Vlachs

Vlachs
Total population

24,187,810[1][2][3][4]

"Wallach" and "Oláh" redirect here. For other uses, see Wallach (disambiguation) and Oláh (disambiguation).
Map of Balkans with regions significantly inhabited by Vlachs/Romanians highlighted

The Vlachs (English pronunciation: /ˈvlɑːk/ or /ˈvlæk/) are several modern Latin peoples descending from the Romanized population in the present-day territory of Romania and Moldova, as well as the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula and south and west of the Danube River.[5]

The Vlachs did not become easily identifiable before the 11th century when they were described by George Kedrenos, and their prehistory during the Migration period is considered by some historians a matter of scholarly speculation.[6] According to some linguists and scholars, the existence of the present Eastern Romance languages proves the survival of the Thraco-Romans in the Lower Danube basin during the Age of Migrations,[7] while populations from the western Balkans historically referred to as "Vlachs" (e.g. speakers of the extinct Dalmatian language) could have also had Romanized Illyrian origins.[8]

Almost all modern nations in central and south-eastern Europe, e.g. Hungary, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Greece and Bulgaria have native Vlach or Romanian minorities. In other countries, the native Vlach population has been more or less assimilated into the Slavic population. Only Romania and Moldova have Romanian ethnic majorities today.

Etymology

Further information: Walhaz

The word Vlach is ultimately of Germanic origin, from the word Walha, "foreigner", "stranger", a name used by ancient Germanic peoples to refer to Romance-speaking and (Romanized) Celtic neighbours. In turn, Walha may have been derived from the name of a Celtic tribe which was known to the Romans as Volcae in the writings of Julius Caesar and to the Greeks as Ouólkai in texts by Strabo and Ptolemy.[9] As such, the term Vlach shares its history with several European ethnic names, including the Welsh and Walloons.[10]

From the Germanic peoples, the term passed to the Slavs and from these in turn to other peoples, such as the Hungarians ("oláh", referring to Vlachs, more specifically Romanians, "olasz", referring to Italians) and Byzantines ("Βλάχοι", "Vláhi"), and was used for all Latin people of the Balkans.[11] The Polish word for "Italian", Włoch (plural Włosi), has the same origin, as does the Slovenian, vaguely derogatory word "lach", also for Italians. The Italian-speaking region lying south of South Tyrol, now part of Italy with the name "Trentino", was known as Welschtirol in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. "Vlah" is also a derogatory term used in Croatia when referring to inhabitants of Dalmatian hinterland and the Dinarides area, regardless of their religious affiliation, ("Vlaji") and in Bosnia referring to a person of Eastern Orthodox Church ("Vlasi").

History

See also: History of Romania, Origin of the Romanians and History of Aromanians
Writ issued on 14 October 1465 by the Wallachian voivode Radu cel Frumos, from his residence in Bucharest.
The Jireček line between Latin- and Greek-language Roman inscriptions

The first record of a medieval Romance language in the Balkans dates to the early Byzantine period in which Procopius' (500–565) mention forts with names such as Skeptekasas (Seven Houses), Burgulatu (Broad City), Loupofantana (Wolf's Well) and Gemellomountes (Twin Mountains).[12][13] A Byzantine chronicle of 586 about an incursion against the Avars in the eastern Balkans may contain one of the earliest references to Vlachs. The account states that when the baggage carried by a mule slipped, the muleteer shouted, "Torna, torna, fratre!" ("Return, return, brother!").[14][15][16]

Byzantine historians used the German origin name Vlachs for Latin speakers and especially for Romanians.[17][18][19]

The name Blökumenn is mentioned in a Nordic Saga, in the context of some events taking place in 1018 or 1019, believed to be related to the Vlachs.[20][21]

Traveler Benjamin of Tudela (1130–1173), of the Kingdom of Navarre, was one of the first writers using the word Vlachs for a Romance-speaking population.[22]

Arab chronicler Mutahhar al-Maqdisi stated: "they say that in the Turkic neighbourhood there are the Khazars, Russians, Slavs, "Waladj", Alans, Greeks and many other peoples."[23]

