Journal Analele Banatului N.S. Archaeology-History

Peter Bučko

The Romance Population in the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary

Jan. 1, 2014

Abstract

Medieval kingdom of Hungary was since its very begining founded on the basis of multiethnicity and openness to foreigners. Foreigners in Hungary, especially in the 11th and 12th century came from Western Europe. Great immigration waves of the romance population are documented mostly during the reign of king Géza II (1141 – 1162), when they managed to settle in peripheral regions of the country and increase the population and significance of weakly populated regions. Foreigners in the 12th recieved privileged status as the „guests“. In the 11th and 12th century these guests have settled in Srem, Spiš, Transylvania and Tokaj. Some information about Srem region are provided by crusades chronicles. In Srem there was a village called Francavilla, which belonged to the oldest and most important romanesque settlement in Hungary. The Guests in Transylvania had their own church organization and there were several bishops of Transylvania and Bihar/Oradea of western european origin. Other regions with Romanesque population – Spiš and Tokaj laid on international routes. The collegiate chapter of Spiš even owned vineyards in Tokaj – in Sárospátak, one of the oldest Hungarian cities with privileges. A large number of documented pilgrimage passing through Hungary could also stand behind the increase of new romance population in the country. Additional aspect of the Crusades was the creation of religious orders, the Knights Templar and the Hospitallers, who just few decades after their formation appeared in Hungary and were engaged in the life of Hungarian kingdom. The romance population appeared in Hungary already in 11th century, but the massively in 12th century, and was engaged in different spheres of political, religious, cultural and economic life of Hungary in the High Middle Ages, whether as wine producers, merchants or the dignitaries of church and also military orders. Tracking the development of romance population, however, calls for a broad research sources and all aspects of medieval life, taking into account the specificities of Hungary and its regions.