈti.e]; German: Broos, Hungarian: Szászváros, Latin: Saxopolis, Transylvanian Saxon: Brooss)[3] is a small town and municipality in Hunedoara County, south-western Transylvania, central Romania.

1105 – In the wake of the First Crusade Anselm von Braz ”liber de liberis genitus", châtelain of Logne, Walloon ministerial count settled here.

The historian Karl Kurt Klein implies – though without proof – that he moved with his sons and descendants into the region where Orăștie City is located today.

1224 – Andrew II confirmed the privileges of the Saxon colonists and mentioned the existence of Romanian (Blachi) and Pecheneg (Bisseni) populations who lived in the forests surrounding the town.

The town was ruled by a royal judge (iudex regium), helped by 12 jurors chosen from local craftsmen and rich traders.

A Mongolian tumen under the leadership of Büri entered Transylvania via the Olt Valley, near Făgăraș, from the direction of Sibiu, which was conquered on 11 April.

The Mongol devastation of the settlements and cities is vividly shown in the dramatic description of Alba Iulia written by the Franciscan friar Rogerius of Apulia: “ ...

I could not find anything except the bones and skulls of those who were killed, scattered and broken walls of churches and palaces that have been sprinkled by the blood of Christians".In the future, King Béla IV would populate the region with new Saxon colonists and settlers.

1334 – The priest John ( Johannes Sacerdos ), the tax collector in the Orăștie region, performed a census by counting chimneys.

1372 – Comes Stephanus of Warasyo (Ștefan de Orăștie) was named as representative of the Seven Saxon Seats in Transylvania.

On 24 September 1420, a Turkish army invaded the south-east of Transylvania defeating, near Hațeg County, an armed militia under the command of Transylvanian voivode Miklós Csáki.

After two days the Turkish army looted and burned Orăștie and its surroundings before retreating, taking several thousand prisoners as slaves.

The Hungarian army was led by Pál Kinizsi, István Báthory, Vuk Branković, and Basarab Laiotă cel Bătrân.

When the Turks looted the city, they destroyed a large part of cultivated land, and the church inside the castle was damaged.

1486 – Because of disagreements between the Seat of Orăștie and Hunyad County, the Saxon University of Sibiu called in the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus to regulate the borders between the two territories.

In Orăștie (oppidi Brosz) were recorded: 158 Saxons, 2 poor inhabitants, 4 shepherds, 1 miller and 10 abandoned households.

1491 – Saxons and Hungarians worked out an agreement that the function of Royal Judge be held alternately, and that each of the two nations should be represented in the Senate by equal numbers.

Georg Reicherstorffer in "Chorographia Transilvaniae", printed in Vienna in 1550, wrote: "Orăștie city, which is called Broos by the Saxons, is located a mile away to the south of the grain fields.

The soil is unusually fertile, liberally yielding wheat, wine, and many fruits; the people are very tractable and in clothing style and diet are closer to the Romanians, who live broadly scattered in the desolate plains around".1560 – Orăștie Fortress is mentioned in chronicles by Giovanandrea Gromo.

At about this time the ethnic Hungarian community converted to Protestantism and the Romanian Catholic Church became Reformed Calvinist.

1582 – The Old Testament of Orăștie, one of the first Romanian-language translations of the Bible, was printed here with the help of the constable of Deva castle, Geszti Ferenc.

Later in the same year, general Gabriel Bethlen, with an army of Tatars, Turks, Hungarians and Serbs besieged the town.

1880 – Orăștie had 1,086 houses and 5,451 inhabitants: 2,312 Romanians, 1,427 Germans, 1,227 Hungarians, 16 Slovaks, 8 Serbs, 176 other nationalities, 138 foreigners and 147 of unknown maternal language (a category that included Roma (Gypsies)); 2,030 Eastern Orthodox, 1,002 Roman Catholic, 964 Lutheran, 769 Calvinist, 523 Eastern Rite, 163 Jewish.

[6] A medieval fortified church in Orăștie was built around 1400 in the Gothic style on the foundations of the older Romanesque basilica.

[7] The city no longer has an active Jewish population, but its historic synagogue has been renovated by the municipality and is used as House of Culture.