Who are the Székelys?
Today, about one in fifteen Hungarians is a Székely. Székely people (sometimes referred to as Szeklers in English) in the 16th and 17th centuries and today are struggling with the same problem: to regain their rights. Hopefully, their situation can be solved according to the values of the 21st century. Let me say at the outset that I am using the Oriental name order for Hungarians, where surnames come first; this is naturally applied to the Székelys.
The Székely people are ancient Hungarians living in Transylvania in Székelyföld (Szeklerland), located in Romania. They even had autonomy during socialism between 1950-1968. About one million Székely people are living in an area larger than Kosovo. Let us not forget that plenty of Hungarians in the world are Székelys. Just like my wife, whose family was deported from their homeland in the 1930s – they were given one hour to pack their belongings.
Unfortunately, almost every Hungarian family has a similar story. Let us not forget that a significant population descended from the Székelys of Bukovina lives in the counties of Tolna and Baranya in Hungary, and in certain districts of Vajdaság / Vojvodina in Serbia.
The Székely issue is a sensitive one, and ignoring it only makes things worse. Fortunately, there are more than a few Romanian friends of mine who believe that the Székelys are not a threat but rather an asset to Romania. Just like the German Saxons, the Székelys contribute a lot to the heritage of their present country, and similarly to the entire Hungarian nation. Hopefully, their problems can be solved in the European Union, unlike in the 16th or 17th century.
Their importance can be traced back to the Árpád period, when they were mentioned in many places in the Kingdom of Hungary, or referred to in old place names. Their peculiar traditions and their customary system, which could be called archaic even in the Middle Ages, are very different from those of any other ethnic group in Hungary. They marched under their own banner, with leaders of their own choice, in the king’s campaigns.
They had their own military administration, with lieutenants/leaders (later captains) at the head of the Seats (districts), over whom only the Székely Comes and the Transylvanian Voivode, appointed by the King, could command. The lieutenants, their judges and jurors were chosen from among themselves, and this office rotated annually between the various clans and their so-called branches, based on various blood ties. The right to call to arms, i.e. the right to carry the bloody sword, was also granted to the lieutenants.
In their village communities, land was drawn by lot among themselves and then rotated annually to ensure that no one was disadvantaged in farming. These plots of land, called arrow fields, were held together alternately in times of peace and war. In the border areas (Csíkszék, Gyergyószék, Háromszék) they served as border guards, scouts and spies. The Saxon towns were eager to employ them as mercenaries, as shown by the mention in the account books of Szeben (Sibiu), where the Székely archers guarding the town walls were also used to fight robbers hiding in the mountains.
During the reign of the Árpád dynasty, the Székelyszáz, a military unit called the Székelys Hundred, were mentioned in the Bihar region, and they were preserved for us in the records of the Várad Regestrum of 1217. Their village communities, organized in units of ten soldiers in the Székely seats, also followed this system of organization. They took part in several notable battles in defense of their homeland, and their units formed a wing of the Transylvanian army.
The origin of the Székely people
Four theories about their possible origin have been considered in recent research. The first one is that the Székelys were Hungarians from the beginning, who received their privileges in return for military service to the Hungarian king. Thus, their separate name did not come from the fact that they were treated as a different people, but as a people engaged in a separate occupation.
The second idea is that the Székelys are actually descendants of the Huns who arrived in the Carpathian Basin five centuries before the conquest, around 400 AD. This concept was first mentioned by Anonymus in his Gesta and was adopted by most of the Székely people themselves.
The third view is that the Székelys were originally another people who joined the Hungarians as Turkic auxiliaries before the conquest. Later they became the vanguard and rearguard of the venturing Hungarians on the European battlefields. Finally, the fourth idea is linked to the double conquest theory of László Gyula, who identifies them with a group of people who first arrived in the Carpathian Basin around 670 A.D., using griffin-flower motifs, and who are still unknown today. However, a closer and more thorough examination of the four theories reveals factors that unfortunately call into question the historical accuracy of each of them.