Byzantine writer Kekaumenos, the author of the Strategikon (1078), described a Roman (Vlach) revolt in Northern Greece in 1066.[24]

In the late 9th century, the Hungarians invaded the Pannonian basin, where, according to the Gesta Hungarorum written around 1200 by the anonymous chancellor of King Bela III of Hungary, the province of Pannonia was inhabited by Slavs, Bulgars, Vlachs, and pastores Romanorum (shepherds of the Romans) (in original: sclauij, Bulgarij et Blachij, ac pastores romanorum). Between the 12th and 14th centuries they came under the Kingdom of Hungary, the Byzantine Empire and the Golden Horde.[25]

Anna Comnen in Alexiade (Chapter XIV) identifies the Vlachs from Balkans with Dacians, describing their places around Haemus mountains: "...on either side of its slopes dwell many very wealthy tribes, the Dacians and the Thracians on the northern side, and on the southern, more Thracians and the Macedonians". Byzantine historian John Kinnamos described Leon Vatatzes' military expedition in Northern Danube in which he mentioned the participation of Vlachs in battles against Magyars in 1166.[26][27]

In 1213, a joint army composed by Romans (Vlachs), Saxons and Pechenegs led by Ioachim from Sibiu, attacked the Bulgars and Cumans from Vidin. From this date, all battles of Hungarian kingdom in Carpathian area were supported by Romance people from Transylvania.[28]

Simon de Keza wrote at the end of the 13th century (during Ladislaus the Cuman) about the Roman origin of "blacki" and placed their presence in Pannonia starting with the Hun Empire.[29][30]

Archaeological discoveries in Transylvania show that Transylvania was gradually occupied by Magyars and the last standing region defended by Vlachs and Pechenegs (until 1200) was between Olt river and Carpathians[31][32] Shortly after the fall of Olt, a Catholic church started to be constructed at Cârța and catholic emigrants (Saxons) were brought to balance the local Orthodox population.[33] Diploma Andreanum issued by Andrew II of Hungary in 1224 shows that "silva blacorum et bissenorum" was granted to emigrants.[34]

Vlachs (Wołosi in Polish) have spread along Carpathian ridge to former Poland, Slovakia and even as far as to Moravia. Vlachs were granted with autonomy under the Ius Vlachonicum (Walachian Law, Prawo Wołoskie)and professed Orthodox faith[35]

In 1285, Ladislaus the Cuman battled with Tatars and Cumans and arrived with his troops (made of orthodox Vlachs from Transylvania)[36] until Moldova river. Shortly after this, a town named Baia was constructed (attested in 1300) by emigrant Saxons near Moldova river. This starting date for Moldova state was correctly interpreted by a lot of historians [37][38]

In 1290, Ladislaus the Cuman who protected the Cumans, Pechenegs and Orthodox believers was assassinated and a new Magyar king with other preferencies forced some leaders (including Negru Vodă) from the space between Olt and Carpathes to move over Carpathes and to contribute to the formation of Valachia[39]

People

Branches of Vlachs/Romanians and their territories

The Eastern Romance languages, sometimes known as the Vlach languages, are a group of Romance languages that developed in south-eastern Europe from the local eastern variant of Vulgar Latin. There is no official data from Balkan countries such as Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and Serbia.

Territories with Vlach population

The evolution of the Eastern Romance languages through the ages.
The territories of the Bolohoveni.
The territories of the Bolohoveni according to V.A. Boldur.

Besides the separation of some groups of Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians during the Age of Migration, many other Vlachs could be found all over the Balkans, as far north as Poland and as far west as Moravia (part of the modern Czech Republic), and the present-day Croatia where the Morlachs gradually disappeared, while the Catholic and Orthodox Vlachs took Croat and Serb national identity.[52] They reached these regions in search of better pastures, and were called "Wallachians" ("Vlasi; Valaši") by the Slavic peoples.

