The Tsangos of Romania

THE TSANGOS OF ROMANIA THE HUNGARIAN MINORITIES IN ROMANIAN MOLDAVIA S.J. MAGYARODY EDITOR MATTHIAS CORVINUS PUBLISHING This is the second prepublishing, unchecked, version of a forthcoming book. Please excuse our typos and wrong synonyms. We are working on them.... CONTENTS 1. Foreword 2. Bernadette Pálfay........Short History of the Tsangos, 3. Antal Horváth...... The Origins of the Catholics of Moldavia Note: The page numbers will be different in the printed book. FOREWORD Most people, outside Rumania and Hungary probably never heard of the dwindling Csangó (Tsango) people of Rumanian Moldavia. This is the first effort in recent years to present the plight of this leaderless, teacherless, priestless, unfortunate people, on the verge of total absorption into the Rumanian nation, in the English language - from the Hungarian point of view. It is the first, but not the last one. A comprehensive book is in the works. Until that is ready for publication, sometime this year, we would like to present on these pages a Short History of the Tsangos, by Ms. Bernadette Pálfay and an English translation of a book, by Antal Horváth, a catholic priest, who the recently passed away. The original title of his book is: Strámosii Catolicilor Din Moldova. Pater Horváth compiled a great many Latin, Hungarian, German, and Rumanian documents from past centuries, shedding some light on the existence and fate of the Moldavian (Hungarian and German) Catholics in the all-encompassing sea of Rumanian Orthodox Church. This Hungarians are without even priests, who could give them solace in their native tongue. The Rumanian state and the (Rumanian) Catholic Bishopric in Iasi, with the tacit understanding of Vatican, steadfastly refuse to provide Hungarian speaking priests. This, and the lack of Hungarian teachers and schools and denying the right to use their mother tongue in government offices, amount to genocidium, by the definition of the UN Charter of Human Rights and the European Charters and Recommendations. S.J. Magyarody Prepublication version for the Internet THE CSÁNGÓS (Tsangos) BY: BERNADETT PÁLFAY TABLE OF CONTENTS: The history of the Csángós Havasalföld Moldavia Hussite Movements Sacra Congregation de Propaganda Fide Mádéfalva The Accounts of Pál Péter Domokos Béla Bartók and the Csángós Csángós in Baranya Bibliography THE HISTORY OF THE CSÁNGÓS In order to understand the origins of the Csángós, we have to start with a brief history of the Hungarians from the IXth century. As we know, the people who later settled the Carpathian basin came through Magna Hungaria, left it in 600 only to arrive at Etelköz in 840-850. As the area could not be properly protected, the Hungarians were eager to move on. Another factor resulted as the moving force for the Hungarian tribes and those were the Petchenegs (Besenyös). Those Hungarian tribes, with Árpád as their leader, moved on and crossed the Verecke mountain pass. Those tribes by the Prut, Szeret, and Danube rivers, crossed the Carpathians in the valleys made by the rivers, while those tribes still further south moved across the Vaskapu (Irongates) mountain pass. Historians believe that not all the members of the Hungarian tribes left, but it is possible that the older and peaceful ones remained behind, while many who had left before the attacks of the Petchenegs, returned later on. While the Hungarians were pushed westward by the Petchenegs, their homeland was seized by the Uz and then was conquered by the Cumanians. So Cumania and Transylvania became neighbouring countries. In 1071 with the leading of Ozul, the Cumanians broke into Hungary over the Transylvanian mountain passes. They raided the country, captured men, women, and animals. The Hungarians managed to stop them and chased them back to Cumania but in the years that followed they tried to invade the country several more times,in 1085, 1091, and 1099, but always without success. So as we can see in the first century of the new Hungarian monarchy, had to defend it's borders from the Cumanians. In these fights the Hungarian king always headed these fights while the Cumanians were lead by their tribal chiefs Around 1162, Géza the second, invited Germans from the Rhine and Flanders to settle around Szeben and Beszterce. These became known as the Transylvanian-Saxons. After hundred years of relative peace in the 12th century, the Cumanians invaded the country again and ravaged the Barcaság. Endre the second, was the king, who decided to end this constant danger by inviting the German Knights of Hospital Order of St. Marien, headed by Hermann de Salza to protect Hungary's borders. He gave them land and priveleges / they did not have to pay taxes, could choose their own judges, could keep the gold or silver they found on their land etc./. Soon the king realized that he