According to their own folklore and medieval Hungarian sources, the Székelys are the remnants of the Hun ruler Attila. This ancestry is still an unbroken part of the Székely people’s identity, which they guard tenaciously. In fact, in the early Hungarian chronicles, it is written that the “home taker” Grand Chief Árpád found the Székely people there when he arrived in Transylvania with his “Magyar” (=Hungarian) tribes. The Székelys greeted him with great joy, as a kinsman would. In the Gesta Hungarorum, written by an anonymous author (Anonymus), their envoys marched in front of the army of the Grand Chief Árpád and then took part in the conquest of Transylvania and the Carpathian Basin:
“After the Székelys, who were originally the people of King Attila, heard of the great fame of Ősbő, they marched peacefully to him… and in the battle against Menmaroth they secured for themselves the first line of battle before Ősbő’s army.”
Ősbő, the Hungarian commander of the Szalók clan, is the ancestor of the Szalók clan, while Ménmarót is a mythical and fabulous character brought to life by Anonymus. The author of the Gesta has given a well-known and important detail in historiography, according to which the Székelys went to war as the vanguard and rearguard of the Hungarian army. Some scholars consider this to be a typical military duty of the annexed peoples, a similar example of which can be found among the duties of the Cumans and the Pechenegs. This custom was confirmed by the Bohemian chronicler Kozmasz of Prague and later Hungarian sources, since in 1116 and 1146, in the conflicts against their western neighbors (Czechs and Bavarians), the Cumans and Pechenegs were both the front and rear guards of the Hungarian army.
The memory of the Huns’ origin and the tradition of King Csaba, who is venerated by the Székelys, was preserved in the 13th century chronicle of Kézai Simon. After the death of Attila, some Germanic leaders stirred up hostilities among the Huns. The war between the king’s sons (Csaba and Aladár) ended with Csaba, the king’s son, being the loser. This is known as the Battle of Krimhilda, named after the last wife of Attila the Hun, Krimhilda or Ildikó. Csaba retreated to his relatives in Byzantium and then to Scythia, and part of his army, the Székelys, stayed behind:
“Of the Huns, three thousand men remained, who escaped from the battle of Krimhilda by running away, and who, fearing the nations of the West, remained in the field of Csigle (the disputed name of Campo Chigle) until the time of Árpád, calling themselves not Huns but Székelys. These Székelys were the remnants of the Huns, who, when they heard that the Hungarians were returning to Pannonia, hastened to meet the returnees at the border of Ruthenia, and, having conquered Pannonia, took part in it, but did not occupy the plain of Pannonia, but, with the Vlahs (Blachis), had a share in the mountains of the border…. Now this Csaba was the legitimate son of Attila, born of the daughter of the Greek emperor Honorius, and his sons were called Edemen and Ed. And Edemen, when the Hungarians returned to Pannonia, went in with the very large family of his father and mother…”.
According to tradition, Prince Csaba collected the souls of dead warriors on the Starry Path (Milky Way) and in times of need he would return to help his people. This archaic image of kingship, derived from antiquity and mixed with Christian images of the Last Judgment (Apocalypse), is familiar to many peoples. In Hungarian culture, the figures of St. László, St. István, and even King Matthias are associated with historical tales of great kings lying dormant, waiting for the end times and the great confrontation.
In his 15th century chronicle Thuróczy János confirmed the exceptional status of the Székelys among the Hungarians and their different cultural characteristics. He repeated the story of the descent of the Huns from Master Kézai Simon and added what was known in his time, including references to arrow fields and the use of runic writing.
“In our time no one doubts that these Székelys are the remnants of the Huns who first settled in Pannonia, and since their people do not seem to have mixed with foreign blood, they are also stricter in their morals and very different from the other Hungarians in the distribution of the land. They have not forgotten the Scythian letters and do not use them with ink and paper, but carve them on sticks in the artful manner of runic rhymes”.
In the preface of his work he also mentioned the use of the Székely-Hungarian runic script, derived from the Eastern horse-riding peoples – let us not forget that literate people were rare at that time – which shows that it was of special importance to him. In the preface he also confirmed that the Székelys were a group of Hungarians. “For even in our time a part of the same people, who live in the Transylvanian parts of the kingdom, carve certain characters in wood and use such carvings as letters”.
