History of the Aromanians
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This article is about the history of the Aromanians. For the history of Northern Vlachs (Romanians), see History of Romania.
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[edit] Origins
Vlachs were the Romanized people of south-eastern Europe. The Vlach people are generally considered to have formed during the romanization of south eastern europe, probably from a mix of Roman colonists (from various Roman provinces) and indigenous peoples who were Romanized.
Their more exact place of origin is hard to determine as they can be found all over the Balkan peninsula. Aromanians can be found in Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and the Republic of Macedonia, while Romanians in Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Serbia and Hungary. Their occupations were mostly trading, shepherding and craftsmanship. It is not known exactly when the Vlachs who were the ancestors of present day Aromanians broke off from the general body of Vlach people; historians point to a period between the 5th--9th Centuries.
[edit] Byzantine period
- See also: Vlachs and Great Wallachia
In 579 AD, two Byzantine chroniclers, Theophanis and Theophylactus, provided accounts of the language of the Armani (Vlachs) [citation needed]. The Slavic-derived exonym Vlachoi ("Vlachs") became a substitute for the term Armani when it was first used in 976 AD in a chronicle by a Greek author named Kedrinos.
[edit] Ottoman period
In the 18th century, as many of the Vlachs became involved in the trade between the Occident and Orient, their main city, Moscopole, became one of the most important and prosperous cities of the Balkans, until it was sacked and pillaged by the Ottomans in 1788.
[edit] World War II
After the Italian occupation of Greece the Aromanians created an autonomous state in Northern-Greece. The leaders of the Principality of Pindus were Alkiviadis Diamandi di Samarina (Prince Alchibiades I, 1941-1943) and Baron Gyula Milványi-Csesznegi (Prince Julius I, 1943). The principality was definitively annected by Greece in 1947.
[edit] Modern history
Today, the official position of the Greek government is that the Vlachs are only Greeks speaking a Latin dialect. Some assert that the reason for this official position is because the Greek government does not want to declare the Vlachs as a national minority. However, the Vlachs themselves do not wish to become a national minority in Greece. The willingness of the Vlachs in Greece to maintain their ties with their fellow Greeks has led to the dwindling usage of their distinct dialect. Though their traditions are not infringed upon by the Greek state, the Vlachs are encouraged to return to speaking the language of their supposed ancestors (i.e. Greeks).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Lozovan, Eugen. Romani şi barbari pe cursul mijlociu al Dunării.