Statal Entities mentioned in Middle Ages chronicles:

Regions, places:

Genetics

In 2006, Bosch et al. attempted to analyze whether Vlachs are the descendants of Latinised Dacians, Illyrians, Thracians, Greeks, or a combination of these. No hypothesis could be proven because of the high degree of underlying genetic similarity of all the tested Balkan groups. The linguistic and cultural differences among various Balkan groups were thus deemed too weak to prevent significant gene flow among the above groups.[60]

Occupations

Moravian "Valach" (in the meaning of a sheepherder) from Brumov, 1787

Due to the Vlachs’ extensive occupation with sheepherding, their ethnonym has come, since the Middle Ages, to be identified with the profession of the sheepherder (regardless of his language or a real ethnicity) in many Balkan and Central European languages.

Culture

Many Vlachs in mediaeval times were shepherds who drove their sheep through the mountains of south-eastern Europe. The Vlach shepherds reached as far as southern Poland and Moravia in the north by following the Carpathian range, the Dinaric Alps in the west, the Pindus mountains in the south, and the Caucasus Mountains in the east.[61] Vlachs have been referred to as "the perfect Balkan citizens" because they are "able to preserve their culture without resorting to war or politics, violence or dishonesty."[62]

Language

The Vlachs in the Southern Balkan peninsula are self-defined as Αrmɨɲi [63] or Remeɲi, terms deriving from the Latin word Romani (Romans). This is where the neologism Aromanians, that is used in scientific/academic bibliography, comes from. The majority of the Vlachs live in Greece, Albania, Macedonia and Romania. The greater region of the Pindos mountain range is considered to be their historic cradle. The Vlach language was used mostly in oral speech while for written speech the Vlachs used primarily the Greek language.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Ethnologue report for language code: ron". Ethnologue.com. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  2. ↑ "Council of Europe Parliamentary Recommendation 1333 (1997)". Assembly.coe.int. 1997-06-24. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  3. ↑ "Ethnologue Estimate in Greece and all countries". Ethnologue.org. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  4. ↑ http://www.ethnologue.com/language/ruo
  5. ↑ "Vlach".
  6. ↑ Schramm 1997, pp. 336-337.
  7. ↑ According to Cornelia Bodea, Ştefan Pascu, Liviu Constantinescu : "România : Atlas Istorico-geografic", Academia Română 1996, ISBN 973-27-0500-0, chap. II, "Historical landmarks", p. 50 (english text), the survival of the Thraco-Romans in the low-Danube basin during the Migration period is an obvious fact : Thraco-Romans aren't vanished in the soil & Vlachs aren't appeared after 1000 years by spontaneous generation.
  8. ↑ Badlands-Borderland : A History of Southern Albania/Northern Epirus [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover) by T.J. Winnifruth, ISBN 0-7156-3201-9, 2003, page 44 : "Romanized Illyrians, the ancestors of the modern Vlachs".
  9. ↑ Ringe, Don. "Inheritance versus lexical borrowing: a case with decisive sound-change evidence." Language Log, January 2009.
  10. ↑ "The name 'Vlach' or 'Wallach' applied to them by their neighbours is identical with the English Wealh or Welsh and means "stranger", but the Vlachs call themselves Aromani, or "Romans" (H.C. Darby, "The face of Europe on the eve of the great discoveries', in The New Cambridge Modern Hiostory, vol. 1, 1957:34).