Antonio Bonfini, the Italian-born historian of King Matthias Corvinus, added some interesting facts about them. In his work “Decades of Hungarian History” he eloquently described the closed community, the silence and the way of life of the Székelys. One of the most remarkable things was the love of freedom, which still strongly determines their outlook on life, their attitudes and their actions.
“As can be seen in our time, the Huns were not expelled from the whole of Pannonia… they moved to the distant borders of Dacia – what we now call Transylvania – and called themselves Székelys… They still do not marry foreigners so as not to contaminate their own blood. They live in the midst of strict customs and differ from other Hungarians in many ways. They use Scythian letters, which are not written on paper, but carved on short pieces of wood, and express a variety of meanings in a few characters. They are bearded and tough-looking, have cattle in their herds, and live by farming and grazing. They do not tolerate slavery at all, that is why they live in freedom until now and would rather die than pay taxes”.
The Székelys’ respect for tradition, their love of freedom, which sometimes tends to stubbornness and is emphasized in medieval sources, is legendary. They proudly cherish their traditions, cling to the stability of the historic churches, and strive to hold on to their communities even under the pressure of globalist ideas. Their search for identity is becoming clearer, and the specific features of Székely-Hungarian culture are beginning to crystallize, taking their rightful place in the repertoire of Hungarian values.
The Székelys in the medieval times
Later, the Székelys served as border guards, mainly in Transylvania, but many of them settled all along the borders of the Hungarian Kingdom. Without the Székely soldiers, it would have been difficult to stop the attacks of the eastern nomadic tribes: the Cumans, the Peschneghs (Besenyő), and the Oguz, not to mention the Mongols. The Székelys’ warfare was quite similar to the ancient Hungarian horse archers, so they were quite effective against the eastern invaders. Moreover, they could provide the king with a small army against the Ottomans until the end of the 18th century.
As for the Transylvanian Principality in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Székely nation was part of the traditional alliance of the “three nations”: the Hungarian nobles, the German Saxons, and the Székely guardsmen, who were considered a separate ethnic group “natio Siculica”. Regardless of much centralized power the prince of Transylvania possessed, he needed their support.
At the beginning of the Ottoman wars, the Székely territories came under the leadership of the Count of the Székelys (Latin: Comes Siculorum), initially a royal appointee from the non-Székely Hungarian nobility who was de facto a margrave; from the 15th century, the voivodes of Transylvania themselves held the office, under the rule of the Hungarian kings. These three groups ruled Transylvania from 1438, usually in harmony but sometimes in conflict.
In the 17th century, they still used their old runic alphabet. You should read it from right to left:
Here is a Székely soldier’s dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97-xs8IN9Wc
And here are more Székely dances, enjoy them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inepmEmqgMU
The Székelys, these tough mountain people, tended their land and lived in strict communities, but in times of war, they were mostly soldiers, traditionally guarding the mountains and their passes. In the 16th century, many of them decided to become farmers and pay taxes instead of the hard life of a soldier.
In 1595, Prince Báthory Zsigmond could muster 24,000 soldiers in his camp. At that time most of them had bows and arrows as well as spears, but 9,200 of them were equipped with rifles. They were concerned about their old privileges – to be free soldiers and not peasants – and in the 15th and 16th centuries were often divided by religion. They tended to support those powers that promised to protect their rights, so they were manipulated with great success. The Székelys are famous for their military exploits, for example, you can read about the Battle of Szárhegy, when a handful of Székely warriors successfully defended the border against 3,000 Crimean Tatars and Moldavians:
https://www.hungarianottomanwars.com/1541-1699/the-battle-of-szarhegy-1658/
In the time of Prince Rákóczi György I. they supported the prince: their general, Zólyomi Dávid and his Székelys helped the prince to defeat the attack of the Palatine Esterházy in 1631. The prince used them to guard the borders in 1634 when the Turkish Grand Vizier marched through Wallachia.