was not profiting much from this arrangement and decided to break off his deal with the German knights and fill the posts on the border with his own knights. But because of the aproaching of the Tartars. he made peace with the Germans and instead of sending them away, he gave more land to them. They started building stone forts instead of the wooden ones they had erected earlier. New towns appeared with German names but Hungarian names of towns, rivers can be detected. This also supports the fact that some Hungarians did stay behind outside of the Carpathians. They are refered to by Endre the second, as "our people" distinguishing them from the Saxon "guests". They were the first Hungarians in Moldavia. In 1223, the German knights asked the help of the pope for them to belong to the Holy See but what they were really thinking of was, founding their own state which would have been independent from Hungary. In April 1224, the pope announced that the land of the German knights belonged to the Holy See and that no Hungarian bishops or archbishops could interfere in their affairs. By 1225, there was a bitter conflict between the king and the Germans, since the knights were starting to occupy land which did not belong to them. The pope, after receiving letters from both sides, from the king who demanded that the knights leave the country immediately and from also the knights, they were demanding help from the pope against the Hungarians who meanwhile had invaded their land, taxing the people and burning their castles, he decided to settle the problem by sending the bishop of Györ and Nagyvárad to look into the matter. He found that the Germans had started occupying more land and also that the king had taken matters into his hands and driven the Germans out of the country. Endre the second, did not leave the borderline empty, but sent his own men there. This became the second time that Hungarians went to live in Moldavia. Their descendants became part of the Csángó people living today. Rome had always put a great emphasis on converting the pagan people. In this plan Hungary, sharing borders with the heathen Cumanians, had an important role. The pope wanted the newly formed Dominican order to start converting in Cumania. The founder of the order, Saint Dominic, wanted to head the mission and for this, he studied the language of the Cumanians and even grew a beard. But because of his age, he could not carry out his plan. The missionaries reached the country through Hungary and, although, the members of the first group were killed the second mission was successful. They were so successful that in 1227, Borz Membrok the fourth the most important man in Cumania accepted the new teachings. He sent a small group headed by his son to the Primate of Esztergom and asked him to come and convert him and his people. The primate, together with the bishops of Pécs, Veszprém, and Transylvania accompanied by Béla, the crown prince, went to Cumania. There, in the city of Milko, they baptized Borz Membrok, his family, and his people. The rex junior became the godfather and since then "Rex Cumaniae"- king of Cumania can be found among the titles of the Hungarian kings. Theodoric became the first bishop of Cumania and since he could not be left there alone, a group stayed there to help him. They became the third group of Hungarians to settle there. We know the bishops in the bishopric of Milko from 1227 till 1523. They were: 1, Theodoric dominican 1227 2, Vitus de Monteferreo 1332 3, Thomasius de Nympti 1347 4, Bernard 1353 5, Albert de Usk 1371 6, Nicolaus de Buda 1371 7, Emercius Siculus 1431 8, Gregorius 1433 9, Ladislaus de Osdola 1469 1o,Paulus Ladislaus 15o2 11,Michael 1512 12,Laurentius 1523 We see now that from 1227, Hungarians lived and roamed about among the pagan Cumanians who had become the vassals of Hungary. This statement can be proved by the fact that in 1229, king Béla, was accompanied by Borz Membrok's army in the battle of Halics. Meanwhile, a vicious group of people were approaching Cumania. These were the Tartars. A great destruction followed them whereever they went. The Hungarian sentry posts, villages, and the bishopric of Milko, were all destroyed. This event is still remembered in one of the Csángó folksongs which goes: "szernyü hirtelenül minden elpusztula" meaning: everything was destroyed suddenly. In 1238, on behalf of 4o,ooo Cumanians their leader Kötöny, asked for permission to settle in Hungary. They wanted to escape from the Tartars. Theywere granted land between the Danube and the Tisza, rivers, where they settled and where their descendants still live. After the danger caused by the Tartans was over, a new bishopric was founded in Szörénytornya for those Hungarians and Cumanians who had stayed in the country.

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