  11. ↑ Kelley L. Ross (2003). "Decadence, Rome and Romania, the Emperors Who Weren't, and Other Reflections on Roman History". The Proceedings of the Friesian School. Retrieved 2008-01-13. Note: The Vlach Connection
  12. ↑ http://www.fact-index.com/h/hi/history_of_vlachs.html
  13. ↑ http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rbph_0035-0818_1924_num_3_1_6272
  14. ↑ M. Manea, A. Pascu, B. Teodorescu, Istoria românilor din cele mai vechi timpuri până la revoluția din 1821, Ed. Didactică și Pedagogică, București, 1997
  15. ↑ Gheorghe I. Brătianu, Marea Neagră de la origini până la cucerirea otomană, ediția a II-a rev., Ed. Polirom, Iași, 1999, p. 182, 193
  16. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20081003021421/http://www.ear.ro/3brevist/rv8/art14.pdf
  17. ↑ A. ARMBRUSTER, ROMANITATEA ROMÂNILOR ISTORIA UNEI IDEI, Editura Enciclopedica,1993
  18. ↑ http://www.farsarotul.org/nl26_1.htm
  19. ↑ http://www.friesian.com/decdenc2.htm
  20. ↑ Egils saga einhenda ok Ásmundar berserkjabana, in Drei lygisogur, ed. Å. Lagerholm (Halle/Saale, 1927), p. 29
  21. ↑ V. Spinei, The Romanians and the Turkic Nomads North of the Danube Delta from the Tenth to the Mid-Thirteenth Century, Brill, 2009, p. 106, ISBN 9789047428800
  22. ↑ http://users.clas.ufl.edu/fcurta/tudela.html
  23. ↑ A. Decei, V. Ciocîltan, “La mention des Roumains (Walah) chez Al-Maqdisi,”in Romano-arabica I, Bucharest, 1974, pp. 49–54
  24. ↑ G. Murnu, Când si unde se ivesc românii întâia dată în istorie, în „Convorbiri Literare”, XXX, pp. 97-112
  25. ↑ Mircea Muşat, Ion Ardeleanu-From ancient Dacia to modern Romania, p. 114
  26. ↑ A. Decei, op. cit., p. 25.
  27. ↑ V. Spinei, The Romanians and the Turkic Nomads North of the Danube Delta From the Tenth to the Mid-Thirteenth Century, Brill, 2009, p.132, ISBN 9789004175365
  28. ↑ Ş. Papacostea, Românii în secolul al XIII-lea între cruciată şi imperiul mongol, Bucureşti, 1993, 36; A. Lukács, Ţara Făgăraşului, 156; T. Sălăgean, Transilvania în a doua jumătate a secolului al XIII-lea. Afirmarea regimului congregaţional, Cluj-Napoca, 2003, 26-27
  29. ↑ Simon de Kéza, Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum, IV,
  30. ↑ G. Popa-Lisseanu, Izvoarele istoriei Românilor, IV, Bucuresti, 1935, p. .32
  31. ↑ K. HOREDT, Contribuţii la istoria Transilvaniei în secolele IV-XIII, Bucureşti, 1958, p.109-131. IDEM, Siebenburgen im Fruhmittelalter, Bonn, 1986, p.111 sqq.
  32. ↑ I.M.Tiplic, CONSIDERAŢII CU PRIVIRE LA LINIILE ÎNTĂRITE DE TIPUL PRISĂCILOR DIN TRANSILVANIA (sec. IX-XIII)*ACTA TERRAE SEPTEMCASTRENSIS I, pp 147-164
  33. ↑ A. IONIŢĂ, Date noi privind colonizarea germană în Ţara Bârsei şi graniţa de est a regatului maghiar în cea de a doua jumătate a secolului al XII-lea, în RI, 5, 1994, 3-4.
  34. ↑ J. DEER, Der Weg zur Goldenen Bulle Andreas II. Von 1222, în Schweizer Beitrage zur Allgemeinen Geschichte, 10, 1952, pp. 104-138
  35. ↑ Stefan Pascu: A History of Transylvania, Wayne State Univ Pr, 1983, p. 57
  36. ↑ http://self.gutenberg.org/article/WHEBN0000922690/Cuman%20people
  37. ↑ Pavel Parasca, Cine a fost "Laslău craiul unguresc" din tradiţia medievală despre întemeierea Ţării Moldovei [=Who was "Laslău, Hungarian king" of the medieval tradition on the foundation of Moldavia]. In: Revista de istorie şi politică, An IV, Nr. 1.; ULIM;2011 ISSN: 1857-4076
  38. ↑ O. Pecican, Dragoș-vodă - originea ciclului legendar despre întemeierea Moldovei. În „Anuarul Institutului de Istorie și Arheologie Cluj”. T. XXXIII. Cluj-Napoca, 1994, pp. 221-232