The Transylvanian prince visited them personally in the summer of 1635 to gather their forces. Then he tried to make up for the damage done to them, giving them justice and more privileges. He sent them against the Turks in 1636: the Székelys fought bravely against them at Nagyszalonta, led by Kornis Zsigmond. Here you can see some nice examples of Székely pottery:
https://www.hungarianottomanwars.com/masterpieces-of-art/ceramics-from-the-15-17th-centuries/
But this is only a fragment of their history. If you read my site, you will come across the deeds of the Székely warriors almost every second time I tell a story. Not to mention the fortified churches of the Székely land that helped them to survive the numerous raids of the Ottomans and Crimean Tatars. You can find many of these fortifications if you look at my menu and visit “Castles in the Hungaries” and choose Transylvania.
It is fascinating that these Székely people, the easternmost Hungarians, a million of them still live in Romania, like the Scots on the other edge of Europe. The comparison with the Celts gave me the idea to write my historical novel, whose hero is a Székely-Scottish soldier in the 17th century. According to my sources, the descendants of the Scottish mercenaries of the Transylvanian princes intermarried with the local Székelys. This is my historical novel “The Ring of Kékkő Castle”:
Much more could be said about the Székelys, whose history is unique among the Hungarians, although it cannot be separated from the history of the nation.
The main military actions of the Székely people in the 16th and 17th centuries:
According to the summary of Konnát Árpád, a Székely historian, the following events can be highlighted in this period
1506: King Ulászló II wanted the Székely people to pay the so-called “ox tax” like everyone else in case of the birth of a royal heir. The Székelys rebelled and set up camp in Marosszék. Captain Tomori Pál of Fogaras Castle set out against them with his 500 cavalrymen, but for the first time, he suffered a humiliating defeat. Tomori then retreated and gathered a more formidable army from the royal castles, scattering the Székely rebels. Read more about Tomori Pál here:
https://www.hungarianottomanwars.com/essays/general-tomori-pal-1475-1526/
1510-1511: The common Székelys rebelled against the “primors”, their higher class in Csíkszék and Gyergyószék. They plundered the properties of the wealthy primors and killed those who did not flee.
1514: The Székely troops were used to suppress the peasant uprising of Dózsa György. They were led by Szapolyai János. The peasants of the rebellious monk, Brother Mészáros Lőrinc, were defeated near Kolozsvár by the allied Székely-Saxon army commanded by Lieutenant Barlabási Lénárd. Soon Andrási Márton led the Székely cavalrymen in the battle of Temesvár, where they scattered the army of Dózsa György.
1519: The Székely “pixidarius” infantrymen rebelled and killed their leaders. They moved to the Erdővidék region to join the other Székely troops of the Háromszék region. However, their uprising ended at Homoródszentpál as the army of Szapolyai János defeated them.
1527-1528: All the Székely people took part in the Hungarian Civil War, supporting the national party against the Habsburgs. We can find the Székely soldiers in the lost battles of Tokaj and Szina as well as in the victorious battle of Sárospatak.
1529: Voivode Péter of Moldavia took advantage of the competition for the throne in Hungary and attacked the Székely land, destroying and plundering it for a month.
1531: Székely mercenaries conquered Saxon cities for King Szapolyai János. Read more about the German Saxons in Transylvania here:
https://www.hungarianottomanwars.com/essays/who-were-the-german-saxons-in-transylvania/
1542: Voivode Péter of Moldavia attacked the Székely land again and plundered it for a month, then the Székely troops, joined by other soldiers from Transylvania, drove him out of the country.
1543: Although forbidden by their ruler, the Székely soldiers of Háromszék led a private raid against Wallachia and returned home with a huge booty.
1548: Voivode Radu of Wallachia was forced to resign and he hired a few thousand Székely mercenaries to regain his throne. However, he was defeated by Voivode Mircse in the Battle of Peris. Almost all of the Székely mercenaries died in the battle. As an act of revenge, the Székelys of Háromszék attacked the Muntenia region and plundered the area.
1550: A Moldavian (Romanian) army attacked the Székely Land, and while they were busy plundering the countryside, the army of a soldier named Kemény János dealt them a crushing defeat. At the same time, Kendefi János defeated the invading Wallachian (Romanian) army in Szeben.
1551: The Székely soldiers took Lippa castle back from the Ottoman Turks.
