Sófalvi András - Visy Zsolt (szerk.): Tanulmányok a székelység középkori és fejedelemség kori történelméből - Énlaka konferenciák 3. (Énlaka - Székelyudvarhely, 2012)

Vekov Károly: A székelyek és a kora középkori Erdély

TANULMÁNYOK

A SZÉKELYSÉG KÖZÉPKORI ÉS FEJEDELEMSÉG KORI TÖRTÉNELMÉBŐL

The Szeklers and Transylvania in the Early Middle Ages

(Abstract)

In the earliest written historical documents the Szeklers are mentioned as a group of people living not on the territory presently called Szeklerland (Secuime/Székelyföld), but right on the opposite side of the Hungarian Kingdom, at its western, north-western and south-western parts. According to the data known by us from the early Arpadian age, the members of this group had the task of safeguarding the borders in the different parts of the Hungarian Kingdom. The same state obliged them to take part in the battles, led by the king or by his deputies, as front or rear guards. The special literature has long stated that the Szeklers had a special role in the territories within the Carpathians: they were supporting military people who joined the Hungarians, and their presence can be dated as early as the 12th century. Considering the historical data referring to them, their being settled at the borders of the inhabited territories of the Hungarian Kingdom seems to have been part of a comprehensive defending conception. In this case, disproving the theory of János Karácsonyi, so far accepted by most historians, it can not be excluded that they were defending not only the western part of the country but the eastern one as well. Consequently, they were present in Transylvania, even before Géza II settled there the Saxons, or maybe appeared right after Árpád’s Conquest. Several archeological and linguistic data also prove this.

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