Journal Analele Banatului N.S. Archaeology-History

Dragoș-Lucian Țigău

Familia Vaida de Giarmata (1400-1550) / The Vaidas of Gyarmat (1400-1550)

Jan. 1, 2013

Abstract

Due to the small number of written documents available, the destiny of the Vaida family has not been researched comprehensively. Based on testimonies, various aspects can be reconstructed: the origin and names of the family members, family connections, real estate properties, dignities and functions and religion. Yet, it is more difficult to find information about their culture. For over a century and a half only 13 men and one woman are mentioned. e genealogy of the family can be traced back through 5 – 6 generations. e fortune of the family consists of 20 possessions scattered in Arad and Timiș counties. ey were sufficient to ensure the noble rank and living of the former family of Romanian voivodes. e social-political evolution of Banat in the the 15th century showed a complex nobility pattern, in a continuous dynamics and adaptation. Documents illustrate a rare example of successful transformation of a family belonging to the traditional Romanian elite into a noble lineage, fully integrated into the feudal/ medieval structure of the Hungarian Kingdom. e voivodes of Giarmath, as the other inhabitants of Banat and Transylvania, used all the opportunities and chances offered by the epoch in order to obtain a privileged status, the recognition of the inherited possessions or their multiplication using diverse methods. e factors which led to social ascension of the family were their military talent and administrative positions. e limited information from the chancellery acts from the middle of the 15th century firmly suggested that the loyalty and military courage gestures were rewarded by the royalty. e documents issued by the royal chancellery during Sigismund of Luxemburg’s rule and of his successors recognized courage, bloodshed and loyalty of Vaida nobles from Banat who had been participants, beside the king and other high officials, in the fights within the frontier area in the first half of the 15th century. e honour of these military, administrative, judicial privileges brought them material benefits and the increasing of the social prestige in the aristocracy’s ranges, but especially at the level of the Temes county where they came from. Participation in the general assemblies of the nobles is an example of the influence enjoyed by the family. After the Ottoman conquest of the Banat plain in the summer of 1552, the family lost their estates and left the province forever.