  39. ↑ D. CĂPRĂROIU, ON THE BEGINNINGS OF THE TOWN OF CÂMPULUNG, ″Historia Urbana″, t. XVI, nr. 1-2/2008, pp. 37-64
  40. ↑ "Ethnologue report for language code: ron". Ethnologue.com. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  41. ↑ http://media.popis2011.stat.rs/2011/prvi_rezultati.pdf Serbian Preliminary 2011 Census Results
  42. ↑ http://www.ksh.hu/nepszamlalas/teruleti_adatok
  43. ↑ WebDesign Ltd. www.webdesign-bg.eu. "2011 Census Results". nsi.bg. Retrieved 2014-09-14.
  44. ↑ "Council of Europe Parliamentary Recommendation 1333 (1997)". Assembly.coe.int. 1997-06-24. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  45. ↑ "Ethnologue report for language code: rup". Ethnologue.org. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  46. ↑ According to INTEREG - quoted by Eurominority: Aromanians in Albania, Albania's Aromanians; Reemerging into History
  47. ↑ Arno Tanner. The forgotten minorities of Eastern Europe: the history and today of selected ethnic groups in five countries. East-West Books, 2004 ISBN 978-952-91-6808-8, p. 218: "In Albania, Vlachs are estimated to number as many as 200,000"
  48. ↑ "Aromânii vor statut minoritar", in Cotidianul, 9 December 2006
  49. ↑ Macedonian census 2002
  50. ↑ "Ethnologue Estimate in Greece and all countries". Ethnologue.org. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  51. ↑ http://www.ethnologue.com/language/ruo
  52. ↑ Hammel, E. A. and Kenneth W. Wachter. "The Slavonian Census of 1698. Part I: Structure and Meaning, European Journal of Population". University of California.
  53. ↑ Peoples of Europe. Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2002 ISBN 0-7614-7378-5, ISBN 978-0-7614-7378-7.
  54. ↑ A. Boldur, Istoria Basarabiei, Editura Victor Frunza, Bucuresti 1992, pp 98-106
  55. ↑ A. Boldur, Istoria Basarabiei, Editura Victor Frunza, Bucuresti 1992
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 56.2 56.3 Since Theophanes Confessor and Kedrenos, in : A.D. Xenopol, Istoria Românilor din Dacia Traiană, Nicolae Iorga, Teodor Capidan, C. Giurescu : Istoria Românilor, Petre Ș. Năsturel Studii și Materiale de Istorie Medie, vol. XVI, 1998
  57. ↑ Map of Yugoslavia, file East, sq. C-E/f, Istituto Geografico de Agostini, Novara, in : Le Million, encyclopédie de tous les pays du monde, vol. IV, ed. Kister, Geneve, Switzerland, 1970, pp. 290-291, and some other old atlases - these names disappear after 1980.
  58. ↑ Map of Yugoslavia, file East, sq. B/f, Istituto Geografico de Agostini, Novara, in : Le Million, encyclopédie de tous les pays du monde, vol. IV, ed. Kister, Geneve, Switzerland, 1970, pp. 290-291, and many other maps & old atlases - these names disappear after 1980.
  59. ↑ Z. Konecny, F. Mainus, Stopami Minulosti: Kapitol z Dejin Moravy a Slezka/Traces of the Past: Chapters from the History of Moravia and Silezia, Brno:Blok,1979
  60. ↑ E Bosch et al. Paternal and maternal lineages in the Balkans show a homogeneous landscape over linguistic barriers, except for the isolated Aromuns. Annals of Human Genetics, Volume 70, Issue 4 (p 459-487)
  61. ↑ Silviu Dragomir: "Vlahii din nordul peninsulei Balcanice în evul mediu"; 1959, p. 172;
  62. ↑ Winnifrith, Tom. "Vlachs". Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  63. ↑ Phonetic rendering of the Vlach words according to the international phonetic alphabet.

References

Further reading

External links

Look up Vlach in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vlachs.