1562: It was the first great Székely uprising under the command of Nagy György, Szepesi Ambrus and Bán András. First, they defeated Majláth Gábor, the captain of Fogaras Castle, in open battle and burned the masonry of all the wealthy Hungarian and Székely nobles. The arriving royal army defeated the smaller Székely army at Kisgörgény, and the larger Székely army surrendered. Before going home, they handed over their leaders to King János Zsigmond (the son of King Szapolyai János), who immediately had them impaled.
1575: The Székely units took part in the battle of Kerelószentpál, supporting the usurper Bekes Gábor. Báthory István (later King of Poland) won the battle and executed 34 Székelys on the spot who had instigated the uprising. He then ordered the body parts of many of the captured Székelys to be cut off.
1577: Báthory István helped Voivode Péter to retake his throne, with the help of a Székely army.
1579-1581: Several Székely units took part in the northern campaign of King Báthory István of Poland when he defeated the Russians in the Dwina region. There were not only Székely soldiers but also Székely carpenters who built huts for the Hungarian-Székely-Polish-Lithuanian troops for the winter season.
1594: The Székely auxiliaries fought in Moldavia and Wallachia. Under the command of Kornis Gáspár and Daczó Ferenc, they captured the pro-Ottoman Voivode Áron in Moldavia and brought him to Transylvania. At the same time, the Székelys helped Voivode Michael fight against the Turks in Wallachia.
1595: In the battle of Gyurgyevó, the devastating volley of the Székely infantrymen was the first step towards the victory of the Christians against the Ottomans.
1596: It was the time of the so-called “Bloody Carnival”, which was the biggest Székely uprising. While Prince Báthory Zsigmond was away (he resigned from the throne several times), he appointed Bocskai István, his loyal general, to guard the country. When Báthory heard of the Székely rebellion, he ordered his officers to refrain from atrocities. However, they disregarded his orders. Toldy István and Bogáthy Boldizsár rounded up all the main rebels in Marosszék and cruelly executed them by hanging or impaling them.
Apafi Miklós defeated the Székely common infantrymen from Gyergyó led by Gál János at Újfalu and killed all the prisoners. Hearing this, the rebels of Csík County laid down their arms, but they could not escape punishment so easily. In Háromszék, the Székelys were scattered by the soldiers of Ravazdi György after smaller fights. The troops of the Transylvanian prince were allowed to plunder the whole Székely land as if they were in a hostile foreign country.
1599: In the battle of Sellenberk the Székelys fought against each other. The Székelys of Marosszék and Aranyosszék sided with the Transylvanians, while the rest of the Székelys were in the army of Voivode Michael the Brave. After the battle, Prince Báthory András of Transylvania was killed by a common Székelys soldier named Ördög Balázs from Csíkszentmokos. The castles called Székelytámadt (“Székelys attacked”) and Várhegyi Castle were demolished because they had been built by King János Zsigmond to control the Székelys. The Székelys of the Háromszék region also captured Ravazdi György and took revenge for the “Bloody Carnival” by killing him most horribly.
1600: Under the command of Székely Mózes, the Székely troops conquered Moldavia, but they developed a dispute over the booty with their Wallachian (Romanian) allies in Tatros. In the end, the enraged Székelys slaughtered most of their Wallachian allies. Later, at the Battle of Miriszló, most of the Székelys fought on the side of Voivode Michael the Brave, and they were the ones who made a last stand at the end. You can read more about this battle here:
Note: Only the major military events have been listed, but the situation in Transylvania was tense enough even in times of peace. Not to mention the bloody feuds between families, the daily raids on the Borderland, and the battles between non-Székely soldiers and stray mercenaries.
1602-1604: It was the time of the “terrible reign” of General Basta. The Italian-Albanian general Giorgio Basta and his western mercenaries, accompanied by the Hungarian Hajdú soldiers, devastated the western part of the Székely land. They burned the town of Marosvásárhely twice and defeated the Székely soldiers of Nyárád at Nyárádtő, the guards of the castle of Bethlen and they were all slaughtered.
Read more about the Battle of Gyergyószárhegy here:
https://www.hungarianottomanwars.com/1541-1699/the-battle-of-szarhegy-1658/
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