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2. Transylvania, Valachia
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64 Transylvania, Valachia than one who had been enrolled in the brotherhood a single day before the distribution. In this, he asserted he was following the teaching of the Gospel, which promises equal compensation to laborers in the Lord’s vineyard, whether they arrive at the first or the eleventh hour.57 This society was engaging in widespread plunder , already numbered five thousand armed men, and was growing larger day by day. It could only be abolished by inviting its leader Aksamit to serve in the army of King Ladislas. 2 TRANSYLVANIA, VALACHIA 14. TRANSYLVANIA is a region situated beyond the Danube which was once inhabited by the Dacians—a fierce people, famous for many defeats inflicted on the Romans. It is inhabited in our time by three races: the Germans, Székelys, and Vlachs. The Germans stem from Saxony. They are brave men, well versed in war, who are called Siebenbürger in their native language from the seven cities in which they dwell. The Székelys are believed to be oldest of the Hungarians and the first who emigrated from ancient Hungary into this region. For this reason, although they cultivate the fields with their hands and live in the country rearing herds of cattle, they are called nobles and, when they meet one another, they exchange the greeting of “noble master.” They pay no tribute except in the year when a king of Hungary is crowned; at that time they deliver to the king as many cows as there are heads of households, whose number is said to exceed sixty thousand. But if they are ordered to go to war and disobey, they are subject to capital punishment and their belongings are attached to the treasury.58 57. Matthew 20:1–16. 58. The Székelys moved into Transylvania in the thirteenth century and became the largest Hungarian-speaking ethnic group in the region. They were cattle breeders who maintained their military function by performing service in the royal army as Transylvania, Valachia 65 The Vlachs are an Italian race, as I will explain a little later.59 However, you would find few trained men among the Transylvanians who do not know the Hungarian language. In this country, there was a town called Beszterce, which was subject to the Crown. While he was in Vienna, King Ladislas presented it to John Hunyadi. The townspeople resented this and long resisted, but, under compulsion , they obeyed his orders.60 But when John died and his son László was killed at Buda, they shamefully rebuffed Michael Szilágyi , who was seeking to obtain the throne for John’s other son Matthias . Michael was outraged and, upon learning of the death of King Ladislas, returned there with an army, stormed the town, plucked out the eyes of some rebellious citizens, amputated the hands of others , put others to the sword, and destroyed the town with fire.61 Not long after this, about three thousand Turks invaded Transylvania and plundered large numbers of cattle and men. They were pursued by the people of Sibenik, and the Germans too, who wiped them out in a massacre and returned home in triumph with the recovered booty. They had scarcely entered the city when Michael appeared from another direction at the head of a large force, planning the city’s destruction in revenge for its aiding the people of Beszterce against him. But when the people of Sibenik stayed inside their well-fortified city, he was frustrated in his desire and retreated full of threats. 15. Among the Hungarians, Paolo Vergerio of Capodistria died in our time—a man highly versed in Greek and Latin literature, many of whose works are extant and praised by scholars.62 He light horsemen. As Aeneas notes, they paid no taxes but branded oxen for the king at each coronation; see Engel, Realm of St. Stephen, 115. 59. Valachia roughly corresponds to modern day Romania, once the Roman province of Dacia; see para. 16 for further discussion of the Italian question. 60. Hunyadi was named perpetual count of Beszterce in 1453. 61. The citizens of Beszterce revolted in 1458 against Szilágyi when he failed to uphold the privileges guaranteed under Hunyadi and treated them as serfs; see Gabor Barta et al., History of Transylvania (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1994), 228. 62. Pier Paolo Vergerio (c. 1369–1444), an influential humanist and teacher in early [3.137.218.215] Project MUSE (2024-04-18 00:08 GMT) 66...