Ever since the incorporation of Transylvania — known in German as Siebenbürgen — into the Habsburg domains in 1691, the situation of the Romanian peasants in this region, who were Orthodox Christians, had been particularly precarious.

Probably because he was literate, Horea became the spokesman for the Romanian peasants, traveling to Vienna on four occasions between 1779 and 1784 to present their grievances in personal audiences with Emperor Joseph II.

On his second excursion to Vienna, in 1780, he was accompanied only by Cloșca; it was on this occasion that the Emperor is said to have ordered him to investigate the motives behind the Hungarians’ mistreatment of the Serbs and, particularly, the Romanians.

It is known that Joseph II was, at this time, in conflict with the nobility in Transylvania, because he wished to bring an end to the feudal system and wanted Romanian serfs to be able to join his army, something the nobles forbade because it would deprive them of free labor.

Horea is said to have told his fellow Romanian serfs that the Emperor had authorized him to encourage them to wipe out the Hungarian nobility of Transylvania.

In any event, during the period when Horea represented them, the Romanian peasants’ situation worsened – their working hours were increased and their right to exploit the forests was taken from them.

On January 31, 1784, Joseph ordered an increase in the number of border guards in Transylvania, and peasants from around the region, including many from Romania, traveled to Alba Iulia (Gyulafehérvár, Karlsburg) to enroll in the army and thus escape the exploitative feudal system.

A large number of peasants led by Horea then headed for Alba Iulia to join the army, but on the night of November 1 they were attacked by Hungarian nobility's troops in the village of Curechiu (Kurety).

Cloșca and his men went on to conquer Câmpeni (Topánfalva, Topesdorf), Abrud (Abrudbánya, Großschlatten), and the Arieș (Aranyos) valley.

When no response from Vienna was forthcoming, Horea called for a resumption of hostilities, whereupon the governor tried to restore calm by offering the rebels a general amnesty.

On December 14, at Câmpeni (Topánfalva, Topesdorf), Horea told the peasants to return to their homes but said that they would resume fighting in the spring.

At first dozens of rebels were sentenced to be killed, but Joseph II granted them amnesties, and ordered that only the three leaders should be executed.

The next day, Horea and Cloșca were broken on the wheel at Dealul Furcilor (Gabelberg, Forks Hill), Alba Iulia.

[2][3][4] In 1785 Jacques Pierre Brissot, who would become a leader of the French Revolution, published an open letter to Joseph II in which he asserted the right of royal subjects to protest.